Ctrl-Z by Andrew Norriss

coils covered his body up to the top of his chest now. His arms were pinned against his sides and breathing was almost
     impossible. It was an effort to expand his chest to pull in even the smallest gasp of air and he had given up shouting for
     help. Did snakes try to swallow you while you were still alive, he wondered? He didn’t fancy that. Probably better to have
     someone hit you on the back of the head with a piece of piping than…
    It was getting difficult to think. There were little coloured lights in front of his eyes and then suddenly –
    Suddenly there was a bright light and the sound of someone’s voice. ‘
Boze móje!!
’
    ‘Alex?’ Mr Kowalski’s face had appeared, slightly blurred, swimming in the air in front of him. ‘You don’t move! You hear
     me? You keep still!’
    A slightly unnecessary instruction, Alex thought. There hadn’t been much chance of moving for some time.
    ‘Oh, you are bad boy! You are
very
bad boy!’ Mr

    Kowalski was saying, and Alex was trying to apologize when he realized the old man was talking to the snake. He had grabbed
     one end of it, the tail, and was unwinding the coils as he spoke. A bit later, the pressure on Alex’s chest began to ease.
     He could breathe again and he sank to the floor. Slumping on the carpet, his back resting against the wall, he could actually
     see the snake for the first time.
    It was truly enormous. Well over ten metres in length, its coils seemed to cover most of the floor. Mr Kowalski had a section
     of it slung over his shoulder and was hauling it across the room, pushing it into a huge wooden chest that ran along one wall.
     As he put one part of the snake in the chest, another would start to slide out and Mr Kowalski would determinedly grab it
     and push it back in, talking to it all the time as if it were a naughty child.
    Finally, the last section of the snake had been stuffed into the box and Mr Kowalski closed the lid and snapped a bolt to
     keep it in place. He came back to Alex, knelt down and stared anxiously into his eyes.
    ‘How are you, Alex? You all right?’
    ‘I‐I think so.’
    ‘I am fool. I am such idiot.’ Mr Kowalski smacked himself sharply on the side of the head. ‘I knew this happen one day. You
     wait here. I get you drink.’

    Mr Kowalski left, but was back a moment later with a glass of water. Alex sipped it gratefully.
    ‘I’m sorry, Mr Kowalski,’ he said. ‘I know I shouldn’t have –’
    ‘No, no!’ Mr Kowalski waved his hands. ‘Is all my fault. You are young boy. You want to know why old man next door lives in
     house with curtains drawn and windows locked. You are curious. Of course you are.’ He gave himself another smack on the head.
     ‘I knew this happen one day.’
    Alex was beginning to recover. ‘What… what sort of snake, is it?’ he asked.
    ‘Is African python,’ said Mr Kowalski. ‘Biggest snake in the world.’ There was a touch of pride in his voice as he spoke.
    ‘Why… how… where did you get him?’
    ‘Ah… Long time ago. Twenty years.’ With a sigh Mr Kowalski sat himself on the carpet beside Alex, his back against the wall.
     ‘When I come to this country, I have no family, no friends, no one. Only Saskia.’
    ‘Saskia?’
    Mr Kowalski nodded. ‘Engineer on ship give him to me. I keep him in my pocket. Talk to him. Tell him all my worries. Ask what
     I should do. He sleep in bed with me. He curl up by my feet…’ He smiled. ‘He is good friend.’
    ‘But then, time pass, and he grow bigger.’ Mr

    Kowalski’s smile faded. ‘He grow big, then more big, then more and more bigger. My daughter she say, “He is dangerous animal.
     Is against the law. Get rid of him!” But how can I? Saskia is friend. I cannot get rid of friend! My daughter she say, “I
     not visit you any more while you have snake. You choose.” I say “OK, I choose snake.”’ Mr Kowalski let out a long breath.
     ‘Then he eat dog.’
    ‘A dog?’ said Alex. ‘He ate a