Polly has a pet snake. His name is Monty.

Monty is a large snake called a python.

Monty loves to be held.

Polly adores Monty so much.

Polly and Monty do everything together.

They play hide and seek.

They watch movies.

They have tea parties.

They even take naps together.

Her daddy lets her be around Monty all the time.

However, there are important rules Polly had to learn about caring for Monty.

Rule 1: Polly is not allowed to feed Monty. Not until she's much older.

Rule 2: Polly is not allowed to be alone with Monty without her Daddy watching.

Rule 3: Polly must always wash her hands after playtime with Monty

Lots of people and children are afraid of Monty because he is strange.

But not Polly. Polly loves Monty with all her heart.

And she hopes they can be best friends forever.

#fiction #childrensbook #pets #snakes

Thomas ran around in circles.

Eventually he would fall on his back.

Then get back up and start again.

Thomas' friend, James, asked him why.

I am playing Ring Around the Rosie.

"By yourself?" James asked.

"No one wanted to play with me" Thomas replied.

"I'll play with you," Said James.

"Thank you," Said Tom.

Gary missed the imaginary friends he used to have as a child in stately old Victorian home, with whom he would spend the nights making up scary stories and whispering beneath the plush blankets until the morning rustling of his parents banished his friends to silence.

When he later learned the police pulled no fewer than a dozen bodies from the crawlspaces in between the walls of the old house, Gary wept with unfathomable grief, partly out of guilt for his complicity in the crimes, however unwittingly, and partly because even now, he missed the voices still.

My mind wandered to the past, reminding me of how peaceful the rocking water used to feel and sound, but in a blink, I'm ripped back to my current reality by the cold breeze and swelling pain in my feet coming from the hardening cement. My eyes pleaded with him, but he stared back with no remorse as I took one last gulp of air.