Stopping dead in my tracks;
arrested by the sound. Rattles
filled with blistering desert air.
A huge diamond back rattler
was coiled ready to strike. It
didn’t take kindly to me invading
its territory. Panic set in; beginning
to shake. Knees turned to mush.
Any swift movement would bring
a strike. I cautiously backed
away. Finally separated by twenty
feet or more, I had made the right
decision.
My mind was blank and my stomach
was in my throat. Where she had, I
staggered back to camp, to change
my shorts.
