warm. And out of them hatched many serpents, tree boas and sea serpents and adders and glass snakes and sidewinders and anacondas and little striped garter snakes and many, many more, all the serpents of the world. And they crawled the earth, for none of them could fly, but each of them bore between its eyes a singular jewel, sapphire or ruby or topaz or emerald or amethyst, as befit the First Serpents of Earth. They all slipped through the great rib arches of the Mother Serpentâs body, then slithered away north and south and east and west. The first humans saw the First Serpents, and coveted the jewels between their eyes, and tried to kill them. And many humans died trying. Some snakes died also, but many lived, and mated and laid eggs and gave more serpents to the world .
As time and generations passed, the jewel could no longer be seen, but all serpents bear it still between their eyes, within their minds, and the name of that jewel is Wisdom. And to this day, humans still hate and fear serpents and try to kill them, although they have forgotten why .
That was the story the green snake told. After it was over, there was silence. I kept walking till the gray sky over the city turned even darker. But my mind no longer felt dark and gray. The story gave me an awesome feeling that stayed with me for hours afterward, like Eternity perfume.
â⦠startling development in the Troy Lindquist case,â the TV reporter said.
Halfway listening from my bedroom as Mom watched the news, I mumbled, âUh-oh.â
â⦠when a mystery girl somehow bypassed hospital security, entered the stone boyâs room, and kissed him,â the anchorman was saying. âHe responded â¦â
Mom yelled, âDusie!â
I didnât move or answer.
â⦠markedly elevated heartbeat, respiration, blood pressure, and brain activity.â The anchorman sounded smug, like this was supposed to make people chuckle. âDoctors are no longer in any doubt that Troy Lindquist has intact hearing and can react to external stimuli. The mystery girl, however, vanished in the confusion. Witnesses remember only that she was wearing a large blue velvet hat â¦â
Mom screamed, âDusie Gorgon! â
SEVEN
Mom took away my blue velvet hat and made me absolutely promise not to go see Troy anymore.
So I knew I couldnât.
It wasnât like I had any idea what to do for him anyway.
Days kept going by.
Taking their good old time.
I felt so bummed.
And sooo bored. I kept my cell phone turned off because I couldnât stand lying to my friendsâthey had started asking what was wrong with me. Iâd returned my books to the library and looked for more and read them and I still hadnât found a way to get rid of my snakes. A person gets tired of television even if she doesnât have snakes on her head who want to watch boa constrictors like theyâre soap opera stars. I couldnât listen to my favorite music because my snakes complained in my head worse than static on a weak radio station. I couldnât get on the computer because Mom wouldnât tell me the password. She did not want me surfing the Internet unless she was home, which she hardly ever was. Even with all the volunteer work she did and the meetings she went to, I wondered where the heck she went all day, since she obviously wasnât at her so-called studio sculpting great art. I felt like she was avoiding me, and that gave me another thing to resent. It never once dawned on me that maybe, yes, okay, she was staying away from me, but it was because she didnât want me to see her crying.
So I spent most of the time alone and bored and feeling sorry for myself. Finally I started walking. For hours. Every day. Partly because I felt like I was fat and needed the exercise, partly because there was nothing else to do, but mostly because walking seemed to make me feel a little better.
After the first two days I
As time and generations passed, the jewel could no longer be seen, but all serpents bear it still between their eyes, within their minds, and the name of that jewel is Wisdom. And to this day, humans still hate and fear serpents and try to kill them, although they have forgotten why .
That was the story the green snake told. After it was over, there was silence. I kept walking till the gray sky over the city turned even darker. But my mind no longer felt dark and gray. The story gave me an awesome feeling that stayed with me for hours afterward, like Eternity perfume.
â⦠startling development in the Troy Lindquist case,â the TV reporter said.
Halfway listening from my bedroom as Mom watched the news, I mumbled, âUh-oh.â
â⦠when a mystery girl somehow bypassed hospital security, entered the stone boyâs room, and kissed him,â the anchorman was saying. âHe responded â¦â
Mom yelled, âDusie!â
I didnât move or answer.
â⦠markedly elevated heartbeat, respiration, blood pressure, and brain activity.â The anchorman sounded smug, like this was supposed to make people chuckle. âDoctors are no longer in any doubt that Troy Lindquist has intact hearing and can react to external stimuli. The mystery girl, however, vanished in the confusion. Witnesses remember only that she was wearing a large blue velvet hat â¦â
Mom screamed, âDusie Gorgon! â
SEVEN
Mom took away my blue velvet hat and made me absolutely promise not to go see Troy anymore.
So I knew I couldnât.
It wasnât like I had any idea what to do for him anyway.
Days kept going by.
Taking their good old time.
I felt so bummed.
And sooo bored. I kept my cell phone turned off because I couldnât stand lying to my friendsâthey had started asking what was wrong with me. Iâd returned my books to the library and looked for more and read them and I still hadnât found a way to get rid of my snakes. A person gets tired of television even if she doesnât have snakes on her head who want to watch boa constrictors like theyâre soap opera stars. I couldnât listen to my favorite music because my snakes complained in my head worse than static on a weak radio station. I couldnât get on the computer because Mom wouldnât tell me the password. She did not want me surfing the Internet unless she was home, which she hardly ever was. Even with all the volunteer work she did and the meetings she went to, I wondered where the heck she went all day, since she obviously wasnât at her so-called studio sculpting great art. I felt like she was avoiding me, and that gave me another thing to resent. It never once dawned on me that maybe, yes, okay, she was staying away from me, but it was because she didnât want me to see her crying.
So I spent most of the time alone and bored and feeling sorry for myself. Finally I started walking. For hours. Every day. Partly because I felt like I was fat and needed the exercise, partly because there was nothing else to do, but mostly because walking seemed to make me feel a little better.
After the first two days I
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