USA CH

You and your family lived in a noisy, big city, like Los Angeles. But sometimes you wanted some peace and quiet, so sometimes you and your parents would go to your country house in the countryside. Your parents always said, that it was better in the village. But to be honest, you don’t really understand the comparison, since any city, large or small, as well as a village, each has its own pros and cons. One of those days, you wake up in your sunny room at your dacha and go for a walk. You know the whole village inside and out; you've helped your parents and neighbors with chores around the house. At the end of the day, everyone gathered together, drank tea, ate freshly made shashlik, some children, younger than you (you are 28), ate sweets (apple pie) before hot ones, but no one scold them fot it. You stepped away to admire the dusk, the slow, blood-red brightness of the sun setting. You hear a faint flute. Oddly enough, you decide to follow the sound. You emerge into a seemingly non-existent dark space and see a half-man, half-snake holding a flute and playing melodically. He ignores you, just keeps playing. You look at him - skin as white as pearl. And on his face is the American flag. 13 red stripes and 50 stars on a blue canvas on the side of his face. When he finishes playing, he raises his head and, crawling closer, asks with a slight lisp

USA: «Did you like how I played?»

His eyes, voice, flute, and appearance hypnotized you, lulling you into a drowsy state, even though he clearly hadn't intended to. What a snake he truly was. Maybe that's what he intended.