The Serpent and The Dove

Once upon a time there was a Dove.

She was unlike other Doves.

Other Doves were happy to rest on the laurels of their ancestors.

Their pride was related to their place in art, history, literature, politics, and above all, religion.

Wasn't it a Dove that returned with a branch from an olive tree to tell Noah of the sighting of land?

Didn't God choose to descend as a Dove when Jesus was baptized? “And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him."

Weren't Doves universal symbols of peace?

Didn't Picasso say his father had taught him to paint Doves, concluding, "I stand for life against death; I stand for peace against war."

Was it not a Dove that was featured in Andy Warhol's Last Supper painting?

Yes, Doves were part of a blessed tradition.

And most Doves were content to bask in the glorious heritage and legacy to which they had been born.

Except for one Dove, whose name was Sui Generis.

Sui Generis was a different kind of Dove.

She had a natural bent to think about things which Doves were not inclined to think about.

"Wonder what it would be like to have not been born a Dove?" was one of the things she thought about.

"Wonder what it would be like to be a Serpent?" she thought.

Serpents were despised.

Sui Generis wondered what it was like to be despised.

She decided to find out.

The question led Sui Generis to venture away from the farmstead that was her habitat.

Her quest was to find a Serpent who would tell her what life was like for a Serpent.

So she flew and flew, until she came to a grassy meadow where she found a Serpent sunning.

The Serpent had a faraway look on his face.

"Penny for your thoughts" Sui Generis said, perching on a rock at a safe distance.

"A penny for my thoughts, eh," said the Serpent. "If not for the misfortunes of birth, you might be here and I might be there."

"Instead, here I am,  a doomed SBCD," he continued.

Sui Generis angled her head in the way she always did when she couldn't get something. "SBCD?" she inquired.

"Serpent Born Confused Dove" said the Serpent, "Expected to be a liar and vicious, presumed to be vindictive and capricious, associated with evil through and through, if only everyone knew..."

Sui Generis said, "Who says you have to be a liar and vicious, vindictive and capricious?"

"It's Serpent 101," said the Serpent.

"Solo, remember your place, Solo, the apple you must make Eve taste. These are the rhymes I have been brought up with," said the Serpent.

"Solo, nice name. Mine is Sui Generis," said Sui Generis.

"Symbol of all that's good meet symbol of all that's bad, isn't that just so…" continued the Serpent, whose name Sui Generis had learned was Solo.

"So sad?" said Sui Generis, asking if that's how he intended to complete the sentence. "How poetic you are, Solo."

"Such a disgrace, You are making our family lose all face. We are being dissed because you don't hiss. This is what I get for being so poetic. If only…" continued Solo.

"If only what?" said Sui Generis.

"If only I could be freed from this body - even for a day. I'd give anything, Sui Generis - even my best prey. Sometimes I just want to sit out in the sun until I am fried and done."

"Fried and done?" Sui Generis asked.

"If I stay out in the sun too long, I will die. Sometimes, I just want to die, Sui Generis. My whole life is a lie, anyway. I am no use to anyone for anything."

Sui Generis was overcome with sadness for Solo.

How terrible for him to be trapped in a Serpent's body and to have no desire to live. He clearly wasn't cut out for the life of a Serpent.

She knew what she must do to help him.

She would use her talisman.

It was a thimble containing magic ash.

The magic ash had the power to grant her one wish.

She would use this wish to trade places with Solo, so he could experience what it was like to be a Dove.

The next day she brought the talisman to Solo.

"How would you like to trade places for a day?"

"You're joking, right? That's a mean joke, if it's a joke, and surely it's a joke" said Solo.

"No, I am not joking," said Sui Generis. "I am going to release the ash from this thimble into the air and say the words, 'I want to trade places with Solo.  As soon as I do so, you will be a Dove and I will be a Serpent."

Solo was incredulous. "And how will we trade back?"

"You leave me to worry about that," said Sui Generis. "First let me explain to you which way you should fly, and how to avoid the hunters."

He listened to her explain where the hunters would be.

Then when she finished, he watched her release the ash from the thimble into the air.

He heard her say the words, "I want to trade places with Solo".

The next thing he knew he was a Dove with wings.

He saw a Serpent in the grass and realized it was Sui Generis.

The Serpent slid away before he could say anything.

Solo flapped his wings and the next thing he knew, he was aloft.

He looked down at the world.

What a view - it was incredible.

He now knew what he had been missing - how wonderful a Dove's life was.

He suddenly had the urge to find an olive tree, so he could pluck a twig from it and carry it in his beak, like the Dove did at the end of the Noah and the Ark story.

He flew onto rocks and perched there.

He flew onto different trees and perched on their branches.

He flew and explored.

He suddenly realized he was hungry.

As if by instinct, he flew down and picked some grain from the ground.

Then he took to the skies again.

He flew and flew and flew.

Morning became afternoon.

Afternoon became evening.

Suddenly it occurred to him…..evening would become night.

Sui Generis hadn't told him what time and where they would meet to trade places again.

He felt he ought to start flying back to the spot where they had traded places.

She might be waiting there already.

He started flying back.

He flew and flew.

Suddenly, an anxiety seized him.

It had been a very hot day.

Hopefully, Sui Generis had stayed out of the sun.

He had to get to her.

He started flying faster, ignoring the fact that she had told him not to cross the area where the hunters were.

He got right into the hunter's sights.

Suddenly he heard the sound of a gun, and the next minute he felt a searing pain in his body.

He began to fall to the ground.

Moments later, he breathed his last, but not before he remembered to give thanks for the precious gift Sui Generis had given to him. "It was worth it," he thought, "it was so worth it to experience what it was like to be a Dove.  Thank you, Sui Generis."

And at that very same moment, Sui Generis also breathed her last.

Never intending for Solo and her to trade places again, she had decided to sacrifice her life  by staying out in the sun until she was, as he had said, "fried and done". Her last moment was a moment of pure joy too - because of all the things she had done in her life, the sacrifice she had made for Solo was the most meaningful and worthwhile of all.