snake bite, flight & centipede

I was with my brother and sister in the courtyard of our family home. There was a dark green snake on the ground between us. The snake was quite fat and only about a metre long. It was watching us but didn’t seem to be aggressive. I was concerned that it might bite my brother. Suddenly the snake whipped its head out toward me and bit me on the foot. I could see two fang holes, dark against my skin. I went inside to show my father. He was sitting in the loungeroom with my mother and my grandmother (my father’s mother, who is no longer alive). I felt embarrassed about telling them what had happened as I didn’t want to appear weak and I felt I had had a few things go wrong recently. I showed them the snake bite and there appeared to be another two fang holes; an earlier snake bite that I should have seen to long before. My mother and father left the room to seek advice and I sat down facing my grandmother. We were awkward and didn’t know what to say, so she left the room too.

Later, I was flying through the sky with other people, following a beautiful coastline. The sky was brilliant blue, the ocean deeper shades of blue and vivid ultramarine greens, and there were wonderful rock shapes and cliffs along the shoreline. I could see several ocean baths and a myriad of rockpools—I suddenly realised that we were flying over Newcastle. I was so proud of the beauty of the place and called to the others flying, that this was my home. We flew around so that we could see Newcastle from all perspectives: a 360º view. The sun was going down and all of the city lights came on. We could see tall buildings lit up against the twilight sky, street lights twinkling and the ocean surrounding the city. I landed on nearby cliff and had a cry, moved by our scenic flight.

On the clifftop, I could see a bag which I knew to be mine. I went over to the bag and realised that it contained work that I needed to resume. Since I had been gone, a few creepy creatures had moved into my bag which I had to get rid of before I could reach into the bag or begin what I needed to do. I could see a bright orange giant centipede, at least 30cm long, with black legs and fangs. It was eating a fat grub that was also bright orange. There was a smaller, much thinner centipede which I picked up and threw away. I sprinkled some salt on the grub and the bright colour immediately left his body – he died. The large centipede retaliated by shooting a watery liquid out of his mouth, first onto the grub and then extending the arc of his spit, aiming for me. I realised that my sister was asleep on a mat behind me and I was worried that the poison liquid would touch her so I moved away and thumped the ground, the vibrations leading the centipede to shoot the venom at me.