The Magical Snake by Headline Books / Zoom Into Books

The Magical Snake by Ken Cathell illustrated by Ashley Teets copyright ©2016 Ken Cathell All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents, except where noted otherwise, are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any other resemblance to actual people, places or events is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books. The Headline Kids Educational Series is a continuing series of 6 x 9 paperback books for the classroom, home school environment, parents and caregivers. The authors of these books are teachers, parents, and exceptional individuals who love children. The subject matter will be different in every book but all give inspiration to imagination and creativity. There is a learning element in every book and/or easy activity to do at home. Headline Kids celebrates children and these books will increase early learning and reading skills. To order additional copies of this book, or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Kids P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 Tel: 800-570-5951 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com www.headlinebooks.com www.headlinekids.com Published by Headline Books Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books ISBN-13: 9781882658480 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015952232 PR I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D STAT E S OF A M E R IC A

To my children, Carrie, Matt, and Seth, I will always love you!

This story took place on my horse farm located in Barboursville, West Virginia. The farm has 140 acres with about 90 acres of woodland. For my daily exercise, I would jog through the woods for an hour every day. On one particular day, as I came down the driveway to my house, a snake ran across my feet and into the pile of rocks next to the outbuilding. I thought I heard this snake say something, but as we all know, snakes don’t talk.

I walked to the back door of my house, which is the laundry room, and began to take off my sweaty clothes. All that time I smelled smoke coming from outside. I ran to the door, looked outside and saw smoke was coming from underneath the eaves of my outbuilding. I immediately called the Barboursville Volunteer Fire Department. They arrived within just a few minutes. As they were getting out of their trucks, I told them there was a snake in the rock pile next to the outbuilding. One of men said, “Don’t worry, Coach, we will take care of it.” The firemen immediately began to put out the fire. It was not that bad. They had it contained in just a few minutes. As they were getting ready to leave, one of the men brought a snake over and handed it to me. “Was this the snake you saw, Coach?” I held the snake by its tail and took a good look. I assured them this was the same snake, as it dangled lifeless in my hands.

As the firemen got in their trucks and began to leave, I carried the snake to my house.

As I entered the back of the house, I walked toward a countertop that had empty drawers beneath. I put the snake in an empty drawer and shut it.

As we all know, when an animal dies it will decay and give off a foul odor. This never happened, so I forgot about the snake being in the drawer. Three years passed. As I was putting on my jogging outfit to go for a run, I looked over at the empty drawer where I had put the snake. All at once, I remembered I had put a snake in that drawer three years ago. I walked over and looked in the drawer. Much to my surprise, there was the snake as I had left it. I decided to go ahead and take my run, then come back and get the snake and throw it away somewhere in the woods. I shut the drawer or at least I thought I had. I left it open by at least 2 inches. As I walked out the door, I felt something hit me in the butt. “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I bit you on the butt and now I’m free.” The snake headed up the driveway to the main road. Before I could get there, I heard a car go by with tires screeching. When I got to the top of the driveway, the snake was lying in the road. He had been run over by a car. I picked the snake up by its tail. His body was all bloody and his skin was a total mess. As I examined the snake, I found a piece of skin on the underneath side that was not damaged. There seem to be writing on the skin. As I looked closer, I saw these words, Made by Master Ha Ha Hee Hee in China, 1645. Knowing the Chinese people are very magical, I concluded that Master Ha Ha Hee Hee had made this snake, and somehow it made its way to the United States. All of a sudden, the snake started wiggling in my hands. I dropped it on the road, it started crawling toward the weeds. The snake said, “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I’m going now, so don’t bother me.” So I let him go on his way.

Three days went by. As I returned from jogging and started down the driveway, I noticed something lying on a large, flat rock to the right of my house. I walked toward the rock to see what it could be. The closer I got to the rock, I realized it was that snake. As I came up to the rock, the snake was lying there sunning himself. He looked brand new. His skin was all shiny and new. I asked, “How did you manage this?” The snake replied, “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I’m a magical snake, don’t you see?” “Yeah, right,” I replied. “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I can make wishes come true, as easy as 1, 2, 3!” “You’re going to have to prove it to me,” I replied. I explained to the magical snake my farm was for sale, and I had found a new home in Barboursville I wanted to buy. I needed a nice, big down payment to buy my new home. “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, here’s 100 grand and it’s taxfree.”

As I looked down in my hands, there was $100,000. Before I could thank the magical snake, he jumped off the rock and started off through the field. I yelled at him, “Will I ever see you again?” “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I’ll be there when you need me.”

Three months passed. I sold my farm and bought the new home in Barboursville. Late one evening as I sat on the back porch, the snake came crawling up to me. “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, what can I do for thee?” I explained I had sold my farm and was now living in my new home, and I didn’t need anything else. “I do have one request. I have three children and if they should ever need your help, I would appreciate it if you would help them.” “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee I can help your children all three.” I thanked the snake and went back into my house to watch TV. About 20 minutes later, my three children came for a visit. My oldest child, Carrie, was twenty-five years old at the time and my twin boys, Matt and Seth, were twentyfour years old. After talking for a while, I decided to tell them about the magical snake. You can imagine what they said, “You’re just pulling our leg, Dad, like you always have. There’s no such thing as a magical snake that talks and grants wishes.” “Okay, you don’t have to believe me.”

Three months passed. My son, Seth, who buys, sells, and collects handguns, was going to go target practice. He loaded up his Jeep Wrangler and drove out of town to a shooting range. He practiced shooting for two hours, then loaded up his Jeep and started for home. On his way, he had to cross a railroad track. As he started across the track, his left front tire slipped off the crossover and got stuck in between the rails. Before he could think of anything else to do, he noticed a train was coming down the track. All he could do was jump out of his Jeep and get out of the way. As the train came by, it knocked his Jeep totally off the track. As he examined the wreckage, it was clear his car was totally destroyed. Seth was upset with what had happened. As he turned away, something caught his eye near the tracks. A snake came crawling toward him. “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I know your dad, so you better be good to me.” In total amazement, Seth said, “Are you that magical snake my dad was talking about?” “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, what can I do for thee?” Seth explained, “I need a new set of wheels.” “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I hope you enjoy your new SUV.” All of a sudden, there was a brand-new Jeep SUV right in front of him with the keys in the ignition. Seth thanked the snake, jumped in his new SUV and drove over to my house. He showed me his new vehicle and explained how he got it. Of course, I believed him because I had already talked to the magical snake. A few minutes later, Matt and Carrie came over to the house. Seth showed them his new SUV and told them how he got it. They both said, “Seth, you traded in your old car for a new one. There is no such thing as a snake that talks and grants wishes.” Seth and I responded, “It’s okay, you don’t have to believe us.” 20

Three to four months passed. My other son, Matt, drives the big brown UPS truck. On this one particular day, Matt’s route took him way out in the country. As he was driving along, he saw a person whose car had broken down. The man had been able to get the car to the side of the road, where he had jacked it up. He crawled underneath and laid on his back to try to fix the problem, when the jack bowed and came crashing down on his chest, pinning him beneath the car. Matt stopped his truck and ran over to see if he could help. Seeing the situation that the man was in, Matt explained he did not have an extra jack in his truck to raise the car and remove him from underneath it. He also noted that since they were so far out in the country, it would take rescuers too long to get there if he called 911. They needed to do something right then. At this point, Matt got distracted by something near his truck. A snake started crawling toward him. “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I know your dad, so you better be good to me.” Totally surprised, Matt said, “Are you that magical snake that my dad and brother have been talking about?” “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, what can I do for thee?” As Matt explained the situation to the snake, he realized he needed more strength so he could remove the car from the man’s body.

“Ha ha ha, hee hee hee, your strength is now 10x3.” Matt walked over to the car, coupled his hands together and put them beneath the front bumper of the car. He lifted the car up high enough that the man was able to roll from beneath it. Matt was thankful the man’s life was saved. He thanked the magical snake, jumped back in his truck and continued his work day. When his day was finished, he drove over to my house. His brother Seth was there, so he told us what had happened. Of course, Seth and I believed his story, because we both had an experience with the magical snake. A few minutes later, Carrie came by the house. Matt repeated his story to her. Carrie’s response was, “You three are all crazy. There is no such thing as a snake that talks and grants wishes.” “Okay, Carrie, it’s all right if you don’t believe us.”

Four years passed. In the meantime, Carrie has married Brian and lives in St. Louis. They have a little two-year-old girl, Caitlyn. During a beautiful summer day, Carrie, Brian and Caitlyn were swimming in their pool. Brian said, “Carrie, there’s something I need to show you inside, it will only take a few minutes. Take Caitlyn over to the lounge chair and tell her to stay there until we come back.” Carrie walked Caitlyn over to the chair and said, “Sweetie, please stay in this chair until your dad and I come back outside.” No sooner had Brian and Carrie gone into the house, than Caitlyn, being a typical two-year-old, jumped out of the chair, ran over to the pool, and jumped in the deep end. Without a life jacket on, she sank to the bottom of the pool. In just a few seconds, Brian and Carrie came out of the house and noticed Caitlyn was not in her chair. Both parents ran to the pool. Seeing Caitlyn lying at the bottom of the pool, Brian jumped in to get her. Carrie started crying, “Please, get my baby out of the pool!”

Carrie sat down on the side of the pool as Brian brought her to the surface. He put Caitlyn in Carrie’s arms. Caitlyn’s eyes were closed and she wasn’t breathing. Carrie screamed, “Someone has to help us, my baby is in bad shape!” Just then, Carrie felt something moving to her left. As she looked, a snake was crawling toward her. “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I know your dad, so you better be good to me.” Very upset, Carrie said, “Are you that magical snake my dad and brothers used to talk about?” “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, what can I do for thee?” “It’s my baby, she is in bad shape, you have to help me.” “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, I can save your little girl, but that will be the end of me.” Nothing happened for a few seconds. Carrie shouted, “If you’re going to do something, you need to do it now.” “Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee, your little girl is going to be fine, but that’s the end of me.” Carrie looked down at Caitlyn as those big blue eyes were opening. She sat up in her mother’s lap and was breathing just fine. Carrie was so happy. She wanted to thank the magical snake. As she looked his way, he was crawling toward the other end of the pool. All of a sudden there was a cloud forming around the magical snake and he was gone. The magical snake had given his life to save Caitlyn.

When Master Ha, Ha, Ha, Hee, Hee, Hee made the magical snake, he fixed him so that when someone asked him to save a life, that would be the end of the magical snake. In all the hundreds of years he had been given to live, no one had asked him to save someone’s life until Carrie asked him to save Caitlyn.