Day 2,577

I saw a familiar face on the train the other day and it sent my mind back about thirty years, back to my last scout's trip and the snake who wore a boy's skin. It was 1988 and our troop was set to spent a week out in the Lake District, hiking the mountains and setting up camp wherever we went - every young boy's dream back then.

It was also the day that snake boy joined. It's how he introduced himself, you see, not a malicious nickname or insult on our part. If I remember rightly his Christian name was Michael but even the leader called him snake boy after a few hours.

He insisted that he was a snake dressed up as a boy and we all humoured him, saying we were wolves or tigers or badgers dressed up as boys and he looked so relieved. Poor bugger thought he was among his fellow animals and us being rowdy little boys all went along because it seemed like a laugh.

We never imagined he was telling the truth or that he'd peel his face away like... well like a snake shedding its old skin to reveal glistening new scales. His were vividly red with black stripes and as he pulled his skin down to his arms they went limp and fell, leaving the him to writhe out of the rest and demand we do the same with our 'people skins'.

At this point the leader had passed out from shock and we were all screaming, begging him to stop and turn back. He seemed to realise that we'd only been playing while this was his reality and he fled. When our leader woke up we all said that snake boy tripped him and he hit his head on the way down. We said while he was out, snake boy had run away and we couldn't catch up to him.

They never found him, you know. Never found out who his parents were either. Months of searching and the whole family had just up and vanished that same night like they all instinctively knew they'd been seen and might not be safe as they were with their current faces.

Part of me hoped he was out there and thriving.

Part of me hoped it was all a messed up dream.

But seeing his face on the train the other day can only mean that the rest of the troup is already dead.