The other week, I was opening up the "shop" and I noticed a very, very large black worm on the floor. My first response was to pick it up and throw it out the door. When I bent down I realized that worms don't have pointy heads and stripes around their body.

That's when it dawned on me that it was a baby snake. I thought about calling one of "the guys" that work nearby but felt silly because it was so small. Also it was moving slow, so surely I could kill it myself.

I picked up a broom and started beating it. After the first wack it raised up in a strike position so I closed my eyes and beat the hell out of it. By the look of all the holes in the drywall I must have missed quite a few times. When the head of the snake finally came off I stopped.

Then I stood there looking at it. About this time Mrs. Eunice came in. I asked her if she would like to pick it up and she said NO WAY. Then she said, that looks like a copperhead to me. Not being a snake expert, I don't know if she was right but I really didn't care. She held the broom and I held the dust pan and together we scooped it up. I could see the forked tongue sticking out of its mouth.

Once we started scooping it up, the body started to wiggle. Who knew that snakes keep going even after the head comes off. The whole thing took less than ten minutes but it seemed like hours. All day Mrs. Eunice kept telling me how they probably live in the attic and they're falling out of the ceiling vents. Now I find myself constantly staring at the ceiling.

Speaking of slimy things. I didn't have to think long about the possibility of writing Starla back. Seems that right after she wrote, she got a small payment on her trust fund, took the money, left the new "wonderful girlfriend" and is currently on the move looking for her next victim. I wonder where she will land once her money runs out.