Once upon a time a slithery snake lived completely isolated from the hustle and bustle of towns and cities. Disliking cool weather, and with inborn adaptations to the sun's warming rays he roved across the saltpans of the Outback during the hot months of the year. Not for him the joys of snow and ice, snowmen and a white Christmas, skating or skiing, or singing songs around a camp-fire whilst wrapped in scarf, gloves and warm hat. A refrigerator and a deep freeze were not essentials to his daily living. Everything he needed could be found under the glowing ball of fire beyond Mercury.
Early one fine morning monstrous iron machines … a contingent of bulldozers, graders, rollers, and bitumen trucks driven by two legged creatures perched behind steering wheels … arrived at the saltpan. Carefully avoiding sacred rocks and rare plants the red-dust covered machines cut, sliced, and destroyed Mr Slithery Snake's backyard ... not only his back yard, but also the complete neighbourhood.
For untold generations Mr Snake had lived in an environment seldom inhabited by the two-legged species that walked the planet. For eons Mr Snake shared the Outback with Long legged Emu and Bouncing Kangaroo. As the seasons changed dark skinned men who crossed the territory in search of food left the landscape as they found it.
The machines scraping the red dirt mounded it into a long winding track leading towards a new settlement that would house a mining camp. This zone of the Outback is rich in iron ore, the base ingredient in the manufacture of dozers, graders, and bitumen trucks; the very vehicles hell- bent on diminishing Mr Snake's back yard.
Before the arrival of these earth-moving machines many natural hazards threatened the day, and night, of Slithery Snake. Carnivorous goannas and snakes living in the one back- yard nurtured a taste for similar small creatures. Mr Snake maintained a careful watch for the lizard-like creature, preferring to keep a discreet distance, and avoid what could be a conflict of interest. Some goannas reach large proportions, and could easily be mistaken by those who in their childhood read fantasy books as a land dwelling first cousin of Nessie from Loch Ness, with their short legs, and long swinging tails.
Mr Snake frequently wondered about goannas and Nessie. He had a theory, though to date no scientific analysis had proved him right, nor indeed had it proven him wrong … the idea, smaller than the size of a grain of sand had developed in his tiny mind. Once, a millennium ago before dreamtime, the earth had an extensive tunnel system that allowed creatures to visit other distant lands by following an underworld network of pathways. Nessie's ancestors, and those of the goanna, had rendezvoused in a crypt deep in the bowels of the earth. After a night of passionate lovemaking, they had, at first glimpse of the rising sun, crept back to their own land. A whole new species was born and roamed the earth until a catastrophe of enormous proportions occurred and much of the surface of the earth was laid bare. Later, much later, a crashing meteor impregnated Mr Snake’s habitat with iron ore and today, millions of years later, Man decided upon a virtual makeover of the terrain for short-term monetary gain … extracting this valuable mineral.
Flying high in the heavens, in an azure sky where white clouds seldom mar the view, the eagle soars. He fancies a meal of snake. His keen eye zooms in on the slithery movement of the snake on the saltpan. He swoops down picking the snake up in his beak. Higher and higher he flies, while the snake struggles in a valiant attempt to escape, though he is aware of the danger of a free fall to earth, as his smooth slender body will offer little resistance to the wind.
The eagle, struggling to devour the snake in mid-air, drops him from a great height, the snake's elongated form sliding towards the ground like a twisted balloon that children buy, along with candy floss and pop-corn, and a show-bag at the Royal Show. Eagle glides earthwards, following snake's flight path, to recapture and devour the fresh meal ... a tasty takeaway; minus chips.
Early one fine morning monstrous iron machines … a contingent of bulldozers, graders, rollers, and bitumen trucks driven by two legged creatures perched behind steering wheels … arrived at the saltpan. Carefully avoiding sacred rocks and rare plants the red-dust covered machines cut, sliced, and destroyed Mr Slithery Snake's backyard ... not only his back yard, but also the complete neighbourhood.
For untold generations Mr Snake had lived in an environment seldom inhabited by the two-legged species that walked the planet. For eons Mr Snake shared the Outback with Long legged Emu and Bouncing Kangaroo. As the seasons changed dark skinned men who crossed the territory in search of food left the landscape as they found it.
The machines scraping the red dirt mounded it into a long winding track leading towards a new settlement that would house a mining camp. This zone of the Outback is rich in iron ore, the base ingredient in the manufacture of dozers, graders, and bitumen trucks; the very vehicles hell- bent on diminishing Mr Snake's back yard.
Before the arrival of these earth-moving machines many natural hazards threatened the day, and night, of Slithery Snake. Carnivorous goannas and snakes living in the one back- yard nurtured a taste for similar small creatures. Mr Snake maintained a careful watch for the lizard-like creature, preferring to keep a discreet distance, and avoid what could be a conflict of interest. Some goannas reach large proportions, and could easily be mistaken by those who in their childhood read fantasy books as a land dwelling first cousin of Nessie from Loch Ness, with their short legs, and long swinging tails.
Mr Snake frequently wondered about goannas and Nessie. He had a theory, though to date no scientific analysis had proved him right, nor indeed had it proven him wrong … the idea, smaller than the size of a grain of sand had developed in his tiny mind. Once, a millennium ago before dreamtime, the earth had an extensive tunnel system that allowed creatures to visit other distant lands by following an underworld network of pathways. Nessie's ancestors, and those of the goanna, had rendezvoused in a crypt deep in the bowels of the earth. After a night of passionate lovemaking, they had, at first glimpse of the rising sun, crept back to their own land. A whole new species was born and roamed the earth until a catastrophe of enormous proportions occurred and much of the surface of the earth was laid bare. Later, much later, a crashing meteor impregnated Mr Snake’s habitat with iron ore and today, millions of years later, Man decided upon a virtual makeover of the terrain for short-term monetary gain … extracting this valuable mineral.
Flying high in the heavens, in an azure sky where white clouds seldom mar the view, the eagle soars. He fancies a meal of snake. His keen eye zooms in on the slithery movement of the snake on the saltpan. He swoops down picking the snake up in his beak. Higher and higher he flies, while the snake struggles in a valiant attempt to escape, though he is aware of the danger of a free fall to earth, as his smooth slender body will offer little resistance to the wind.
The eagle, struggling to devour the snake in mid-air, drops him from a great height, the snake's elongated form sliding towards the ground like a twisted balloon that children buy, along with candy floss and pop-corn, and a show-bag at the Royal Show. Eagle glides earthwards, following snake's flight path, to recapture and devour the fresh meal ... a tasty takeaway; minus chips.
1 comment:
Lol, reading the little bits of fantasy here could become a habit. You write well and your subjects are varied. I enjoy a nice little break with a cup of tea and a light read :)!
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