After quitting her job in finance, TikToker Alex (@alexblumy) moved to rural Zimbabwe to fundraise for a wildlife reserve. She traded endless spreadsheets, soul-sucking meetings, and annoying Slack messages for animals, nature, and a slower, simpler life. She lives in a house with a thatched roof in the middle of the African bush.
During the first few weeks of her arrival, everyone kept asking her how the house was in a way that made it seem like they were waiting for her to say something terrible had happened.
“I thought it was known for being one of the houses that’s just a little deeper into the woods than the other ones, so I was like maybe that’s why they’re asking,” said Alex. “But no, that was not why.”
Eventually, she learned of the real story behind the house. According to the story she was told, there had been people staying at the house she was now living in for three weeks.
The wife noticed some brown sludge dripping down the wall from the ceiling in the bathroom. Naturally horrified, she contacted maintenance, and when they checked it out, they told her it was just a plumbing issue.
However, it turned out there was actually a 12-foot python in the ceiling. The mysterious sludge dripping down the walls was from the massive reptile hiding overhead. The maintenance workers were unable to successfully remove the python, so they just left it up there.
That was why everyone was asking Alex how the house was. They were essentially waiting to see if Alex had discovered the giant snake yet. The most unsettling part is that she has no idea if the python has been removed since then.
She could be living with a scaly roommate at this moment. Now, she definitely has to sleep with one eye open. It’s safe to say that this was not the kind of wildlife she had moved to Africa for.
Many TikTok users were horrified. Her story unlocked a new fear they didn’t know they had. They couldn’t believe that the next person (Alex) was moved into the house without being told about a giant snake in the ceiling.
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“As someone who’s terrified of snakes and panics at a garter snake, I think I would start uncontrollably sobbing, then have a heart attack,” stated one user.
“I mean, at least it’s a big snake? It can’t sneak up on you and get into bed without you noticing…I’m trying to be positive,” commented another.
“I thought the poop was the problem until you said python, and my heart stopped beating,” added a third.
“My mom had a similar story with extremely large tarantulas in Venezuela in the ’80s,” chimed in someone else.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
