I'm at my parents' house, and I catch a snake, I think in the parlor under a table. But it's just a baby, I explain, and there must be a mature one around somewhere. Sure enough, I find the "mother"; lighter in color and many times larger. They fiercely try to bite you, but I hold them just behind the head, and explain that even if they did manage to bite, the consequences would be minor, since they have no poison, or their teeth aren't strong enough to pierce the skin with it.

So I start trying to diagnose the infestation and figure out where they live. I pick up my leather jacket, which happens to be laying on the floor half-under the table, and shake it, and all these creatures fall out - two adults snakes and myriad babies, whole families of small white mice, and a large tarantula.

Somebody, perhaps Petra, is there so I ask her to keep an eye on them and don't let any of them out of the box until I figure out what to do. I run into the kitchen and ask my mom how best to kill them. She answers with something really complicated and chemical, like "I'd get some D5FXW, and mix it with some dioxin, but you'll have to be really careful not to breathe it, and I always take an antibiotic just in case."

I'm sort of frustrated and angry by the long and detailed answer, and I interrupt her, saying "It's not that complicated a problem. I just need to eliminate these creatures as quickly and simply as possible, without making them suffer. Isn't there an easier way?"

Mom answers that her answer is her answer, and continues with some cooking task she's working on at the table.

By this time I was sitting on the far side of the table, under the window, and as I get up in frustration I kick the table so that it rolls all the way across the kitchen floor, hitting the cabinets on the opposite side with some force. Then I start helping mom clean up the damage, especially a quilt which was on it and is now wet.

Somebody points out a couple of dolls, sitting on the bench, against the wall in front of the window where the table had been. They have dresses on, but they are pushed out behind them like they had just been knocked over on their butts, and we all start laughing.