Snake

A hiss echoed through the shadows yet I was not afraid 

The sound of its heavy body slid against the floor yet I did not move

Its' fangs illuminated themselves in the light, yet I embraced them with kindness.

I accepted the monster, giving light to the creature condemned to the dark. 

I pitied its sullen existence. 

I allowed the being to slither into my heart.

I spent time caring for the creature.

Teaching it the ways of other animals hoping it would learn it was not destined to be evil. 

I loved the creature thinking of it as a friend

I understood the tortured animal

Damned to the dirt 

Exiled to the darkness 

A situational consequence based on nothing more than relation. 

Yet the closer i got the further its venom sank into my body

The further I involved myself the more my body became paralyzed

I sat thinking I could fight off the toxins polluting my body. 

I believed I would be able to pull the creature out before it pulled me down with him. 

But instead of my body regaining strength, It was my mind that regained clarity.

And as my body fell into the darkness, my soul withering in the dirt, I realized...

No matter how much a snake sheds its' skin, it's still a snake and that will never change.