Daily Flash Fiction Challenge

I shouldn’t be hiking in the mountains alone… never a good idea. Sad to say, I have no one to go with, having just gotten divorced. The trail is a bit challenging: winding, uneven. I am wearing substantial hiking boots and long pants; I brought a knife but forgot my walking stick.

I stop to rest under the shade of a mesquite, take a drink from my water bottle, and look out over the beauty that is Arizona even in the scorching heat.

A man approaches from the other direction; he is dressed in shorts and Birkenstocks, no socks. Kind of cute, about my age and tall. We acknowledge each other. At the same instant, I hear what sounds like a rattle.

The snake strikes Mr. Right on his bare calf and he crumbles to the ground; the rattler slithers off having completed his task.

“Oh my God! I’ve been bit.”

I get out my cell phone to call 911 but have no signal. “Sorry, no signal.”

“And I don’t have my phone with me. Or water. What was I thinking?”

The snake bite is already looking nasty. I drag him over to the shade of the tree and share my water. As fate would have it, there’s not another soul in sight.

“Can you drag me to the road? Maybe someone will see us.”

“No offense but you weigh too much.” I remember my first aid class…sort of. “I have another idea if you’ll trust me.”

I get out my trusty knife.

“Do I have a choice?”

Death…I keep that to myself.

I lance the wound, suck out the poison and spit it out. Either we’ll both die or, if not, maybe we’ll go to dinner after the emergency room.