Read the story here: https://everydayfiction.com/descent-of-the-serpent-by-lynn-m-rice/
Do you recognize this stunning pyramid? If you visit the site of the Maya city of Chichén Itzá (chee-CHEN eat-ZAH) in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, you will find El Castillo. An archaeological marvel, each side of the pyramid is aligned with a cardinal direction and features a flight of 364 stairs + the final platform. On the north face, the stairs are flanked on either side by a stone serpent representing the Maya people’s feathered serpent god K’uk’ulkan.
Twice a year, at sunset during the spring and fall equinoxes, when day and night are equal, a phenomenon appears along the snake on the northwest balustrade of El Castillo.
The play of sun and shadow causes the appearance of the body of the snake to appear. The Maya would say that K’uk’ulkan was descending from the heavens to earth.
Although you can witness this event looking pretty similar for a couple of sunsets on either side of the actual equinox, on the day of the equinox, a large crowd gathers and sits on the grass to watch the phenomenon.
My story, “Descent of the Serpent,” takes place on the day of the equinox at Chichén Itzá. I wrote this flash story (1,000 words or less), in response to an Australian Writers’ Centre Furious Fiction contest prompt (like “Picnic at the Top of the World (The Everest Hotel)“). The September 2025 prompt rules for your story?
- Set at a world-famous landmark
- Begins with a question
- Contains the words orange, voice, and link
In brainstorming a landmark, my mind went to the iconic pyramid at Chichén Itzá because my husband and I have been there (though not on the day of the equinox). It’s always a boon to write from experience instead of pure research. I started with a wacky question (“Pimple?”) to try to stand out (and yes, admittedly, from personal experience), and though I loved how the story turned out, it neither won nor was long-listed for the month’s contest.
As usual, after a bit more editing, I turned around and sent my story somewhere else: Flash Fiction Magazine, paying their optional fee for an editor to review it as a priority submission and offer comments and line edits. The editor I requested, Andrew Cochrane, was amazing. He said he had been on the fence about accepting it for publication but decided it wasn’t yet ready and gave me some reasons why. I wasn’t sure I agreed and let the story sit for months.
When Every Day Fiction put out a call for submissions for March-themed stories and gave the spring equinox as an idea for a theme, I knew it was time to pull out “Descent of the Serpent” and give editing it a go. I read Andy’s comments again with fresh eyes and understood them better. Although I didn’t take all of his suggestions, I took them all into account and ended up especially grateful for his advice to give the story a longer ending, which I think improved the piece quite a bit.
Giving my drafts more time (to gain perspective on them and to edit them) and seeking and accepting advice has proved beneficial to me time and time again. In addition, I ended up really glad that Flash Fiction Magazine did not accept the story months ago, because, as I researched more, I discovered factual inaccuracies to clean up as well! Yikes! Thank you, God!
Now, at the proper time, you all can read “Descent of the Serpent.” I hope you enjoy it.
Note: The photos in this post are either public domain images or images taken by my husband or myself.
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