Serpent's Pesticide

            Wrapping his red coils around a squirming raccoon, Serpent leaned his head in close, to better view the fear lurking in his victim’s eyes. The raccoon had pursued a glimmer of gold down a dark tunnel. But at the end, he found only Serpent, a gold coin tied to the tip of his tail with a thread of black yarn.

            Serpent’s tongue extended and quivered in the air. “Now that I have you in my clutches, Raccoon, you are my new plaything.”

“Release me, serpent. It would be unwise to eat me,” said Raccoon. Though the raccoon spoke with confidence, Serpent knew he was bluffing.

            An amused glint entered his eyes. “Eat? You silly thing, I intend on doing nothing of the sort.”

            “Then let me leave. I promise not to tell of your trick.”

             “But the night has only begun. Look around my lair.” Loosening his coils, Serpent let Raccoon slightly shift his position. A yellow jug, clearly unnatural, took up half the room’s space.

            “What’s that?” Raccoon asked. He squinted his eyes as he gazed at it.

            “Pesticides, used by humans to purge unwanted attention to their plants. I liberated this jug from their possession for one express purpose.”

            “And that is?”
            “Torture. Killing for the sake of eating has grown wearisome. I need something else to pass the time, something more exotic.”

            Serpent fought back a laugh as Raccoon's face contorted in fear. “Listen, you don’t want to do this. It’s evil, pure evil.”

            “Why, thank you for the compliment. I know how difficult it must have been for you,” said Serpent. Once again, he restricted Raccoon in place, before gripping the cap of the pesticide jug with his mouth and carefully unscrewing it. He then adjusted his head, so that his fangs clenched the jug’s handle, and let a small stream of the vile liquid pool into the ground.

            “You fool! You’ll contaminate the ground water and kill us all.”

            “Relax, relax. This is not enough to cause any real damage. Now, in you go,” said Serpent. Shifting his coils, he forced Raccoon’s face near the muddy soil. He resisted with all his strength, but Serpent was too formidable.
             Raccoon’s screams echoed throughout Serpent’s burrow.