"Kate K"

Kate K. crawled, hand over hand, and knee, and then knee.  Hissing, spitting, her
Aladdin Head rocking back and forth...and the snack drew back.  She feared it would strike; that she would die on this bridge, fall through open spaced floor-boards.  Bounce through the rapids racing beneath this dangled space.  Become a swallowed gulp down the throat of the rushing waters.

But she didn't back off; couldn't back off! She was going to make it over this bridge or die!  She was tired of "backing off".  Tired of being seen as old and therefore being scene as "not able".   The memory of those classroom-childhood days of triumphs beat back her fear.  Beat back reason.  Quickened the beat of her heart and answered a youthful, resounding cadence!  Kate crawled in the memory of crawling into those art classrooms.  Those days of fingers raised to her lips quieting the tattle-talers.  Those days of power over that teacher and his PHD.   And so she continued to crawl towards the snake.  Crawled balanced on the edge of death.  She didn't want to live forever if forever wasn't living!  Hand over hand, and then knee, and knee.  The snakes head remained poised in mid-air it's fangs catching a slither of light that had escaped into that dark bridge.

And then it  backed off!  Inexplicably!  Mystically!  Like a dream that makes you question reality!  Like those dark doubts that haunt the validity of memory.  The snake backed off!   It lowered it's head.  It met her eye ball to eye ball...and suddenly turned and crawled passed her!  Head and then body.  And then rattle.  Kate held her breath, and as it faded into the darkness of that part of the bridge that she had left behind, she breathed.  She exhaled, dripping the remnants of fear from her lips.  Hot spittle cooled on the back of her right hand.  Hand over hand, then knee, and knee.  She crawled toward the light at the end of the tunnel.  Towards the opening of that dark bridge.

The hands of her youthful companions laughed at how her eyes blinked and squinted in the light, one of them saying "Let me help you up, Granny."  His strong hands pulled her to her feet.  Like the snake, her head dipped and then snapped forward for the bite.  "I'm not your Granny!" Kate hissed.  She shoved passed him, walking further into the light.