The senior girl received the exeat from the school secretary. She had been given permission to take a sick junior girl home. She put the exeat in her uniform pocket as two of her classmates offered to see her off to the school gate. Two junior girls held the sick girl’s hands and walked ahead of the senior girl and her friends.
The senior girl stopped to have a chat with another set of friends and she informed them that she was taking a sick junior home. The junior girls and the sick girl had gotten to the gate but they had to wait for the senior girl who had the exeat so it could be presented to the gate man.
They decided to sit down under the palm tree that towered over the school gate while they chatted. The sick girl rested her head on the shoulders of one of the girls. A stalk from the palm tree fell on the shoulder of the second girl and she swiped it off with her hand. As the stalk fell to the floor, it circled round her feet. That is strange; she thought. She looked down at her feet to kick the stalk away and saw a thin long black snake at her feet. She screamed. The two girls and the sick girl jumped on their feet and ran.
The gate man ran towards them on hearing their screams. The girls pointed towards the location where they sat but the snake had slithered into a tiny hole in the ground. The experience remained indelible in the mind of the girl who had had the encounter with the snake and she made a mental note never to sit under palm trees.
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