He was still a boy when the snake first visited his dreams. He saw only flashes of scales, a soft underbelly, a striking gold eye. He was still a boy when he stood before the still, feathered ribcage of a freshly gone wren, when his mother found him weeping over the little life lost ( empathy was something Zakariah was born with and, like most things in one’s youth, could not keep ). She’d dried his tears, smiled at her only son, then damned him with what was meant to be a mother’s comfort. Her words were the spark, and Zakariah’s wick would burn everlasting.

She’d said, “Death comes for all things, child. All things but you.”

Realization that his was the loneliest life of all set like frostbite in his chest. He was born immortal. Amongst sun-bleached bones and sand sweltering beneath the sun’s attention, Zakariah still shivered - for despite the fact that he was born the colors of midsommar, he was cold. Cold post the wren, with a snake settled in his skull.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In consequat aliquet nunc in tincidunt. Sed id risus sapien. Maecenas in ex dui. Aenean luctus aliquet malesuada. Nulla facilisi. Nulla sed fringilla turpis. Donec eu risus tellus. Donec in dignissim lacus, sit amet pellentesque augue.

Cras rhoncus non felis sed dignissim. Quisque condimentum vestibulum felis, non elementum magna posuere sit amet. Nullam id consequat justo. Nullam facilisis dolor tellus, ac dapibus nibh condimentum congue. Maecenas et nunc dui.

Aliquam in leo eget augue tempus sagittis. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Integer quis neque maximus tellus tincidunt egestas nec quis auguea.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In consequat aliquet nunc in tincidunt. Sed id risus sapien. Maecenas in ex dui. Aenean luctus aliquet malesuada. Nulla facilisi. Nulla sed fringilla turpis. Donec eu risus tellus. Donec in dignissim lacus, sit amet pellentesque augue.

Cras rhoncus non felis sed dignissim. Quisque condimentum vestibulum felis, non elementum magna posuere sit amet. Nullam id consequat justo. Nullam facilisis dolor tellus, ac dapibus nibh condimentum congue. Maecenas et nunc dui.

Aliquam in leo eget augue tempus sagittis. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Integer quis neque maximus tellus tincidunt egestas nec quis auguea.