There is one other difference between snakes and serpents. You’d never know it just by looking at them, but serpents have a much greater lineage – right back to the creation of the world, in fact…

The serpent, its long muscular body winding through the leaves, slid towards the young woman as she knelt in the garden, its mind on one thing only – causing trouble. It didn’t really know why, nor did it want to know. But it did have a plan, and as it slithered up to the woman, it reared its head back, and breathed out the words it had been cooking up in its reptilian mind.

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

The serpent was very proud of that one. The question carefully twisted the original, real instructions, and at the same time left an opening for further misdirection. A perfect opener.

The young woman stared at the serpent for what felt like an eternity. Then she jumped to her feet and backed away rapidly.

“Gah! A talking snake!”