foreign, pervasive, desired, filling his nostrils and mind; the reassuring warmth of a body through the sheets.
Everything he sought in one-night stands brought Ian back to him, hovering just out of his reach.
Mounting the steps to his door, Blake moved to unlock his door, but the keys tumbled out of his hand
and over the side of the concrete step. Stretching his hand between the black metal bars of the railing to fish
for his keys, Blake felt his fingers brush against something smooth and cool. He recoiled and peered over the
railing into the shadowy corner where steam from the apartment’s heating system roiled forth in luminous
clouds lit by the streetlight. The vapor cleared, revealing the coiled body of the python, immobile on the
chilled concrete.
Blake walked around to stand next to the snake. His keys lay a few inches from the snake and he bent
to retrieve them, watching the snake for any sign of movement. There were none. He couldn’t tell if it was
still alive. The snake’s scales glistened with moisture, beads of condensation from the fog or the steam from
the vent, Blake couldn’t tell. He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of it, something to post on social
media to prove this bizarre appearance of a large snake next to his doorstep. Blake entered the building and
jogged up the two flights of stairs to let himself into his apartment and flicked on the lights.
A month’s worth of takeout boxes and spent Svedka bottles inhabited the corner of the kitchen where
he had neglected to walk them out