The Uninvited Dinner Guest
by Brittany Crawford
Larry Brewer sighed as he reached his trailer house and dug a key out of his pocket. “TGIF,” he said to himself as he unlocked the door. He worked as a CPA in Honey Springs, Arkansas . It was exactly one week until April 15th and it seemed like everyone had waited until the last minute to file their taxes. He had filed twenty-seven sets of taxes today. He did not know why people would procrastinate on something so important. Nonetheless, he was looking forward to some downtime this weekend.
He let himself into the kitchen, and took off his suit jacket tossing it into a chair. He slowly did a double take as he loosened his tie. Among the newspapers and unpaid bills scattered across the oak table, Larry saw something that made him shiver. His eyes widened as he discovered a translucent, snake skin laying on the kitchen table.
How did that get there? he wondered. Larry could not bear the thought of eating a meal on that table that evening. He turned pale and started shaking. It was important that he disposed of this hideous creature as soon as possible. He was afraid of snakes.
Larry looked at his watch. It was 5:30 P.M. Rats! He exclaimed to himself. He walked around the kitchen, shouting for his son Chris and his wife Sharon to help him. No one answered his pleas, and all the pest control specialists were closed. What could he do?
Larry wished he owned a cat. He always heard that cats could kill snakes, but Sharon was allergic to them. With every passing moment, he became increasingly frightened. If the snake skin was on the table, that meant the snake had to be somewhere around the house. He paced for several more minutes, wringing his hands together. Suddenly, he had an idea.
Larry opened the door and stepped into the garage. He looked around, spotting the gas can that he used for the lawnmower. Larry picked it up, and walked around the property. The wind was not blowing much. “It might be just enough to put this hideous creature out of it‘s misery” He thought to himself.
Larry walked to the back of the house. He crouched down and carefully placed the half-filled gas carton under the porch. Drawing his hand back, he heard an evil sound.
HISS!
There it was. He had come face to face with his ultimate fear. The slimy black snake was about six inches from his hand. He forced himself to take deep breaths. However, it did not calm him down. Larry knew he had to kill the snake by himself, but how?
He did not have much time to dwell on it, before he heard, “Dad, hey Dad. Where are you?” Chris had parked his car on the gravel driveway, and came slowly around the house, puzzled by the lack of response from his Dad. Chris opened the door to discover his Dad crouched down in a panic mode.
“Step on it Dad.” Chris said when he found out what had caused the trouble.
“I can’t son.” Larry said, his voice trembling.
Chris sprang into action. He knew how his Dad felt about snakes. Chris dashed to the garage, grabbed an old shovel, and sprinted back to the porch. “Get back Dad” Chris commanded.
Larry stood up and jumped back while Chris quickly smashed the black snake
with a shovel.
“Good work son.” Larry said. “But, can I bury it?”
Chris looked surprised. “Sure Dad.”
Larry carried the shovel and snake to the backyard. Burying the snake was a defining moment. When he buried the creature, he buried his fear too.
Father and son opened the back door to find Sharon setting groceries on the counter. Larry looked at the table where the snake had been only two hours before. He glanced at Chris and said. “I have an idea. Let’s order a pizza tonight.”
Chris smiled at his mother. If she only knew!
