birthday present

it was sarah's twentieth birthday. her boyfriend woke her up that morning by bringing her a cupcake and wiping the frosting above her ear. "happy birthday" he whispered, and she laughed and he laughed and they kissed.

she went to the bathroom to wash and get ready for the day. her boyfriend laid down again and started rolling a joint. when she came back to their bedroom, he was sitting crosslegged carefully rocking the paper full of marijuana back and forth with his thumbs and middle fingers. she leaned against the doorway and watched him.

"you've become really good at that."

"thanks," he laughed. "it's an esstential skill really, like changing a tire."

"like changing a tire," she yawned. "do you want some coffee."

"wait, i'm almost done." he eagerly licked the gum of the paper. with a barely perceptable motion of his fingers sealed the joint. "do you have your lighter?"

"it's on the nightstand." he grabbed the lighter and lit the joint.

"the best part of waking up." he said. he laid on the bed and inhaled and exhaled a large cloud of smoke. "come over, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on."

"okay," she walked over and laid down next to him and accepted the joint. she took a small puff and than a large one.

"so tell me, twenty. how do you like it?"

"well, the first few minutes have been okay."

they laid there and smoked the joint until a thin haze seeped over them and they both coughed occaisionally.

when the joint was done she got up to make coffee. he didn't want any, he wanted to keep laying down until the sun set again and the night outside would be cold and it would make sense to stay in bed and smoke and maybe listen to a little music. she agreed with him, but she had classes.

"well than, you could probably ditch. it is your birthday."

"i can't, i've missed too many classes."

"daaayuuum." he whispered and pulled the covers over him.

she went to the kitchen and took out her favorite mug. it was big and the insides were slightly brown and on the front it had a garfield with sunglasses and in cartoony letters under it it said "cool cat". she took out the instant coffee and scooped a large spoonful into her mug and opened one of the bottom cupboards to get a pot.

when she opened it she saw curled up inside the pot a green snake. she froze and didn't breath for a minute. the snake stayed as it was, it looked like a toy. it didn't do anything, she slowly closed the cupboard and walked back to the bedroom. her boyfriend was now up and was dressed and smoking a cigarette. he was looking for something on the desk when she came in.

"there's a snake in the kitchen." he looked up from the desk, which was the messiest part of the room. she looked at a snowglobe on the desk and than looked at him and repeated her words.

"are you serious? where?"

"in the pot cupboard. it's sleeping or something." and for some reason she asked, "what are you looking for?"

"what? nothing, i was just digging through it, i dunno, i'm high." he rubbed his eyes and asked her if there really was a snake in the kitchen. she nodded and he asked her how big it was. she told him to come with her and they walked to the kitchen.

they both squatted down to the level of the cupboard and they both sighed once they were squatting. they looked at each other and than at the cupboard. he reached out to open the cupboard, but she grabbed his arm.

"put out that cigarette."

he blinked once slowly and pulled away his arm.

"why?"

"what if it irritates the snake? it might get mad and bite your or spit venom in your eyes."

"i don't think snakes have scent glands."

"don't they like, smell with their tongues or something? it flicks out and smells particles in the air."

"does it matter? snakes are badass animals. anyways, badass animals don't care about second hand smoke."

"that's not science." she said, but she didn't say anything after that.

slowly he opened the cupboard. the snake was still there. it hadn't moved at all. sarah leaned in a little bit to get a closer look. the only color it had was green, even it's eyes were green. it was so still that sarah was tempted to get a fork or knife and jab at it. she'd only seen snakes in zoos or on television, and to see one so close and in the center of where she lived she suddenly felt very paranoid.

"why is it here?" she said this, unknowningly, in a whisper.

"maybe it was lonely." he grinned at her as he did when he wanted to impress her. he took a large drag off his cigarette and brought his face to the opening of the cupboard.

"what are you doing?"

he was still grinning and he faced the snaked and blew a long stream of smoke directly at it. almost immediately the snake raised its head and flicked out its tongue.

"shit!" he slammed the cupboard shut and they both fell back, breathing heavily. they looked at each other and he started laughing.

"jesus christ," he said, still laughing. "theres a fucking snake in there."

"do you think it's still there?"

"probably, but i'm not going to open it again." he stood up and brushed nothing off his jeans.

"what are we going to do than?"

"maybe we can kill it or something. lemme go look." he threw his cigarette in the sink and went to the bedroom. sarah remained seated.

she realized that she was now twenty, and even though that it wasn't important overall the idea of having been alive two decades somewhat sobered her. she heard her boyfriend rummaging in the bedroom and she tried to imagine if they would be together her next birthday, or her twenty-second or her fortieth. for some reason now it seemed unlikely. she tried to imagine how old the snake was, how long did snakes live?

her boyfriend came back into the kitchen smoking another cigarette. he had turned on music in the bedroom and in the kitchen it could be heard as if the ipod dock was in there with them. he sat down next to her and kissed her on her temple. he whispered into her ear, "happy birthday" he kissed her again and sat next to her and held her hand.

neither one said anything after that and they sat and stared at the cupboard door. they both wondered if the snake was still there, and what it was doing, and maybe if it was hungry, or pissed off, or maybe both.