myth for serpentine wood

we lost our hero even though we loved him.

we lost our hero even through we believed in him.

even though he learned from every expert and elder, even though he listened to the children

we lost him

The snake coiled around the mountain with a cold hard skin, so nothing grew. Nothing, not the medicine, not the food, not the webs of life that creep through and between the rocks.

our hero grew up looking at the mountain, looking at that snake and her lovely, silvery body. The boy, before he was a hero, heard stories of what the mountain used to be and he believed that it could thrive with life again. Snakes can be stubborn, but they are not stone, he had seen enough of them to know they slither one way or another. He believed he could encourage the snake to slither another way.

It was impossible, but heroes do impossible things, so he decided to become one.

He went through many trials and tribulations to prepare for his ascent, and then on the mountain itself. At the summit of the mountain we think he exchanged some words with the snake who proceeded to tear him apart. All in the town saw the horror and wept, believing we had failed and sacrificed the one into which we had put so much hope. But he was a hero. He could do impossible things. All which was bestowed to him was not there in his mind but coursing all through his body, which as it rolled down the hill, at once grew roots that slithered like snakes through between the fast coils, miraculously, taking hold in the ground beneath. A chemical released from his body that called the invisible birds to him. These birds preened him and nested upon his shoulders, leaving black egg berries.

His presence brought a warmth to the mountain that made the serpent sleepy, so she found a cave and nestled inside for a long long nap. Our hero became the serpentine wood. When the spring comes the invisible birds nest on the hero’s shoulders and leave feathers in the form of flowers, and when they fly away they leave behind their black eggs. Even though he never stepped foot back in the town again, he brought life to our mountain.