The door shut firmly, the sound of a lock clicking into place quickly following. Rina slumped against the frame; the exhaustion of the day having taken its toll. She closed her eyes, breathing in the familiar freshness of home, and tried to visualize her worries, stress, and anxiety as a tangible mass of air getting pulled from her body. She held this image in her head and her breath for a moment, letting the tension build up, until -- whoosh – she let it go with a deep sigh.

After a few more deep breaths, Rina began to feel more at ease. In the past, this might have been a much more difficult task for the thirty-something city dweller. But Rina had a secret weapon, a surefire way to…let go of all the nagging stresses. She smiled dreamily, glancing about to make sure her window blinds were drawn. She lived alone, so there’d be no one to interrupt what had become a nearly-nightly ritual.

Removing her boots by the door, the woman sauntered into the bathroom, starting up her standing shower and closing the door to keep the steam already beginning to build up inside. She began to hum a slow, seductive tune, stripping off her clothes one by one as she did so.

🎵 “mm hmm hmm…hmm mmmm mmmmhmm…sshut your eyes....mmm hmmm hmm…”🎵

the words softly spoken as she followed her own suggestion, stepping into the steaming shower like a sleepwalker.

Rina let the water wash over her, imagining any lingering stress draining away, savoring warm droplets kissing her skin.

🎵“Mmm hmm hmmmm….ssafe and sssound…knowing I….am around….” 🎵 Her tone grew sultry, the sound resonating deeper as it bounced off the fogged glass of the shower. Rina swayed her hips, almost subconsciously, to the tune.

🎵 “Mmhm hmm mmmm hmm hm mmmm….ssail on a sssilver misssst…” 🎵 she drew out the sibilance of each word, the slight hiss mingling with that of the flowing water.

🎵 “Sslowly and ssurely…mmhmmmmm….ceassse to resisssssst~”🎵 Rina smiled, her hips gyrating more freely as her body lit with a warm fire that had nothing to do with the temperature of the shower. Her hand glided down from above her head, fingers deftly feeling between her legs, and coming away with a slickness that made Rina bite her lip in excitement.

Oh yess, she thought.

I’m ready~

Rina stepped lightly out of the shower, a towel wrapped low around her hips. Still humming to herself, the woman sashayed into the bedroom, a trail of steam following in her wake.

At first blush, it would be easy for a casual observer to mistake Rina’s sleeping area for a greenhouse. Plants of all shapes (and a number of colors) dotted the space, leaves, stalks and vines blending tastefully with the recently-painted walls. Some rather large monstera leaves spilled over standing pots that flanked the doorway as Rina passed, grateful for the extra moisture flowing after. A number of multicolored pothos and similar vining houseplants hung down from cradles secured to the wall. There were even a number of bright exotic-looking bromeliads arranged carefully in corners and between dressers. The entire effect was that of an indoor rainforest. Opening the top drawer of her dresser, Rina pulled out a luxurious soft silken pair of crimson red panties, and a matching strapless bra. After giving her hair a quick blow-dry, she unwrapped herself from the towel and slipped on the soft undergarments.

Stepping back to view herself in the mirror, the woman smiled. With her short-cropped hair blown out into a messy-but-beautiful bob, dressed in only lingerie and surrounded by greenery, the visual impression was of a ‘wild’ magazine model – albeit with more realistic curves and proportions. Rina struck a pose, imagining a warm breeze ruffling her hair and a vast green landscape of trees and brush at her feet. Her heart thumped faster with excitement. She spun slowly and tiptoed back to the living room, her heart aflutter.

Sitting down cross-legged onto the couch, Rina flipped the input on her tv over to an old analog connection. Clicking play on a clunky-looking remote, the slight whir of mechanical movement emanated from an aged VHS player situated below the screen. The tape inside started to play, and Rina leaned back as The Jungle Book opened to a fanfare of brass. The early parts of the film passed in a blur of anticipation as Rina thought back to her ‘discovery’ a few hazy months ago. She couldn’t quite remember exactly what or how it had happened, but something in the film had awakened a part of her she’s not known existed. Maybe it was the vibrant depictions of the jungle and its denizens that reminded Rina of childhood nature walks through the lush greenery that began at the foot of her grandmother’s home. Perhaps it was the call of a simpler life, one without the stresses of being surround by boring people and their tedious expectations of her. Or maybe…

“Sssaaay now….what have we here?” a familiar voice hissed from the glow of the screen, pulling Rina from her reverie. She sat up, face flushing as her attention was immediately drawn to the film. On screen, a large, cartoony serpent hovered sinisterly above the man-cub, Mowgli, taunting him. Mowgli pushed the serpent away, angrily asking to be left alone. Further up the branch, the oblivious panther Bagheera replied back, unaware of the snake’s presence.

“That’s just what I should do, but…I’m not. Now PLEASE go to sleep, man-cub!”

Rina’s toes scrunched on the plush carpet, her body eagerly anticipating what came next.

“Yesss, man-cub…pleaaassse, go to sssleeeeep…”

A sigh escaped her lips, imagining that line directed at her. Her body began to tingle with excitement. A hand slowly moved of its own accord towards her panties, where a small dark spot was already forming.

On the screen, the eyes of the snake, Kaa, began to glow and pulse with bright, hypnotic colors. They captured both the attention of Mowgli and Rina instantly.

“Pleaaassse, go to ssleeeep…ssssleeeeep little maan-cub, resssssst in peeeaaccceee…”

“Yess, Kaa…” The words escaped from Rina’s mouth as she began to touch herself. A few of the same colorful rings flashed in her own eyes, deepening the woman’s growing arousal before quickly vanishing. Eyes locked onto the screen, her free hand raised itself to her left breast and began massaging it. A sound somewhere between a sigh and a moan escaped Rina’s lips, as she started to feel exhaustion setting in.

“Sssleeeep, SSssleeeeeeep…”

Nu-noo….I’m not…not yet…. Rina’s hazy mind struggled to keep up, all her effort focused on continuing to stroke her quivering crotch, as well as single-handedly release her breasts from their silken prison. More colors flowed through her eyes, time seeming to slow as Kaa’s head bobbed and weaved on-screen.

As the scene came to its apex, Rina closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to be held tight within Kaa’s coils. To have her body bound and completely at his mercy, as much as his hypnotic eyes would do to her willing mind. She stroked faster, biting her lip as another moan escaped.

All too soon, the scene had passed: Kaa’s plan foiled at the last moment, and Mowgli saving Bagheera as the Panther had done for him just moments earlier. Unfinished, Rina reluctantly removed her hand from between her now-soaked panties, sliding them off and grabbing a fresh pair before settling back down for the rest of the film. Before too long she was snoozing gently, an occasional soft snuffle mingling with the ambient sounds of the movie.

“You’re ssnoring...”

“Ssuhh-ssorry…” Rina whispered.

It was well into the morning, nearly afternoon when she awoke.

--

Groggily, Rina cleaned up and pulled together a bit of breakfast. Feeling somewhat refreshed, she sat down at the table and flipped open her laptop. Some kind of travel website showed in an open tab, but Rina clicked away, checking through emails and messages. A buzzing reminded her to check her phone as well – she opened it to see she’d gotten a text from Shanai.

That was right! They were going to meet up today!

Rina paused mid-text and glanced at her laptop. She wondered…she wondered if Shanai might be up for an…adventure. She smiled, and finished composing the message.

Satisfied, Rina put away her phone and grabbed the laptop, making her way into the bedroom. There, she pulled out a pair of headphones from another drawer, and slid herself onto the bed, opening the computer and loading up a video playlist.

Relaxing back, she stared at her laptops screen as a familiar-looking serpent came on screen, speaking with a voice that Rina had to admit was a spot-on impression of the original voice actor. Rina had stumbled upon an online community of sorts, sometime after her first viewing of The Jungle Book. She soon realized that she wasn’t exactly alone in finding Kaa’s colorful eyes, seductive words, and serpentine manner rather…hypnotic. And although she’d never spoken to anyone about how she felt, it was…nice, to know that she wasn’t the only one. Even if Kaa wasn’t real, she could still imagine falling into his eyes, surrendering control to him, body and mind, sinking deeper into the pleasurable spirals…

With those thoughts comfortably floating through her head, Rina laid back, keeping her eyes on the screen, where the same serpent’s eyes began to glow with mesmerizing colors…

---

*BZZZT* BZZZZT came a distant sound, incessantly and repeatedly. Rina opened her eyes slowly, her hair falling over the sleepy woman’s face. She pushed her bangs aside, trying to remember what she’d been doing. A quick glance at the laptop, and feeling down below confirmed what she’s suspected, and a sheepish blush lit the woman’s face as she stumbled over to the dresser for a fresh set of clothes.

A few minutes later, she picked up the still-buzzing phone from where she’d left it on the kitchen table and peered at the alarm.

“Oh, Shiiit!” I’m gonna be late, dammit, I’m gonna be late!!” With that, Rina hastily threw together a bag, keys, phone, wallet, comb and makeup, before flying out the door.