The python's shed Skin in the sunlit Garden

"i was walking along a low stone wall in my neighbor's garden trying to find a lost library card, even though i haven't been to a library in years. the sun was really warm and everything felt super quiet, like the middle of a hot summer afternoon. then i looked down and saw this huge python-like snake draped over the warm rocks, but it wasn't moving at all because it was right in the middle of peeling out of its old skin. the skin was this translucent, papery sheath that made a soft crackling sound as the snake slowly slid forward out of it. i sat down right on the dusty grass to watch, and instead of feeling scared, I had this strange, deep feeling of relief come over me. the scales underneath were so smooth and iridescent, shining with this wet, vivid emerald green light in the sun. i reached out and gently peeled a piece of the dry, translucent skin off the rock--it felt dry and weightless like a dried leaf in my hand. then all of a sudden i was standing in my kitchen drinking a glass of cold water, looking out the window at the sunny yard, still feeling this overwhelming, quiet lightness in my chest like an old, heavy weight had just slipped off me and dropped away for good."