Drene

“… and the serpent was frozen, transformed into this very branch. That’s how our village got its particular shape.”

“The serpent was transformed into a tree…”

“Yes!”

“And you see no problem with that?”

“What do you mean?”

Filja’s little face had tightened in what could be either worry or doubt. She did not reply for a while, and instead studied her cousin. Danren fidgeted a bit, but knew it was often easier to let Filja speak her mind and not interrupt. For a 6 year old she could get quite upset and make it painfully clear.

“Well… I get the appeal of the story, it’s a very good one, but when I look at the branch it looks like wood. No scales, no head. It looks more like a… well, a tree.”

Dan turned his head to look at the branch on which his village, Drene, had been built long ago.

It did only vaguely look snake-like, if you tilted your head and squinted a bit. Still, when he had been told the story by his mum it had made a kind of sense, although now that he faced his younger cousin’s questions he had trouble remembering why.