Snake Dreams

Though the dream snake hung limply from the tips of her fingers, its skin glowed with the vibrance of something alive. Even though we both knew it was dead.

Its back was smooth turquoise, a hue spotted only in the thinnest band of the rainbow if you squint for it. The belly was a stream of yellow gold. Bright, soft, and alluring.

My neighbor held the snake by its head, displaying the two-toned colors without fear. She’d found the snake, about four feet long, tucked in the cushions of her couch while she and I were visiting. In my dream, that is. None of this was real.

Days later, I was visiting this same neighbor in real life. Remembering I had left something in my truck, I walked out her front door and down the path. As I did, a quick whip crossed in front of my feet. It was a snake. Dark brown, fleeting, and only a stone’s throw from this friend’s house, and very much alive.

Startled, yes I was. The snake caught me off guard. But I also thought, “Well, that was weird.”To dream of my friend holding a vibrant, dead turquoise and gold snake, and then days later, a real snake crosses my path at that same friend’s house? Weird.

Later, when I told this story of my dream to my friend and of the serpent that slipped outside her house soon after, she looked off into the distance and mused, “What year are we heading into?”.