"This doorknob," she began as she flicked a tiny tear from her left eye, "this doorknob, you see, is the reason you do not have a father." KS could see the tip of his mother's tail drawing circles in the soft sand. He shivered from his neck to the end of his tiny tail. KS could not understand why his mother did not want him to go to the hen house to play. When she explained the dangers of old white doorknobs and glass nesteggs, he knew he must grow up before looking for his own food in the hen house. He learns the difference between the real eggs and the false eggs and becomes a truly grown-up King Snake.