The Water Hose Snake

The  Water  Hose  Snake

By  Forrest  W.  Schultz

 

     I did not WRITE any stories before 1986, but long before that I COMPOSED stories in my mind, some of which I TOLD to others.  One of these I told to my sons when they were boys while I was taking a walk with them in the woods when we lived in Riverdale.

     The story came to me while we were nearing a large pile of trash someone had dumped into the woods.  In this pile was a garden hose.  As one of my boys was walking toward it, I shouted to him, ”Do NOT pick that up!   That is a water hose snake.  It is camoflouged to look just like a water hose.  It lies completely still until someone comes and picks it up.  Then, before you  know what is happening, it suddenly bites you!  Its bite is so poisonous that you die right after being bitten!!”

     At first he stopped and looked really scared.  Then I laughed and said I was just kidding.

     Then, several weeks later when one of his cousins was visiting and joined us on one of our walks,  my son then played the same trick on him!

     I also made up a story about a pipe monster which supposedly lived in those large pipes found underneath roads used to channel runoff water.

     A week ago, at his request, I promised my son Johnny, who is now a middle aged man,  that I would write down some memories of the days of his childhood, beginning with this one about the water hose snake.

 

Grantville, GA

July 6, 2015