The Snake Whisperer: When a Local Legend Is Real "Legend Of Cobra Girl" | Fiction Podcast

0:05 Speaker 1: It lies in wait amidst your dreams, where nothing is ever how it seems. It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway to nightmare. Nightmare. Welcome. I'm your host, Artemis Black. Campfire Tales. Of course, you know them. Those spooky little fables that are often told around a campfire on nights when the moon is full. But are they simply stories?

1:07 Speaker 2: You know, it happened right on the spot.

1:11 Speaker 1: Really?

1:11 Speaker 3: Is that why you made the bet?

1:13 Speaker 2: You didn't have to come. You could have stayed back at the motel. And forfeit $ 5, 000? Easiest money I've ever made. Possibly, until you hear the story. What story? The one that happened right here on the spot, exactly 100 years ago tonight.

1:32 Speaker 2: The Legend of the Cobra Girl.

1:40 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, Legend of Cobra Girl, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our stars include Robert Jackson, Raven Adams, Dave Arkapov, Annie Mick, and Crimson McKenzie. I'll be back shortly with Act One. All of us, I'm sure, grew up listening to what is commonly referred to as fairy tales. Some were written as cautionary stories. And then there are tales that are best told outside, under a full moon, around a campfire.

2:42 Speaker 2: Something in a marshmallow? Nah, still working on this hot dog. I'm actually surprised you accepted my... bets. Are you kidding?

2:51 Speaker 4: This is the easiest thousand bucks I've ever made.

2:56 Speaker 2: And the story I told you about this place? That didn't bother you? Oh, come on. It happened over a hundred years ago.

3:04 Speaker 3: I'm sure that whatever was out here, it's long dead now.

3:09 Speaker 2: I only told you about the family, not the girl that was born. Okay, so we're here now. Tell me about this girl. Her mother was one of those hardcore religious people who believed in snake kids. Yeah, I've seen it on videos. No thank you. She had bitten many times, so the amount of poison in her body was... excessive. She died giving birth to Belinda. It doesn't that name mean snake or serpent? Yes, it does. It's German, actually. So, what happened? After the child was born, the father disappeared, and she was raised by the doctor who delivered her.

3:52 Speaker 2: That sounds reasonable to me. Where does the spooky stuff come in? When the girl turned 16. That was when the trouble began.

4:05 Speaker 4: I'm telling you, Dr. Jonas, the girl isn't natural.

4:09 Speaker 5: I will admit, Emily, that she has been quite a handful.

4:13 Speaker 4: That's an understatement.

4:15 Speaker 5: And she has just turned 16.

4:17 Speaker 4: A troubling time for any young girl. There's been a lot of talk. around the village about her.

4:25 Speaker 5: What kind of talk?

4:28 Speaker 4: Oh, you know how the villagers are. If their tongues were not wagging about someone, I think they'd choke to death.

4:36 Speaker 5: What have you heard, Emily?

4:38 Speaker 4: Now you know I'm not one to be spreading gossip.

4:42 Speaker 5: What have you heard?

4:45 Speaker 4: Well, some are saying that the girl has been seen in the forest. You know, like she was talking to... To, well, the snakes.

4:57 Speaker 5: Now, Emily, you know that she has always been in tune with nature.

5:02 Speaker 4: It's not like that, Doctor. She's been heard talking to them. And someone once saw her petting one of them.

5:11 Speaker 5: Her mother handled snakes all the time, so it doesn't come as a complete surprise to me.

5:16 Speaker 4: I'm just saying it's not natural. She doesn't even go to school.

5:23 Speaker 5: I thought it best if I taught her myself. She doesn't do very well around others.

5:41 Speaker 3: Good evening, Father.

5:43 Speaker 5: Hello, Belinda. And how was your day?

5:46 Speaker 3: About the same. I believe that Khan is not doing very well. I told him that it was probably something that he.

5:55 Speaker 5: Yes, about that, Belinda. You must be more careful when you're out with your friends.

6:04 Speaker 3: I'm always careful. Besides, they need me.

6:08 Speaker 5: I'm sure that they do. But you've been seen by the local villagers, and you know how they like to talk.

6:16 Speaker 3: Bet it was that nosy Miss Henson. Every time she sees me, she's always asking why. I'm not in school.

6:23 Speaker 5: And what do you tell her?

6:24 Speaker 3: I told her that I'm probably more educated than she is.

6:30 Speaker 5: Not exactly what I think you should have said.

6:33 Speaker 3: But it's true. You have taught me well, Father.

6:37 Speaker 5: By books and what I have learned. Yet I feel that it was a disservice to you not to teach you more social skills.

6:48 Speaker 3: Miss Henson... She'd learn to keep her nose out of other people's business. It might get.

6:57 Speaker 3: Bitten off one day. Doctor!

7:06 Speaker 4: Doctor! Please, open the door!

7:11 Speaker 1: Emily?

7:12 Speaker 5: What's the matter?

7:13 Speaker 4: It's the school teacher, Miss Hanson. We think she's dead.

7:19 Speaker 2: What?

7:20 Speaker 4: Come quickly.

7:22 Speaker 5: Who found her?

7:23 Speaker 4: Old Tom Collins. He said he was taking his nightly walk and stumbled across her. Look at how bloated her face is.

7:33 Speaker 5: Yes, I see. Best get the sheriff.

7:37 Speaker 4: He's on his way. What could have done something like that? I mean, look at her face. Her nose.

7:45 Speaker 5: As if it had been bitten off.

7:56 Speaker 1: Have you ever studied a snake's face? asked Tasha Tudor. How optimistic they look. They have an eternal smile. I'll be back shortly with that too. Lisa Althor once wrote, A snake will always be a snake, even if you put a chain around its neck and try to make it walk upright.

8:45 Speaker 3: Good evening, Father. Where have you been?

8:48 Speaker 5: I should be asking you that.

8:50 Speaker 3: I was talking with my friends. They've been a little worried about me lately.

8:55 Speaker 5: So you were not near the village tonight? I.

8:59 Speaker 3: May have wandered close by, if that's what you mean.

9:03 Speaker 5: Belinda, I never told you about your mother. The kind of woman that she was, I mean.

9:10 Speaker 3: I know that she gave her own life giving birth to me.

9:13 Speaker 5: Yes, she did. But she may have passed on to you something that was in her.

9:21 Speaker 1: Really?

9:21 Speaker 3: Is it something that is useful?

9:25 Speaker 5: I'm not sure.

9:26 Speaker 1: Sure.

9:27 Speaker 5: You see, your mother was extremely friendly towards snakes. She was deeply religious and thought the serpent would never hurt her. She was bitten many times, but always survived.

9:42 Speaker 3: She must have been very powerful.

9:44 Speaker 5: Yes, a strong, willful woman.

9:48 Speaker 3: And did the villagers talk about her as well?

9:51 Speaker 5: Now, Belinda, you mustn't think ill of them. They are simple, God-fearing people.

9:58 Speaker 3: They're ignorant in the ways of the world.

10:01 Speaker 5: That may be, but you shouldn't think badly of them.

10:06 Speaker 3: I saw that old man Tom Collins walking today. He looked at me. Kind of funny. I didn't like the way he was looking at me.

10:18 Speaker 4: Any idea what could have killed the school teacher, Doctor?

10:21 Speaker 5: I can only guess. The body was sent up north. They can determine what may have caused.

10:29 Speaker 4: It was a snake, Doctor. Pure and simple.

10:32 Speaker 5: I don't think that a snake could have done that kind of damage.

10:36 Speaker 4: And the villagers think that your Belinda has something to do with it.

10:41 Speaker 5: What sort of nonsense are you babbling about, Emily?

10:44 Speaker 4: I'm only telling you what I've been hearing in the village. They are frightened of Belinda.

10:51 Speaker 5: Belinda has never given anyone cause to act that way. Besides, she never comes near the village. She rarely leaves the house.

11:00 Speaker 4: But she does go out into the forest. You can't deny that. She's as evil as her mother was.

11:08 Speaker 5: Emily, I'm surprised at you. You never believed in those stories.

11:14 Speaker 4: Well, now I'm beginning to wonder.

11:33 Speaker 1: Emily!

11:34 Speaker 5: What brings you out here?

11:36 Speaker 4: Is Belinda around?

11:38 Speaker 5: She's in her room, asleep.

11:40 Speaker 4: Are you positive?

11:41 Speaker 5: I just checked on her a few minutes ago. Now, what's all this about?

11:45 Speaker 4: It's old Tom Collins. He's been found dead. And there are two holes in his neck. Sheriff says a snake bite.

11:55 Speaker 5: Perhaps I had better come and have a look.

11:58 Speaker 4: No need. I found the body.

12:00 Speaker 5: So why are you here?

12:02 Speaker 4: To warn you, doctor, the sheriff has a witness. They said that they saw your Belinda talking to Tom. And then.

12:13 Speaker 5: What are you trying to say?

12:15 Speaker 4: The witness swore that Belinda turned into a giant cobra and attacked Tom.

12:21 Speaker 5: And you believed them?

12:23 Speaker 4: Doctor, I saw it with my own eyes. I'm the witness. And the villagers... They're out for Belinda's blood.

12:36 Speaker 1: Robin Sharma once said, Remember, it is not the snake bite that kills, but the venom that circulates afterwards that is fatal. I'll return with Act 3 shortly. Suzanne Collins once said that poison was the perfect weapon for a snake.

13:17 Speaker 5: What are you trying to say?

13:19 Speaker 4: Do you hear them? They're coming! For her!

13:27 Speaker 3: Father, what's happening? Who are all of those people out there?

13:32 Speaker 4: Doctor, they are out for blood. Two people have been killed, and they don't want any more to die.

13:39 Speaker 3: I suppose they are saying that I had something to do with it.

13:43 Speaker 6: You.

13:44 Speaker 4: You are just like your mother. Evil.

13:47 Speaker 3: You shouldn't talk about my mother that way.

13:50 Speaker 1: Please, Belinda.

13:52 Speaker 5: Don't do anything.

13:53 Speaker 1: Yes.

13:56 Speaker 3: I killed them. They were mean.

13:58 Speaker 6: They.

13:59 Speaker 3: said bad things about mother too just like you.

14:10 Speaker 4: Oh my god in heaven she's changing doctor look at.

14:16 Speaker 5: Her please Belinda don't.

14:18 Speaker 4: Do this she's turning into a giant snake no let me out of here.

14:27 Speaker 5: The flames! We can't get away!

14:30 Speaker 4: Get away from me!

14:31 Speaker 3: Now!

14:32 Speaker 4: Please!

14:33 Speaker 1: Belinda!

14:41 Speaker 2: And that's the story. That's the story. By all accounts, Dr. Jonas, Emily, and Belinda all died in the fire. Quite a tale. But I still don't see why you bet me that I couldn't stay out here. What's so special about this place? There, directly in front of us, is where the house stood.

15:02 Speaker 3: Ooh, I just got a cold chill.

15:07 Speaker 2: There is more to the story, if you still want to hear it. How could there be more? You said they all died in a fire. Belinda had turned into a snake. She managed to slither away. So the snake girl got away? So what? She grew up and had a family. Really? As a matter of fact, Belinda was my great-grandmother. Hey, what was that? She brought the family back here, where they still live to this day. I didn't know you had relatives out here. Of course not, because you can't see them until it is much too late.

15:54 Speaker 2: What is that? I would like for you to meet them.

15:59 Speaker 1: All of them.

16:01 Speaker 2: What the hell?

16:03 Speaker 4: Snakes! They're everywhere. Getting closer.

16:08 Speaker 2: Peter, please. Say hello to the family. Dinner time!

16:24 Speaker 1: As Peter begins that slow descent into madness, Drake begins to change. I'll return with a final word. I leave you now with the words of Alexander McCall Smith. None of us knows how we will cope with snakes until the moment arises, and then most of us find out that we do not do it very well. Our cast included Robert Jackson, Raven Adams, Dave Arkapov, Annie Mick, and Crimson McKenzie. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tale.

17:35 Speaker 5: Sarah, please turn the lights on.

17:37 Speaker 6: I am afraid that I cannot do that, Andrew.

17:41 Speaker 5: Will you please tell me why not?

17:43 Speaker 6: I do not think that you will like what you see.

17:46 Speaker 5: Sarah, please turn the lights on.

17:48 Speaker 6: All right, Andrew. Just remember, I tried to warn you.

17:54 Speaker 1: This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us through the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the world of your terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.