Chapter 1
I walked down the street looking at every person passing by, hurrying to be somewhere without them really knowing why. At a traffic light there was an elderly man yelling at another man about something only he knew about. I let out a sight and walked over to the other side, the drivers didn't slow down or make any attempt to avoid me, yet they managed to barely avoid me. Once I got away from the road, I calmly walked into one of the many pet stores, the joyful sound of ringing bells was echoing, and all eyes were on me for a second. Everyone returned rather fast to what they had been doing. As for myself I only had one goal in mind, the snakes.
For as long as I could remember snakes had fascinated me, their beautiful scales and proudful eyes that seemed to look down on everyone around them. I watched as my favourite snake made its way towards me, it was a gorgeous emerald tree boa with just a few small white spots. He looked at me with those harsh yet gentle eyes as if to tell me that he was happy to see me. Among all the snakes I had been looking at this far only this guy have been showing any interest in me, and I was convinced that he was the one.
- Have you gotten permission to take him home yet?
I looked up at the clerk and gave her a bright smile.
- I have, although under a bit of regulations
- So, you aren't here just to visit him today now, are you?
- No, we are going home together
She smiled at me and open the terrarium.
- Would you like to pick him up?
I didn't even have time to reply before the snake himself decided to come out. The clerk and I looked shocked at each other, what a strange snake. Carefully I picked him up and put him in his new terrarium before paying for everything that I needed.
I hurried home with my new friend in my arms, everything felt so unreal. I had begged my parents for years to get this guy, studied everything I could find about snakes and even joined a snake study just to convince them. And now I have my very own one, I was so happy that I just wanted to scream. Our home was remotely placed in comparison to the other buildings and in the beginning I had been so ashamed to walk on the empty road up to the house. But today it was like a gift sent from the gods. I stopped halfway to the house and looked at the sea.
- Mar, wouldn't that be a pretty good name for you?
I looked down at the little guy that held his head like he was listening to me.
- My sister told me that mar is Spanish for sea, and you are just as beautiful as the sea.
For a moment it looked like he was nodding his head in agreement with me.
I carefully opened the door and listened, as always no one was home. While it did hurt a little since I had been hoping to show Mar to everyone, there would be enough time later to do so. For some reason the silence was louder than normal today, and it felt suffocating but as I entered my room it all just stopped. I put down the terrarium on the bed and took a step back. If all of this is justa dream, I hope I will never wake up from it. Although I had bought him a terrarium the truth was that I had built a largeone while waiting, it had everything Mar could possibly need and probably more.Right after I had put Mar into the large terrarium, I heard the front door slam.The slam followed by light and fast footsteps, that went straight past my door. By the sound of the steps, it was Ilya who was in a hurry. Soon enough the stepsheaded back to the front door, followed by another slam.
