"That is awesome! Where did you find it?" Christopher let the huge black snake slide up his arm as it slithered off Eric's. The other boy had pulled the squirming creature out of his backpack after the six other Webelos scouts sharing this big tent had rolled out their sleeping bags. Easily six feet long and thicker than their legs, the snake had glossy black scales on top with a pattern of pinkish and black scales on the belly.
Eric, a dark-haired 13 year-old with prominent teeth bound up in silver braces, grinned as he watched his prize slide around Christopher's neck. "When I went to take a piss. It was just coiled up on a branch, and slid right down my arm when I tried to touch it."
"It sure isn't afraid of people." Liam, a skinny, copper-haired boy, extended his arm out to touch Christopher's, creating a bridge that the snake followed as it flowed around one boy's limb to the other. All seven boys were mostly the same age, as Webelos scouts were transitioning from Cubs to Boy Scouts. Perry, a chunky kid with blonde hair, was the youngest at twelve and a half, while Jerrod, a tall slender 14 year-old with chocolate brown skin and a short Afro was the oldest. The remaining boys were Robbie and Ronald, twin 13 year-olds with identical features but different styles of brown hair. All seven had gathered in a loose circle in the middle of the tent, touching wrists as the snake slithered from boy to boy.
Jerrod grinned as the snake moved from Perry to him, coiling up his arm and around his neck and head, then around his chest and back, and finally moving down his other arm to Robbie. "I think it likes us! I wonder why it doesn't just crawl off back into the woods?"
Ronald watched a little apprehensively as the snake explored his twin brother's body, only reluctantly allowing the creature to move to his arm. The cool scales slid over his skin, and he was a little surprised how heavy the snake was. "Uh, you sure this one is not poisonous?" He was more than a little scared, but was not about to be the only one here unwilling to touch a snake.
Eric nodded. "Yeah, it's totally safe. I think it's an Eastern Mud Snake. They are supposed to be scared of humans. I don't know why this one is so friendly." He watched the snake slither all over each of his friends. "It's a shame that people always freak out over snakes - most are harmless to us, and they are important to the ecology."
Ronald was glad when it moved on to the next boy. "So it won't eat us, right?"
"Nah. They eat frogs and fish and salamanders - stuff like that." Eric was glad when the snake found its way back to him and coiled up his arm. "They swallow their prey while it's still alive."
"Cool! I wish I could see that!" Robbie grinned at his brother's expression. "Coe on, Ronnie! You know it would be awesome!"
One wish. Above the boys, unnoticed in the moderate light of the electric lantern, what looked like a large firefly with a curious purple glow hovered in the back corner. Puck grinned, already thinking of ways to grant that boy's desire to see the snake eat. None of them pleasant. But it was too soon. He needed something or the others.
Eric let the massive snake slither back around again, curious that it seemed to spend more time and covered more of each boy's body. Jerrod grinned through sliding coils as it wrapped around his head and neck, slipped down around his chest and back, and finally coiled down his arm to repeat the exploration of Robbie. "Wish there were more of them like this." The others nodded their heads, except for Robbie, who was thinking one was more than enough for him.
Puck laughed, the sound a bright tinkling like bells that drew the boys' attention to the fairy. It did not matter if they saw him, or even if they realized what he was, at least not any more. The wish was made and he could act!