A Snake Falls to Earth: Newbery Honor Award Winner

by Darcie Little Badger

Creator, I was so young when my parents died. Now, I carry sounds without the meaning. Isn’t that sad?

“Why are you shouting?” I asked the forest. “It’s okay. You’re home.” “Then why are you here?” the trees asked. “If this is our home, who are you?”

But here’s the thing about monsters. Sometimes, they prefer to hunt in the light.

Some people don’t want to be known by the unknown, believe it or not.”

Is it possible to miss something you never really experienced though?

To Nina, secrets were mosquito bites; they itched the worst when she tried to ignore them.

The path to anywhere-you-please cannot be found, and I never expect it to find me again. That’s okay. I’ll always be grateful for our single encounter, and for its grace to guide me home. A place where the water binds two worlds; where coyotes confide in monsters; where hawks and mockingbirds discern revelations from ancient trees; where my best friend basks in the sun beside me; and where I can spend long days in the company of new family, as I search for the family I left behind.