This story came from one of those “what if?” moments I love to look out for. While watching a nature documentary, I was reminded of the fact that there are no snakes in Antarctica. What would happen if there were snakes, though? And what would that mean for the world if snakes suddenly appeared where they don’t belong?

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Good evening. I’m Richard Price, and this is the Evening News.

Tonight’s top stories: Leaders of the G6 meet in Ottawa today to discuss plans to tackle climate change, while demonstrators take to the streets declaring that this is all too little too late. We’ll also be taking a look at day 28 of the teacher strike. We’ll be speaking with one principal who is not optimistic that this will be resolved before the end of the year. And later, grocery store prices continue to skyrocket. What does this mean for the average consumer?

But before we share those top stories with you, I am just getting word that we have breaking news here on Channel 7. It appears scientists in Antarctica have just made a startling discovery. At this very moment, their camp is being overrun with…

Is this a joke? Barry, is this a joke?

Yeah, I know what is says on the teleprompter. But there’s no way…

Fine.

We have Dr. Sarah Cheung joining us to share the discovery that her team just made. Dr. Cheung, am I hearing this right? Your camp is currently overrun with snakes?

Yes. Yes, that’s right. Oh God, they’re everywhere.

Dr. Cheung, is everything alright?

No. We don’t… We’re not prepared for this. We don’t have any antivenom. They… They just… A number of us have managed to barricade ourselves within the main lab, but… I don’t know how much longer we can hold out. They’re everywhere.

Dr. Cheung, can you tell us a bit about how this happened? I mean, Antarctica is the only continent on the planet that doesn’t have snakes. Correct me if I’m wrong, but cold-blooded creatures like reptiles would not be able to survive under those harsh conditions.

Yes, well… We did this.

I’m sorry, what?

We did this. Not “we” as in this team, but “we” as in… All of us. With rising global temperatures, destruction of animal habitats, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

So did they all… swim over?

We don’t know for sure. We… We don’t have any herpetologists on our team so there’s no one who can say where these particular species are native to. Dr. Buchan has a theory that some may have lain dormant beneath the ice–

I’m so sorry to interrupt, Dr. Cheung, but what is that sound we’re hearing in the background?

…

I’m sorry, Dr. Cheung, we didn’t quite get that? Do you mind speaking up a bit, please?

It’s screams. They’re screaming.

Who’s screaming?

Everyone. We’re not safe here. They’re everywhere and we– AHHH!

What the fuck was that! What the– I’m sorry. Sorry, folks. That was… Barry, can we get the call back?

Well, what was that? What was on the screen?

No, that was too big to be a… There’s no way…

But it can’t. How?

Folks… It appears we are not able to resume contact with Dr. Cheung and her team. We will continue to provide updates as we receive them. And… We here at Channel 7 News apologize for the disturbing images you may have seen on screen. We will have a crisis line open should anyone wish to talk to a professional. In the meantime, here… Here are tonight’s top stories…