Before You Go and Tie Me up in Your Curiosity

By Sofia Argueta

I didn’t think our walk could get any more eventful, jumping the fence to get access past the “trespassers will be persecuted” sign was thrill enough.

A summer’s day, our annual late August staycation, a quaint cottage that was part of the Salvation Army’s organization. One afternoon, as the sun littered the ground, bleeding through the leaves of the tallest treetops, my siblings and I ventured out, our regular endeavour. Today was different, however. We decided it would be fun to venture into an unexplored forest. Full of energy and in my dainty pink shorts, a bright turquoise tank layered on top, I was ready to take on the elements…or so I thought.

We began our trek, and I followed the lead of my brother, sister, and brother-in-law. My brother was younger then, a college freshman, and a goofy lad who you would typically find in his bedroom, yelling over some crazy video game. My sister was the most athletic. She had always been the first to propose the idea of going out on a walk and we never doubted her ability to efficiently lead the way. My brother-in-law is a very tall guy, pale, never failing to sunburn, and stayed bugging me since day one. It was us and the elements. Not even our uncalled for interactions with really big spiders could stop us!—Well, to be fair, my sister running off in fear at the mention of a daddy long-legs on her back was just bound to happen. That was definitely not a bad omen, right?...right! With that sorted, we ventured on, a little more conscious of the ground and trees around us, not at all scared of the creatures that lurked. Nope! Just aware, just aware.

The forest was dense with trees, the expected red pines, the towering American beeches, the gangly white birches. Adorning their root collars, emerged subtle and mundane wisps of shrubbery, not quite a full thicket, as the last thing any of the wildlife could concern itself with was the basic upkeep of their home’s flora. They were hungry. Me too, me too. Either way, I persisted through this enigmatic landscape, a foreign layout, Mother Nature’s canvas, and by the swift strokes of her paintbrush, endless possibilities unfolded. The forest tended to break off into glades, vast areas where the grass stood a little taller, and our once unpaved but clear path was now almost entirely obscured. Leaves, bark, pebbles, and grass litter to duff, flattened further into the soil with our boots and sneakers, our contribution to the decomposition of fallen organic matter, each step furthering the cycle of life.

Having grown a little weary, my pace slowed, and I was trailing just behind the rest of the group. These walks were rare, and nature sure was interesting, so I looked around to take everything in. The tall trees whose tops my eyes could barely formulate, the foreign shrubbery,  berries that I probably shouldn't eat, the caw of birds hidden on branches…a big bright colourful shoelace obscured by some muck?

“Hey guys, look at this shoelace that I found!” Curiosity drove me to approach. Imagine someone out here in the middle of this forest without their shoelace? So silly!

“Sofia.”

“What?”

“That's a…”

In that instant, at the worrisome tone in my sister’s voice, my blurred vision cleared. Three feet from my face lay the last thing I would have ever imagined. The last thing I would have WILLINGLY imagined. A snake. A serpent. A basilisk. Call it what you want, but it sure was a beast so unexpected, unreal, otherworldly. I was no longer driven by my curiosity. Instead, I was running off of pure primal survival instinct; I needed to get FAR away from there.

However, it seemed that me and my brother-in-law were not on the same page. He approached the serpent boldly, a large stick in hand, more like a tree branch.

And so here's the thing, sometimes science is incapable of explaining what influences a decision. Psychologists would marvel at the case of Wojtek Fajek, my brother-in-law. What could ever drive a regular old guy to commit such an act? Oh wait. I think that's it. He was just a guy. A guy with a singular thought, a singular curiosity, a question begging for an answer. So, with his mighty staff—a generous description for the rudimentary piece of wood that he brandished, but definitely what he believed his stick to be— he approached the beast, and the beast himself remained unmoving, his fate already written in the hidden stars above. With a swift prod and a swish, the serpent no longer lay on the ground. Odd. Where did it go?

Well, that was a question whose answer I didn't have to search far to find. I looked up and time slowed. The bright shoelace was flailing through the air; not once had I seen something so out of a slapstick movie. This was absurd. My little eight-year-old body stood frozen; there was no escaping the inevitability of this snake landing on me, slithering around my head, and wrapping around my neck, choking me out. It was my time.

Now, you would think a vacation would be relaxing, and it was! Don't get me wrong. I love it when I'm surrounded by wild creatures, enthralling me as they approach, overwrought at the perplexing phenomena, at flying animals without wings. The possibility! When snakes fly! So yes, I was relaxed. I was relishing in my last few moments, those moments oh so forgiving. Slow. An eternity to ponder on about what was, what had been, what could have been.

In these last few moments, I began to say my last goodbyes. Goodbye, brother, sister, and deranged brother-in-law. Goodbye trees, goodbye forbidden berries, goodbye crisp late-summer air, goodbye spiders with abnormally long legs—thank goodness, because we never really needed you guys—goodbye world. I had wished that there was still time to see it all. Goodbye to days when I would wake up without a fear in the world, no thoughts of a wild animal leading me to my demise.

I closed my eyes, goodbye.

“WOJTEEEK!!!” my sister berated.

He chuckled, a sort of nervousness in his voice, “Heh, what?”

Not even he fully recognized the lunacy of what he had just done.

A moment passed, and I was still alive. But it was dead silent.

I opened my eyes, slowly, peering through the narrow slits of my eyelids, then in full vision. The scene was undeniable, a comically furious sister, an appalled brother observing from the edge of the path, the dumbfounded culprit a few paces in front, and a bright green, red, and yellow brute slithering back into the underbrush. I was alive, but so was that image in my head: that sickly serpent thrashing my way, and it would be…for years to come.

About the writer

Hi, my name is Sofia Argueta! I am a Grade 12 student who was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. You will never fail to find me getting into some tomfoolery, making memories with some of my favourite people. For as long as I can remember, I have loved getting lost in a good story and letting my imagination run wild. I find solace in a good book or show, cuddled up, and with a warm cup of coffee in hand. Though I also adore galavanting with my friends and going out on spontaneous adventures. I find many ways to express myself creatively, but my favourite ways are through music, art, and writing.

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