Richard waited day after day, carefully tending to the snake. Once, when large birds circled nearby, fearing they might harm her, he personally cleared the entire region of predatory eagles.
If the snake lost even a single scale, Richard treated it as though he had lost flesh from his own body. He hired priests and doctors, and even spent a fortune to create a high-tech incubation chamber so the snake could rest safely.
When I was young, curiosity made me take the snake out of the chamber to observe it. Richard struck me with a cane until my skin split open and locked me in a dark room for a full day and night. Even Ethan, who usually adored me, refused to speak up for me.
The day Richard and Ethan summoned me home from abroad marked the tenth year of Grace’s slumber.
Many who had once benefited from her kindness returned to our mansion that day to express their gratitude. It was also the date foretold by the tribal priest that she would awaken.
Ten years had passed, but the little white snake lay there unchanged, as if it were a sleeping beauty.
As I stroked her gently, my eyes stung with tears. It had been ten years since I had last seen my mom.