In the Blood of Eden

Adam blinked awake, sitting up slowly. He paused, knowing something was different but unsure why. He ran a hand over his head as he looked around. The trees around him looked the same and the soft grass felt the same, but he knew something was different. He paused and touched his ribs, running down one side until he found what was different. He was missing a rib. He could feel the place where it had been before, but now it was gone.

"Father?" Adam called out, knowing God would hear him.

"Yes, Adam?" God said.

"Where is my rib?" Adam asked. He wondered if God had taken it or if an animal had taken it, like they took berries from the bushes near the rivers.He knew he wasn't hurt, but he was curious, wondering if he would be able to see it outside his body.

"I removed it." God said. "I removed it to make her."

"Her?" Adam asked. He knew the word 'her' referred to a female. As far as he'd seen, there were no females of his kind, unless... Adam stood up sharply when a figure stepped out of the foliage. It was a figure both like and unlike him. This female was smaller than him, with a soft feline grace, soft brown hair that tumbled down her back like the branches of a willow tree, curves and hollows in her body that were unlike his own, but reminded him of other female animals, in the way that everything about her body was so different from his own. He was a creature of planes, angles, and muscle, but this female creature of his own was special beyond all others. Adam swallowed, unable to discribe this feeling that was practically choking him. She was absolutely beautiful.

"You've named all the other creatures, Adam." God said, pleased at how Adam looked at and thought about God's newest creation, "What shall she be called?" God watched as Adam stared at her in wonder, his eyes focused on her face. He knew that, one day, women of God would be misused by men with thier eyes and thier bodies. He knew that His daughters would be murdered, raped, and enslaved. He also knew that His daughters would convert kings, save millions, give birth to nations, and one would give birth to His Son.

"This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman', for she was taken out of man." Adam said softly, smiling at her. When the woman smiled back at him, he saw she had small dimples in both cheeks. Adam smiled wider and touched one dimple.

The woman pulled away, giggling in a shy and slightly teasing way. She didn't know how to react to the attention Adam was giving her, as he was the first human she'd seen. She also knew that she didn't want to go anywhere.

"Father?" Adam called out, not taking his eyes off the woman.

"Yes, Adam?" God said.

"May I take her and show her the garden?" Adam asked.

"Yes, Adam. She is your wife now. All this land is hers as well as yours, except for the tree that you are forbidden to eat from." God said, even though he knew that they would eat from the tree one day.

"Yes, Father." Adam said. He offered the woman his hand and she took it. Adam paused a moment and turned back to her. He started inspecting the woman's hand. He measured it against his own, a little taken aback by how small and delicate it was. He gently brushed his mouth against the skin of her palm, hearing the woman's sharp breath. He smiled at both her shyness and her smile. He held her hands in his own for a moment, then pressed her palm flat against his own. They contrasted against each other, with her pale skin, delicate and small fingers against his dark, larger hand. Adam smiled and laced his fingers between hers, leading her through her new home.

As the hours passed, Adam shared everything he knew about his home with his wife. He taught her the names of the creatures and the trees and what tasted best. He smiled when he discovered that she loved talking and listening. She was a fast learned and her wit seemed to sharped as they moved.

Soon before nightfall, they stopped and ate some sweet, ripe fruit that stained thier lips. Adam had always noticed this property that this certain plant possessed, but had never noticed how dark it could turn someone's mouth. His own skin was dark enough that the dye didn't create too much of a contrast but the dark red juice stood out sharply against the woman's pale skin. He watched her for a moment, then leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers.

The woman stood there for a moment and then instinct took over and her mouth moved against Adams's. After a moment of this, then pulled away and laughed a little nervously. They weren't embarassed, but a little unsure.

"You're very beautiful." Adam said softly.

"Thank you." The woman said, smiled. "You are too."

"It's night." Adam said, looking around at the darkness falling around them. It wasn't darkness that they feared, but a gentle way to remind them that it was time for sleep. Fireflies danced around them and the moon and stars gave enough light so that theyh could see faintly. Adam took the woman's hand and led her to a softly sloping hill where he liked to watch the stars.

The two slept on the grass there, watching the stars. They didn't realize, in that moment, that their paradise was coming to a close. They didn't know that the fall of man was coming and that they would cost mankind their relationship with God. They didn't know that their failure would cost them their son, Abel. They had no idea that a savior would come to spare them. They didn't know that it would take God's son, born from their line, would save the world.

No, in that moment, they only knew that this was the beginning.

And The Beginning it was.