Julietta slithered her way from one end of the kitchen counter to the other following the sweet scent of the ripe mangoes. Something in her snake brain could not resist the pull of that aroma. She began to shiver slightly all over as she neared her objective. She could not recall ever having smelled something like that and wasn’t exactly sure what it was. She must have it.
Her Grandmother had warned her that such things existed, things to which she was already addicted. Her grandmother said that the consensus among Angel Snake scholars was that certain fruits had been present and consumed on a daily basis millennia ago in The Garden, before the unfortunate incident.
Julietta took deep breaths to calm her nerves and pressed ahead, but the breaths served only to increase her desire for whatever it was.
Finally she saw what she knew must be the source of the aroma—a lovely green, pink, red, yellow, orange fruit lying there on the counter like some ordinary apple or lemon. Clearly, it was food for the gods.
She should have held back, considering the fruit was not precisely hers. Vivian might have some special purpose for the fruit. Julietta should have waited until it was offered. She should have at least asked. Alas, none of these thoughts even flitted through her small brain, not the conscious part anyway.
Julietta simply forged ahead with her mouth wide open. As her extended fangs touched the skin, she sank them deeply into the soft sugary flesh. Juice shot into her mouth and into her brain calling up memories and experiences she herself had never had. She could not stop herself and ate and ate and ate until the sticky pulp covered her dark skin and bloated her belly. She could not stop until it was all consumed. Even then she continued to lick the pit and pick off the remaining strings.
The crime scene was bloodied with the orange syrup, and Julietta lay in the middle in a drugged stupor.
When the viciousness of her attack on the fruit slowly dawned on her, shame crept in with it. Any minute Vivian would come in to make coffee. Julietta’s life would be over. Vivian would surely cast her out into the cold. And they had been making such progress on the pots for her next exhibit.
The overhead light’s sudden flash blinded Julietta. She squeezed her eyes shut as it to fend off what was to come.
Vivian let out a whoop and then laughed, “Oh I see you found the mango. I thought you might like it.”
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