Having decided that the fire technique isn’t working – miraculously there wouldn’t even be any fire at all – the villagers gave up. At least five people were known to be the victims of the snake.
A twenty year old boy who had come from the city to visit his grandma. He’d just been strolling by with his headphones on. When he saw the beautiful peaches on that tree he paused the song and walked on the bush. He was new in the village and there’d been no one to warn him off there. He didn’t get the chance to climb the tree or jump and catch the peach. That’s because he felt teeth dig in his left leg above the ankle. His scream alerted the villagers out of the near huts. They pulled his fallen body out of the bush before the snake could inflict more damage.
Another victim had been a boy of eight years. He was playing soccer with three friends. A bad pass from him made the ball to bounce all the way to the bush. The boys hissed immediately, like a snake. They all looked at the one who passed badly.
“Go fetch it,” the ball owner cried. The boy who passed badly swallowed loudly and froze, but the ball owner shoved him to the direction of the bush. “I want my ball!”
The boy who passed badly looked at his other two friends for saving. But he only saw Senko because Tibby, the other playmate, had vanished.
“I want my ball!” Piba, the ball owner, cried again. The boy who passed badly, Boonk, had no choice but to get in the bush and get the ball. Who else his father would beat him. And Boonk didn’t want that.
“Hey!” A man shouted from far behind, but Boonk’s feet were already in the bush. He ran, took the ball, turned, and tried to run out. “Ah!” He fell, the ball slipped from his hands and it tumbled out of the bush. “Ah!” he yelled again, and crawled out of the bush while crying. The man from far behind ran to the boys.
“He went in for the ball,” Senko told him.
“Stupid boys,” the man said. “You should’ve used a stick or something. Never go there.”
Boonk laid on the ground, oozing blood and tears. They carried him home.