A giant black mamba emerged from the grass. Even though the creature was thicker than the boy’s skinny thighs, he raised the rusty shovel over his head and struck, pounding at the beast as the other villagers watched. But the snake would not be felled. The alien rose up, standing taller than any of the humans, and poised to strike.
Realizing he would not win, the boy backed off, waving the shovel in a slow half-arc to get the snake’s attention. And then the boy began to run, glancing back just enough to see if the creature would follow. And it did, so fast the boy tossed aside the shovel as his legs churned toward his one hope.
The boy reached the cliff and stopped, breathless as he turned to face his pursuer.
The mamba closed in, but the boy stood firm, remembering all the heinous things the snake had done to his loved ones. The boy backed closer and closer to the edge, so close that the falls below nearly deafened him.
Just as the mamba struck, the boy wrapped both arms around the snake and pushed off, smiling as he soared over the side with the enemy, who would never hurt his family again.
7 comments:
What a valiant ending to this multi-faceted story! I loved this exercise and the chance to see where our imaginations can take us.
No waffling about your hero, that's for sure! Great ending, Stephanie.
The hero's mythic journey; love it.
I think Claire was this boy's mother, and that giant mamba was actually the salesman from Kentucky (I knew he was a snake in the grass). This was a wonderfully dramatic ending Stephanie. Nicely done.
Great ending!
I knew you'd bring us home, Stephanie. Cat, boy,
what a great ending.
A great ending indeed- and an all around great story! I look forward to reading all of your summer news on our blog-- and more next fall!
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