The Snake Charmer.

A Story by Deeksha

Little Melanie was the sweetest girl that you could ever come across. That’s what every person believed after they met her. She was the loveliest eight-year-old, her teacher would say. She was quite gifted as well. She played the piano, and she played it well. She had already performed quite a few concerts, aside the many recitals. She would compose, sing and play! Her compositions would never take her more than fifteen minutes. A gift indeed. She was very talented academically as well. She loved that she was Class Monitor. She had been elected. She had been elected for the third time! Everybody loved Melanie, and Melanie loved everybody.

Half way through third grade, Melanie’s father was transferred. He worked for the Military. They had to move to a new town, with new people. Melanie wasn’t too happy about it. She would have to leave all her friends, and she would have to leave the Library, which was one of her favourite places. The sweet Librarian let her keep the book that she was reading though, Gulliver’s Travels and she didn't forget to thank her. She’d have to leave Fifi, her German Shepherd. But she'd see him again, she was going to leave her with her Gran-Gran’s.

She was sad, but wasn’t disappointed. Melanie was always positive, and looked forward to the future. She thought of the many things she could do in the new town. She wanted make new friends, she wanted new pets, she wanted to see the new Library to name a few.

They moved.

“Wow! This house is huge!” gasped Melanie. “I love the garden! There are so many pretty butterflies! There’s a Cat too! Can we keep him Mommy? Can I call him Catty?”

“Sure Sweetheart," she smiled. "but don’t play around in the garden too much for now. The place is filled with weeds. That place needs mending.”

“Alright Mommy.. You seem like you need some help with that box. Maybe I could carry it for you? I am a lot stronger than I would seem to be. Honest.” She looked at her Mommy with her big brown eyes, nodding her head like a bobble-head toy.

“That’s okay, Sweetie, you don’t have to. Mommy's pretty strong too." She put the box down, knelt down and smiled at her daughter. Melanie was the happiest part of her life. "Why don’t you go into the living room and read that wonderful book of yours. You could also think of how you’re going to decorate your new room!", she suggested.

That excited Mel, she wanted to decorate.

“Okay Mommy, but if you need any help, you know where you can find it!”

“I will, Sweetheart. I will.”

From across the street, the Snake Brothers were watching. “They seem like a rich bunch.”

“They sure do.”

Jonas and Fred were known as the Snake Brothers. They started off as petty thieves fifteen years ago, right after their parents died . Today, thieving and kidnapping were one of their many expertise.

“Is this the one?” Fred asked.

“It sure is brother. It sure is. Time to get even, again.”

Jonas was walking along the street, trying to figure out the basics: how many children there were in the house, how many people , what each member did. Melanie was following Catty. Catty kept running away from Melanie. Melanie supposed that Catty didn’t like humans, but she wanted to change that, so she followed. She saw Jonas.

“Hello Mister.” She smiled at him.

“What do you want kid?” Jonas didn’t like children.

“I’m sorry, Sir. You don’t seem like you’re too happy to be speaking to me. Maybe we can speak sometime else, sometime when you aren’t this cranky." She paused and gazed straight into his grey, pain-filled eyes. She said, "You don’t seem like you’ve been getting too much sleep lately.”

Jonas, apparently perturbed by the warmth in her eyes and quite startled at the reality of the statement she made, said “Yeah. I haven’t. Why does that bother you? Are ya' gonna do something about it? Are ya'?”

“I really don’t get you. Mommy says that if you’re nice to people, they’re nice to you. You are the first person that I’ve met who proved my Mommy wrong.”

Still uncomfortable with her gaze, he apologised. He just wanted her out of his face, frankly. “Yea, yea. I’m sorry kid. Let’s just forget all this happened and let’s be on our way, a'right?”

“It’s alright, Mr. Stranger Sir. Did you see where Catty went?”

“What’s the heck's a Catty?”

“The big li’l kitty cat I was following!”

“Oh. Nope. I ain't seen on of those.”

“Would you help me look for her, Sir?”

“Nope. I don’t want to..” Looking at the girl’s face, her warm brown eyes, for reasons unknown, he agreed “..but, I will”

“That’s wonderful. He’s a cute big li’l cat. He’s white, at least he’s supposed to be white. I think he likes to play in the mud too much. Strange for a cat, isn’t it? I mean, I’ve seen a lot of dogs playing in the mud. Fifi would play in the mud all the time. But I’ve never seen a cat playing in the mud, maybe I’ll get to see Catty do it. I was thinking of renaming him to Browny or maybe…”

“SHUT THE HELL UP KID! I’m helping you look for your stupid cat so that you’d just leave me alone. “ he screamed.

Little Melanie was so frightened, she was shaking. Her eyes had started to tear.

Jonas had made many kids cry before, and it had never bothered him. But it did this time.

“Oh, Come on! Don’t cry man. God! Okay.. Okay.. look, I’m really sorry.. A'right?”

“You could’ve just told me that you wanted me to leave, Sir. Why did you have to scream at me? That was mean.”

“I told you I’m sorry, didn’t I?”

“Mommy says that saying sorry doesn’t help. You have to mean it.” Her eyes were still teary.

“But I do mean it! Look , I don’t usually hang out with kids. So, I don’t really know how they are. Let’s look for Catty now.. A'right?”

“Okie-dokie Mister.” She was smiling already.

“So, uh, what did you say your name was?”

“But Sir, you never asked me for my name.”

“A'right smarty-pants, what’s your name?” He smiled.

She giggled. She thought smarty-pants sounded funny. She was starting to like this stranger. Her first new friend. “Hi, I’m Melanie, but you can call me Mel. Pleased to meet you Sir.” Melanie smiled and even curtsied!

“Haha.. Very funny” he commented.

“But I’m not trying to be funny Sir. What’s your name?”

“Jonas.”

“You have a nice name Sir. Can I start calling you that, or do you prefer me calling you Sir”

“Whatever kid, I don’t really care.”

“Alright then, I’ll call you Jonas.”

“Look there kid, there’s that fat lump of mud.”

“Oh yeah! There he is. You are good at finding cats. Is this your job?”

“Yep. This is my job. I look for cats. Sheesh.”

“Wow! Really?” She was truly amazed.

“Of course not. Don’t you ever stop talking?”

“You’re funny Jonas and I really like you.”

“I wish I could say the same, kid.” Jonas wouldn't ever tell her he did. In fact, he wouldn't even accept it.

“Do you know where we could find a gardener, Jonas? Mommy won’t let me play in the garden until we did. She says there are too many weeds. Weeds are harmless, I want a gardener to tell her that.”

Jonas thought for a while. The family was definitely rich. The girl was friendly. It was the perfect opportunity. A kidnap. To get even with the rich.

“Kid, well, I've got good news I guess. I’m a gardener.”

“Wow! That’s wonderful! I think you should come home and talk to my Mommy. I’m sure she’ll like you.” Saying that, she began to pull him by his finger in the direction of the place she now called home.

“Whatever kid. Let's just go.”

This was the perfect setting. Just perfect. New people, friendly kid and the need for a gardener. Perfect.

The lady of the house agreed, and quite happily. She even agreed to house him in the little cottage in the backyard. Jonas agreed. Now it will be time. Time to get even. Again.

There was this vengeance inside of him, he hated the rich. It wasn’t really his fault, it was the way the society was. Cruel. Cruel to the unfortunate. The many struggles in the life of the Snake brothers made them more than just selfish, it made them evil. They would go to any bound to get what they want, vengeance.

“Jonas? Hello? What’re you dreaming about?”

“Nah.. I wasn’t dreaming.”

“Yes, you were! I saw it in your eyes, you can't hide it from me." She smiled.

“Shut up, I wasn’t dreaming.. a'right?”

“Are you hurt Jonas?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“..because, I can see pain inside your eyes”

“Shut up, kid.. lets show you the park”

It was the first time, the first time that someone had understood Jonas. Ever. His brother didn’t understand him either. He treated him like dirt. Melanie did bring joy to him. He thought it was very queer. It had never happened before. More so, because he hated children. He hated everyone and everything other than himself. He was the epitome of selfishness and proudly so.

He was planning. His brother would be going out of town for a month. He would have to carry the entire operation on his own. That was good. He didn’t have to share. He decided not to tell his brother about it. Perfect. It was almost as if meant to be. He was smiling.

“See? You’re at it again! You are dreaming! I knew it.. So, watcha thinking of? Is it about Catty? Ooh, did I tell you about Mousey? He lives in the house too. He’s a mouse. He doesn’t have a tail though.”

“I wasn’t dreaming and shut with that incessant yapping of yours.. will ya'? I don't care about your cat, your mouse, your dog and whatever other creature you own!”

Melanie was hurt. Tears started to roll down that cheek of hers leaving Jonas truly sorry, for the first time.

“Aww.. I’m sorry kid, I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

Melanie just looked at him with very teary eyes. Her eyes were really beautiful, thought Jonas. It made him feel worse that he hurt her.

“Oh, come on! You’ve gotto forgive me! You can’t have me feeling sorry like this forever! I'm really sorry Mel. Forgive me.”

She saw truth in his eyes.

“Okay.." she smiled "..so does this park have lizards?”

Her smile really got to Jonas. There was something about it that made him want to smile too. He didn’t know what that something was, but, he’d started to like it now. He sat down on a bench, thinking, as Melanie went around looking for lizards. He was devising a plan. He was thinking of the ransom. He was thinking of where he’d house her. He was thinking very hard. He saw a Frisbee, getting bigger and bigger by the second. Then, it hit him. He had a bump on his head, and an ingenious plan. He was very proud. He felt great. He’d finally get what he wanted, again. Revenge.

On the way back home, Melanie had Blizzard the lizard and Jonas had her. He had decided that he would play with her and win her heart. There was this feeling in him. It was really scary, he thought. He didn’t want to hurt the little girl. He really didn’t, which is why he decided that he wouldn't even let her know that she’s kidnapped. He wont be able to face himself if he’d hurt that child in anyway, he knew that.

He asked Melanie to help him with moving into the cottage. She agreed, very happily. She told him how strong she was and made Jonas smile again.

There wasn’t much stuff to move. They were done in a little over two hours.

Jonas was having second thoughts. It was the first time. Another first, with Melanie. But, he shrugged those thoughts away. He knew he had to do this. They were rich. They deserved it. He wanted them to feel the way he did. He wanted them to pain.

“Since you seem to be day dreaming, can I play the piano?”

“I don't think you've noticed, but I don’t have a piano.”

“I do! It’s kept in the attic for now. Come on, let’s go!”

“A'right.. but you’ll have to make a song for me.”

She pulled him by his finger again and guided him up the stairs.

“I’m already working on it.”

Melanie pulled him upstairs and dusted off the very dusty piano and the seat. She sneezed a couple of times. Jonas laughed at the way she sneezed and offered to take over. After the seat was clean, Melanie didn’t forget to thank him and sat down. He could only smile back.

She started to play. It was the most beautiful music he’d ever heard. To think, that li'l girl who he had met just a few hours ago had composed it all. For him. She sang. She serenaded. It was beautiful. When she was done, she turned around to look at Jonas. She saw a tear trickle down his cheek. The song was called, “My Best Friend” and it was meant for him. That was it. It was then, that he decided he’d give up all of it. The revenge, the killing, the thieving, everything wrong. He’d live as a gardener, a good man, a good gardener. He looked at Melanie. She was quite a charmer, he thought. A Snake Charmer.