Aaron Walters had it all; lived very comfortably in an expansive luxury penthouse atop one of those desirable downtown glitzy condo towers, possessed the right education credentials to get to know influential people who willingly opened those invisi...
First, a few words from Serpentina about that scene up ↑ there...
You're asking me, "What did you do to him?"
What a joke!
Know this at least! That lug nut had it coming... so don't even look at me like I did anything wrong because I didn't.
And don't gape at me now like I'm the victim here, because the answer to that question you're probably thinking right now but don't know whether or not to ask me is, "No."
If you really must know that crazy old geezer didn't do anything inappropriate to upset me like this... lug nut back there didn't do anything at all to me.
No, there's no problem and that's precisely what the problem is... it's what he said and how he treats me that lit my fuse.
If he's just going to play by his high and mighty noble-sounding rules and lecture me, then he should've at least remembered his own stupid Rule Number 1.
Need proof?
Just look over my right shoulder and tell me where he is and where he thinks he shouldn't be... and you're right if you've noticed he's just about neck deep in swamp water and all wet.
What a jerk!
He's mine and I love him anyway... so hands off!
Don't even think about touching him... because I can and do bite.
If you don't believe me then ask the lug nut yourself... or better yet... read his long-winded explanation ↓ that follows.
Serpentina didn't return home a short time later like I expected she would, because almost invariably she'll soon show up at home or wherever I happen to be. An hour and a half later and still no sign of her, I got up from my desk and wandered into the kitchen to make coffee, using that as an excuse to open the inside back door and check if she was out in the barn. That red mailbox flag we've been using as a signal was down, meaning she wasn't in there, but right now I would've been more surprised had the flag been up.
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As I stared at that lowered signal and allowed my thoughts to drift, I floated back in time to those early days soon after she appeared... during those confining months of our first winter together... I mean when her constant soundless appearances were unsettling for me because I was unaccustomed to having anyone else around in the house. Encountering that tiny creature who always seemed interested in, if not happy to see me, soon became quite comforting, and she's remained like this over the years even though she didn't remain tiny.
These days when Tina does show up at home after being outside, it's only because she feels like being at home and inside, and just as likely as not she'll ignore me and head off to her room when she slides in.
