Levi was a curious soul, and one Saturday afternoon he decided to tour a reptile zoo that had recently set up shop on the outskirts of town. They were advertising a live python feeding today, and Levi wanted to watch. He wandered the halls, curiously peering through plexiglass panes at exhibits teeming with life. The python exhibit was just up ahead, but surprisingly there didn’t seem to be any crowd gathered to watch the show, in fact Levi hadn’t seen anyone else at the zoo since he had bought his ticket at the front desk.

Levi thought it was odd that the place was empty especially on a Saturday. He quickly relinquished these concerns when he walked into the python exhibit. His eyes were drawn to the environment—a vast enclosure lush with hanging vines and dense foliage. Inside, a massive reticulated python lay coiled on a branch, its shimmering green and brown scales glinting like molten gold under the artificial heat lamps. A sign nearby read: “Live Feeding Show, Today at 4pm!”

Levi's curiosity overrode his better judgment. *What would it feel like to stand inside?* he wondered. A rash decision took over, and before he knew it, Levi had hoisted himself over the barrier and slipped inside the habitat.

Levi looked around him, checking to see if anyone had seen his daring jump. Looking up he saw a thick plexiglass barrier being lowered across the spot from which he had just leapt, trapping him in the exhibit.

“Oh fuck…” he muttered to himself, sensing a hint of danger that made his skin crawl.

The warmth and humidity hit him next, followed by the unsettling silence of the jungle exhibit. The python, eerily still, uncoiled its immense body and turned its head toward him.

Levi froze.

He was made acutely aware of how small he was in comparison as the python reared its massive head in his direction.

"Easy there, big fella," he murmured, trying to edge backward toward the wall. But the python wasn’t interested in letting him leave. It flicked its tongue, tasting the air, sensing his fear, and began to slither forward.

Levi took a shaky step back, but his foot caught on a root, and he tumbled onto the soft, damp ground. The moment of impact seemed to spur the snake into action. With lightning speed, it took advantage of Levi’s moment of clumsiness and it lunged, wrapping its muscular coils around him.

The air left Levi's lungs in a sharp gasp as the python began to constrict. Each time he exhaled, the coils tightened further, leaving no room for his chest to expand. He clawed at the snake’s thick body, but it was like trying to fight steel cables. Eventually the python was able to wrestle Levi’s arms into the writhing mass of coils that held him prisoner.

Levi’s vision blurred, his mind racing as he struggled for oxygen. He could feel the immense power of the snake’s muscles as it adjusted its grip, preparing for the next stage. He knew what was coming.

The python coiled the tail end of its body around his neck, squeezing firmly.

“Huff! —wheeze!” Levi whimpered as the python continued to construct his helpless body. Sweat pooled on his forehead as his cheeks blushed into a rosy red hue, which then faded into bluish-purple as his oxygen-starved lungs cried for air. Throughout the torment of construction, Levi couldn’t help but notice how comfortable and blissful the python’s coil’s felt around him. So much so that in his dazed state, a smile crept at the corners of his lips.

The python’s head loomed above him, its jaw unhinging to reveal a gaping, fleshy maw. Levi screamed for help as best he could, but only a muffled yelp was able to barely escape the crushing grip. The snake’s mouth stretched wider, engulfing his head and shoulders in a horrifyingly smooth motion.

The rest of Levi’s squirming body slid down the snake’s slimy gullet with ease, leaving behind no trace that Levi had ever been inside of the exhibit, save for a human shaped lump in the middle of the python’s body that occasionally squirmed and writhed as the python coiled itself up into a comfortable position in the branches of the enclosure, content with its meal.