It's not late.

A truck driver is heading west across the Arizona desert. He
has been driving all night, and as the sun starts to rise,
he feels the need to stop and commune with nature. He pulls
to the side of the road, parks, and walks out into the sage
brush.

As he is standing there, looking around at the beauty of the
early morn, he notices a lever sticking out of the ground.
After a few moments, he walks over, walks all the way
around, and then reaches out to grasp the lever. Just as he
does, he hears a voice say, "Don't touch that lever."

The driver jumps about two feet off the ground, and as he
comes down, he looks around. No one is to be seen. Thinking
it was just his imagination, he again reaches for the lever.
Again the voice yells, "I said don't touch that lever!"
Being more prepared, the driver senses the location of the
voice and looks down under a sage brush. There he sees a
small snake.

The driver, in much astonishment, said, "Was that you that
just spoke?"

The snake said, "Yes. I have to keep people from touching
that lever. If the lever is moved, it will be the end of the
world."

The driver, still rather astonished, said, "What is your
name? And will you talk on TV?" The snake said his name was
Nate and that he wasn't interested in going on TV; anyway,
he had to stay and watch the lever to see that it wasn't
moved. The driver said, "Look, I will get the networks to
send out camera crews. That way, you can inform the entire
world about the danger of the lever."

Nate thought that over and allowed as how there was a great
deal of sense to the idea. The driver, true to his word, got
the network camera crews out. They put on broadcasts in
which Nate warned the entire world of the dangers of moving
the lever.

A few weeks later, another truck driver was going through
the area. He was following an oil tanker, and the tanker
sprang a leak. When the driver's truck hit the slick, it
went out of control, and he found himself headed straight
for the lever. He remembered seeing Nate on the TV telling
about the lever and so he knew that if he hit it, he would
cause the world to end. He strove, with all his might to
maneuver the truck. Finally, at the last moment, he was able
to swerve, but he ran over Nate, the snake, and killed him
flat!

The truck driver was heard to say "Well, better Nate than lever."