I’m thrilled to say it’s time to dig into a Sassy Snake story!

We haven’t seen her since the Flipworld dimension, after all. That was the mission before the last mission.

 
Notes: Edited, posted by Dash on behalf of Sassy

 
Traveling on that road was hard and rough and stony. That sun kept beating down, getting hotter and hotter. My feet were sore, my back was aching and exhaustion was closing in on me. Thoughts kept filling my head about cozy little inns and cool drinks. Looking ahead of me, I suddenly saw a sign for an inn and I had to shake myself to make sure I hadn't drifted off in to some dream. The sign read, "The Snakeskin Inn, Molt Cobra, owner." I just had to stop to check it out! Sounded like the kind of place where I could get a nice cool drink and relax a while before hitting the road again.

Walking in to the inn, I couldn't help notice that it was a bit dirty and crude. "Oh well," I thought, "It'll do for what I need it for."

Taking a seat near the wall and stretching my feet out to relax them. It felt great. I had just ordered a drink and was settling back to enjoy it when I heard a loud voice boom across the room. "Hey! yu, Sweetie, yu is sitting in Big Joe's chair!"

I didn't know Big Joe and didn't know the one who was yelling, so I tried to ignore him at first. Next thing I knew I look up and this big ugly dude is standing near me, pointing his stubby finger at me. "Can't yu hear me, cutie? I said this is Big Joe's chair!"

"Oh, hi there. So, you were speaking to me then?"

"Aye, I was speaking to yu. yu be sitting in Big Joe's seat! He always uses it when he comes, so git out of it right now!"

Feigning a look all around the inn like I was looking for someone, I said, "Well, he doesn't appear to be sitting in it now. So he can't object to my using it for a while, can he?"

"Are you tryi' to get cute with me, Honey?"

"Well, I think that every girl likes to be cute from time to time." Trying to sip my drink and ignoring him, just made him fume even more.

"Me name be Gus! I be a friend of Big Joe! He always comes in here and he always sits in this chair!"

"Sounds like he might be in a bit of a rut then, huh? Might be good for him to try sitting somewhere else tonight." Moving even closer to me, he lifts me bodily from the chair. Just to bedevil him some more, I sat right back down in the same chair. Breathing like a winded rhino, he reaches for some weapon on his belt. A burly man and his two helpers came up to him from behind.

"Now, now, no more of that Gus! Haven't you caused enough trouble here tonight? Go down the road a piece and bother some other folks!" The three of them grab Gus by his arms and evict him from the inn.

Stepping back to me, the owner says: "I am indeed sorry for that mi lady. Much as I hate to agree with such a disagreeable fellow as Gus, I must confess that this is usually the chair that Big Joe sits in and he is not a person to cross. Might I show you to a more comfortable chair where your health might be extended and your happiness secured?"

I couldn't help but giggle a bit. "That's asking rather a lot from a chair, sir, but since I really don't want any trouble I'll take you up on your kind offer." He shows me to a better chair and it is more comfortable.

A couple of drinks later, I am sitting just peacefully recharging my energy and relaxing and I hear another voice. "My, my! Ye sure are a purdy lady!" I inwardly begin to groan and hope he is talking to someone else.

"Sure are purdy with all that red hair and your green eyes!" I make an audible sigh. No use fooling myself, from where I sit I am the only one here with red hair and green eyes and what is more, he is now standing beside me staring at me. He is big and a bit unkempt and he is probably heading toward being drunk.

"Thanks, sir, but I would rather just like to be alone just now."

"Alone? Ain't no fun in being alone. Tell you what, Honey, I has got a cabin up the road a piece. It's cozy and warm and we can go there and get to know each other better. What ye say?"

I leaned back in my chair and a bit farther fro him. "I say no. No thanks, not tonight anyway."

"Lots of folks'd love to come with me to my cabin." "Well, good, then you won't even miss me!" "Aw, come on, baby, let's just go there and have a drink or two."

"But I get all the drinks I need right here."

"They's just too many people round here fer me. Just you and me and that cabin, a few drinks and a cozy bed. Com'on what do ye say now?"

"I say definitely not! No way and no chance!" Reaching out, he starts to stroke my hair like he thinks it might be a magic charm to change my mind or something. Pulling roughly away from him and standing up seemed to be the wrong choices as well; since he is starting to advance on me.

He grabs hold of me in a very rough and rude way and I slap his face hard. He started backing away a bit but not much and he kept on coming toward me, so I threw my glass in his face.

"I think you better let go of me before somebody gets hurt!"

Starting to chuckle, he advances on me again. Another slap to his face and a shove against his chest didn't seem to even phase him; the knee to his groin put him down on the floor. Starting to cuss and groan, he thought about getting up and pursuing his prey when I picked up the chair, presenting it toward him.

"This is next, if you don't leave me alone! And after the chair, it's this!" My left hand drew a wicked-looking cutting knife from my belt which I brandished at him. He sat on the floor blinking at me and taking in my weapons.

I walked toward him and stopped in front of him. Taking the knife I cut some hair from his head which I took. "I like to have souvenirs. Besides you needed a good haircut in addition to good manners. Now I am going out that door and if you follow me, they will find you out on the plains somewhere tomorrow and you won't have to worry about walking back to town; they'll be carrying you!"

Turning to the door, I dropped the chair and keeping an eye on him, left the Snakeskin in and headed back on to the road. I could hear him cussing me out before the door closed and I was on the road again traveling alone and glad to be alone for once.

Walking on that road felt pretty good now. The sun had gone down and I did manage to relax somewhat at the inn. Still I was glad to be up and moving; putting some distance between me and the inn. Placing my knife back in my belt sheath, I couldn't help wondering what my friend back there would have said if he knew that I only used it for cutting herbs and plants. It was a quieter time now and I enjoyed hearing my footfalls as I walked.

Then I heard a new and different noise.

Music! It was definite music of some kind. Where was it coming from? It seemed to echo and float on the wind forever, seeming to surround me, coming from everywhere and nowhere. Beautiful, haunting, sad, angry, just about every emotion I have ever heard of or thought of was expressed in it and I was captivated by it. It seemed to swell over me and carry me along toward something that I didn't know.

It was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes, so wonderful it made you want to dance. I was dancing! I danced for a good long time, not knowing where my legs were taking me or caring. It was hypnotic and mesmerizing me.

The music would swell in to crescendos and then subside in to solitude and quiet and then rebound again. I couldn't even tell what instrument was being used. The notes! The notes! I had to try to capture the notes! The melody and harmony were exquisite and almost painful. I reached for my pack and brought out my flute. I tried to play the notes, to copy them as I heard them. Sometimes I could and other times they seemed to change just as I had figured them out.

I kept playing my flute and slowly I noticed that something was lifting off of me like some great burden rolling off of me. I seemed to be getting better control of my legs and the rest of me. I could still dance if I wanted to, but it seemed like I was now able to choose when and how to dance.

Suddenly, just as quickly as it had started, it was over. No! Where had the music gone? I wanted it back! I began to cry because I wanted it so much! I slowly shook myself out of a daze and listened for the music. Strange; I couldn't hear anything. There was no sound at all! No music and no sound. I stood transfixed in my tracks listening. Listening.

After a while, I don't know how long, I started to hear little sounds; small animals moving in the brush, my breathing, leaves drifting on the wind. Then more and more, the sounds seem to be returning and I could hear them again. The music, though, was gone and I wondered where it had gone and who had played it? Should I follow this road? Maybe it would lead me to them again. Shouldering my pack, I started traveling down the road again wondering what else lay ahead of me and hoping that it wasn't another inn!

Sassy has a wonderfully distint style and unique voice which plays out especially well in her solo stories. The twists with the inn and later the music were fun. She's coming back once more later on to meet up with someone, too.