Danger: The Slithering Kind

Our parents left our Uncle in charge, and since he was two years older than my brother, it seemed to make logical sense. When he suggested we go to the river to go fishing and explained to us that they said we could not go swimming, it made perfect sense to us. So, like the Pied Piper’s followers we followed our uncle, grabbing our bamboo fishing poles to the river. Wolf River was known for its ferocity and turbulent current. Only weeks before, two boys were drowned while swimming in the river because the current was too strong. Thei

r bodies were found thirty miles down river the next day. The river was unusually high for that time of year and had overflowed the banks and made several tiny ponds, which would be perfect for fishing.

As my Uncle and I prepared the fishing poles, my brother was busy looking for the perfect spot. He returned shortly, exclaiming he found a shady spot around the bend. The three of us walked along the rocky bank until we came upon the fishing hole. We all cast our lines in the water, and within a minute or two we had a bite, but could not pull in the fish. We could not believe our luck. After fifteen minutes of feeding the fish, Eugene decided that he was going to take a walk along the river and skip stones. My Uncle insisted that he stay well away from the edge. He did not want his cousin ending up like those other boys. As Eugene went his separate way, we continued to fish. Then, all of a sudden, I had a bite, and it was a big one too. I pulled the bamboo pole from the water. I could not believe what I was seeing it looked like a snake. Were my eyes deceiving me? Not wanting to touch the snake, I swung the pole in circles until the snake was propelled with the force of hammer throw. Thinking that it was a once-in-a-lifetime achievement to catch a sn

Some topics in this essay:
Wolf River, West Virginia, Water Moccasin, Pied Piper’s, Danger Slithering, fishing hole, fishing poles, wolf river, seven-foot snake, circles snake,