The candy cane python was lounging languidly in her enclosure at the zoo, her bright red and white striped scales glistening under the festive lights. It was Christmas Eve and the zoo was closed to the public, an unusual hush falling over the normally bustling grounds. She flicked her forked tongue, tasting the air. It had been months since she'd had a proper meal. The zookeepers usually made sure she was well fed, but over the holidays, things got hectic. Perhaps tonight would be her lucky night...

Suddenly, movement caught her eye. A human, creeping along the shadows, heading straight for her habitat. He was a man, tall and lanky, with a wild look in his eyes. The snake recognized him - it was one of her most ardent admirers, a quiet fellow who came to visit her often, leaving sweet treats and whispered promises when no one was looking. What was he doing here tonight?

The man reached the enclosure and unlatched the gate with a set of keys. "Hello, you beautiful creature," he crooned, reaching out to stroke her scales. "Tonight's the night, my pretty. I've come to make your Christmas wish come true."

The snake undulated beneath his touch, a low purr rumbling in her chest. She knew what he wanted. They'd discussed it before, his darkest fantasy, the aching desire to be consumed by her, to be stretched and squeezed, to sink into the blissful oblivion of her stomach. It was a taboo dream, one she herself had indulged many times in her mind. But this was wrong...wasn't it?

The man stripped off his clothes, revealing a wiry, naked body. He climbed into the enclosure, laying down before her. "Please," he whispered. "Take me inside you. I'm yours."

The snake hesitated only a moment longer. Then, unable to resist, she surged forward and engulfed him. She wrapped muscled coils around his body, squeezing, constricting, feeling his ribs pop and snap. His eyes rolled back as she forced her head into his mouth, the spit-slick gullet engulfing his shoulders, chest, hips, until at last he vanished down her gullet with a squelch.

She could feel him writhing in her belly, thrashing and bucking against the tight, slippery confines. Pleasure-pain sang through her nerves as he stretched her. Her stomach gurgled and groaned, frothing with digestive juices. Soon it would be over. Soon he would be one with her.

But tonight, she would take her time. This was a Christmas miracle, after all. She could wait.

The snake basked in the man's struggling, letting the first waves of digestion ripple through her. She could feel him softening, melting, as her acids broke him down. His skin sloughed away, revealing glistening muscle beneath. Then came the fatty layers, dissolving into her gut like butter. She belched contentedly, savoring the taste of him on her tongue.

Hours passed. The man's thrashing grew weaker, his struggles slowing to a mere twitch. The snake felt him weaken, his flesh sloughing into a slurry, his bones splintering into shards of calcium. Still, she waited.

At last, there was nothing left of him but a few tatters of skin and scraps of hair. With a shuddering groan, the snake vomited up the indigestible bits. Then she curled up and slept, her belly full, a smile on her reptilian face.

When the zookeepers arrived in the morning, they were greeted by a gruesome sight - the man's clothes tossed outside the enclosure, and a pile of matted hair and fingernails before the snake's head. The python met their shocked gazes with a look of deepest satisfaction.

It had been a very merry Christmas indeed.