I had a weird dream (OK, that was stupidly obvious). I dreamt my oldest daughter and I had somehow procured a thing that looked like one of those old map drawer cases – the wooden ones. And it was crossed with that “lazy susan” technology that has become a common upgrade in corner cabinets in kitchens, so the wooden draws spun out instead of pulled out.
What do you think the cabinet was for?? It was a multi-layer terrarium for nocturnal reptiles! Yes, for some reason we decided we wanted an entire reptilian high-rise in our house. Each level of this thing held (supposedly) different types of creatures appropriate for that drawer – the drawers were stocked with crickets/bugs, dirt, and some foliage. On top of this structure was a pond with, of course, amphibious reptiles in it.
As I opened various drawers, a diverse array of creatures would scurry/slither to the back of the drawer. I remember talking with my daughter and wondering why in the world we would acquire such a creepy thing. I thought the pond was kind-of cool, but it had a blue and yellow snake swimming in it. As all dreams go, I just HAD to put my hand in the water to “pet the cute, potentially poisonous snake” and what do you think happened? Yep. He bit me.
I pulled my right hand out of the water, declaring to my wife that this snake just bit my hand. I remember telling her how I really didn’t know what half these creatures were, and figured because the snake was brightly colored, there was a chance it might be poisonous. She was not thrilled.
My hand started to tingle, and I looked down at the bite marks, which were fairly deep punctures, but not too big. Two holes on either side of the back of my hand, just below the knuckle of my forefinger, and two more closer to the back side of my wrist. The ones on my knuckle were just starting to become inflamed, and I watched the crimson blood start to well-up in the holes. I was calm, but I was sure there was venom, and it was working its way somewhere.
My alarm went off, and I woke up . Of course I looked at my hand and there was nothing there… whew.