The Horned Lizard Speaks
Story by Rani Birchfield. Illustration by Gary Oliver.
The Doods
T
his is how it happened. One
day, while waiting for a friend
outside Panther Junction in Big
Bend National Park, I heard a tiny,
gruff voice say “What a swell, sunny
day.” When I looked around, imagine
my fantastic surprise when I realized
there was a Horned Lizard talking to
8
Cenizo
me. (And boy, did he have a lot to say!)
What he said me next went something
like this...
“Once upon a time there was a
planet called Earth. This planet transi-
tioned through various phases of cli-
mate and geology for eons, changing its
face many times over. Ice ages came
Second Quarter 2015
and went over this world; lands collid-
ed and separated; seas traded places
with mountains and valleys. Millennia
ago, after a particular ice age, the
frozen world melted, oceans rose, lakes
and rivers transformed, and the under-
ground water system called aquifers
was left behind. The aquifers were
unseen and mysterious, yet part of the
interwoven water system that nour-
ished the world. Humans were scarce,
coexisting with topside flora and fauna,
and all living things held a symbiotic
relationship with the rich planet.
“As the planet warmed and glaciers
receded the humans found it more and