The Black Serpent and the Mother Cow and other stories | Teen Ink

The Black Serpent and the Mother Cow and other stories

April 4, 2012
By darkmistneonlights, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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darkmistneonlights, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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The Blue Woman

In the Beginning the heavens were a great swirl of blue, ranging from the shades of the sapphire sea to the palest hues of the morning sky. Long ago, there emerged a Blue Woman, melting and changing in the darkness like a sculpture. Her hair tumbled over her voluptuous breasts like breaking waves. Her skin was a lagoon’s lavender blue, and her eyes were twin aquamarines. Blue Woman gazed in wonder at her surroundings. She tossed back her hair and gave a bright, bubbly laugh. She placed her blue hands together and closed her eyes like she was praying. A piercing yet ethereal golden light shone through her fingers. The woman opened her palms. In her hand was a ball of blazing fire.

Startled, the Blue Woman tossed the ball out in front of her. It flared, growing brighter and brighter. The Blue Woman shielded her eyes. Suddenly the crackling subsided and the ball lengthened, becoming a man. The Blue Woman peeked at him. His tresses and muscled torso were streaked in scarlet and gold, and his eyes were like twin suns.

“Who are you?” the Blue Woman stammered.
The man’s gaze passed over her body like a gentle caress.

“Who ever you want me to be.” He said.

“What do you want to be?” she asked him plainly.
Suddenly he caught her wrists and drew her to him.

“Your lord,” he whispered and gave her a hard, searing kiss.

“What is your name?” the Blue Woman murmured into his hair, after a few moments.

The man thought carefully, “I shall call myself Red Star.” He said. “The brightest being in the sky”

Red Star and Blue Woman frolicked about the universe, causing the sky to lurch and swirl with the unbalanced force of their lovemaking. The Blue Woman was happy with this arrangement; the very sight of her beloved brought a joyous flush to her cheeks. But Red Star grew restless. One day, he turned to her with a frown.

“My love,” he began, “I need to be alone for a few days.” He said.

“As you wish,” the innocent Blue Woman replied.

Red Star left, and the Blue Woman sang softly to herself about the pangs of separation. Trust that he would return consoled her, however, and she did not grieve inordinately. Red Star eventually reappeared, but to Blue Woman’s surprise, he wasn’t alone. She looked the new woman up and down, and her stomach gave a lurch. She was as lithe and fair as Blue Woman was buxom and dark. She had flaming auburn hair and a resplendent golden body like Red Star.

“Blue Woman,” Red Star said. His voice was diffident and uncertain. “Meet Sunflower. She is to be your new co-wife.”

Blue Woman scrutinized her again. Sunflower swept her a sidelong glance, her scarlet lips twitching into an odd smile. Her eyes were tinted with every color of hot lava, and were about as friendly as well.

“There’s one more thing,” Red Star sounded really nervous. “I’ve also decided to confer the status of first wife on her, since she wouldn’t marry me otherwise. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t,” Blue Woman said calmly through clenched teeth. However, she clasped Sunflower’s golden hand.

“Come, sister,” she said. “Those beloved to my husband are also to me.”
Sunflower gave a tight smile that didn’t reach her flat, yet potent eyes.

“I’m sure we’ll be great friends.” She said.

After that, life was not nearly as simple for Red Star and Blue Woman as it had been. Red Star would alternate between the two women, spending a day with each of them. When he was absent, Blue Woman lay alone, suspended in the sky, her inky tears staining her cheeks. Infatuated with the new woman, Red Star arrived later and later on the visits he paid her, and soon began to leave earlier. His listless caresses left Blue Woman feeling emptier than before.

She soon discovered Sunflower had a devilish temper. To commemorate the day they had met, Red Star had fashioned an amber necklace made of gold and liquid flames. He placed it around Blue Woman’s neck, where it glittered against her dark features. Sunflower flew into a rage, her eyes blazing and her hair a wild mop around her face

“I love you as much as she does, but when have I ever received anything from you?” she shrieked. “How do I know that you love me too, when you ignore me and treat me like a slave to be discarded?”

“What the hell are you talking about, woman?” Red Star roared. “I spend almost every waking moment with you!”

“So what?” Sunflower screamed. “I yearn for you as you spend every other day with her, and you never give me a token of your love. You have truly hurt me with this, Red Star!” her voice trembled. Her slim body quivered, and he was quite undone.

“Oh, my love,” he fashioned a circlet of lightning gold and placed it on her head like a crown. He caught her in an embrace.
“You shall have all your heart’s desires, as you have given me mine.” He murmured.

Behind them stood Blue Woman, silent and motionless. From over Red Star’s shoulder Sunflower gave her a triumphant smile. Blue Woman turned away.

“What could she have against me?” she wondered.

Sunflower permitted Red Star to visit Blue Woman less and less each day; eventually he only saw her once a week. When Blue Woman approached Sunflower to beg her for time with him, Sunflower only gave a high, rippling laugh.

“I’m sorry my love, as a friend I have to be honest. You just don’t have the beauty or skills to win him.” She said her eyes wide and innocent. “How can I help it if he prefers me?”

More news came later, when Sunflower timidly approached Red Star one day. Her eyes glistened. She crooned something in his ear, and his shoulders shook with emotion. Blue Woman’s heart filled with foreboding. Eventually Red Star left Sunflower and approached her.

“Sunflower’s pregnant.” He said. “She’s going to need a lot of my attention now. She tells me to tell you not to feel less important than her, though. If it is a boy he shall be named after me.”

During the course of nine months, Sunflower’s stomach grew pleasantly round. Red Star could not resist her, and made Blue Woman wait on her hand and foot. Desperate for his love, Blue Woman helplessly obeyed him. One day, Sunflower demanded she massage her legs.

“I’ll leave you both to it.” Red Star said amicably, and stalked off.

Sunflower lay down stretched out. Morose and taciturn, Blue Woman knelt by her and gently pressed the soles of her feet. Sunflower closed her eyes.

“Being pregnant is so wonderful,” Sunflower sighed. “It’s a pity you haven’t experienced it.”

“Not yet.” Blue woman emphasized. “Hopefully soon.”

“But Red Star is so virile, so potent,” Sunflower said. “Considering he knew you longer, I’m surprised you’ve never conceived.”

Blue Woman pressed her legs slightly harder. Sunflower arched into the touch.

“Why do you hate me?” she asked casually. “I’m not really any threat to you.”

Sunflower’s eyes snapped open. “You know,” she said. “Sometimes your thick-headedness really gives me a headache.” She stood up suddenly and spun away, her belly protruding in front of her.

It was not long before the big day arrived. Sunflower’s shrieks shook the cosmos, and Red Star dashed frantically to and fro to help her. She writhed and thrashed, and Blue Woman compassionately held her head in her lap. With a final thrust, the goopy mass that was the baby was expelled from her body, and both Red Star and Blue Woman peered at it. Blue Woman recoiled, and Red Star eyed it with mounting horror. A sad little package, the yellow and blue striped baby girl was dead. Sunflower’s eyes were lined with exhaustion, but Red Star turned on her in fury.

“You b****!” he thundered. “You have cheated me in every way. How could you murder the baby that was to be my joy?”

“Red Star,” Sunflower quavered. “It was not my fault. I had a miscarriage-can you really blame me for that?”

He sighed. “If you had not tempted me from my wife this would never have happened. I am punished for your sin!”
Blue Woman looked between them, stunned. Sunflower’s hands folded in a plea.
“My love, my lord,” she implored. “Give me a chance. There will be more children, I swear!”
Red Star looked her up and down. Abruptly he snatched the golden circlet from her hair.

“This doesn’t belong to you,” he spat and strode away.

After a brief silence, Sunflower rose, wobbling on her feet. Blue Woman tentatively put her hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Sunflower turned away from her.

“Do you really want to know why I hated you?” she asked.

“Why?” Blue Woman asked, surprised.

From behind Blue Woman could see Sunflower’s neck redden.

“I wasn’t jealous of you. I was jealous over you.” She muttered.

“What?” asked Blue Woman.
Sunflower shot her an exasperated glance.

“Don’t you understand?” she asked. “I desire you, Blue Woman, not as a co-wife but the way Red Star does. I thought he could give me prestige and everything I wanted when I met him, but that changed when I saw you. You’ve been so kind to me, and I’ve repaid you in an unspeakable manner. I think the world of you, and I’d do anything for you to feel the same way.”

Blue Woman clasped the amber necklace Red Star had given her and flung it away. She placed her hands on Sunflower’s shoulders and turned her toward her.

“You know,” she said, “After the way Red Star treated you today, my love for him has blown to the winds.” She gently covered the surprised Sunflower’s lips with hers, and their hues of blue and gold melded together like paint in the frothy, chaotic cosmos.

As the two women drifted to sleep, a red sunset in the glittering waters, neither of them noticed Red Star’s return. He had meant to present the golden circlet to Blue Woman, but seeing the two women together he got a shock. Silent rage coursed through his veins. After a few minutes viewing the beautiful picture they made, he stepped up to them and literally launched them apart. The two women landed in opposite sides of the heavens, and woke.

“Red Star, what are you doing?” shouted Blue Woman.
He gave and icy laugh. “It appears I have no choice,” he said in a frenzied voice. “You,” he pointed to Sunflower, “Shall die. And you,” he turned to Blue Woman, “Shall be my whore, although you shall learn a sharp lesson first.”
Blue Woman’s eyes blazed. “I can’t believe I ever loved you,” she seethed. “If Sunflower dies I go with her.”
From behind her Sunflower flung out her hands. A sparkling gold disc appeared and whirred toward Red Star. He destroyed it easily with a flashing thunderbolt in his hand. Blue Woman started. Then she created a thundercloud, which sped toward him, raining stones and shards of ice. Red Star blew it away with a fiery stream of his breath. Sunflower opened her palms and launched a shower of fiery weapons. Red Star became tiny, and eluded them.

“Where is he?” yelled Blue Woman.
Silently Red Star appeared behind her. He muttered a spell, and a golden bow appeared in his hands. He swiftly released an arrow, which sped toward Sunflower.
“NOOOO!” Blue Woman shrieked.
The arrow pierced the back of Sunflower’s head and veered off into space, carrying the head with it. The headless body collapsed like a dummy. Blue Woman flung herself over the body and wept. Then steadying herself, she lifted it onto her shoulder and gingerly walked to and fro through the sky. She did this for a long time. Red Star watched her from afar. He was filled with deep regret for his rashness and yearned for Blue Woman. Even if he took her by force, she would never again truly be his. His sorrow made him hard and cruel. He murmured another spell, and a golden sword appeared in his hand. He threw it at Blue Woman, and it cut Sunflower’s body into a million fragments. Before Blue Woman’s stunned gaze, these luminous pieces spread out and became the stars. Red Star slunk away, not to be heard from for a long time. Blue Woman curled into a ball, and for a while everything lay still.

“Hello my love,” a soft, melodic voice sounded above her. She started. The severed head of Sunflower beamed down at her. “Did you think you’d ever see me again?”
The Blue Woman smiled back. “I’m just happy to be together again.” She breathed.
“Yes.” Sunflower replied. “There’s no one who’s ever loved me as much as you, or whom I have ever felt like this about. And no one can part us. We shall be like this till the end of time.”

Her eyes had filled with hot tears of joy. They fell like molten lava on Blue Woman’s rounded body, and from them, sprung the first lush greenery-trees, shrubs and fragrant multitudinous flowers. She kept crying, and frisky animals were created that scampered away. And since then the sun has always been venerated as a giver of life, and Blue Woman has been known as Mother Earth.

Dark Mist, Neon Lights

Once there was an abyss. The sticky darkness swirled about and spattered within it. The only object visible was a spider web made of shimmering neon lights. It glowed, an eerie orange and greenish yellow. All was still and silent except for the churning of the darkness and an occasional flare of neon light. Then, creeping slowly, a tiny human fetus bathed in blood floated sightlessly through the air. Curled up in a ball, the fetus skimmed over and under the threads of neon light. It bobbed its way to the center of the web, but did not touch even one thread. After penetrating its center, its tiny fingers did brush it. Immediately the web convulsed. Powerful threads of neon light shot out from the center and wound themselves around and around the fetus. Soon it was trapped in the web, as deftly as a fly. It jerked to life, let out a piteous wail and strove to extricate itself.

“Don’t strain yourself, my darling.” A soft, melodious voice hummed.

The fetus stopped and stared. A gigantic black female spider gazed back at him compassionately. Her eyes were a deep gold that was languid and bright. Dripping with dark red venom, her teeth were white with the tearing of flesh.

“What do you mean,” the fetus peeped. “Why am I here?”
The spider sighed. “My dear, as your spirit meandered through the strings of my web, in another world you were an unborn child. When your body was caught in my web, your thread of life in that world broke because your mother plucked you from your womb.”

“Why?” the fetus cried. “Didn’t she love me?”
The spider looked grave. “Your mother did what she could to prevent both you and her from suffering. It would have been wrong to bring you into the world when it was not safe or stable enough to support you.”

The fetus frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Your mother loved you, and cared about the responsibilities of bringing you up. But you were conceived in a way that hurt her badly. She was brutally raped by a man she trusted, and that left scars that could not be healed in time to birth you.”

“Tell me more,” said the fetus. “Who was my father?”
Tears like molten lava pooled in the spider’s eyes.

“My child,” she burst out. “Your mother’s rapist was married to her sister. The three of them lived together in a remote old village in southern India. Your mother was innocent, and at the tender age of 16. She didn’t notice his lascivious gazes until it was too late.”
The spider paused. The fetus’s eyes grew cloudy again. Nodding, the spider went on.

“Your mother’s rapist bode his time. One day, when his wife had left their hut to draw water from the well, he drunk himself silly and surreptitiously locked all the doors. He caught your mother by her long, black braid and threw her onto his cot. He violated her again and again. Her throat was choked; her screams were smothered by his big meaty hands.”

The spider looked at the fetus. “I hope you don’t mind my telling you this,” she said. “As a child you are wiser than grown-ups, and deserve to know the truth.”

“Go on.” said the fetus.

“For days your mother was clammy with fear and shock. Then her body began to change-she vomited often, and then grew monstrously large with you. Everyone knew what had happened: they laughed at her and called her a slut. Her brother-in-law demanded she marry him. Your mother’s sister, too, said that she must be her co-wife now. The villagers all said that, because he had stolen the jewel of her virtue, she was now his as well.”

The fetus covered its face with his tiny arms. “Alas!” it cried. “Did no one have mercy on her?”

The spider smiled. “One day, as luck would have it, a feminist doctor from the city came to the village. Your mother was struck by her straightened hair and stylish clothes. She had arrived to teach the women of the village about contraception. Your mother didn’t understand much of what she said, but believed she might know what to do about her situation. So after the presentation she approached her and quietly told the woman her story. That night, the two of them slunk out of the village, hitching an auto-rikshaw to the nearest abortion clinic. Your mother hovered like a shadow behind the other woman, as she explained the situation. The doctors were very accommodating; they ushered her unto a comfortable bed and administered RU-426, a good drug upon her. In a few minutes it was over, entirely without pain. Your body was drawn from hers, as smoothly as the ebb and flow of the tide, and here you are.”

The fetus smiled serenely. “Thank you for telling me this, madam. I am at peace now, and can forgive my mother for taking my life. If I may ask, who are you?”

The spider’s eyes glittered like yellow topaz. “Why, my child,” she said, her voice sprinkled with the love of all the mothers in the world. “I am Grandmother Spider, and I am here to help you find your path in life.”
The fetus’s face brightened. “I am to be reborn on earth?” it cried.
“Whenever you’re ready,” She said. “And whenever a couple is ready to love you?”
“I’d like to go as soon as possible,” said the fetus.

Grandmother Spider pierced a hole in the darkness with her sharp black talon. An iridescent channel opened up, beyond which a sterile, pristine hospital was visible. Grandmother Spider snapped the threads of neon light that bound the fetus to her web. Its ephemeral soul made its way down the path and entered the womb of a beautiful, golden-complexioned woman asleep on a hospital bed.

The Black Serpent and the Mother Cow

It was early morning in an unusually dry year in the desert. The sky was blood red with the first bright gold rays of a soon to be blazing sun. Parched yellow sand stretched for miles around, with an occasional large gnarled, prickly cactus. It was impossible to perceive any variation in the monotonous landscape with the naked eye. The sheer heat and loneliness of the place was able to set one’s head reeling, stomach churning, and one’s eyes rolling to the back of one’s head with madness. It was a land where anyone who dared enter would be put to a dangerous test of survival. Hours passed. The sky turned a brick-hard blue that stretched across the heavens. The sun had now fully climbed its way into the sky like a burning heart of an Aztec sacrificial victim. Its inexorable rays beat down on the sand, which sparkled like the edges of a blazing discus. In the height of day the sand reached a temperature to which, if any human dared to walk there, their feet would blister and char as if they tread on the burning hot embers of glowing coals.
Within a hole under one of the thorniest cacti a snake had come to live. He was old and weak. His black body was long, but with hunger his scales had lost their luster. He had five crumpled hooded heads, each with a pair of dull red eyes. His long tail was so thin his bones were clearly outlined underneath. He was so frail he rarely left his hole to look for food.
Suddenly, in the distance, a completely unexpected sight appeared. A beautiful snow-white cow, apparently strayed from her herd, lumbered along with a strange, unusual grace. She appeared unaffected by the heat. Her ears were long and silky. On the top of her head two short, stubby horns were perched. Her nose was wet and her legs were slender. As she walked on strange things happened to the dessert. She looked around unseeingly with her soft, benevolent brown eyes. Flower petals and soft tufts of grass grew under her hooves. She looked sad and uneasy. Then it was noticed her udder was full to bursting point with milk. She badly needed to be milked, and there was no one to drink what she had to offer. With every step she took a patch of lush, sweet grass grew. The prickly cacti burst into bloom. For the first time in many years, the sky rumbled with dark clouds. The cow appeared unaware of the effect she was having on the desert. It began to rain in earnest. The parched-up earth of the desert gratefully and eagerly sucked up as much water as possible. The cow closed her eyes. As the last showers of rains ceased, the cow gazed at the sky as the clouds gingerly parted to expose the wet, peeping sun.
The five-headed serpent was watching her. His red eyes glowed, and he watched her intently the way a hunter would at a particularly swift deer. Then, slowly, he slithered out of his hole and, adopting a sleek manner, approached the cow. “Mother,” he hissed, bobbing his five withered heads in respect, “Mother, I am hungry. Please bless me and let me take part in a share of your milk.” The cow smiled, and her eyes sparkled with sympathy and maternal love. “Of course, my child,” she said in a lilting croon, “How can a mother refuse her child?” She did not see the odd red glimmering in the snake’s hungry eyes. The snake raised the largest of his five heads and covered the cow’s udder with his mouth. In the silence of the desert there was only the gurgling sound of his drinking the sweet creamy nectar of the cow’s milk.

A month passed. Every day the cow would graze by the hole where the snake lived, and every morning he would partake of the milk she nurtured him with. It was noticed the snake was growing and gaining weight. A new head was slowly sprouting from his thick neck. His eyes were brighter, and his scales gleamed too. His reflexes changed. He left his hole more and more often. Soon he was eating like he never had before. He devoured the mice and rats of the desert, silently gliding over to them, sedating them with burning venom and finally, spitting out their bones. He snapped up frogs and tarantulas. Soon he became a terror of the desert. It was said that a drop of his venom could reduce a number of cacti to ashes.

The cow watched his behavior and winced. “Why must my son eat flesh when he has my milk to nurture him?” she wondered. The next moment, however, she consoled herself. “The way it is in my nature to eat grass, so to it is in his to eat other, smaller animals. It is an animal’s duty to stay true to its nature. If an animal is true to itself, one can never say it has done wrong.”

One blazingly hot day, the cow was resting among the shrubs of the tree. The snake was coiled up beside her, his six heads bobbing with drowsiness. The bones of several animals surrounded him, bleached to a blinding white in the sun. A weary traveler approached. His eyes were red with sleep deprivation. His head cloth was moist with perspiration. Red boils were popping all over his face from the heat. His clothes were torn, and in his knapsack his belongings were constantly falling out. He spotted the cow. In an instant, his red round eyes widened. His mouth frothed with desperate hunger. The cow’s eyes sparkled with sympathy. “My son,” she said, endearingly, “Are you hungry? Please drink as much of my milk as will give you strength.” The man hardly seemed to have heard her. His eyes were very bright. He laughed a cruel, happy little laugh in a voice grated with a horrible sort of inhuman hunger. He drew a sharp, wicked-looking knife, and rushed toward her. His intent clear, the cow, in a terrible fright, attempted to gallop away. However, suddenly, the man let out a terrible prolonged shriek. His eyes rolled back into his sockets. Before the cow’s very eyes, in the hot desert, the traveler went very white, and then fell dead.

Slowly, panting, the cow turned her frightened eyes toward the snake. The serpent looked at her with tearful eyes. ‘Mother,” he said in a voice choked with unusual emotion, “At first I only wished to use you for my own purposes and then discard of your services when they no longer served my purposes. But now, I do not know what has come over me. I have become a new person by your grace. I cannot change who I am, and yet I have grown to love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life. I am by nature a ruthless killer, but I could not let you die. Mother, please forgive me,” He began to weep with real sorrow. The cow’s eyes glistened. “My son,” she whispered. The snake wrapped himself around her and together, mother and son stood, embracing each other, overwhelmed by natural love for one another.

In due course, after many a happy time filled with love for her snake-child, the cow grew to be very old. Her once-strong and supple body grew weak. She soon lost the ability to make it rain, to make sweet grass grow. Her white coat grew thin and dirty, her bones began to show. The desert soon became as dry as it once had been before she came. However, the snake stubbornly refused to leave her. One day, the cow called the snake to her. “My son,” she whispered lovingly, “I am dying. My throat is parched. Please give me something to drink.” Her son looked at her in alarm. He lowered his head and was completely silent. The cow smiled sadly. “My son,” she said. “The time has come for me to breathe my last. I would rather leave this world quickly, without pain, by the hands of one I love. I do not wish to fester here dying of thirst. Please give me something to drink.” The snake hesitated a little while longer. Then finally, he nodded. The cow knelt by him and opened her mouth, and the snake poured his dark venom into it. The desert sunset looked like bright red blood mingling with pure, sparkling water in the distance.



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