the white snake was a precocious chinese spirit who was born a snake but became a woman. on her journey to one of the lower heavens she tamed the green snake, who became her handmaiden.

i became friends with the white snake in third grade due to early puberty, because we were assigned to sit at the back of the class together because of our heights. she was the first person to see something in my writing, and she fell in love with one of the calabash brothers.