The Huge Magical Snake Problem

Mindless

He found no spare change around the booth itself, so he ambled over to a bus stop nearby. It took quite a long time, but he eventually found enough to make a single 3-minute call.

The phone rang four times before someone picked it up.

" Hello?" a groggy feminine voice said.

" Hi," Harry said. "I'm so sorry to be calling you at this time of night, but I really need some help."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry could hear her sit up straight in her bed as she sighed. "Who is this, again?' He could hear the exhaustion in her voice, and he felt unbearably guilty. This was a family that was just settling into a new life in the UK, and he was bothering them in the middle of the night.

"It's Harry. Remember, I helped Vickie find you guys a few days ago? In the store?" He internally cringed, hoping not to get a terse rejection in response to his words.

"Oh, Harry!" Some tension went out of his shoulders after hearing her familiarity. "You were the one with the green eyes and black hair, right?"

"Yes, I was," he said respectfully.

Harry heard shuffling in the background from another person. Someone spoke, but he couldn't make out the words being said. Gwen responded with, "It's Harry. Remember, he's one of the people that helped us find Vickie?" Harry assumed she was speaking to Nigel, her husband. He spoke again, seeming to ask a question. "He's saying he needs help, but I'm not sure what for."

Harry cleared his throat, self-conscious. "I'm... a bit lost. I'm in the middle of London, without money, and I'm not sure where anything is."

There was a pause where he could tell her tired brain was cranking its gears. "I guess it is quite easy to get lost in a city like that. But, why didn't you ask the police department?"

Harry had no good answer for that question, and he felt even more guilty for saying "It's a complicated story."

He could hear both Gwen and Nigel quietly conversing in the background. Nervously awaiting their response, Harry brushed one of his ankles slightly with the tip of his shoe. Their almost silence went on for quite a while. At least, it felt like a long time.

Suddenly, Gwen spoke into the phone. "Hey Harry, are you still there?"

Harry almost nodded, but he realized they wouldn't be able to see him. "Yes, I am."

"Alright, Nigel and I have decided that we will come and pick you up. Can you give us a landmark, or some street sign?"

He scanned the area around him, and he noticed a sign with a name on it. Carefully enunciating the words, he repeated the name into the phone.

Once he was done, Gwen took a few seconds to write the street name onto a piece of paper. "Great. Okay, once we find out where this street is, we'll be right over."

Harry felt a slight sense of relief. However, there was another hurdle to jump over. "Thank you so, so much. I'm so sorry to be bothering you right now, especially since you're new to the area." He rose up a hand and hesitated before speaking another sentence. "You also need to know that I have a... pet, and a few belongings with me."

"Really? What kind of pet is it?" she asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.

"Erm... do you or your children have a phobia of... snakes?"

There was a pause. "No, not really. Snakes aren't my favorite, but I can handle them. My oldest daughter Honor, though - she adores them."