Of Snakes and Women
"..so I decided to go to Africa as a representative from the Peace Corps."
Alison sat down heavily upon the plush hotel bed, kicking off her shoes as she held the telephone. She gave a small smile. "Mom, it's nothing to worry about. They told me the folks are peaceful, if a bit.. ah.. reserved. I'll get to spend six months with them."
Her plump lips pulled into a soft frown as she listened. "No, Mom.. no, I'm not going to teach them anything from the Bible." A pause. "Why not? They don't need 'saving' as far as I'm concerned... Look, Mom, calm down, they'd just get mad at me if I did anyway. How would you like it if someone you invited to your home started preaching to you about Wicca or Buddhism or something..."
She lay back on the bed, switching the phone from ear to ear as her toes eased the socks off her feet. "Look, Mom, you're getting too wired up.. let's talk about something else. How's my big sis doing?" She fell silent, listening to the other end of the line.
"Twins this time, hm? She'd better get her tubes tied or she'll have enough grandkids for you that I won't have to bother..." She winced slightly as her mother went into one of her flings.. "I just haven't met the right guy, okay? And when I do, we'll date for five years or so, get married, and then we can have kids." There she went again, getting caught up on that 'five years??' "Listen, statistics show that most relationship problems occur at two and four years.. I want to be over those before I tie the knot." She didn't want to be a three time divorcee like her sister..
"Listen I--.. Okay, Mom, I love you, I'd better go. I need to make these calling cards last through the summer.. Love you too.. bye." So she hung up the phone, rubbing a sore red ear for a moment before she got up, her fingers moving to the zipper on her black dress pants.
After such a long talk with her mother, a long day going from bus to airport to bus, she needed a nice long shower. The fabric of both pants and panties slipped down her smooth tan hips slowly, pooling to the floor at her feet in a pile of black and cream. Her shirt was addressed next, button after button coming undone until the cream colored bra was revealed, cupping each plump breast in reverence, holding them up to present them to heaven.
Her slender fingers reached back to undo the hooks, a deep sigh escaping her chest as the globes were freed, cool air kissing them enough to make the nipples pucker, as if awaiting a hungry mouth to take them in and suckle.
Nude, she strode to the bathroom, thankful to see a fairly nice shower awaiting her with pastel blue curtain open wide. She snatched the tiny bars of soap up along with the bottles of shampoo and conditioner. The water was turned on, nicely hot to waft up and fog the mirrors.
Ah, heaven, how long had she been without such comforts of home? Days, for certain. Once her fingertips assured her that she would not be scalded, she stepped inside, thrusting her face into the stream of water with relish. Rivulets ran down her body, washing away the aches and pains of travel. Her black hair slowly fell to the hot water, lying flat against her skull, slick and carrying the water's sheen.
Her skin was soon treated to the hotel soap, lather bathing her arms, neck, and each breast. It washed away the sweat, grime, and weariness and sent it down into the drain at her feet. For long moments, she stood there, soaping and re-soaping her body until she was sure she was cleaner than a priest's collar. Then the shampoo and conditioner, cleaning her hair with what it deserved. Soon she was absolutely pristine, revived.. But a smile played on her lips, and she set everything down on the floor.
She ritualistically rinsed her hands, leaning back against the wall with her feet braced. Slowly, her hands trailed down over her face, neck, down to those delightful breasts, which she held and gently massaged, her nipples taken between thumb and forefinger to be so tenderly tweaked.
Alison smiled, relishing the sensation for a few brief moments before one hand continued the journey, trailing down to her bellybutton.
A few sharp raps on the door outside her room broke her out of the euphoria. She frowned, sighing as she turned the water off. "What is it?" she called.
The muffled reply was, "Urgent telephone call from Mr. Dillon."
She groaned faintly, hearing the name of her boss. "Okay, okay, give me just a minute." She stepped out, snatching up a towel to dry herself off. Then the complementary bath robe was thrown on and she went to the telephone. Indeed, the 'incoming call' light was flashing. She sat down, picking up the phone with a disgruntled, "Yes, Mr. Dillon?"
"I'm sorry to do this to you, Miss Moore, but there has been a change of plan. One of our other volunteers was injured and needed to be taken home immediately. The villiage is still in the early stages of reconstruction after a hellraising storm, and if we don't get another representative in there fast, they might think we abandoned them. You're the closest one."
She frowned, switching the receiver between hands. "Where is it, then?"
"It's a volcanic island off of the southern tip of South America. It's only been recently contacted, and not very well explored. I'm afraid there are frequent storms which prevented us from getting there in the first place."
"Alright, I think I can do that. When do I get there?"
"A private plane will be ready to pick you up tomorrow morning. It'll be about a day's flight until you arrive there."
Sweet, three days off her schedule. "That sounds great. Anything you think I should do to prepare?"
"Yeah, get some good cold weather clothes. Winter's coming up for them, and it'll get a bit chilly in a few months."
~*~*~
Two days later, Alison found herself walking onto a wooden pier, carrying all her bags with her. Surrounding her were deciduous trees the likes of which she'd never seen before. Some of them had very oak-like leaves, but their branches hung like weeping willow. There were trees with ripe red fruits still hanging from their branches and others with drying pods the length of her arm.
She turned to wave to the plane as it turned on the water, picking up speed before it finally took off and left her alone on the island. Behind her, the bushes parted to reveal a very small man with a broad smile and a wispy beard. He was wearing a brightly colored woven fabric that looked very much like hemp.
"Come, come," he said, his voice thickly accented. "I home take you. You food eat much soon... We celebrate!"
She smiled warmly at the native's broken English, nodding politely. "I look forward to the feast," she said slowly, still smiling at the little man. He grinned, turning and leading her away into the thick brush.
The walk wasn't long, but she was relieved to see the villiage. They seemed to live in wooden huts, all connected to each other like bubbles sticking together. The structures all surrounded a lovely bonfire, around which people wove, skinned, and cooked. There seemed to be no separation of the sexes here. She could see men cooking, women sharpening spears, and children helping wherever they could. One little girl squealed and ran up to Alison immediately, wrapping her arms around the woman's leg.
She laughed, patting the girl's head as she looked over to her interpreter. "Why is she so excited?"
"You smile. You good woman. Man before home built her. She thankful."
"Well," she chuckled, setting down her bags to pick up the little girl and hug her, "I'm glad I get such a warm welcome."
The girl only squealed happily, saying something in a language that reminded her of birds singing in the trees. "She say you very tall. You very pretty."
"Well, tell her thank you." She was about to set the child down when a couple of people came over, taking her bags before she could. They carried them to one of the huts, disappearing inside. "And there's good service around here," she chuckled, hoisting the little girl up to her shoulders. This only seemed to delight the girl and bring about more children that wanted to rise as high as her.
The day was spent eating deliciously sweet fruits, spicy dishes of meat and vegetables, and those interesting pods she had seen before, which tasted very much like peanuts mixed with raisins. Soon they were sitting around the fire, telling stories. The old man with the wispy beard was the only one who could interpret, and he did his best to keep up with the storytellers-- including Alison.
"We English learn for you soon," he said between stories, but she only shook her head.
"I want to learn how to speak like you. I've always wanted to learn a new language. This will be an excellent opportunity."
The responce to that was more than pleasantly surprised. Soon she had people all around her doing their best to teach her the tongue. It was easy to speak and-- she found-- much more eloquent than English. Her interpreter had to describe each word's meaning in detail to her, and it was clear he had trouble.
Soon the firelight was the only light in the forest, and poor Alison had to insist that she needed to go to bed. She thanked everyone-- in their own tongue, no doubt-- and went to the cozy little hut.
The following weeks were spent rebuilding, learning, teaching, and even gathering food. Her hosts told her that the snows would soon arrive and food would be hard to come by. They needed to store up now, when there was still time.
All the leaves seemed to pick the exact same day to start turning. It was as if, overnight, a switch had been pressed, leaving most of the foliage half orange, red, yellow, and half green. Gathering and hunting picked up pace immediately, and within a few days the children were sent out to gather any fallen leaves for winter mattresses. No one would want to sleep on a cold floor, and it seemed no one would have to.
"The sun is getting low," she said slowly to the children she had been asked to watch. They were well into a leaf fight, the toddlers trying to throw armfuls at the preteens, and all laughing together. She couldn't help but smile. "We should go home, else your parents will be angry."
The children couldn't help but giggle at her poor grasp of their tongue, but they understood and gathered up their bags and armfuls of leaves, running after her as they returned to the villiage. The adults were more than happy to see them return, and dinner was served as soon as the leaves had been safely stored in one of the huts.
"Tell the story of the snakefolk, Elder," one young woman begged. Others joined in, saying that Alison would love to hear it.
"I must admit, it sounds like an interesting story. Please do, please tell us, Elder.."
Of course, the Elder was the little man with the wispy beard. He laughed and nodded, agreeing. "Sure, I will tell you. A long time ago, when the island was nothing more than rock, the spirits made the snakes. The snakes were the easiest to make, because they had only to twirl the clay in their palms until it was long.
"But the spirits saw that the snakes were hungry, as every living creature becomes. So they took the clay and made little mice and rats, birds, and other small creatures for the snakes to eat. But, oh, they saw that the mice and birds were hungry too! They didn't want something that got hungry like the birds and the snakes, so they started making the bushes and trees.
"The trees ate from the earth and drank from the sun, and they made seeds and fruit and leaves for the mice and birds to eat. Now this would have been fine if the spirits hadn't become bored, so they made larger mice and birds to eat the snakes. But when they sent the creatures to eat the snakes, they became sad. The snakes were their first creatures, and although they were cunning and quick, the spirits didn't want them to all be eaten up.
"All the spirits got together and started making a very big snake, a very very big snake. But one young spirit wanted to be more creative than a very large snake, so after one half of the big snake was finished, he started making something that stood up tall, right off the end of that snake. The finished creature looked very much like a man from the waist up.
"When they breathed life into him, the spirits were startled when he didn't run immediately. He stood there, looked around, and asked the spirits who he was. They had no answer for him, so they told him that he could name everything himself. He then asked who he loved. Again, they had no answer.
"'I want someone to love,' he said. So the spirits, loving him so, made another big snake, but they made this one different from him. She looked like a woman from the waist up, and the man embraced her as soon as she was awakened.
"By this time, the spirits were very tired, and they didn't want to spend the rest of eternity keeping their creations alive. So they gave their creations the gift of creating, but on one condition. They could only create others like themselves, and they could only create over a long period of time.
"Ah, but the snake-kin, they tried their hand at the same thing the spirits did.. but instead of others like themselves, they made the first children. These children did not awaken right away, and they thought that if they asked, the spirits would breathe life into them. The snake-kin went to the very tired spirits, and asked if they would help them make the first children alive. The spirits agreed on one condition. The snake-kin were to watch the island and make sure the snakes never disappeared. They were given the gift of creating the snakes from their own bellies.
"That is when the first children awoke, and they decided to live on the land. The snake-kin, though, went into the sea and hid.. and they have lived there ever since, with love in their hearts for us."
~*~*~
The following morning, Alison awoke to two things. The first was the chill, a light nipping of frost at her nose and ears. The second was something more unpleasant; a terrible cramping had taken hold of her stomach, and she began cursing her own menstrual cycle.
"It's never been this bad before," she groaned to herself, her hand going to her belly to rub it. Under her palm, though, she felt something stir, something that made her blood run cold.
The natives came running at the sound of her scream, leather curtains pushed aside to reveal their frightened and alert faces. "What has frightened you?" a man asked, going to her side.
"Something's inside me," she gasped, throwing the covers off and pulling her pajamas away to reveal the offending area, which had the very faintest lump.
Even in her fright, the natives only seemed to relax. One of the women came over to sit next to her, massaging her belly. "It is a perfectly natural thing. Every winter, the snakes seek shelter. They need some place warm and safe, and some of them seek out places inside us. They let us take care of them, because the snake-people want us to care for their kin.."
That did not assure her very much. "Mighty spirits, please tell me that's not.."
"It is... It's your first snake, and there will be others. Here, feel, I have two myself..." The woman's hand guided Alison's shaking grasp to her belly, where the pressure caused what was inside to squirm.
This had to be a nightmare, it had to be. Oh, please, God, let me wake up, thought Alison. Nevertheless, she was dressed and taken outside for breakfast. She could barely eat, all her attention focused on the pressure in her womb, the sudden invader of her own body. She hadn't even awoken upon its entrance.
The women were clearly more than willing to comfort her in this traumatizing time. The women told her that children as young as forteen were carrying snakes. Nobody ever got hurt, and the worst thing she would experience was a little discomfort.
Slowly, as the idea sunk in, Alison began to relax. Rather than going with the children to gather leaves, she stayed by the fire, feeding it and assisting with cooking.
These people had been here for hundreds of years, if not thousands. If they believed that the snake wouldn't hurt her... it wouldn't, would it?
Still, she felt a little too insecure to go to sleep that night. Worrying about another midnight trespasser, she turned on her lantern, watching the leather-curtained door in silence.
Just as she was about to drift to sleep, she heard something.. a faint rustle as something brushed against the leather. Her eyes flew open, spotting a shiny black snake slithering in through the door. She whimpered, frightened as she saw it come in. It was huge! It was longer than her leg, with a narrow head and pointed snout.
"Shoo, go away," she whispered, her fingers curling up around the edge of her blanket. The serpent seemed unfazed, tongue flicking out to taste the air. Without hesitation, it approached her, and its head went between the blankets within a moment.
She could feel it sliding against her stomach, smooth scales nestled between her shirt and pants. Alison threw the covers off, sitting up to grab the snake and throw it against the wall. A quick flailing and the snake was back on its belly, regarding her silently.
She thought that maybe such a hostile reaction would deter the creature. This time, though, it only seemed to move faster. This time, it dove into the leg of her pajamas. Alison jumped, leaning forward in an attempt to put her hand in the way of the snake, stop it, but it only went around to the other side of her leg, sliding against her skin.
Within moments, it was nestled up against her thigh, and her heart beat quickly with what she knew would happen. She dared not try to grab it again.. what if it bit her? What if it was poisonous?
The snake, undeterred, began to run its nose against her slit, nuzzling and probing, exploring in silence. It felt strangely good, but her fright covered it up, for the most part. Slowly, up and down, it encouraged juices to flow between the lips. Then, just as slowly, it started to crawl inside, squirming and twisting in her pants.
She moaned, faintly, closing her eyes as she fought with herself. It was a snake, an icky, scary, slimy snake... trying to get inside her. The thought, oddly enough, started to turn her on even further. But that was crazy. Turned on by a snake trying to get inside her?
Oh, but it was getting in further now, and the scales had such a delicious texture that ran against her walls without resistance. She released a breath, lying back on the mattress as the creature pressed all the way back to the forbidden wall at the back, where the opening that was her cervix lay. The snake pulled back, drawing its head out completely before thrusting in, hard. God! The monster was strong, enough to make her gasp and jump a little in her bed. It drew back again, then shot forward, sending a shock of pleasure through her system.
She gave into herself, drawing the pajama bottoms off of her legs quickly, revealing the long black snake coiled around her thigh with its head in her vagina. The sight only aroused her further, especially when it drew back for another hit, glistening with her juices in the dim light. She spread her legs wide for it and lay back.
Her fingers gripped the mattress hard, the impact sending another shiver through her body. It started squirming, pushing further, harder. It must've had its nose in her cervix, because it seemed to go deeper as it pushed, tension washing outward and mingling with the pleasure. She felt herself stretch deep inside, and she whimpered from the effort. Deeper, harder, in one long push.. Then it popped through, and she gave a gasp of held breath. The death grip on her leg was released, long black body moving into position between her legs.
It started to crawl inside, inch after inch sliding past her gates. It felt so good, it felt so wonderful. Quickly she threw her shirt off, her hands going to her breasts, massaging, caressing, pinching her nipples as her belly stretched. The pleasure rose, built, getting higher inside her with every passing moment. The world held its breath, shivered, then finally exploded with her orgasm as the snake's tail disappeared, leaving her stomach bulging. Before she fell asleep, she felt a pinch inside her... but that was only the snake settling into place.
~*~*~
"You are a very lucky woman," said one of the women by the night's fire. "So many snakes have chosen you to be their home.."
"Yes," Alison said, her hand going to a very large stomach. Over the course of a week, she must have acquired twelve snakes total, making for a figure best suited for a woman nine months pregnant.
The woman beside her smiled warmly. "You have been blessed very well this year. You will have very healthy children."
Alison only laughed, shaking her head. "I do not plan on having children... my sister has enough for the both of us."
"Do you have a husband, then?"
"No, I've never met anyone that suited-- ooh!" She gave a gasp, holding her belly as it seemed that all the snakes had come to life at once, squirming and adjusting themselves.
"It would seem the snakes predict a man in your future... and a child, if they squirm so."
"What?" she gasped, waiting for her charges to settle down.
"When the snakes squirm together, a child will be presented to you soon."
Alison chuckled softly, not believing the superstition. "If you believe so..."
"Oh, but it's true. The snakes never lie."
"That's just fine.."
~*~*~
Snow covered the ground all across the island, and dried food was starting to become quite boring. The meals were served inside, rather than around the campfire where everyone could talk and laugh.
"Do you think there would be any fish out on the coast?" Alison asked the Elder, leaning against the sturdy wooden wall of the largest hut. Her back ached faintly from the weight of her distended belly.
The little man smiled, his shoulders rising in a shrug. "We've never tried.. It is too cold and wet for us."
"Well, I think I have a snowsuit.. it'd be just perfect for the job."
"If you could return with some fish, we would be eternally grateful. Besides which, you seem quite restless."
"I think everyone is restless... I'll go get my suit on and I'll borrow a net."
The Elder grinned from ear to ear, bowing his head. "May you catch many fish.. and may that large belly of yours not get in the way."
Alison only laughed. "I don't think it will.. my suit may be snug, but it'll fit."
As the tall woman left, the elder only shook his head with a smile. "That's not what I meant," he muttered.
~*~To Be Continued..~*~