No Regrets.

Twas A Summer Night before a Saturday, 

And all through the House,

Were my family on their devices, 

and eating take out,

Where was I? I was up high,

Out on the roof, Setting up for the night's sky,

For nothing special, just to peer into space

But light pollution proved it to be a waste.

"NICK?" My mother called from down below,

"I'm up here" I yelled back, 

"My phone's not working, come fix that"

I clambered down to help her,

Groaning and wondering where my siblings were.

I checked her phone, and to my dismay

I realize the internet had gone out again.

Not a second sooner the lights went out too,

Leaving the neighbourhood in gloom.

The rest is hard to write in this sort of context

And I'm not good at rhyming, so we're changing this up... next,

To a different writing style, that'll be best.

"I should call the electric company." I tell her. My mom shakes her head, "I'll go call them, you go get your stuff from the roof."

"Yeah I guess it'll be hard to see up there," I sigh disappointingly as I clamber up the ladder.

A few minutes later, I see a yellowish glow coming from the back area of the house. Curious, I army crawl to the edge and peer over the side.

Expecting aliens or something mysterious that I'll sooner or later see in my nightmares.

But not my dad and brothers setting up a camp site.

Anything but that.

They had the fire burning fiercely in the pit while they point the outdoors furniture to it.

At the corner of the my brain, a feeling erupted. A feeling of unease and discomfort. Something bad was going to happen. That's when I saw...

My younger brother stuffing his face with my hidden stash of Oreos.

Mom probably gave it to him. Stupid 8 year old. Why couldn't my parents just stop reproducing after me or their first child?

I'm the middle child, my two brothers are David(the oldest) and Jacob (the youngest). And yeah, my family is religious. They named me Nick cause I just looked like a Nick. I'll just believe that I look like Nick Jonas.

I got up from the ground, and shone my flashlight around the roof, just to make sure I don't trip, fall and die. I pick up my camera, deciding to snap the gathering downstairs. Knowing my parents, telling them to act natural would result in a chaotic picture. They'd scramble to fix their hair, or strike a pose, smile too much and It would just take hours.

Aiming my lens to ground, I snap a few secret images.

In one, my mom sits next to dad getting lost in conversation.

In another, my brothers are sharing the stolen Oreos. David staring at his phone while Jacob stares at the fire.

In another, David lets Jacob peek at his phone. He's probably playing that Chess game again.

Watching the scene, I realize that I could take better photos if I could just get closer to the ground. The atmosphere would be defined and natural, rather than my stalker's point of view. Next to me is a tree that rests its branches on the roof top.

A few minutes later, I'm in the middle of the tree. The darkened branches block the light of the campfire. I quickly realize that this isn't a good idea. I can barely see my feet, I don't know what I'm stepping on and only praying that it will not break on me. With my hands hugging onto a sturdy feeling tree branch, I feel around with one of my legs for a lower branch. I soon bump my foot into another branch. Mustering all my strength I maneuver my way to rest my weight on it. I straddle the branch, anchoring myself to it.

I now have a great angle at my family. I'm only sort of offended that they're not looking for me but when I have these pictures. It'll be worth it.

A few more snaps and I feel another branch brushing against my leg. I swing my leg a bit, trying to shake off the annoying feeling. Stopping myself quickly as it making my pictures blurry.

Soon, the piercing feeling of needles digs into the skin of my ankle. With a scream, I rapidly shake my leg causing me to lose my balance, falling onto the cold grass.

Don't worry, my spine absorbed most of the fall.

That wasn't the bad part.

My parents rushed over to me. I was still screaming feeling the animal wrapping itself around my leg. It had let go but was gearing up for another bite.

I had to get it to stop. My dad and David disappeared looking for a tool of some sort. My mom was in shock, Jacob was crying. Trying to get up, I suffered another bite to the back of my thigh. A wave of courage hit me which caused me to grab the back of it's head. Firmly grasping, I could feel its body letting go of my leg, trying to make it's way to my arm instead. This fueled me to and limp over to the fire pit.

Without hesitation, I hung it over the fire. It broke free from my fingers and clamped down onto the flashy part between my finger and thumb. It soon released as it felt the burn and tried to get off me. I stuck my hand in the fire seconds before my dad could intervene with a piece of metal he found. Gasping for air, I watched it fry on the pit. We'd have to get another one of those.

"Where's my camera?"

I limp over to the place I fell.

"He's in shock. Nick we're taking you to a hospital." My mom blocked my way.

"Can I get my camera first?"

---

"Turns out, it was venomous but thanks to my parents, they rushed me to an emergency room. The doctors gave me a few injections and I was good to go. And that's why I always have a snake kit on me." I raise a glass to them, "Thanks for saving me... I regret nothing." The audience of well dressed people, sitting around the dining table that my Mom forced me and my two brothers to bring out cause it's a lovely day, laughs.

But then she saw a few dark clouds and made us carry it inside. Then she read the weather report and made us carry it back outside.

It's twenty years later at the same house. My mom, older now but with the same smile, sits next to my dad.

"Dad, are you afraid of snakes?" My son asks me.

"No, not really," I tell him.

"Why did you cut down the tree?" He points to the stump of the snake tree.

My dad answers. "Knowing Nick, he would have gone up it again for some reason or the other."

"All my pictures were worth it."

From underneath the table, I pull out a gift wrapped box and hand it to them. "Happy Anniversary, Open it. Make people jealous."

In front of all their colleagues, my dad lets mom rip open the packaging to reveal a matching album and a DVD both entitled 'No Regrets.'

"This is an album of 18 years... plus more but the first ones I didn't take." I indicated to my baby pictures.

My grandma and aunt at the same time shout out, "I took them." then hit eachother with dirty looks.

I continue, "And this DVD is the movie reel of our life because I know both of you never had time to slow down and preserve memories because you were living it."

"Awww." The entire table says.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes, embarrassed by the reaction.

"This is wonderful." My mom looks wide eyed at it.

"Amazing." Dad adds.

My kid pats my hand then hands me a jar saying, "Uncle David said he can't open it."

I snicker, "Yeah he is weak." I look at David as I turn open the cover. As I snap the seal, two long snakes come flying up and out of the can.

Giving a quick and manly scream, I push away from the table, falling backwards on my chair, pulling the tablecloth with me as it hooked on my pants.

Some of the people around the table gasp, other stand up but one shielded his plate.

One of the 'snakes' falls next to me and I observe the crinkly toy snake.

"No regrets." I sigh.