Rabbit Screams

Just a simple story.
About a girl.

A southern girl. Living in Georgia. You can decide exactly where.
But you need to know that the place is hot. Humid. It's in the dead of summer.
It's a really small town. A lot of dirt roads. A lot of pine trees.
A true story.
This girl had spunk. She was fearless. She was inquisitive. And a little odd.
She had kind of a big forehead. And big eyes.

One day she was bored. Wanted to get out of the house. She decided to go for a little walk.
She went down to the creek and started throwing rocks. As little kids do.
There was a moment when she was throwing rocks that she realized she wasn’t alone.
Looked around a bit. Didn’t see anyone.
She still felt a little strange. Felt a presence.
Then out of the blue, she heard a scream.
She turned around and just a few feet away a rabbit was being eaten by a snake. The rabbit was screaming its head off.
Don’t know if you know this, but when rabbits are being attacked they scream.

The snake had half of the rabbit's body inside its mouth. The fangs were ripping the sides of the rabbit, trying to swallow. Trying to push the rabbit deeper inside its mouth. Trying to consume the rabbit.

This snake, who was not thicker than an onion, was eating a rabbit that was the size of a head of cabbage.

The girl stood there in total disbelief, watching this happen. Hearing the rabbit screaming for its life.

The tail is inside.
The hind legs.
The stomach.
The front legs.
The neck.
Still screaming.
The ears.
Still screaming.
The eyes.
Still screaming.
The snout, the nose.
Still screams.

Finally, the snake had the rabbit fully inside its body.
And the interesting thing. The sick thing,
the girl still heard the rabbit screaming.
Then,
Silence.

The snake sat not but ten feet away from the girl with the outline of a rabbit inside its slim body

The girl could see the body pulsating, processing, digesting this being.

Then stillness.

The girl couldn’t move. Wanted to. Wanted to run home.
But couldn’t.
She was trapped.
Trapped just as the rabbit was trapped in the gut of the snake. But she was trapped in her own fascination.