The amber light of the sodium lamps in the parking lot filtered in through the window blinds, which Benjamin had drawn in an effort to prevent passerbies on the sidewalks below from look through and seeing him still at work at this late hour. He could faintly hear the jovial conversations and people calling back and forth to each other accross the parking lot, through the open window. It was a beautiful Friday night to be out and about. Benjamin stared blankly through the slitted blinds, out at the dark blue sky, as he awkwardly shoveled a limp hunk of mushroom from the white cardboard box from which he was…

A snake slowly wound its way around Benjamin’s home. A very large snake. The tip of its forearm-sized tongue flitted in and out, just shy of being able to reach the tip of its own tail, which crawled along at the same pace only feet ahead of its nose. The snake chuffed deep, guttural hisses. As its face approached the rear corner of the structure, it stopped to flick its tongue at the old stones of the foundation walls. Rearing up a foot or two, and cocking its head to the side, the snake opened its mouth, extended it’s jaw, and lowered its two colossal fangs. Gently, it scraped them…

He arched and stretched his back again, yawning. He closed his eyes while he rolled his neck – when he’d reopened them, Mara was no longer perched across the room. A wisp of motion to his immediate right froze him, and a flash of adrenaline swept through his body when he realized that it was her, seated only a foot or so away on the edge of the bed next to him (most likely an attempt to mimic or mock his own posture). Her head was turned to face him. Benjamin tried to the painful eye contact, as her green eyes silently shimmered and gazed into his own. This felt…