Copyright © 2003 JA
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A Day in the Everglades

It reminds me of the time that I was vacationing in the Florida Everglades.  A friend and I had gone there to hunt alligators. It was the kind of wonderful spring day that you only find in Florida. The sun was blazing in a beautiful blue sky and you could feel the water in the air from the humidity. It was the kind of a day that causes a young man's thoughts to turn to the fairer sex. The birds sang in the background as the mosquitoes and insects buzzed around in the clear air.

We had rowed our boat deep into The Everglades. When the water finally became too shallow to travel by boat, we tied it to some toppled trees along the bank. We walked for some time into the 'glades in search of our quarry. Finally, spent from our trip, we sat down on a dry hill to enjoy our lunch. As my friend settled his ample posterior onto the ground I was shocked to hear him screaming like a little girl and see him running into the weeds. Upon closer inspection I see that a long serpent has its fangs imbedded in his ass. As the venom takes hold my friend begins to tear his hair out of his head in sheer panic. I calm him and explain that I will go for help.  "Don't worry" I tell him.  "I will get you help!" I make him comfortable and tell him that he needs to stay still in order to delay the horrible effects of the poison coursing through his bloodstream. I turn and head back towards the boat. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Back to the boat! It seems to be taking forever but I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Am I ever going to get back to the boat? But I keep running. Finally, I get to a place that I recognize from our walk. It is about 30 yards from my friend and I still have a long, long way to go. So I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running -- running back to the boat. But I can't see the boat. Finally, I get so tired that I need to walk so I stop running. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. But I haven't gotten back to the boat. So I keep walking. After a long, long walk, I realize that I still have a long way to go so I keep walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. My feet are getting kind of tired at this point but I know I still have a long way to go to get back to the boat, so I keep walking. At one point, I fall down, having tripped over a branch. My foot is stuck in a hole. I pull and pull, but I can't get my foot out of the hole. So I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, but my foot doesn't want to come out of the hole. So I keep pulling. I know that I have to get my foot out of the hole. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. Then my foot comes out of my boot. My foot is free, but I need to get my boot. So I reach down and grab the boot, but it doesn't want to come out of the mud. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot. After a little while, the boot starts to come loose. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot.  And finally the boot comes loose. So I put the boot back on my foot and I start walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. It has been a long time since I left my friend, so I call back to him not to worry.  "I will hurry!" My friend says OK, and I keep walking. After a long, long, walk, I get to the boat. I know that I have to hurry and get help so I start rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, but the boat doesn't want to go. I know that I have to work harder to help my friend. So I keep rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing. But the boat still doesn't want to go. Pull!  I need to pull for my friend's life!  With every stroke I feel the strength draining from my body.  But I need to help my friend.  So I keep rowing.  And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing.  Then I see the rope. The rope is still tied to the tree. So I get out of the boat. I go over to the rope and start to untie it, but the knot doesn't want to come out of the rope. So I start pulling on the rope. But the knot still doesn't want a come out. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. But the knot still won't come out of the rope. I decided right there and then that I was going to have to keep trying to get that knot of the rope. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, but the knot still won't come out.  Then all of a sudden, I got another idea. I would cut the rope.  I know that I'm going to need a knife to cut the rope. So I look in my pocket. But there is no knife in my pocket. So I check my other pocket. There was no knife in that pocket either. Then I got an idea. Maybe there was a knife in my back pocket! So I checked in my back pocket. But there was no knife there. So I checked my other back pocket. But there still was no knife. Then I remembered that my friend had the knife. I knew that time was running out, so I had to get the knife soon. I knew I had to get back to my friend quickly. I started running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Back to my friend! It seems to be taking forever but I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Am I ever going to get back to my friend? But I keep running. Finally, I get to a place that I recognize from our walk. It is about 30 yards from my friend so I still have a long, long way to go. So I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running -- running back to my friend. Finally, I get so tired that I need to walk, so I stop running. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. But I haven't gotten back to my friend. So I keep walking. After a long, long walk, I realize that I still have a long way to go so I keep walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. My feet are getting kind of tired at this point but I know I still have a long way to go to get back to my friend, so I keep walking. At one point, I fall down, having tripped over another branch. My foot is stuck in another hole! I pull and pull, but I can't get my foot out of the hole. So I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, but my foot doesn't want to come out of the hole. So I keep pulling. I know that I have to get my foot out of the hole. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. Then my foot comes out of my boot. My foot is free, but I need to get my boot. So I reach down and grab the boot, but it doesn't want to come out of the mud. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot. After a little while, the boot starts to come loose. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot.  And finally the boot comes loose. So I put the boot back on my foot and I start walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. After a long, long walk, I get back to my friend.  It has been a long time since I left him, so it feels good to be back at his side.  I ask him for the knife, but he seems kind of tired.  I explain to him that snake venom can be very dangerous. He needs to take this more seriously and listen! I ask him for the knife again. He looks at me and says "what knife?" Right there and then I realized something. I realized that he still did not understand how important it was for him to pay attention. So I explain to him again that snake venom can be very, very dangerous. And I'm explaining, and I'm explaining, and I'm explaining. But he still doesn't want to listen. So I keep explaining. After a lot of explaining, my friend tells me that he does not have a knife. At this point I started to wonder if he realized how serious snake venom was and that it could be very dangerous. But since he didn't have a knife I decided that I would head back to the boat and try untying the knot. "Don't worry" I tell him.  "I will get you help!"  He doesn't seem very thankful for the sacrifice I am making. I turn and head back towards the boat. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Back to the boat! It seems to be taking forever but I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Am I ever going to get back to the boat? But I keep running. Finally, I get to a place that I recognize. It is a hole in the mud in the shape of a boot. I still have a long, long way to go. So I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running -- running back to the boat. But I can't see the boat. Finally, I get so tired that I need to walk so I stop running. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. But I haven't gotten back to the boat. So I keep walking. After a long, long walk, I realize that I still have a long way to go so I keep walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking. My feet are getting kind of tired at this point but I know I still have a long way to go to get back to the boat, so I keep walking. At one point, I start to think about how far I have come.  I have come a long, long way, but I still have a long, long way to go. So I'm thinking about how far I have to go, when I step in a hole!  The hole is the shape of a boot, and my foot is stuck in the boot-shaped hole. I pull and pull, but I can't get my foot out of the hole. So I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, but my foot doesn't want to come out of the hole. So I keep pulling. I know that I have to get my foot out of the hole. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. Then my foot comes out of my boot. My foot is free, but I need to get my boot. So I reach down and grab the boot, but it doesn't want to come out of the boot shaped hole. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot. After a little while, the boot starts to come loose. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot.  And finally the boot comes loose. So I put the boot back on my foot and I start walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. It has been a long time since I left my friend, so I call back to him not to worry.  "I will hurry!" My friend says OK, and I keep walking. After a long, long, walk, I get to the boat.  I know that I need to get the knot out of that rope. But I don't have a knife.  I am going to have to pull that knot out of the rope. So I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. But the knot doesn't want to come out of the rope. So I keep pulling. After a while I get an idea. I will untie the rope from the boat. I go to the other end of the rope, which is tied to the boat, and I start pulling on the knot. But the knot doesn't want to come out. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. But the knot still won't come out. Right then and there are realized something. I realized that the knot wasn't coming out of the rope. I was going to have to pull a lot harder. So I started pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. But the knot doesn't want to come out. So I put the tree in the boat. I knew that my friend was in trouble. I needed to get help right away! So I got in the boat with that tree and I started rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, but the boat doesn't want to go. I know that I have to work harder to help my friend. So I keep rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing. But the boat still doesn't want to go. Pull!  I need to pull for my friend's life!  With every stroke I feel the strength draining from my body.  But I need to help my friend.  So I keep rowing.  And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing.  Then I see my knife.  My knife is in the bottom of the boat!  So I cut the rope.  I know I have a long, long, long way to row.  So I go back to rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, but the boat doesn't want to go. I know that I have to work harder to help my friend. So I keep rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing. But the boat still doesn't want to go. Pull!  I need to pull for my friend's life!  With every stroke I feel the strength draining from my body.  But I need to help my friend.  So I keep rowing.  And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing.  Then I see the tree.  The tree is still in the boat.  Right then and there I realize something.  I realize that the boat isn't going anywhere with that tree in it.  But the tree doesn't want to come out of the boat.  So I start pulling on the tree.  And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling.  But the tree still won't come out of the boat.  So I keep pulling. I know that that boat isn't going anywhere with that tree in it, and I keep pulling. After a lot more pulling, the tree starts to move. So I start pulling harder on the tree.  And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. The tree moves a little farther.  So I start pulling harder on the tree.  And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. The tree moves a little farther.  Finally the tree comes out of the boat. Right then and there I realized something.  I realized that if I hadn't got that tree out of the boat, it wasn't going anywhere. I think about how lucky it is for my friend that I got that tree out of the boat. But when I turn around, the boat isn't there. It has drifted off. I realized right then and there that it wasn't tied up. Even though the rope was tied to the tree and to the boat, the boat wasn't really tied up. I knew that I had to get out of the Everglades if I was going to get help for my friend. But I don't have a boat. So I start wading. And I'm wading, and I'm wading, and I'm wading. After a long time, I start to get tired of wading. But I've got to get out of the Everglades .  So I keep wading.  And I'm wading, and I'm wading, and I'm wading. After I keep wading for a long, long time, it seems like I will never get to the shore. But I keep wading. And I'm wading, and I'm wading, and I'm wading. After a long time, I get to the shore. I am really glad to be back on the shore because it means that I can stop wading and wading and wading. So I head back to the car. I know that that snake venom can be very dangerous. I need to hurry to help my friend. I get in the car and put in the key to start it. But the car doesn't want to start. So I'm cranking, and I'm cranking, and I'm cranking, but the car still doesn't want to start.  I pump the gas pedal and I keep cranking.  But the car still doesn't want to start. So I'm cranking, and I'm pumping, and I'm cranking, but the car still doesn't want to start.  I think back to my friend sitting on that hill, and the events of the day.  Arriving in the 'glades and the fresh, sweet morning air.  Rowing through the swamp, and walking through the weeds.  The songs of the birds are hypnotic and the experience of the last several hours plays through my mind like a story.  I remember what happened to my friend, and how I explained that I would go for help.  "Don't worry" I had said to him.  "I will get you help!" I make him comfortable and tell him that he needs to stay still in order to delay the horrible effects of the poison within his blood stream. I turn and head back towards the boat. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Back to the boat! If I had known then that over the next several hours I would encounter 4 beautiful women, and experience the most exotic and spiritually uplifting events of my life, would I have done anything differently?  I wondered.  I drifted back into the deep images of the day.  It seems to be taking forever but I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Am I ever going to get back to the boat? But I keep running. Finally, I get to a place that I recognize from our walk. It is about 30 yards from my friend and I still have a long, long way to go. So I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running -- running back to the boat. But I can't see the boat. A bead of sweat runs slowly down my cheek and I jerk back into consciousness.  How could I have possibly foreseen what was to happen next?  Exotic? Yes. Erotic? Tremendously. I remember reaching for the key and cranking the engine again. So I'm cranking, and I'm cranking, and I'm cranking, but the car still doesn't want to start.  I pump the gas pedal and I keep cranking.  But the car still doesn't want to start. So I'm cranking, and I'm pumping, and I'm cranking, but the car still doesn't want to start.  I slip back into a recount of what was to become the most amazing day of my life, and recall how finally, I got so tired that I needed to walk so I stopped running. And how I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. But I haven't gotten back to the boat. So I keep walking. After a long, long walk, I realize that I still have a long way to go so I keep walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. My feet are getting kind of tired at this point but I know I still have a long way to go to get back to the boat, so I keep walking. At one point, I fall down, having tripped over a branch. My foot is stuck in a hole. I pull and pull, but I can't get my foot out of the hole. So I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, but my foot doesn't want to come out of the hole. So I keep pulling. I know that I have to get my foot out of the hole. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. Then my foot comes out of my boot. My foot is free, but I need to get my boot. So I reach down and grab the boot, but it doesn't want to come out of the mud. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot. After a little while, the boot starts to come loose. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot.  And finally the boot comes loose. So I put the boot back on my foot and I start walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. It has been a long time since I left my friend, so I call back to him not to worry.  "I will hurry!" My friend says OK, and I keep walking. After a long, long, walk, I get to the boat. I know that I have to hurry and get help so I start rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, but the boat doesn't want to go. I know that I have to work harder to help my friend. So I keep rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing. But the boat still doesn't want to go. Pull!  I need to pull for my friend's life!  With every stroke I feel the strength draining from my body.  But I need to help my friend.  So I keep rowing.  And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing.  Then I see the rope. The rope is still tied to the tree. That tree!  What an amazing story I would tell about it the next day.  Even after hearing the story, many people find it impossible to believe.  But it is true!  That's what makes what happened next so terribly ironic. Fantastic? I confess that it is almost always so for those who did not experience it.  But at that moment, I was re-living the past, and the remainder of the day's events still remained to be seen. I recalled clearly in my mind's eye how I had gotten out of the boat. I go over to the rope and start to untie it, but the knot doesn't want to come out of the rope. So I start pulling on the rope. But the knot still doesn't want a come out. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. But the knot still won't come out of the rope. I decided right there and then that I was going to have to keep trying to get that knot of the rope. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, but the knot still won't come out.  Then all of a sudden, I got another idea. I would cut the rope.  I know that I'm going to need a knife to cut the rope. So I look in my pocket. But there is no knife in my pocket. So I check my other pocket. There was no knife in that pocket either. Then I got an idea. Maybe there was a knife in my back pocket! So I checked in my back pocket. But there was no knife there. So I checked my other back pocket. But there still was no knife. Then I remembered that my friend had the knife. I knew that time was running out, so I had to get the knife soon. I knew I had to get back to my friend quickly. I started running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Back to my friend! It seems to be taking forever but I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Am I ever going to get back to my friend? But I keep running. Finally, I get to a place that I recognize from our walk. It is about 30 yards from my friend so I still have a long, long way to go. So I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running -- running back to my friend. Finally, I get so tired that I need to walk, so I stop running. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. But I haven't gotten back to my friend. So I keep walking. After a long, long walk, I realize that I still have a long way to go so I keep walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. My feet are getting kind of tired at this point but I know I still have a long way to go to get back to my friend, so I keep walking. At one point, I fall down, having tripped over another branch. My foot is stuck in another hole! I pull and pull, but I can't get my foot out of the hole. So I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, but my foot doesn't want to come out of the hole. So I keep pulling. I know that I have to get my foot out of the hole. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. Then my foot comes out of my boot. My foot is free, but I need to get my boot. So I reach down and grab the boot, but it doesn't want to come out of the mud. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot. After a little while, the boot starts to come loose. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot.  And finally the boot comes loose. So I put the boot back on my foot and I start walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. After a long, long walk, I get back to my friend.  It has been a long time since I left him, so it feels good to be back at his side.  I ask him for the knife, but he seems kind of tired.  I explain to him that snake venom can be very dangerous. He needs to take this more seriously and listen! I ask him for the knife again. He looks at me and says "what knife?" Right there and then I realized something. I realized that he still did not understand how important it was for him to pay attention. So I explain to him again that snake venom can be very, very dangerous. And I'm explaining, and I'm explaining, and I'm explaining. But he still doesn't want to listen. So I keep explaining. After a lot of explaining, my friend tells me that he does not have a knife. At this point I started to wonder if he realized how serious snake venom was and that it could be very dangerous. But since he didn't have a knife I decided that I would head back to the boat and try untying the knot. "Don't worry" I tell him.  "I will get you help!"  He doesn't seem very thankful for the sacrifice I am making. I turn and head back towards the boat. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Back to the boat! It seems to be taking forever but I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running. Am I ever going to get back to the boat? But I keep running. Finally, I get to a place that I recognize. It is a hole in the mud in the shape of a boot. I still have a long, long way to go. So I keep running. And I'm running, and I'm running, and I'm running -- running back to the boat. But I can't see the boat. Finally, I get so tired that I need to walk so I stop running. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. But I haven't gotten back to the boat. So I keep walking. After a long, long walk, I realize that I still have a long way to go so I keep walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking. My feet are getting kind of tired at this point but I know I still have a long way to go to get back to the boat, so I keep walking. At one point, I start to think about how far I have come.  I have come a long, long way, but I still have a long, long way to go. So I'm thinking about how far I have to go, when I step in a hole!  My foot is stuck in the hole. I pull and pull, but I can't get my foot out of the hole. So I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, but my foot doesn't want to come out of the hole. So I keep pulling. I know that I have to get my foot out of the hole. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. Then my foot comes out of my boot. My foot is free, but I need to get my boot. So I reach down and grab the boot, but it doesn't want to come out of the mud. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot. After a little while, the boot starts to come loose. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling on the boot.  And finally the boot comes loose. So I put the boot back on my foot and I start walking. And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I'm walking. It has been a long time since I left my friend, so I call back to him not to worry.  "I will hurry!" My friend says OK, and I keep walking. After a long, long, walk, I get to the boat.  I know that I need to get the knot out of that rope. But I don't have a knife.  I am going to have to pull that knot out of the rope. So I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. But the knot doesn't want to come out of the rope. So I keep pulling. After a while I get an idea. I will untie the rope from the boat. I go to the other end of the rope, which is tied to the boat, and I start pulling on the knot. But the knot doesn't want to come out. So I keep pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. But the knot still won't come out. Right then and there are realized something. I realized that the knot wasn't coming out of the rope. I was going to have to pull a lot harder. So I started pulling. And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling. But the knot doesn't want to come out. So I put the tree in the boat. I knew that my friend was in trouble. I needed to get help right away! So I got in the boat and started rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, but the boat doesn't want to go. I know that I have to work harder to help my friend. So I keep rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing. But the boat still doesn't want to go. Pull!  I need to pull for my friend's life!  With every stroke I feel the strength draining from my body.  But I need to help my friend.  So I keep rowing.  And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing.  Then I see my knife.  My knife is in the bottom of the boat.  So I cut the rope.  I know I have a long, long, long way to row.  So I go back to rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, but the boat doesn't want to go. I know that I have to work harder to help my friend. So I keep rowing. And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing. But the boat still doesn't want to go. Pull!  Pull indeed!  I still cannot believe what lay before me and how these seemingly irrelevant events would weave together into the fabric of an once-in-a-lifetime incident.  But sitting there, in that car, I could not possibly have conceived it.  Sometimes our lives are defined by a single event, and as I sat there at that moment I was dreaming of what I would later know to be one of the day's most important events: I need to pull for my friend's life!  With every stroke I feel the strength draining from my body.  But I need to help my friend.  So I keep rowing.  And I'm rowing, and I'm rowing, and I'm rowing.  Then I see the tree.  The tree is still in the boat.  Right then and there I realize something.  I realize that the boat isn't going anywhere with that tree in it.  But the tree doesn't want to come out of the boat.  So I start pulling on the tree.  And I'm pulling, and I'm pulling, and I'm pulling.  But the tree still won't come out of the boat.  So I keep pulling. I know that that boat isn't going anywhere with that tree in it.  And I keep pulling. Finally the tree comes out of the boat. Right then and there I realized something.  I realized that if I hadn't got that tree out of the boat, it wasn't going anywhere. But when I turn around, the boat wasn't there. It had drifted off. I realized right then and there that it wasn't tied up. I knew that I had to get out of the Everglades if I was going to get help from my friend. But I don't have a boat. So I start wading. And I'm wading, and I'm wading, and I'm wading. After a long time, I start to get tired of wading. But I've got to get out of the Everglades .  So I keep wading.  And am wading, and I'm wading, and I'm wading. After a long time, I get to the shore. I am really glad to be back on the shore because it means that I can stop wading. So I head back to the car. I know that that snake venom can be very dangerous. I need to hurry to help my friend. I get in the car and put in the key to start it. But the car doesn't want to start. So I'm cranking, and I'm cranking, and I'm cranking, but the car still doesn't want to start.  I pump the gas pedal and I keep cranking.  But the car still doesn't want to start. So I'm cranking, and I'm pumping, and I'm cranking, but the car still doesn't want to start.

That night I lay in my bed and I think back over the events of the day, and how this wild experience was resolved.  Where did those 4 women come from, and why me?  I think about the snake and the chances of that one in a million meeting.  Was it a coincidence?  The next day I met an old friend who had read about the story in the news.  He insisted I tell him the details.  I explained that it had been the kind of wonderful spring morning that you only find in Florida . The sun was blazing in a beautiful blue sky and you could feel the water in the air from the humidity. It was the kind of a day that causes a young man's thoughts to turn to the fairer sex. The birds sang in the background as the mosquitoes and insects buzzed around in the clear air.  I told him about the hole, about the knife and about the boat.  "What about the tree?" he said.