THE SNAKE'S TALE
by Dawn Spelke

Long, long ago, when the earth was new, humans and animals still spoke the same language, so whenever anything BIG happened, they would all talk about it together.One day something very BIG happened -- the biggest, tallest mountain in the world blew its top right off, and lava began pouring out. This frightened all the living creatures, so they gathered to plan how to escape the fiery volcano.After much talk, it was decided their only hope was with the giant snake, Anaconda. Anaconda unhinged her jaws and opened her mouth, making a doorway large enough for all the people and animals to walk through.  The lava was only inches away when at last all were inside, and Anaconda  closed her mouth and slithered down into the earth. She traveled  underground until she reached the sea and floated to the surface where  she could see the sky.Because of the volcano's dust and ash, the sky was dark and filled with clouds. Lightning flashed and thunder roared, and it began to rain. Raindrops as big as salamanders splashed down around the snake. It rained and rained and rained some more, until the whole world was flooded.

As the water rose, Anaconda was lifted closer and closer to the sky. So close, in fact, that she crawled out of the water and up into the sky. 

All of a sudden, the clouds disappeared, and the sun came out. Anaconda stretched out to sun herself, but she was too tired to keep her two ends from drooping toward the earth. All the creatures tumbled out of her mouth and floated down to the ground. When they looked up to thank Anaconda for saving them, they saw the  giant snake had become a brilliant rainbow of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet -- reaching across and over the world.              The End

..image of the snake
on display throughout 2003 - Peak View Park, Greeley, CO

Greeley Public Art Program