A dark twisted fantasy brought to life as a black ring wrapped your finger.

Maker's Note (6/10/25):

I came across a concept known as de-fanging the snake years ago when taking a knife fighting class. It was something to keep in mind when facing an attacker that also had a weapon. The premise was simple: if you can sever the muscles/ tendons on the inside of the attackers forearm— or sever their fingers— they would be unable to hold the weapon, and you could retreat to safety.

The class didn't turn me into a trained assassin. And I did not become a vigilante looking to start knife fights with questionable individuals.

But it pays to know how to protect yourself. And I still hope to one day take up martial arts. My excuse is that I constantly get hurt. And this often interferes with my work and other ambitions.

This said, I love the concept. Take the power away from your enemy. I am lucky enough to have fought for my life on numerous occaisons, have had a select few people back me up, and been rewarded with a new chance to live and the opppurtunities that come with it.

I am no longer being traficked. My traffickers are dead, and I have the blessing to create a new life for myself. This is a chance that almost all of the others who were with me in my situation did not get, and never will. I do not take this for granted.

The serpent was slayed. But I'd be lying if I said that was the end of it. Coming out of being trafficked, it's as if the snake bit me and I cut off it's head— but never pulled the fangs out.

Everywhere I went I saw remnants of the past in the body langugage and tone of other people. Everything I saw was through the glasses I had been forced to wear for 11 plus years.

So I take the fangs out, because if I don't— I can't create the life I want for myself. I can't have it both ways. I can't remain in the agonizing-yet-familiar comfort of my past. Allowing the fangs to reside in me, only keeps me trapped in a place I was but never wished to be. It only feeds the demons of my past, giving them power over me long after their death.

We all carry something with us. And creating something new takes courage. But the thing that I usually don't see in the hollywood montages is how much time and effort it takes to reconstruct the way you see your world.

It feels as if I just removed the snake's fangs from my arm. For reference, this is 14 years after I got out. And by doing so I have begun to see a world that is no where near as dangerous as I thought it was. I have learned to see friends instead of enemies. I am learning it's safe to relax.

I have forged the fangs that once poisoned me into a memento. And I now take it with me on my journeys.