Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand
"Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" is a science fiction short story by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. First published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in October 1973, it was anthologized multiple times, and also formed the first chapter of McIntyre's 1978 novel Dreamsnake. Set after a nuclear holocaust, "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" tells of Snake, a healer who uses the venom of three genetically engineered snakes to heal, and follows her effort to heal a nomad boy of a tumor. The story won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 1974. It was also nominated for the Hugo Award in the same category, and for the Locus Award for Best Short Fiction. Scholar Anne Hudson Jones called it a powerful story, and stated that its themes were "mythic and universal". Background and setting In 1971, McIntyre, then living in Seattle, set up the Clarion West writers' workshop, which she then helped run through 1973. One of the workshop's instructors was Ursula K. Le Guin. During a 1972 workshop session, one of the writing assignments was to create a story from two randomly chosen words, one pastoral, and one related to technology. McIntyre's effort would become "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand", and later grew into her 1978 novel Dreamsnake. "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" is set after a nuclear holocaust that "destroyed everyone who knew or cared about the reasons it had happened". Human society is depicted as "low-tech tribalism", with the exception of a single city. Details about the world the story is set in are revealed in Dreamsnake; "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" does not give the reader direct information about when the story takes place. The protagonist of "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" is Snake, a healer who uses snake venom in her trade. She travels with three genetically engineered snakes; a rattlesnake, named Sand, a cobra, named Mist, and a "dreamsnake" named Grass, who is described as being from an alien world. In "Of Mist, Grass, and Sand", she is asked to heal Stavin, a young boy who has a tumor. Stavin is the son of a three-person marriage among three nomads, involving two men and a woman who is between her partners in age; such triad marriages are shown as being normal. Synopsis The story opens with Snake among a tribe of nomads, examining Stavin, a boy she has been summoned to heal. Stavin's family is terrified of the serpents Snake uses, but has summoned her out of desperation. She allows Mist to interact with Stavin, but Stavin's family reacts with fear, startling Mist and making Snake ask them to leave. She tells Stavin that Mist will need to bite him in the morning. He asks her to let Grass, her dreamsnake, stay with him while he sleeps, and he agrees. As he sleeps, she asks Stavin's family to look after him, and tells them she hopes to heal him. Snake drugs the body of a freshly killed