(Rose)
R - Why can't I see the odd colours anymore? Are they sleeping in winter?
B - No, they're not. I'm not sure why you can't any longer. I thought it was linked to your healing process. Perhaps I've missed something too.
The odd things I used to see everywhere like ghostly and otherworldly animals or insects are gone. They progressively disappeared. I was seeing them less and less over time. Now they're gone. What changed with my eye?
Thinking about eyes, I remember that piercing gaze, those deep but vivid blue eyes set on a dark grey skin.
That thing's gaze left a strong impression on me.
We will reach the southern coast of England very soon. Then we'll march East and see if we can find something to reach the continent later on.
The weather is still worthy of winter, but there's less snow around now.
I saw a flock of birds fly off, from a great snow field, their wings lengthened by odd icy architectures. It seemed they built wings extensions with fresh snow, and finally managed to lift off. They left a trail of glitter behind them, and a snowfield full of holes.
I've seen snakes again, slithering through the snow. Which is almost more odd than the previous flock, as I certainly recall that snakes are cold blooded and therefore sleep through winter.
Those ones did not care about what I thought right and swam their way across the fields as if they were ponds. They slithered as fast as I walk so we followed each other for a while.
I made a fire by a crumbling wall in the middle of nowhere, as the sun began to hit the horizon.
It surprised me, but the snakes I lost track of, when I stopped there, began to gather around me.
As the fire was being nourished, a growing group of snakes was gathering around it with me. They still looked at everything around with their tongue, but stood there close to the fire and me, getting comfortable. They were like cats or dogs, in that they did not mind me one bit, nor they threatened me.
They were clearing my path as I moved around and never stood in my way. I never thought snakes could be this friendly, but one of them even gave me a gift, I think.
A larger snake came closer to me as I sat with them by the fire. It opened its mouth as it stood up and began to get something out from its belly.
After a great struggle, and dismantling its own jaws beyond what I thought possible, it spat an egg on the ground, then another. They looked like bird eggs.
The big snake then curled up close to the fire along with the others without a care in the world. They were too numerous to be counted anymore.
R - Well, perhaps I cannot see the colourful ghosts anymore, but there sure still are funny things to look at. They're cute all together.
B - Won't you eat their gift?
R - Can I? I mean, are they edible? That was their intention?
B - They are. Though I detect that the one there still is alive. And I doubt it's a bird since I don't recall seeing any bird around.
R - I don't recall birds laying eggs that big, and certainly not in winter either. Alright, let's keep that one out of curiosity, and eat the other one.
I proceed to keep the living one safe and to cook the other one. I boil it on the fire.
Once cooked, I let it cool down before peeling it. It's funny how some of the snakes look closely at my doings, and my hands, with so many fingers able to move.
Some of them even climbed over me, like ill-mannered kittens or rats, just to look at what my hands are doing.
I have snakes of various sizes and colours around my legs, shoulders, arms and even some on my head, in my hair. Others are sleeping around the fire, curled up, not caring.
I guess they all still were cold if they all gathered around my fire.
The egg I cooked has white flesh and a rather small but purple yolk. It had a strange taste but it wasn't rotten.
A few snakes ate the eggshells. I wonder why.
I went to sleep soon after. I didn't let them come in with me in my tent and had to bring out the few that fot stuck into my clothes.
I left the egg in a strong pouch, in a safe place. Blume watched over it as I slept.
~
On morning, most of the snakes had left. The few remaining ones were either sleeping in the ashes of the fire, or dead and frozen next to it.
A larger one was eating one of its dead comrades, frozen parts of it breaking. The snake ate what it could and left soon after.
I took some of the dead ones with me to eat them later too. That, I'm fine with.
We resumed our walk thereafter.
I reached the shore. Well, I reached the sea, not exactly a shore. It looks like half the city I reached suddenly fell into the ocean. There's a straight cliff in the middle of the streets and landscape, and I can see wreckages far below.
I felt I was climbing onto a plateau as I came here, but it was soft slopes, I did not expect such an end to the road.
The wind blows dusty snow. The endless horizon turns sea and sky about the same tones of turquoise and grey. This looks like the end of the world, not a pleasant shore of Great Britain as I pictured it.
A few snakes followed me there. I see them around, or their trails. A few are around, looking at the horizon like I do.
I don't know what they think about, but to me they look like... me, I guess. A little at a loss, seeing that scenery, pondering about where to go from there.
Some of them turn back toward the lands. Others keep looking at the ocean on this freezing day. A few jumped, and flew away, swimming into the sky, taken away by the winds until they disappeared into the clouds.
I wonder where they go.
I turn right and head west as intended, still a little sadden by the cold scenery. This looks like Siberia, not Sussex.
The next night or two, the same thing happens with the snakes of the surrounding area. The
Another evening, they suddenly all fled or hid under the snow, digging.
Blume told me to extinguish the fire and run into a nearby hole too. I hurried to do so, understanding the idea that a monstrous predator was in sight.
I buried the fire under snow and entered an open crypt where other snakes had hurried into. I closed the rusty gate on us. I peered through it to see the large beast.
It looked like a dragon to me, without wings though, but looking very dangerous. It was moving slowly, but its claws were accurate. It dug up many of the snakes to eat them whole. It was a kind of lizard as large as a cow and twice as long. It didn't found us.
I was scared for a moment. The snakes hidden in every corner of this hole surely were more than me.
The giant lizard disappeared over the horizon. We left our hiding place.
As I equipped my backpack again to walk a little longer before setting camp, I noticed some of the snakes climbed on it. They looked at me with puppy dog eyes, begging for a lift.
I carried them along willingly.
I walked another mile until it was too dark. I set my tent without making a fire to warm myself or my meagre meal. I curled up inside. Despite the risk of being crushed by me if I were to move during my sleep, the snakes came along, to steal some of my warmth.
They really behaved like puppies, only silent and cold to the touch.
~
On a warmer day, I reached a more normal shore, with remaining houses and even boats sunk in the bay. I'm getting closer. The snakes jumped off and left me there.
R - Why were there so many snakes around?
B - I guess their species adapted more easily and quickly. Maybe winter is the right time for them to move around now.
R - This feels like everything I've used to know needs to be learned anew.
B - I'm sure there always were new things to learn, even in the old days of your time. You're not that lost, and I'll be with you as you enjoy rediscovering them.
I smile and sigh.
You're a charming snake of a flower. A mischievous snake, with a gentle flower growing onto its head...
~