Fear

"Bye mom, bye dad," said Lola as she hugged them both, "I have to go pick up the kids from school."

"Alright sweetie, thanks for the visit," said Gladys

"Bye kiddo," said Larry

"Bye,"

Lola walked out to her car and started the engine. She was about to pull out of the driveway when Gladys came to her window.

"You're coming for dinner this weekend aren't you?"

"Um…I'll have to ask Bugs first. I'll call you later,"

"Alright, bye sweetie,"

"Bye,"

After a half hour or so, Lola arrived at the elementary school. School got out and the children left with leaps of joy. Parents were coming from the parking lot, searching for their kids in the playground. There were so many kids; Lola had to keep an eye out for her pair of pre-teens. Lola saw her little 'mini-me' Tanya run to the playground to play with her friends. However, little Sean was walking solemnly away from the school building. He looked down and simply walked towards one of the benches, not noticing anyone around him. Lola was concerned; she went towards her son and sat next to him on the bench.

"Hey Sean," said Lola

"Hi mom," he replied

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing…"

"Why are you here all by yourself?"

"Cause I don't wanna play…"

"Did something happen at school today?"

"No…" he hesitated

"C'mon Sean, you can tell me,"

Sean paused for a moment. He then faced her.

"Kids made fun of me at school…" he sighed, "they called me a wimp because I chickened out of climbing the super tall monkey bars."

"You shouldn't listen to what they say,"

"But it's true! I am a big chicken…"

"Don't say that,"

"Easy for you to say, you're not afraid of anything,"

"That's not true,"

"Huh?"

Lola was about five years old. Her family had been moving around from state to state. Ever since they left California, it had been this way. Staying with family for some time, then they would have to leave again. It was a very stressful lifestyle. At this time in her life, they were living with Uncle Lucas in Arizona.

Uncle Lucas had his own ranch with a view of the canyons. The house was a red, one-story tall building, with a white fence going around the immediate property. There was a stable a few feet away from the house, keeping all of Uncle Lucas's horses. He had a large batch of land, stretching into the desert landscape, perfect for horseback riding.

Today, Uncle Lucas was teaching the kids how to horseback ride, ponies in their case. Uncle Lucas was from Larry's side of the family. He was a middle-aged rabbit with sand colored fur and aquamarine eyes. He always wore a hat, so they didn't know what his hair looked like, or if he had any hair at all. He was a very friendly person.

The kids were atop the ponies, trotting around in the corral. Lola and Brendan caught on quickly, but Kate was having difficulty. Lola was enjoying herself, maneuvering her pony like a professional. Brendan was wearing a hat, pretending to be a cowboy; the six-year old was feeling so gallant. Kate was not so amused; the nine-year old much rather be indoors than outside on a filthy animal.

"This is fun!" said Lola

"Yeah!" said Brendan

"Eww…flies…" complained Kate

Gladys was inside the house, helping with the chores, trying to be a helpful house guest. When she wasn't helping around the house, she was home schooling the children. Larry was always alone in his room; they hardly knew what he was up to. He said it had to do with his job, but he never said anything else.

Outside, Brendan was trying to get his pony to move faster.

"Look at me! Look at me!" he said

"Brendan be careful," said Lucas

Brendan kicked the pony hard with his heels. The pony neighed and leaped up on its back legs.

"Yee haw!!"

But the pony jolted forward, causing Brendan to let go of the reigns and fall backwards. He crashed into the muddy ground, getting completely dirty.

"Are you alright?" asked Lucas helping him up

"I'm ok," said Brendan

Brendan looked ridiculous in his muddy clothes. Kate snickered, Lola noticed.

"It's not funny!" scolded Lola

"Kate, you shouldn't laugh. He could've gotten hurt," said Lucas

"I did not laugh!" defended Kate

"I'm going to take him inside to get washed up. You girls stay here,"

Lucas took Brendan out of the corral and took him inside the house. As soon as he left, Kate glared at Lola. With a humph, she got off the pony and stormed away.

"Where you going?" asked Lola

"Away from you!" she yelled

"But Uncle Lucas said to stay here!"

"What are you gonna do? Tell on me?"

Kate walked further into the wilderness. Lola was getting nervous. She looked towards the house, then towards her sister with uncertainty.

"Hey! Wait for me!" shouted Lola as she too got down from the pony

Kate picked up the pace and went atop some rocks to try to loose her. But Lola was persistent; she did her best to catch up.

"Kate! Come back!"

"Go away!"

"You're gonna get in trouble!"

"I've been in trouble ever since you came along!"

Kate climbed the rocks faster, but Lola was still behind her. She just wouldn't give up. Kate just couldn't take it anymore. After jumping onto a large rock, she turned back to face the younger girl. She placed her hands on her hips and pouted. Lola had just reached the rock where Kate was.

"Listen you tattletale, stop following me!" yelled Kate

"Katie! Please!" begged Lola

"You're always bothering me! Why don't you just leave me alone!"

"But Kate…"

"You're always following me around! Getting me into trouble! Stop being such an annoying little brat! I hate you!" she screamed

She pushed Lola back. Lola lost her balance and landed in the crevice between the two stones.

"Ahh!" she wailed as she endured the pain

Lola tried to sit up, but her back was aching. She stayed down on the ground trying to catch her breath. She then heard a peculiar sound; it wasn't the buzzing of an insect…it was something…else. She was starting to get nervous; she did her best to get up from the ground. She leaned on the large rock she fell from to try to stand up, but her foot kicked over a stone in the process. Then that's when she saw it…a rattler.

Lola froze. She was staring down at the serpent. The rattlesnake was coiled up, with its head raised, with its eyes fixated back at her. Lola felt her knees buckle and the sweat trickle down her forehead. She tried to move away from it slowly but due to her dizziness she lost her balance and fell over. Feeling threatened, the snake strikes, and bit Lola on her ankle. She screamed in agony as she felt its fangs pierce her flesh and inject deadly venom into her veins.

Kate looked into the crevice when she heard the scream, and saw Lola crying and the snake slithering away. Panic and remorse struck her like lightning.

"Mommy! Daddy! Help!" screamed Kate

From the ranch, Larry heard the cries for help. He came out the house and saw the source of the cries. Without a second's thought, he ran towards Kate.

"What's going on?" called Gladys from the doorway. She was wondering what all the yelling was all about. She then saw that Larry was running towards Kate. Her motherly instincts knew something was terribly amiss.

"What's going on?" demanded Larry as he reached the girls

"Snake!" stammered Kate

Larry jumped down into the crevice where Lola was trapped. She was crying and feeling nauseous. Larry saw that the bite area was starting to change color.

"Daddy…" cried Lola

"Hold on kid," he reassured her as he picked her up in his arms

Larry climbed out of the crevice, carrying Lola in his arms. He could feel her heart racing.

"I'm sorry! I pushed her and…" mumbled Kate

"No time for apologies, let's move!" Larry

Larry jumped from the rocks with Lola in his arms, with Kate following behind.

"Gladys! Get an ambulance!" yelled Larry as he was close to the house

"Oh my God! What happened to my baby!?" shouted Gladys

"Now! Gladys! Now!" he demanded

Hearing the commotion, Lucas and Brendan came out of the house. Brendan was utterly confused to what was happening. Lucas rushed towards them, however he was perfectly calm.

"That won't be necessary," said Lucas

"What happened to her!" cried Gladys

"Now don't panic," he said, "Come with me."

Lucas took Larry to a room inside the house. Larry sat Lola down on the table. Lucas took a first aid kit from a cabinet and placed it on the table.

"Lola! Oh my goodness!" rushed in Gladys

"Gladys, its better that you stay outside," said Larry

"But my baby!"

"Your panicking isn't going to help her. Just wait outside,"

"No!"

Larry made her leave the room and shut the door.

"I'm always prepared for such an emergency," said Lucas taking out his tools from the kit, "now, Lola, I want you to relax."

"Okay…" she sniveled

Lucas placed some gauze with alcohol on her ankle to clean the wound. Lola whimpered in pain.

"It's alright, you're doing fine," said Lucas

He continued the healing process, with Lola doing her best to cooperate. Larry was with her the whole time. After a few moments of medical attention, Lucas had just administered the anti-venom and wrapped her ankle in a bandage.

"See, you're ok now," said Lucas, "you're a good girl."

"Thank you, Uncle Lucas," she smiled weakly

"You should take her to the room, that shot will make her a little drowsy," said Lucas

"Thanks Lucas," said Larry

Larry carried Lola to her room and laid her on the bed. He pulled the sheet up and tucked her in.

"You're going to be ok, kid," he said

"Ok Daddy…" she whispered

"Next time, be more careful,"

"Daddy, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything kid,"

"Can you tell Katie I'm really sorry for bothering her?"

"Don't worry about a thing. You rest now,"

"Ok…"

When Larry stepped out of the room, he heard a slap come from outside.

"What's wrong with you, you wretched child!" yelled a tearful Gladys "you've could have killed her!"

"I…I'm sorry…" wailed Kate as she hid her face from her mother

Gladys was becoming aggressive but Larry arrived in time to stop her from hurting Kate anymore. Gladys's angry tears flowed from her eyes, she collapsed into Larry and sobbed in his arms.

"I'm…sorry…" said Kate

"It was an accident…everything will be fine…" said Larry

"And I've been terrified of snakes ever since,"

"Wow mom, I never knew that…"

"Everybody is afraid of something. It's nothing to be ashamed of,"

"But everyone expects me to be cool…just because my dad is Bugs Bunny,"

"What other people think about you shouldn't matter. What matters is what you think. You are your own person,"

"Yeah…I guess so,"

"I know so,"

The playground was just about empty. The last kids had just left and the doors of the school were shut. Tanya then came towards the bench.

"Hi mom!" said Tanya

"Hey Tanya," greeted Lola

"Are we gonna go home yet?"

"We're going right now," she said getting up, "you have any homework?"

"Eww, don't even remind me,"

"I don't have any today," said Sean getting up from the bench as well

"Lucky bunny…"

"I call shotgun!" shouted Sean as he raced towards the car

"No way bro!" shouted Tanya as she chased

Lola smiled, and ran after them as well.

"Last one to the car has to do dishes!"