Snake in the shoe: Hidden Instincts and Ignored Warnings

"i was getting ready for something, work maybe, though i don't actually remember what job i was dressing for, and i went to put my shoe on and there was a snake already in it, small, not doing anything threatening, just coiled up like it lived there. i didn't scream or anything, i just kind of stared at it, more confused than scared, like my brain hadn't decided yet how it should feel. i shook the shoe out and it slid onto the floor and just went under the bed, unbothered, and i remember thinking i should probably deal with that but getting distracted by something else almost immediately, i think a phone ringing that i never actually answered. then i was in a different room, i think it was supposed to be a hallway at my old job, and there were snakes moving along the baseboards, several of them, different sizes, not all together, just scattered like they'd always been part of the building and i was only noticing now. people were walking past them completely normal, stepping around without even looking down. i tried to tell a coworker, someone whose face i can't place now, and they just shrugged like it wasn't worth mentioning, which bothered me more than the snakes themselves honestly. i kept trying to explain that this wasn't normal and the words kept coming out jumbled, not making the point i wanted. at some point i was back near the bed from earlier, checking under it again, and there wasn't just one snake anymore, there were several curled together in a loose pile, not moving much, and i just closed my eyes and decided to deal with it later, whatever that meant. woke up still thinking about that shoe, actually checked it before putting it on this morning, felt silly doing it but did it anyway."