Plants and Snakes

She regarded the painting silently. The colors seemed alive and she
expected them to move, to get up and change places in the painting. She
was almost afraid to look away in case the painting was different next
time she looked.

"Do you like it?" she heard a voice behind her. She turned around.
"Yes, very much," she said. He looked at her curiously. "Do you know
what it is a painting of?" he asked. The sarcasm in his voice was
almost hurtful and suddenly she knew that he was the artist.

"Life," she said, turning back to the painting. She pointed vaguely at
the others around the room. "Aren't they all?" She could feel his eyes
on her, regarding her. She smiled at the painting. "Are you going to
tell me I'm wrong?" "Let me show you something," he said instead of an
answer. Curious, she followed him.

"Come in," he said, and his hand on her back urged her like his words.
"I haven't really got time," she started but he cut her short by taking
her hand and simply pulling her inside. "It will only take a minute,"
he said and she knew that was not true. He pulled her into the
conservatory.

She looked around. An amazing array of strange looking plants greeted
her. He picked a leaf of one of them and handed it to her. The
eagerness on his face was comical. She took the leaf and looked at it
suspiciously, almost as if she expected it to sting or bite her. "Rub
it between your fingers," he commanded - that's what it was, and she
did not usually obey orders given to her, but for a reason unknown to
her she made an exception on this occasion. She crushed the leaf with
her fingers.

"Any idea?" he asked as she smelled the leaf. The smell was strong but
not unpleasant. She shook her head. "Frankincense," he said and beamed
with pride. She was inclined to shrug her shoulders but didn't want to
offend him. He was waiting for an answer. "Cool," she said. His smile
widened with obvious pleasure and he took her hand and pulled her to a
terrarium in the corner.

He opened it and reached inside. A moment later he had found what he
was looking for and brought his hand out again, holding a beautiful,
black shimmering snake. She was fascinated. "I bought this one last
week," he said and held it out to her like a gift. She touched it,
carefully at first, expecting the experience to be unpleasant, but it
wasn't. She took it and felt its warm, dry body move and enjoyed its
strength. It was comfortable with her and so was she. She looked up and
smiled at him for the first time. "Cool," she whispered almost in awe.
The look he rewarded her with was more than she had expected. His eyes
were warm and caring and despite his obvious friendliness she almost
recoiled. What have I done to deserve this, she thought. Quickly she
put the snake back into the terrarium.

"I have to go," she said. He smiled. "Not yet," he said. "Just stay
another minute." She hesitated. He turned her back toward him and put
his arms around her. "Look around," he said. She did.

She saw what he saw and wanted to cry. The intensity of the life
around her was overwhelming. Plants she had never seen before and
didn't even know the names of moved in the light breeze generated by
the giant fan on the ceiling of the conservatory. The vibrant colors
took her breath away. A terrarium in the corner with frogs, another
with a large tortoise. She could see the snake she had touched a moment
ago. To think that she had once been afraid of snakes! She realized
that the thought had never even crossed her mind when he had held the
snake out to her. There was nothing to be afraid of here. This was the
scene in the painting she had admired when she met him. This was
life.

He looked at life but spoke to her. "This is my inspiration," he
said.