The Snake Killers

        Usually, killing a huge snake wouldn't be the highlight of someone's day, but it was mine! 

Here's what happened... 

     Our grandparents needed us to come over and help clean their house for a day, so we (Mom, Aunt Lauren, Aunt Kristen, Ally, Emma, Kate, and I) agreed to clean for a couple hours.  Once we had finished tidying the upstairs, we moved to the basement. My mom and Aunt Lauren were in the storage room moving boxes of Christmas decorations when I heard it. 

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH! WHAT IS THAT?!?! AAAAAAHHHH!" 

     I immediately turned and bolted into the storage room. Knowing them both, I expected a dead mouse or maybe a spider. 

     NO. 

     There was a huge, coiled, black snake under a shelf! I was so surprised I started to scream. Not a good idea. This just caused more panic and screaming from my aunt and mom who were already clawing at me to get out the door.  After I finished screaming, I ran out the door yelling, "Don't worry! I'm gonna get a shovel and kill it!" (Looking back, I wonder what exactly I was thinking...) 

     At this point, my mom has collapsed on the floor as far away from the snake as possible and is screaming. (She told us later she doesn't remember doing this. That was her level of panic.) Aunt Kristen and Grandma were hollering about calling someone to come kill it, but I just continued up the stairs to get a shovel. By now, the snake had unraveled itself and was stretched out under the shelf. I almost lost all my resolve right then. But I knew that no one else (except possibly Emma and Ally) was going to kill it. So, I started swinging away. 

     I guess the thing didn't want its head chopped off, because it kept moving. I started yelling, "I CAN'T GET ITS HEAD!" (Which caused more sounds of extreme distress from my aunt and grandma waiting outside.) Bravely, Emma grabbed a broom and started herding its head in my direction, while Ally ran upstairs to find a saw. 

  

      After some horrific thudding and neck crushing, the snake stopped moving. Sort of. It began to twitch, which was awful. 

      Emma grabbed a box and I scooped up the snake. At this point, my mom and Aunt Lauren escaped upstairs where they were hiding in the family room - shrieking and holding each other. 

I proudly carried my prize upstairs to dump it on the golf course. 

I should also note, that I resisted the IMMENSE urge to scare them all with the dead snake. 

I'm not quite heartless enough to do that. 

Aunt Lauren was already crying from screaming and laughing... It would have caused a nervous breakdown. 

And here we are! The ruthless snake killers. 

I'm sure this story will be told for years to come. 

No joke, it was the bravest moment of my entire life.