You were playing soccer at a field. The ball rolled away and one of your friends ran to retrieve it. Suddenly, the friend screamed.
My school soccer team would be playing in the finals of the National Soccer Tournament. Being a soccer player myself, I was both anxious and excited. Hence, during recess, my soccer team mates decided that we would have a training session during recess.
When the bell rang for recess, we ran to the field and began our game of soccer. We divided ourselves into two teams and started the game. At one point, Kelvin, the captain, kicked the ball so hard that it flew to the extreme end of the field. Everyone moaned and complained that he was wasting time. With a cheeky smile, he apologised and ran to where the ball was to retrieve it. We all waited, tapping our feet impatiently.
When Kelvin reached the far end, we saw him bend down to pick the ball. All of a sudden, he gave out a loud scream. For a moment, we thought he was up to his usual tricks again but from where we were, we could see that he stood frozen to the ground and he was looking at something on the ground.
I led the team to run towards him. As we approached we could see that Kelvin was shaking and he was drenched in perspiration. Being extra careful, we stopped moving when we were about a metre away. I scanned the ground first and true to my instincts, there was a snake! It was hissing at Kelvin and that was why Kelvin dared not move.
I spoke in a hushed tone to everyone, “There is a snake, let’s not antagonise it. We shall move back slowly and one of you runs to the General Office to inform the Operations Manager.” Hussein volunteered to do it and the rest of us began to walk backwards stealthily. I consoled Kelvin and reminded him to stay as still as he could.
My school Operations Manager came with another member of staff, both armed with a stick and a sack. They seemed very experienced. They approached the snake carefully and in a swift action, they had the stick right on the snake’s head. In a matter of seconds, the snake was in the brown gunny sack.
At that instance, Kelvin sank to his knees and began to cry with relief. I patted him on his shoulder and helped him to the canteen to get a glass of warm water. He was still shaking from the trauma. My soccer teacher came along when he was informed about what had happened. He comforted Kelvin and suggested that Kelvin go home earlier to have a rest so that he would be ready for the match the next day.
It was a scary incident and will be etched in my mind for a long time. I could not wait to share with my parents and I hoped Kelvin would be all right by the next day.
