rock on! I love that you used the laser pen to fashion a weapon and threw a bird to the cameras. yes!
(think you missed a comma after quelled, it read funny at first, and in the same sentence I’d put AN epiphany.)

P.S. I chose cucumbers because the copperhead snake smells like cucumbers when it is hunting.

I love this addition as well!

“the scent was unmistakeable—cucumbers and death.” – rotfl