The morning sun rose over the ever changing canopy of the Indian Jungles, the darkness fading as the rays of light soaked the leaves with the flow of its glorious rays. Another day had dawned, the nocturnal predators had now routed back into their dens and the Jungle morning had begun. The chirping of the birds filled the Jungle with their songs and spirits, leaving not an inch of silence as the chilly morning breezes carried their tunes through the maze of trees and other exotic plants that thrived as competition for their nutrients kept their roots continuously digging deeper into the depths of the fertile Jungle soil. Many of the now awakened animals began to step upon, as they made their way to fill their stomachs and break their fasting over the course of the night. The jungle now as lively as ever, but not every creature was awake…yet.

A great tree stood in the middle of a vast array of smaller trees, it stood out like a sore thumb, its bark covered in a thick sheet of moss that spiralled its way up the tree, parting ways at each branch along its upward journey. The branches themselves large and sturdy, able to carry nearly twice their own weight, moss and vines, dangling off and slipping downwards to the Jungle carpet, like stalagmites in a dark unexplored cave. Higher into the tree, invisible to the eyes of those who walked upon the Jungles soggy fertile earth, wrapped around the tree like a rope tied firmly to a pole, was the mighty coils of a rock python. They darted off into two different directions, one leading towards the head of the serpent itself, leaning against the trunk, snoozing silently pulling a large smug upon its face, as if he had been drenched in pure happiness. While the other bared course towards a branch below, wrapped around the branch in a spherical like fashion but eventually lead to what would have appeared to be a large pile of the pythons coils, towering skywards, many, many loops circled up into the peak. But where the coils ended sat the head of a boy…

Mowgli twitched as he felt his consciousness returning to him. He could feel something wrapped around him, but at this moment he only thought of it as the humungous leaves of a snug green bush curved around him, how Baloo had put him to sleep in the past, the leaves themselves shielding him from the cold Jungle winds, reflecting his own body heat, keeping him snug and warm as he laid next to his Papa bear. The thought of Baloo suddenly motivated Mowgli to awaken from his crib, and enjoy yet another day in the Jungle…but to his surprise as he came to move his arms, they would not budge. It was then Mowgli realised he had no memory of going to sleep the night before…his last memory of yesterday wasn't at night at all….it was back at the….Mowgli's eyelids shot open, the sunlight stunning him for a second, yet as the man-cubs eyes adjusted, to his horror, his suspicions were true…

Mowgli's senses returned to him, he felt the long scaly coils, whose weight pondered down upon him like a ships anchor, which had bound his entire body into a tight cocoon. He couldn't lift a finger or wiggle a toe.  He could feel the firm bumpy branch under his thin comfy loincloth, which certified that he was, sat cross-legged, not that it mattered too much to the bounded man-cub though it had affected his blood-circulation, leaving a tingling feeling in the Man-cubs legs.  He was sat up straight, yet his head leaned slightly to the left, treating the thick cushioned coil as a pillow. Mowgli gulped as he tried to struggle free, though his efforts were futile in earning him an escape, though it did alert to the captor himself that his prey had now awakened. Oh goody!

Kaa's heavy eye-lids flung open, his onyx black eye pupils shot downwards towards his work of art, the great caterpillar cocoon that his prey was bound within, each loop around the man-cub picking up the smooth soothing textures of the cubs skin, and the warmth it gave off, the very feelings that helped Kaa drift off into slumber that evening. He pulled up off the tree's mossy curved trunk, which served as the python's hammock as he slithered downwards to wish the captured man-cub a good morning…

Several kilometres away, the frightened bear and the anxiously worried Panther ceased their search for a short while as they came to rest, their eyes blood-shot after an all-night search of trying to track down Mowgli, and yet they had failed. There were no signs of the man-cub anywhere, they had searched the area around the rugged stone he had disappeared from and then went deeper into the Jungle…but still no sign.  I can't let his happen to him Baloo thought to himself as he sat for a sort while against a slab of stone.  I….I have to find him….and quickly! His mind raced as he again picked himself up from his solid armchair and continued his search into the depths of the Jungle, Bagheera following leaping from tree-branch to tree-branch, following from behind.

"Good Morning, Man-cub!" Mowgli jumped, startled as the Pythons words unexpectedly echoed into his ears. The Python revealing himself in front of the child's face, pulling an inviting grin as his tail stroked the black messy stuck up hair staring straight into the Man-cubs face.

"K…Kaa" Mowgli whimpered, not knowing where to start as the mighty python who almost devoured him before, had now trapped him within his coils with no means of escape.
"W….why are you doing this to me? Let me go!" Mowgli complained as he pulled a hostile mug at the towering serpent, who gave out a small chuckle. Most prey would be frozen in fear if they found themselves trapped within the might rock pythons coils, but the Man-cub, vicious, yet weak. All bark and no bite.  "Y….your going to eat me aren't you" Mowgli moaned as the pythons chuckle vibrated in his ear drums.

"heheh hisssss…and I suppose that's what the foolish panther said I was doing? Hehehe, you know you never witnessed me trying to eat you yoursssself, man-cub" Kaa slyly replied still pulling a cheeky smile at the man-cub, staring right at him.

"But I know you had me coiled up and under your…thing" Mowgli responded, "so I know you were up to something" he would have tried to fold his arms, but with the coils the way they were, he could only pass on a stern look at the Python, his bushy eye-brows misshaped as his gave the python his icy stare.

"True, but I had never felt what a man-cub felt like, so I just wanted to feel you in my coils….but that panther took it the wrong way, I never wanted to devour you man-cub" the serpent  lied as his eye lids half closed as he continued to admire the icicle stare the man-cub was giving him.

"Then….why am I here now? Why did you take me away from Baloo? And then keep me trapped here inside….your coils? Mowgli questioned, still very suspicious of the mighty rock-python he was now under the control of.

"Because I…"Kaa thought for a moment, trying to seem like he was hiding something, he had thought of something very, very devious. "Because I….pity you man-cub" he finally responded falsely changing his facial expression awaiting the man-cubs initial response.

"P…pity me" Mowgli repeated "b…but why" he continued, shocked by the snakes response, why on earth would the snake pity him?

"Because mancub…you fell for the bear's lies and deception" Kaa groaned, pulling an apologetic look upon his face, still staring at the man-cub.

"W…what are you talking about? Baloo's not a liar, and he would never betray me" Mowgli growled in defence of his best friend in the entire world.

"Issss that sssso" Kaa hissed "then may I assssk, before you met him, was there a time when you were alone? When the Panther had abandoned you perhapsss?" Kaa asked, still staring coldly at the man-cub.

"Well….yeah there was…." Mowgli slowly responded, thinking back to when they were at the log that bridged over the reservoir, where Bagheera had trying to drag him across pulling on his loin-cloth as Mowgli held on as tight as he could, up until the loincloth gave way and the panther fell as quickly as a lightning bolt, into the soaking waters below. In annoyance, leaving the man-cub to fend for himself….it was then that Mowgli began to see the serpents point!

"And then shortly afterwards you encountered the bear?" Kaa again questioned his witness, who was no longer giving Kaa an intense stare as the cub fell into a deep thought"

"Yeah…he came a few minutes after…..you don't mean that!!!?" Mowgli suddenly paused in fear, of how cold and vial the truth can really be?

"Yessss man-cub, all along he's been working with the panther to get you to that man-village, because you kicked up such a fussss the panther couldn't do the tassssk alone. Ssssso, he got the help of an old friend….someone who would earn your trusssst, and lure you slowly to the man-village and abandon you!!! Did you know how closssssse you were back at the rock? Another few miles and….." Kaa ended his sentence, the Man-cub had now bursted into tears…the snake had successfully deceived the child…

"No…its not true" Mowgli sobbed, as much as he didn't want to believe it, but it made so much sense! Baloo would also lead, he thought because he knew where all the good spots of the Jungle were, the fruits, the waterholes… but really he was just leading him to the man-village…he was worse than Bagheera. Much worse than Bagheera…Mowgli couldn't trust anyone anymore… maybe… Kaa was good after all… but something still tugged back at Mowgli, telling him he couldn't trust the snake…not to listen…but perhaps traces of the rock pythons hypnosis still loomed in the back of Mowgli's mind. Overcoming the boys conscience and forcing him to believe the snakes words…

"Here man-cub, perhapsssss thisssss might cheer you up" Kaa spoke, trying to sound thoughtful, as the boy's eyes spying upwards, noticing a rather moderately sized mouth-watering mango, in the pythons tail. Mowgli's stomach suddenly growled, he hadn't eaten for what felt like an entire day. He lick his lips as the mango was brought into biting distance. The man-cub sunk his teeth into the delicious juices of the mango, dripping down onto the coils below. Lightly chewing and swallowing every mouth-full at his own speedy pace.  His stomach was now on Kaa's side and the man-cub all the more reason to trust the snake…. little knowing the pythons true intensions.

Only a little later, Mowgli relaxed himself in the coils, satisfied by his freshly picked, juicy breakfast, Mowgli laid back into the snug and warmth of his living armchair, closing his eyes and trying to get over the ugly truth that had been revealed to him…not realising it was all a big lie to gain the child's trust. Watching the Man-cub eat had set off Kaa's very own black hole, giving off a volcanic rumble as Kaa thought to himself that it was time….he had big plans for the man-cub and needed him under his hypnosis once again. Placing his head in front of the man-cubs he prepared his eyes for another performance…
"Could you pleasssse take a look at thissssss, man-cub" Kaa asked, Mowgli still enjoying the cushioning sensation of the coils, opened up his eyes and fell back into the world of colours he had fallen into once before…