When you told of Alice escaping it wasn't hard to imagine what that would be like in an old period home. LOL And now I remember who Alice was named after.
It was the worst of all possible scenarios.
A 1700s log house with no insulation between the logs and the “new” mud and cow hair “plaster” walls.
When he showed up again, he was a filthy mess, having crawled around in all the gaps over nearly petrified yellow pine studs, floor boards and joists.
He was covered in sap, dust and cobwebs.
I washed him as best I could but I had to wait for his next shed before he looked like a presentable snake again.
He was just lucky it was too chilly for the rat snakes that live in the spaces to be awake and hunting.
God, what a mess that whole thing was.
It means a lot to me that you remembered him.
He’s gone now, having lived a long life but I still think of him.
Really hits me in the feels that someone else remembers him, too.
:)