A traveler ends up becoming a more involved part of a snake charmer's show than he had originally planned...
=========================================================================

Alex is jolted awake by the soft thud and shake of the plane touching down on the runway. He looks around to get his bearings as the captain makes the announcement confirming that they have landed and to thank them for flying. A long taxi later and Alex is grabbing his things and disembarking the plane. He stops just past the gate entrance and takes a deep breath, looking around the airport in Mumbai. “I can’t believe I’m finally here, god that was a long series of flights.” He takes out his phone and starts checking his itinerary, then heads for the hotel to check in. He doesn’t even unpack before he starts heading out, hailing a taxi to take him towards the forest he had planned to go hiking in on his trip.

“My friend, you should check out this guy, he does good show. Very entertaining.”, the taxi driver excitedly says as he hands a card to Alex. Alex looks it over, it appears to be advertising a show that an exotic animal handler puts on.

“Thanks, can you take me there?”

“Sure thing, boss.” The taxi driver then turns on a street and starts taking the detour to where this show is, eventually pulling up to a crowded street bustling with vendors, customers, and passersby. Alex gets out of the cab, handing a generous tip to the driver before he speeds off. Alex looks around but doesn’t have to look hard to find the performer in question. He seems to be wrestling with a large cobra. The man wraps one hand around its neck, just below the jaw, and the other around its tail and starts coiling it. After much of a struggle, the man successfully puts the cobra into a locked basket that has several small holes in the side and sets it aside. He stands and takes a bow as he is cheered. As he stands back up straight, the performer notices Alex standing among the crowd and smiles, looking directly at him.

“Welcome, my friend, welcome! You look to be new here, would you like to take part in my next show?”

“…Take part? I…well…I dunno…does it involve snakes?”

“Indeed it does, but do not worry, you will be safe, I’ll make sure of it!”

“Well, alright then…what do I need to do?”

“Nothing, that’s the best part! Simply stand over here…” The performer grabs Alex by the hand and practically drags him front and center, standing next to him now. “…and just listen to my music. That’s it!”

“Uh…alright, where does the snake come in?”

“Oh, it’ll come, don’t worry. Do you like snakes, or know much about them?”

“Not really…”

“Not to worry! Now then…just listen to my music. There is nothing else but the sound of my voice, and my music.” The performer takes out a recorder and starts playing it, a soothing tune coming out of it. Alex doesn’t pay much attention at first, looking at the crowd watching him with anticipation. “Come on friend, focus on my music, or else the show can’t go on!” Alex snaps his attention back to the performer and tries to focus on the music. The performer is playing a classic Indian folk song, as Alex listens more, he finds it easier to tune out the crowd and focus only on the music and the sound of the performer’s voice. The music grows louder in his head, and the sounds of the crowd become muffled. Soon, even the words of the performer seem to run together, Alex has to struggle to understand what is being said. “Concentrate…Focus…” The performer turns to the crowd as he plays. “…must…calm…before…snake…” The performer’s words have become nearly unintelligible now, and all Alex can think about is the music. It’s very calming and soothing, every worry he had about this trip seems to melt away, and it becomes more and more difficult to think about anything else other than how good the music is.

As Alex continues to focus on the music, light- and dark-brown scales push their way through his skin, surfacing like something floating on the water. The scales spread all around his body as his arms and legs begin to shorten. The gaps between his fingers and toes slowly disappears, then the digits begin to entirely merge together, leaving behind stumps on each limb. Alex continues to focus on the music as his eyes begin to glow a bright, emerald green. The audience looks on excitedly and expectantly, as if they were waiting for this to happen. Alex’s limbs shrink further and further as his pants are pushed aside by a scaled tail growing out of his back, growing long and thick. It soon touches the ground, and what’s left of his legs lift up from the ground, leaving him to fall back on his tail. His limbs have nearly disappeared now, only short nubs on his lengthening body. The scales move up to his face, covering his body entirely with dark brown scales and a pattern of light brown scales. His nose flattens against his face as his jaw pushes forward and rounds out to form a short muzzle.

His eyes burn as the pupils become slitted. He subconsciously licks the inside of his mouth as his tongue becomes long and splits at the end, becoming forked. All but two of his teeth sink back into his gums as a flap of skin grows over his narrow, forked tongue. The last of his teeth grow sharper, longer and hollow, soon filling themselves with deadly venom. The performer keeps the music up, occasionally looking at the crowd and smiling, pleased that this has gone so well. Alex’s hair shrinks back into his body and his limbs have disappeared now. His torso has lengthened while the rest of his body shrinks slightly. The glow in his eyes stop as does the music, and Alex falls to the ground writhing around as a 5-foot-long boa constrictor. He looks up in panic and searches around, trying to get his bearings. He looks down and sees his new body, and immediately jumps in a panic, then looks around frantically trying to find a way out.

Before he can learn how to move, however, the performer grabs him much in the same way he did with the cobra. One hand on the neck, the other near the end of the tail and lifts him into the air triumphantly. “Another successful snake charmed!” He then stuffs Alex into a nearby basket and locks it closed and sets it aside. Alex tries to look through the basket as the performer steps forward to address the audience.

“Now then…any volunteers for the next show?”