PART 1

When it was time for the boy to be born Claudia went out to her garden and gathered snakes. She picked them up and said, “Little ones, what a glorious child you will become.” She tied the snakes together so they were one long line that traveled the length of the garden. The snake at the very end looked at Claudia, hissed, and wriggled its split tongue. Claudia stuck her fat finger in the snake’s mouth and said, “Looks like this child will be one of rebellion. Indeed, it will be a boy.”

A drop of blood fell into the garden as Claudia pulled her finger from the snake’s mouth. She began to dig a hole with her hands until the hole was three feet wide and three-feet deep. She coiled the snakes in a circle at the bottom of the hole and filled the hole back in with dirt. She went to the well and filled a bucket of water. She poured three buckets of water over the filled-in hole. Then she gathered a few apples that had fallen from the tree and placed them on top.

That night she peered into the dark closet of her house and spoke to the bats, “Arise, my beauties. Go and protect the burial.” The bats flew out of the closet, out of the house, and circled around the buried snakes.

“More children!” cried the bats.

When the bats were hungry they tore into the apples.

“Apples, apples!” cried the bats.

The following morning Claudia went out to see how the crop was doing. There were many children being born. The apples were gone, even the cores had been eaten. In their place were stalks, not unlike an asparagus plant sticking out of the earth. There were scattered stalks here and there lining the garden.

“So many children being born,” whispered Claudia. “A successful harvest.”

The next day she went out and noticed the stems had sprouted tiny arms, but arms without hands. Claudia gathered more water and poured it on the arms. When she poured the water on the rebellious boy the arm twitched and shuddered, almost, it seemed to Claudia, in righteous fury.

“Oh Savior,” she whispered. “Why should you have me raise this boy? I would rather drown it so as not to bring more suffering to your people.”

After more water and many nights with the bats, the arm grew a small hand. At first it was a hand stained by blood. Claudia had never seen anything quite like it. As the arm grew and the hand reached further to the sky, the blood dripped down the arm and mixed with the mud. When the rains came, the mud thickened, and the blood sank deep into the land.

Specks of blood that went deepest impacted the heart of the earth, and awakened it. The earth stirred, and in its groggy half-awake state, yawned deeply and groaned, sending a slight rumble everywhere, startling birds, awakening sleeping predators.

“But I am so tired,” said the earth. “I am so old and I am so tired.”

After three more days, the boy was born. He stood naked and cold. His head was covered in grass that needed to be watered so that hair could replace it.

“Ah,” said the boy.

“Some do make choices,” grumbled the earth. “But you are not like them.”

“How do’s my be?” said the boy, not knowing how to talk yet. But the earth knew the boy’s heart.

“What a blessed child.”

“My’s not of trials?” asked the boy.

“You are like me,” said the earth. “When I laugh out of great joy, rivers change course, wrecking villages. This is why I try to sleep.”

The boy didn’t believe anything quite yet. He didn’t know there were things in the world to believe in. However, he could sense the nature of things similar to the snakes and other creatures that lived in dark holes.