General Fiction posted December 5, 2022 Chapters: 3 4 -5- 


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a short story

A chapter in the book Stories from Morrison

Snake and the Tree of Knowledge

by Bill Schott



Snake and his mother lived in a small viper pit. They were starving, so one day Snake's mother instructed him to take their pet talking worm Willy to the Tree of Knowledge to get some tasty critters to follow him back to the pit.

Once they arrived at the tree, Willy did a few laps around the tree trunk and eventually got to some fruit. There he entered an apple and ate like a worm with a tape worm.

Several small creatures gathered at the base of the tree after smelling the scent of the worm. Snake ran into a frog.

"I'm new here," said the frog to Snake. "What's good to eat?"

"I've seen a few beetles and some likely slugs, but the knowledge of good and evil could be gained by partaking of the fruit of this tree."

"Wow! No kidding? I'm not a big fruit eater, but the knowledge of good and evil seems like it's worth a bite."

"Jump in my mouth and I'll take you up," said Snake.

After swallowing the frog and stifling a chuckle, Snake looked for those beetles and slugs.

Suddenly, an apple and a mouse dropped to the ground in front of him.

"Well, hey there, mouse. Is that apple there a good one or an evil one?"

"I don't know for sure," said the mouse, "but a talking worm inside it said it was a good one."

"A talking worm? Is he okay?"  
 
The mouse burped while patting his tummy. "It was delicious!"  
 
"W-w-willy?" stammered Snake.
 
The mouse saw that Snake looked a bit stunned, which wasn't easy as Snake's facial features were quite inscrutable.  
 
Snake sprang at the mouse and swallowed it.
 
Before swallowing some more "groceries" for his mother, and heading back to the pit, Snake slithered up the tree.
 
A woman came by looking like she might want to get a bushel of apples. She saw Snake hanging from a limb.
 
"Is the fruit any good?" she asked.
 
"Sure. Try that one. It's good."
 
While looking at the apple that Snake pointed out, a worm popped out.
 
"Willy! I thought you were dead!" shouted Snake.
 
"No, I'm okay. I think my brother Wally got et though."
 
The sight of the worm discouraged the woman from eating the good apple. 
 
"I'll try this one here," she said, and picked another and ate it.
 
Snake and his pet worm slithered back to the viper pit where he regurated all he had in him. 
 
Later, he was blamed for the fall of Man, and his mother disowned him.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



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