What Men Don't Understand Read Free

the windows, blurring the outlines in dark smudges. She turned on the night-light, but the room kept dark. She reached the ceiling light switch. Nothing. There was absolute silence. She wondered if the power had gone only from her flat or from the whole building, or even the neighborhood. She went to the hall, where the main switch was. She stopped abruptly. Despite the darkness, she thought he saw a whitish spot on the floor, on the threshold of the livingroom. She looked at her feet, she saw nothing, but she was barefoot. Her eyes searched for the spot again, but now it was gone. She walked slowly. Suddenly a soft and cold touch on her ankle, sliding. She only could manage a short scream. She ran. Her legs were tangled with something. She could not react even to use her hands: she felt the hit of the ground on her face. A sound ... like a hiss. The cold touch began to spread up her legs, waist, chest, and began to squeeze. Now her profuse sweat got even into her eyes. She was gasping hard and bleeding from the nose. She couldn't tell if she was paralyzed with fear, or that pressure really was immobilizing her. Then it began a pain in her skull. An oppression as if trying to put on a very small sweater trough her head. She had a spasm of panic, a trembling rattle that, with the profuse sweating made her slip slightly from that pressure. She forced this movement desperately. She slipped. A little more. Suddenly she broke free and rushed to leave. She opened the front door. On the landing of the staircase there was no light, but there was something else. In the dark, a slender and familiar figure (but different this time), stood between her and the staircase. There were animal on the floor that crawled or slithered. Inma turned and entered back to her house. She heard Sibi's voice in a whisper. "You have to be kind with the prey." She tried to close the door, but there was some reptile obstructing. "Let my little babies smell the prey for a while, to desire it". Looking around she managed to locate the huge albino python in a corner of the room. "Wait patiently for the right moment. When you have no longer any defense. When you are confused, and alone." She ran to her bedroom and closed the door but it didn't lock. With trembling hands she reached for the cellphone. She was not alone at all. At least Hugo was still her friend. He was the only person who was in Barcelona. The only one who could help her. At the fourth ring she heard the sound of Hugo picking it up. Inma hurried up, although she realized that her words were almost a nonsense.
    "You have to come right now Hugo. I can't take it anymore. I choked ... The neighbor is here ...
    "Don't you get it, bitch?”, she heard from a woman's voice. "Leave him alone! He left you long ago, but you played dumb. He's with me now, bith. Don't you ever call back."
    The phone slipped from her hands and fell on the floor. The door opened slowly. They were coming in crawling. She backed up to the balcony. Sibi, by the threshold, was a black silhouette, but two small glares pointed her cold and clear eyes. Inma relized how stupid she had been. On her desperation, she didn't think about making an emergency call. The phone was already surrounded by snakes. The python, which had already tasted her sweat and blood, was coming back to get her. Inma peered into the garden. Four floors were too high. Then, without thinking, she passed over the railing and grabbed the fir branch that reached her balcony. It began to creak under her weight. First one hand, then the other. She dropped her feet and swung further. Her palms were hurting but she continued plaintively. At times she could get one leg hooked also at the branch, but soon it would loosen. She managed to look back for a moment. The python was already perched on the branch and glided toward her with devilish easiness. Inma quickly, ignoring the pain of her injuried hands and her exhaustion, moved faster this time. Blood and sweat made her