The Serpent in the Pool

When first we moved on into the house

They said that we wouldn’t last,

The locals told us nobody had

Of the many who’d left in the past.

We asked if the house was haunted, but

They said that it’s not, ‘It’s cool!’

The reason nobody stayed, they said,

Was the serpent that lived in the pool.

 

The ‘pool’ it seemed was the small lagoon

That was not so far from the house,

‘You’ll notice that there’s never a rat,

You’ll not see a single mouse!’

It seems the serpent came out at night

And fed on the rodents there,

‘You’d better keep all the windows shut,

And jam the doors with a chair.’

 

We settled in and we laughed at that,

‘They must believe I’m a fool!

I haven’t found anyone out there yet

Who has seen this thing in the pool.

It’s only a superstition, something

Handed down from the past,

They love to shiver and peddle gloom

In the hopes we’ll be aghast.’

 

We sauntered down and we took it in,

The water was calm and still,

And willows, myrtles and evergreens

Were set in this sweet idyll,

‘I think that I’m going to love it here,

It’s peaceful and quiet,’ said Cass,

I didn’t mention the snaking trail

That I’d noticed, deep in the grass.

 

She questioned me when I barred the doors,

And shut all the windows tight,

‘You’re not afraid of the serpent, Jack?’

She laughed, and I said ‘Not quite!

There’s gnats about in the midnight air

And I don’t want them in here.’

She laughed again, ‘That’s a good excuse,

I’m sure to believe you, dear!’

 

Cass would sleep like a log each night,

Would sleep ‘til the break of day,

But I would wake to the slightest scrape,

To a Hoot-Owl, hunting its prey.

I heard a sound on the patio

Like something slithering there,

A tapping sound on the window pane

And the movement of a chair.

 

It got to the point I couldn’t sleep,

I’d lie there, listening,

Awake to the slightest sound out there,

The barest rustling,

I’d keep a shovel beside the door

Get up, and sit in fright,

Holding my breath, and waiting for

Its visit, every night.

 

I opened the door one moonless night

And the monster slithered in,

A forked tongue flickering out in front

And cold eyes full of sin,

I slammed the shovel down on its neck

And the head just fell away,

While the rest just coiled through the open door

And the blood came out in a spray.

 

I must have got it all over me

So I should have washed my hands,

But somehow, some of the serpent’s blood

Got over the pots and pans,

I dumped the body out in the woods

Hid deep in the winter grass,

Then cooked a breakfast fit for a Queen

For the love of my lady, Cass.

 

I should have known about serpent’s blood

I should have been more than wise,

For Voodoo tells us that serpent’s blood

Will make you grow snakes inside,

So Cass came down with a fever then

And she moaned and cried, ‘Enough!’

She said, ‘There’s something a-move in there,

That’s slithering round my gut.’

 

I tended her for a week or more

Put a cold compress on her brow,

Trying to get her fever down,

I wouldn’t have done that now;

The seventh morning I checked on her

And she called out, ‘Don’t come in!’

I saw her there on the bedroom floor,

She’d slithered out of her skin.

 

I stepped aside as she tried to slide

On out through the open door,

She moved like a snake, covered in scales,

I watched her in shock, and awe,

She slithered down to the old lagoon

And disappeared in the reeds,

And that was the last I saw of Cass

I swear, and my heart, it bleeds.

 

They’ve got me locked in a prison cell

As they think I’ve done her in,

They went to look why she wasn’t there

But they only found her skin,

They think I’m some sort of monster

That I’m mad, or merely a fool,

I keep on saying they’ll find her,

She’s a serpent, down in the pool.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

This is another fantastic story voiced from the lips of poetry.

I really loved the following:

"The seventh morning I checked on her
And she called out, ‘Don’t come in!’
I saw her there on the bedroom floor,
She’d slithered out of her skin."

Great job!

[Glen Yumang Manese]

Interesting of as story...the tall tale in the lines of this one...but an enjoyable read about serpents and seems karma came back with Cass turning into a snake and you(character) going to jail for killing it in the first place...never trust varmints...since day one...that's why they have no legs...cause a whole mess of things...not getting off the story line...good to read you...

[TL Boehm]

WOW! What often amazes me about your work is the unpredictable endings - your chill factor is so consistent but I'm never able to guess the outcome. Love the descriptions of the pool in this.

[Baby Ricochet]

If I could turn into anything it would be a shark because I love Sushi so much. This was a great story. Creepy with the chick turning into a snake and leaving her skin on the floor.

[A Soap Mess Stories]

Very entertaining ... didn't expect the ending ... great story ...

[Keith]

I reckon you had a lot of fun writing that one, great entertaining read with awesome visuals. Bit close to the bone for me, got bitten by a dugite (WA snake) in our pool yard when living in Perth, spent a long weekend in hospital.

[Patricia B. Hepler]

Deliciously scary!
'...I opened the door one moonless night
And the monster slithered in,
A forked tongue flickering out in front
And cold eyes full of sin,..'

~pat

[Betty]

Wow, you just never cease to amaze me David. What a treat!! It was scary as hell and heartbreaking, but VERY VERY interesting, i just couldn't stop reading it :) .

[Tate Morgan]

Now that's a story long in the tooth