It was late summer of 1993 in a small community outside of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I lived on a lonely road practically in the middle of nowhere with nothing but trees for company.
The nearest country store was a mile away, but it seemed further, especially in winter. My house was small but large enough for my needs. When you see it, your first impression might be that it is a typical country house. It had rickety steps leading up to a large deck. After you cross the deck, you may enter the front door. When you first went inside, you saw the living room and then the kitchen which were connected by a large arch instead of the usual door. My bedroom was to the right of the living room. It was quite large and contained a king sized bed and a baby crib.
My son was young, barely a year old. He woke me up fairly early, around 9:00 a.m. I first heard the tiny whimper, the one you ignore and hope your child goes back to sleep. Then the rustling of the covers became apparent and finally the cry that means get up and tend to me. I arose from my bed, noting that my husband had already left for work. I usually get up with him in the morning, but I must have been unusually tired that day. I went first to the bathroom to wash my face and take care of personal matters. My bathroom was directly across from my bedroom but out of sight of the kitchen. I walked through the living room noting the toys on the floor that needed to be picked up, and continued on to the kitchen. I went to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of milk for my son. I figured that it would pacify him while I made breakfast. I turned around and happened to glance at the counter where the sink was located and immediately let out a scream. There, stretched out the full length of the counter, was a large King snake.
I knew immediately that it was a King snake because I had seen one before. The snake was so long that I could not even see its head. Its tail was apparent, hanging from the end of the counter like a dangling rope. I knew I was not in any danger since this particular snake was not poisonous. I never did like snakes, though, and this one was no exception.
I ran back to the bedroom, gave the bottle of milk to my impatient son, and grabbed the phone off the nightstand. I called my husband at work to tell him about the snake. He told me he could not come home until later and for me to try to kill the snake. I did not want to do that. He said to just stay out of the kitchen and maybe the snake would leave on its own. I hung up the phone and went back to the kitchen. I could see how large and thick this snake was. I don’t think I could even get two hands around it. I still did not see the head. I think it might have been behind my large, brown cabinets. I grabbed some baby food for my son and some bread and butter for me so I wouldn’t have to come back in the kitchen for awhile. After placing my hoard of food on the coffee table in the living room, I went into the laundry room off the kitchen and grabbed a big board. I then placed the board between the kitchen and the living room. The whole time I am wondering why the enormous snake was not moving. I figured it was just asleep. Why it had to sleep in my house I did not know. I grabbed my food off the table and retreated back to the bedroom with my son. I decided to wait it out, hoping the snake would go away.
After a few hours in the bedroom, watching TV and playing with my son, I put him down for a nap. I then carefully opened the bedroom door, searching the floor for any movement. Nothing was apparent so I continued into the kitchen. My first thought was that I was a hostage in my own house. Then I got mad and decided that this snake was not going to do this to me and my family. I moved the heavy board and went into the kitchen. I could see that the snake was still stretched across the counter in the same manner. I looked in a drawer of the kitchen for a large knife, determined to kill this snake that had invaded my home. I found a large knife, but it was not very sharp. I then attempted to cut the snake close to where I thought the head was. This did not work. The knife was not sharp enough and the snake barely twitched. This was one obstinate snake. I had no choice but to grab some lunch for me and my son and wait until my husband got home. I retreated back to the bedroom once more for the rest of the afternoon, only coming out occasionally to go to the bathroom or check on my friend in the kitchen. Around 3:30, I emerged from the bedroom to check again, and when I walked up to the kitchen, I was relieved and scared to see the snake was gone. Then I started to worry that it was somewhere else in the house. The board had not moved, so I checked the kitchen and laundry room thoroughly, looking in cabinets and under clothes. The snake was nowhere to be found, so I assumed it went on its way.
I was glad to finally be free of the snake and vowed to move into the city as soon as possible. I told my husband about the experience when he got home, and he was sorry that he could not help. I know snakes are commonplace in the country, but I do not like them at all. I am just glad that no one got hurt because it could have been a rattlesnake instead. Then it would have been a different story.