ᎦᏁᏉᏗ (Cottonmouth Moccasin)

When a Cherokee elder corners his wayward nephew in a midnight diner with a parable about snakes and bad ancestors, the Garden of Eden shows up in the bathroom to make his point for him.

It’s past midnight at Marvell’s Diner outside Tulsa. LINDA sets down the coffee without being asked and gets out of the way. She knows what this is.

What follows is as old as the Cherokee people: an uncle fulfilling his duty to his sister’s son. EARL SIXKILLER has DANNY pinned in a vinyl booth with a parable about Adam, Eve, and what would have happened if they’d been Aniyvwiya. RAYMOND WALK, in the booth behind them, never turns around — but he doesn’t need to. These three have presided over this kind of midnight before. They aren’t just drinking coffee; they are holding council. And the young man doesn’t know a reckoning has already begun.

ᎦᏁᏉᏗ — the Cherokee word for cottonmouth moccasin — also represents willingness. By midnight’s end, Danny will understand why those ideas are wrapped around eachother.

dark comedy, drama, fable, short