"I don't think we have time for any of that," Jon hissed. "I just wish for a thousand big rats too stupid to run away."
Karyn had never liked rats. In fact, she hated them, especially for breakfast. Nevertheless, growing hungrier by the minute, Karyn let her naga cravings take over. Over and over she arched her spine toward the ground, opened her vicious teeth, and snapped up as many rats as she could swallow. Of course, the swarm of rats attracted other nagas that had come to feed but Karyn, Jon, and the others all got their fill, even Sarah McMillan.
"Ew, look at me. I'm bloated!" hissed Karyn.
"Ha! That's not bloated! That's only half full!" Sarah hissed cruelly. After all, while Karyn's belly had swelled to twice its normal diameter, Sarah's was triple!
"You want any more? A piglet or something?" Jon hissed Karyn.
"No, unlike some people, I'm not out to gorge myself today," Karyn hissed back.
"Dudes, this is way cool," hissed another naga who Jon eventually recognized as his friend Joseph. Joseph's color was mostly purple with orange bands every foot or so. His torso was more of a lilac color, but with an orange stripe across his eyes.
"C'mon, we can still make it to school on time if we cut across the pond!" Joseph hissed. So, in order to look normal, Jon and Karyn followed Joseph into the murky pond and began swimming like water snakes. Fortunately, this seemed to be another instinctive behavior. It was nothing like swimming as human being, though. There was no arm or leg movement, of course, and no sense of the water being warm or cold. There was only the sense of their long, serpentine bodies flexing against the thick inky water. Occasionally, one of the three would snap up a large fish or lizard that didn't get out of the way fast enough.
As they neared the opposite shore Jon was terrified to discover a swarm of alligators lurking along the shoreline. Joseph, however, took the danger in stride. Most of the gators fled when they saw the three nagas approaching, and Joseph used his powerful snake-like tail to flip away the larger ones that remained. As to the smaller ones, Joseph either ate them himself or left them for Jon and Karyn.
"I'm surprised you didn't flip out some of those alligators yourself," Joseph hissed to Jon after they'd slipped out of the water. "You're usually the first one at that, ever since we were kids"
"I was feeling a little full this morning, that's all," Jon hissed, then the three of them slid off to school.
"I wish Karyn and I knew our schedules," Jon hissed quietly.
