“Mama said she was magical.” Lizzy told Beatrice as the woman tried to brush the girl’s hair. Unfortunately it was so thick that it had broken the heads of three hairbrushes and was probably about to do in a fourth one. “Are you magical too?”

“Yeah, I’ve got magic too.” Beatrice yanked the brush through the girl’s hair, snapping the head off another brush. She sighed and threw the remnants aside, which Fluffy grabbed with his jaws and went to deposit in the trash can.

“Can you show me?” Lizzy asked.

“Hm… sure.” she said with a small smile. “But you have to promise not to tell your friends, got it?”

Lizzy nodded profusely and Beatrice lowered her head for the girl to look at her hair directly. Slowly, her hair began to move and change color and shape until her head was covered in snakes slithering about.

“Woah.” Lizzy said with wonder. “So cool!” Lizzy plunged her hand right into the mass of snakes and hair, surprising Beatrice.

“Hey, watch the scalp!” she warned. Lizzy laughed at all the snakes slithering between her fingers.

“Mommy’s magic is pretty cool too.” the girl said. Beatrice lifted her head back up and turned her hair back to normal.

“Do you like snakes too?” Beatrice asked, calling Fluffy over and petting his scaly skin. Lizzy shrugged in response.

“I’m not scared of ‘em like a lotta kids are. I’ve only seen them in zoos and in the grass sometimes.”

“You wanna pet one?” Beatrice offered.

“...Sure.” Lizzy answered hesitantly.

Beatrice made a gesture to Fluffy and he crawled over to where Lizzy was and patiently waited for attention. Inching her hand little by little through the air, she placed her hand on Fluffy and ran it down his scaly form. Fluffy flicked his tongue in and out of his mouth and gave a little snake smile.

“How is it?” Beatrice asked.

“He feels funny.”

“Well, his name is Fluffy. He’s been with me for longer than I’ve been alive.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused.

“Oh, well, maybe that’s a story-”

“For when I’m older?” Lizzy finished with a huff.

“I was going to say it for when you can understand.” Beatrice said, confused. “No need for the attitude.”

“When can I understand?”

“When you’re older.”

“Ugh.” she groaned. “Just great.”

“Hey, I’m gonna lay down.” Beatrice said, rubbing her temples. “You can go scamper off somewhere for a bit, ok? Just don’t leave the house.”

“Ok!” she said enthusiastically.

Beatrice laid her head down on the couch and pulled a blanket over herself. She had a killer headache and wanted to sleep it off before Lisha got back home. She wasn’t really planning on getting anything for lunch anyway.

While Beatrice drifted off into sleep, Lizzy wandered down the halls and crept into her parents’ room. There wasn’t any particular reason she wanted to be in there, but she was curious about what secrets the castle held. She figured that if there were secrets anywhere, it would be in there.

When she entered, she noticed immediately that there were two main themes of the room that were odd when paired together. It was all either snakes or cheese. Even the bed looked that way. Half the blanket had a snake scale pattern, and the other half was decorated with cheese wedges; down the middle Lizzy could see where it was stitched together. It occurred to her that she still didn’t actually know much about her mothers. All the more reason to investigate herself.

She snooped around, but surprisingly didn't find much. There were a few odd nicknacks here and there, mostly from Lisha’s assortment of things, but other than that there was just normal adult junk. Some photos here and there of people Lizzy didn’t recognize, a couple of mementos, cards, etc.

She was about to give up and go somewhere else when she found a sort of enclosure for something, but couldn't see what. There were rocks and branches and some fake grass in there, but Lizzy still couldn't see anything in there. 

She gasped when she finally did find something. There was a snake inside. A thin black snake. A dead snake. It was laying stomach up and jaws open. Lizzy was horrified from just staring at it. Braving her fear, she reached out and touched it. She nearly jumped out of her skin when it moved, writhing around before slowly stopping and ceasing movement again. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched it again, and got the same result.

Fascinated by the snake, she did this cycle for several minutes before she started to just pet the snake. At that point it gave up the whole “being dead” routine and just begrudgingly accepted the affection.

“You’re pretty cute.” Lizzy said. “I wonder what your name is.”

Lizzy then got this amazing idea to put the snake around her shoulders like Beatrice did with Fluffy. It would look so cool and cute and she could be like her mom. Carefully, she picked up the snake with both hands and lifted it out of the enclosure. That’s when it got a bit more unwilling though.

The black snake hissed, which caused Lizzy to jump and drop it. The reptile slithered back into its enclosure and curled up, not wanting to leave. Behind Lizzy, the lightswitch flipped on and Beatrice walked in, hands on her hips and Fluffy around her shoulders.

“What’re you doing in my space, little runt?” she asked, droopy-eyed. She clearly didn’t get the full amount of sleep she wanted and still had a headache.

“You have 2 snakes.” Lizzy observed.

“Good to know you can count.” Bea said. “I would’ve been concerned. Her name’s Sausage.”

“She plays dead.”

“Yeah, she’s a shut-in snake.” Beatrice said, raising her voice to make sure Sausage could hear her. “If only she’d agree to go out more.” 

Sausage hissed from her enclosure and curled back up. Beatrice rolled her eyes and crawled into her real bed.

“Don’t bother with her. She’s not going to like you.”

“But why?”

“Because she’s a bitch.” Beatrice grumbled, being as petty as possible. “Maybe if she got out more she wouldn't be the shut-in snake.” she repeated, knowing that Sausage didn’t like that name.

“Can I wear her like you wear Fluffy?” Lizzy asked.

“Pfffft yeah, sure, good luck.” laughed Bea. “If you can get her to warm up to you, yeah, I’ll let you wear her around.”

“Really?” she asked, breathless.

“Yeah, whatever.” Beatrice said, turning her head over.

“I’m going to work night and day to work with her!”

“How about you make it only day?” she asked, pained by her headache. “Do me a favor and run off somewhere else until Lisha comes back. And close the door on your way out.”

Lizzy nodded and skipped out the door, closing it behind her. Beatrice sighed as she hoped to finally get restful sleep. Fluffy curled around and served as a neck pillow, rubbing his scaly face against hers.