Serpentina's Story

Tales of a Tail over the Passage of Time

The first faint hints of dawn were showing on the horizon by the time I turned into the driveway, and in spite of my misgivings about having left Serpentina alone and on her own, she hadn't burned down the house. Of course I never thought she would, but this sort of reflects how uneasy I felt about leaving her alone and on her own. Contrary to expectations though, not a single light was on inside or out, so I'll admit feeling a bit taken aback coming home to this instead, because I was certain she'd be awake and waiting to welcome me home, especially because she'd asked me more than once about my return itinerary.

As I slid the key in to unlock the back door to the kitchen, only then did the obvious that I've always known hit. Tina can't reach any of the light switches, and because I'd left during daylight hours, I hadn't even thought to turn on a light on for her. Anyway, when I stepped into the kitchen and flipped up the light switch, I spotted that little creature underneath the kitchen table and she was wide awake.

Happy to see her there, I got on my knees, extended my arms and beckoned.

Tina zigzagged across the floor, slid her way up and around me and then asked, "Did you miss me?"

"Is that what you think?" I laughed, but I didn't dare tell her that I'd thought about her the whole time I was gone.

My welcoming committee was very happy to have me home, and while I was hoping she wouldn't be too disappointed with the gift I'd bought her, she was more eager to find out what I'd learned from my meeting with Spongey.

Wanting to get some shut-eye first rather than get into a long-winded recounting of my entire day, I handed her the USB drive, and summarized, "There was nothing unusual recorded."

"Carry me upstairs so I can take a look anyway."

"You're welcome." hoping to prompt a thank you from her.

"What are you waiting for?" now sounding impatient.

"Aren't you going to at least say you missed me too?" and then I got off my knees.

"Whatever for?" that precocious shoulder-passenger laughed, and then she teased, "I didn't get pestered the whole time you were gone."

"That's exactly what I was thinking..." and right away pulling my foot out of my mouth, clarified, "I meant I didn't get pestered while I was away."

That expected little swat followed before she countered, "Cog, you know perfectly well that you do all the pestering around here."

"Now why would I do that?" convinced in my mind that life here seemed more like the other way around.

"Because you know you can't get along without having me around."

"Those around parts I get..." prodding her scaled tube-like body looped around me like a lei, "but..."

"Oh Cog... don't cloud the issues by quibbling over semantics."

"What was that?" disbelieving what I'd heard, and I burst into laughter because of the unusual words she'd used.

As I ascended the stairs with that adorable little pest on my shoulders, she gave me a quick kiss on my cheek and admitted, "I missed you too."

"Took you long enough."

"That's because I'm long and getting longer." she boasted.

Upon hearing that I started laughing.

"What's so funny about that?"

"I wasn't sure if you meant your body or your talking." still chortling.

Of course that comment could only have triggered another light swat on my shoulder followed by a whole lot more talk.