MY BEST FRIEND IS A SNAKE
eaten anything for one month. "She" just let the frightened animal s running inside the room, and she didn't try to eat them.
One of my best friends has always been very interested in wild animals.
We told him that it would be a good idea to take the snake to the vet and so he did. As he was very worried 1 promised to go with him. The doctor sedated the snake and after the examination he turned to my friend and said: '1 know why your snake hasn't eaten this month" My friend was anxious to know the reason. 'Please, te11 me!' he begged '1'11do whatever is needed to help my "friend"!!' Then, the doctor smiled and replied 'Are you willing to be eaten by your "friend?' My friend was shocked, and so was I. 'What have you just said?' he enquired. '!t's very simple, sir. Snakes are very smart, they like eating the best type of food and they are able to refuse a sma11prey if they have the possibility of catching a tasty and bigger one' . My friend's face was whiter than snow, I was sure he was going to faint at any moment. The snake was planning to eat him!! "She" was waiting to be big enough so its body could digest such a big prey. We phoned the zoo immediately and asked them to pick up the boa.
Since we were children he was always watching documentaries about animal s and he used to have many exotic pets like piranhas, turtles, a parrot, and even an iguana. But, his biggest dream was to have a snake. Not any snake, he wanted a boa. His parents never a110wed him to buy one, her mother actua11yhated them, so when he grew up and bought a house he knew exactly what was the next "thing" he was going to buy: a boa. He had to do a lot of paperwork in order to get the license to get such a snake but fina11y he achieved his big dream. As he said, the day he brought the snake home was the happiest day in his life. He took care of the snake better than if it were a baby. In fact, he created a room specially designed for the snake. It was like a huge terrarium where the boa could find everything it needed: light, sand, logs, stones ... He was always talking about his pet and he seemed to be very happy. Once he told us that sometimes he lay down on the floor of the room next to the snake and he caressed it. We were a bit scared but he told us that "she" was a calm and harmless animal. In fact "she" had become his best friendo One day, he started to be worried about his loving "friend". He used to feed the boa with rats and even little rabbits, but the snake hadn't
Since this day my friend hasn't had any other exotic pet, a1though when we talk about his "friendly" snake he always says the same: 'Well, she tried to eat me, but who can blame her? I must be very tasty!'
Isabel Cipitria Ruiz. Cantabria, Spain.
An unfortunate summer This is not exactIy my story, but 1took part in it in some way. It all happened last year at the beginning of luly. We hadjust finished our final exams, so we felt like relaxing before starting to study for our September exams. My girlfriend Laura and 1 decided to go to Asturias with another couple so that we could do the Sella river canoeing competition. It wasn't my first time, but it was for the others. First, you were given some useful instructions in order not to have any trouble in the descent. However, at the beginning ofthe race the river is about half a meter deep in summer. lust one minute after starting, we blocked the canoe into some rocks. 1 got off the canoe and tried to unblock it. But then, a powerful whirlpool took the canoe and my girlfriend away. She was shouting "Help! Help!", but 1 could do nothing because 1was walking over the stones and the canoe was going down the river very fast. But 1knew it was going to stop soon. That' s why 1 burst out laughing. 1 could just say: "Put the oar into the water and stop your canoe!". People stared at uso We made absolute fools of ourselves, but in fact we didn't care because she was too nervous and 1 couldn't stop laughing at the situation. But my girlfriend is one of those people who always find themselves in weird situations. Few days later, we went to Bilbao with the same couple. We all wanted to visit a new art exhibition in the Guggenheim museum and have a nice summer day in another city. This exhibition was about Russian iconography. The museum had changed a lot since the last time 1 visited it, which was at least four years ago. We were going along a long corridor. At that moment, 1 was talking to my friend Diego, 1 don't know what about. 1 lost sight
ofthe girls. Suddenly 1 saw my girlfriend further on, walking arm in arm with another man, caressing his hand. At the same time, Diego and 1 stared at each other astonished, wondering what the hell she was doing. We coughed loudly so that she could notice whose hand she was holding. She looked at the mano Her skin turned white. She carne to us running and embarrassed and told me "1 walked through the entire corridor alongside that man thinking he was you! Oh my God! What embarrassment!". We couldn't stop laughing. She replied: "It's not a laughing matter, boys!" We saw the man twice again in the museum. He said nothing, but he was surprised too. But the summer hadn't finished yet. It was September and Laura had to do a Math exam. It was quite long. It lasted almost five hours. No bladder can resist that situation. She asked the teacher if she could go to the toilet. The teacher accepted and my girlfriend left the classroom. Once she had gone into the toilet and done her business, she realized that there was no knob on the door and that she was trapped. Then she got really nervous but didn't hesitate. 1 don't know how, but she managed to jump over the door, through a little hollow between it and the ceiling. Laura still had to fall from the topo She hurt her knee, but she achieved her purpose: to come back to the exam. Unfortunately, she failed the test. It couldn't be any other way. Maybe these are just coincidences. But there are people more unfortunate than others. Miguel Velasco GarcĂa (Cantabria)