Jane looked in at the snake, at the small local zoo, and at the eggs. "Are you going to be a mommy, Mrs. Snake?" she asked.
"Yes," the snake hissed.
Jane was surprised. The other animals didn't answer back, but this snake did. "The snake talks!" she exclaimed.
Her father laughed. "Sure it did, Sweetie," he replied, clearly not believing her.
Meanwhile, her mother was staring at her, shocked and confused.
Jane noticed her parents start to move on, and then look back at her. "Bye bye Mrs. Snake."
"Goodbye," hissed the snake.
(line break)
"Anything special you want to do this weekend Jane?" her mother asked.
"I wanna go to the zoo and see Mrs. Snake."
"I don't like you talking to that snake, Jane. It creeps me out."
Jane looked down, sadly.
"Okay fine," her mother agreed.
Jane smiled, although she didn't know what made her mother change her mind.
(line break)
While Jane was lying in bed the next night, she heard her parents talking. She knew something was wrong, but she wasn't sure what.
"Why does she sound perfectly normal to you, and in this recording, and like a hissing maniac to me?"
"I don't know," her father said. "Maybe you're just delusional."
Jane put her earplugs in.
(line break)
A few weeks later, Jane and her Mommy went to spend a week at Grandma and Grandpa's house. One of the things they did was take her to the big zoo near their home.
"Hello! What kind of snake are you?" Jane asked the first snake at the reptile house.
"You weren't kidding," her grandfather told her mother, while the snake hesitated.
The snake answered back, and then Jane went around to all the snakes. They all answered back.
(line break)
That night, Jane was put to bed in the guestroom, where her grandparent's family trees were printed on the wall. As she lay in bed, she heard her mother and grandparents through the door.
"So both of you hear Jane hissing when she talks to the snakes," her grandmother said.
"Yes," her mother said, "and she claims to hear the snakes talk back. What is happening?"
(line break)
A few months later, Jane skipped up to the snake encloser, at the local zoo. "Mrs. Snake!" she exclaimed, "where did all your baby snakes go?"
"The zookeeper came and took them away."
"What, why," she asked.
"So he can make some money selling them to other zoo's."
Jane started to scream.
Jane's father picked her up and moved her away from other people. He held her hands while she screamed repeatedly, unable to get any words out.
Eventually, she managed to quiet down.
"Mrs. Snakes babies have grown up and moved away," her father explained. "That's just what happens. One day, she'll have new babies to love, and the same things will happen."
(line break)
Jane looked down at the wave. Watching the water move was great, but watching the reflection of the sun on the water was even better. When clouds overhead blocked out the sun, she wished it hadn't. Suddenly, there was sunlight on the water again, through a hole that had just formed through the clouds.
(line break)
Jane started screaming uncontrollably when boys at school threw stuff at her during recess. Suddenly, the boys each fell back and somehow got bloody noses.
(line break)
Jane was reading, "Alice in Wonderland," when a quote struck out to her. It read, "Who in the world am I. Ah, that's a great puzzle." She thought of all the times that she had wondered what was wrong with her, mainly when her mother or grandfather were reacting to her talking to the snake.
(line break)
Jane reached for a cookie, and one flew into her hand. Her parents both gasped. Jane looked and them, and said, "Who in the world am I? Ah, that's a great puzzle." She then bit into the cookie and walked off.
(line break)
Jane skipped up to the swing set in their new backyard. She reached for the swing, but it flew into her hand before she could grab it.
"Di-did that swing just fly into your hand," asked a nearby, on the other side of the fence?
Jane froze.
"You don't have to be afraid. It's okay."
Jane nodded.
"Hi. I'm Neville," he greeted.
"Hi. I'm Jane."
Suddenly the sound of a siren broke out. Jane quickly grabbed her earplugs and shoved them into her ears. She stood there for several seconds, and then slowly took one out. The siren sound was gone, so she yanked the other one out and dropped both of her earplugs. They fell and dangled by the chain around her neck.
"Sorry," Jane said. "I have Asperger's, which means I'm weird, have extra sensitive senses, and have trouble socializing and communicating."
"Oh, okay. I'm not very good and socializing and communicating either, and I'm very forgetful."
"Oh. That's okay. I can also do magical stuff, like understanding what snakes say, and making things fly into my hand."
"Understanding what snakes say. I've heard of a lot of magical abilities, but not that one."
"Well, you've heard of it now."
"Yeah, I guess I have."
(line break)
"… and the talking to snakes things is unusual, even in the warding world, but not unheard of," Mrs. Longbottom explained.
"This seems ridicules," Jane's mother said, "but it's also a relief. I thought I was losing my mind."
Jane's father looked at Mrs. Longbottom. "So, do you know why she and her dad can hear Jane hissing when she talks to snakes, but I can't, and it doesn't seem like anyone else can."
"They're probably squibs. A squib is…"
(line break)
Neville and Mrs. Longbottom went to the zoo with Jane, so they could witness Jane speaking to the snake. Jane told Mrs. Snake everything she had learned about the magical world, while Neville and his grandmother listened in awe.