The Man opened the basket in the far corner of the stall and watched the serpent slither from its confines into the straw. Shutting the stall door, The Man further reflected on the next step toward fulfillment of his sacred ambition. She was waiting to Zoom chat with Michael Burleson, her lover, life partner, and father to their four-year-old son, Henry. Michael was a network war correspondent for TV news who almost lost everything from the curse of alcohol abuse. Henry, their beautiful boy with the same translucent eyes and brown curls as his dad, burst onto the porch.