A Bright Future

           Serpent watched from his mound of golden trinkets as the customers jostled each other in line, trying to get closer to the pond. So many frogs and toads and turtles and salamanders, all so desperate to receive clean water, that they would be willing to serve a serpent. An accident had occurred, contaminating the local water supply for miles around. And what a wonderfully orchestrated accident it had been. All but Serpent's pond had been contaminated. Pesticides, it turned out, could be used to great effect.

A frog, his skin weltered, looked pleadingly up at him.

“Find me gold, and you shall have clean water.” Serpent looked idly at his favorite golden coin, tied to the tip of his tail with a thread of yarn. It was such a wonderful ornament. It accented his red scales stupendously. “Now leave, or I’ll devour you whole.”

Frightened, the frog quickly hopped away. Serpent watched him leave, wishing the tender little morsel had stayed. Instead, he watched as the rest of the amphibians shambled up to him and laid gold before him, before leaping in the pond and soaking their skin.

“Enjoy the sensation. Isn’t it wonderful? For three trinkets of gold a week, I will allow you to live here.” Serpent knew it would be nigh impossible to steal that much gold. The human’s had settled three days time to the west, and a turtle could only carry so much gold in one trip.

The fools were doomed, no matter what they did. The journey to the humans was treacherous; many did not survey. Though they could always resettle near the humans, this had been their home for generations. Few were willing to leave.

This pleased Serpent immensely. They needed his water to survive, and thus, were his to control, his own personal army. The future looked undeniably bright.