The dead snake rode home wrapped around the jeep's hitch. It clung on tightly, and it felt secure. Sarah spent the whole drive home glancing back, worried that Cuddles would run out of life and fall to the ground. She even made Alexa stop halfway home so she could get out and check. Even though it hadn't dimmed at all, Sarah still pulled as much blue magic as she could to reinforce the body. She told herself she'd feel better if the snake had felt anything near full.

On the way home, she called her mom but just got voice mail. Before she could finish leaving a message, her mom texted to say she was at work. And then of course she asked about Alexa.

"You've got a brother, right?" asked Sarah. "Any other siblings?"

"Nope, why?"

"My mom wants to know."

"Wow. Interrogation once removed. You're a single child, right?"

"Yeah, just me and Mom. Um... college plans?"

"I was going to just go to state college, but now I'm not sure. I got accepted to a bunch of out-of-state schools, but they're expensive. Now I'm wondering if it's too late to try for a track scholarship or something. Maybe it's cheating, but I'm not sure I care." Alexa grinned at Sarah. "Are you applying anywhere yet?"

"All over. I'd love to go to Reed, but I'll probably end up at a State College. So I don't have to live in the dorms or have roommates," said Sarah. She looked down as her phone buzzed again.

"Boyfriend?" read Sarah. She blushed as soon as she realized what she'd asked.

"Nope," said Alexa. "You?"

"No!" said Sarah.

"Hey, while she's responding, maybe tell her we want to go to the hospital and visit Finn. If he's still there."

"Ok," said Sarah.

"I was thinking, should we bring anyone else? I mean, we want to talk to him about the colors and stuff, but I dunno. Is that weird? If you want, we could get everyone else too. I know Bri kinda likes him, so she'd be thrilled to come. Unless you'd rather go alone?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"No," said Sarah. "I mean, just the two of us is probably best. Could Bri just go later, maybe?"

"Sure. You're ok with Bri meeting up with him?" asked Alexa.

"Yeah, why not?"

"No reason," said Alexa after watching Sarah for a minute.

When they reached Sarah's house, Alexa helped carry the cooler back into the garage while Sarah grabbed her sleeping bag. Cuddles carried himself. She had him hide by climbing up onto the door motor, up high where you couldn't see him from the ground. Sarah realized her mom would go mental if she found a dead snake inside the house, even if all the goopy bits had been scrubbed off. She really needed to figure out something long-term for him so she could carry him around.

"Give me about two hours to shower and do myself up, I'll come pick you up again so we can go," said Alexa. Between the empty garage and driveway, it was pretty obvious that Sarah didn't have her own car, even if they'd never talked about it.

Sarah chucked the trash they'd shoved in the cooler, and put away the leftover food. She tossed her sleeping bag into the closet under the stairs, dropping it back behind luggage that Sarah had never seen anyone use. She stripped down in the laundry room, putting her clothes straight in the wash. She didn't run it though, she'd learned that running the wash right before taking a shower tended to be a bad idea. Plus a single change of clothes was a really small load. She'd be better topping it off with more dirty clothes in a minute.

The shower felt divine. She found a twig in her hair when she was applying conditioner, so she had to shampoo a second time. She took her time letting the conditioner sit while warm water ran over her. She used a washcloth and body wash to really get everything until she finally felt actually clean. Getting out, she even put some moisturizer on her elbows. She brushed her hair to get the last tangles out and glanced at her hair dryer. Dismissing it immediately, she put her wet hair into a ponytail and called it done. She flossed, picking out a few bits of jerky that had gotten wedged against her gums, then brushed her teeth.

She smiled at the blue blanket folded neatly on her bed, then pulled clothes out of her dresser. Underwear, jeans, a faded black shirt with a big pair of lips printed on it. Just in case, she grabbed an old grey sweater too. The zipper was broken, but it'd be fine. Great, Sarah was all ready to go, and she still had an hour and a half before Alexa said she'd be back. On a whim, she plucked some magic from the air and deposited it into her shoes. She shoved her feet into them and smiled as the tongue pulled itself straight and the laces tightened themselves and tied themselves into a neat bow. Sarah decided she could get used to that.

With nothing else to do while she waited, she let herself into her mom's office and logged onto the internet. If she wanted to keep Cuddles, she needed to learn about storing dead animals. And while she suspected he wasn't going to rot so long as he was lit up, she wasn't certain if it was really safe, and she didn't want to give everyone Polio. Sarah suppressed a groan when she thought about how she should have been paying more attention in biology class. Who knew that Mrs. Bianchi might have had something useful to say?