My true story
In Africa particularly Kenya, where I come from, there are a wide variety of snakes some venomous and some harmless like vipers, black mambas and pythons all together about 126 different species. In traditional african houses, often known as huts, snakes have been known to find their way in every so often. Snakes slither through grass and weave into the cracks of mud huts (simba). This living corridor brings them unexpectedly into human homes for shelter, prey, or warmth.
I remember when my father was alive he used to burn a rubber inside our house before sleeping inside every time we visited the village. This is a sure way to ward of any snake that may have snuck inside.
There is this story that I was told by my mother and I feel inclined to share as i find it very interesting.
I am an eldest child. When I was a little child of one and a half years, one time my mother went with me to the village. At that time my father had his little hut also known as ‘simba’.
So in my culture when a buy becomes of age when you are no longer considered a boy but a man he is expected to build his own house where he can be sleeping as he is not encouraged to sleep in his mother’s house any more. This hut is constructed using locally sourced materials like mud, timber, cow dung for plastering and grass for roofing. And for labour the boy’s brother and cousins would often help so it reduces cost. So every boy once they are over 18 years are expected to have their own houses.
So likewise my father had his house and when my mother visited my grandparents with me, we were to sleep in my father’s house. Now since my parents were city dwellers, this means that the house had not been used for sometime. This was going to be the first time it was being used after a long time. However my mother was unaware of what she had to do apart from cleaning and dusting and tidying the place which she did.
Then as I was alseep, she laid me on the bed and went on outside doing her chores. little did she know that in the house there was a snake. when my mother was outside busy with her chores a snake crept into the bed where I was sleeping and curled itself beside me. I was oblivious and fast asleep. My mother had no clue until she came in to check on me when lo and behold, she spotted the snake on the bed. She gave the loudest scream and ran back outside.
My grandmother and a few other relatives that were around heard the scream and quickly rushed over to the house to see what was happening. As soon as they saw the snake everyone was scared. Luckily one of the realtives managed to catch the snake and get rid of it safely.
If you are wondering about me, I was unharmed, unfazed and undisturbed by the whole ruccus. I must have been in such deep sleep that even my mother’s loud scream did not wake me up. Whether the snake was poisonous or not I was not told. My mother was ofcourse very frightened to sleep by herself in that house that night so the following morning she went to look for a tire to burn in the house incase there was more snakes. Since that day we always burnt rubber in the hut when we went for a visit.
I will write a part two of how I met with a snake on my way to school in the village when I was 8 years of age.
If you have ever had a scary encounter with a snake leave a comment down below.
