2. The Fall

Adam couldn’t sleep. He was different, they were different. Before eating the fruit from Moma, they would sleep soundly huddled together. But now pressed up against Eve with Lilith and Danu snuggled behind him, something stirred in him that was strange and powerful. The strong urge made him afraid.

He slipped from between them and slipped out from under the rock outcropping that sheltered their mossy bed. He lingered in the night feeling something that he had never felt before - a yearning in his body that twisted his heart. His mind was so cluttered like the dense jungle, that he no longer could be still. He couldn’t live like this. Maybe Moma could help him understand. He needed Moma to take the fruit from him. He didn’t want to feel or think this way. He went along the well-worn trail through the lush forest till he arrived at the clearing. He looked up at the enormous, white tree with waxy leaves and heavy, oval fruit hanging from its canopy by thick chords. The Genesis Tree stood empty. Moma was gone. That was strange. He had never seen the Tree without the long coils of Moma hanging in its branches. He stared at the Tree, wondering.  Why would Moma leave? Did she need water?

He walked to the nearest pool, but she was not there. He looked at the reflective surface. The moon was in the pool. He squatted down to see if he could grab the moon. It wiggled as his hand went through the water. It was not the moon. He looked up into the sky. There, the moon floated untouched in the dark heavens but in the water, it shimmered. The moon in the water was a trick to his senses. This set his mind in motion. There were parts of this world that were not what they seemed.

He walked aimlessly through the ferns, trying to get away from his new mind. Giant lizards looked up at him then went back to grazing on bushes. Large birds flew down from the rocky ledges to the water’s edge. He marveled at them with shiny white feathers. He knew many of the types of birds, but he hadn’t noticed these birds before. He mused that they must only come out at night. He walked until the ferns turned to moss then to lichen on porous lava rock. He was on the edge of genesis.  Here the landscape was raw and bare, but it made his mind calm, so he walked across the rocky terrain. He rested leaning against a large boulder looking out over the jungle and the water.

A glint of movement in the dark landscape flashed over the pond. He heard a violent splash a a squawk. He ventured nearer, creeping quietly, and hid behind a rock. He peered over the rock. Moma was coiled around something and chewing with a loud crunch. What was Moma eating? Moma lifted her long head and sniffed the air. Adam crouched behind the rock. He heard her draw nearer sniffing the air. For the first time, he felt fear. He didn’t know why he felt this way, but it drew his heart into a quick beat. Again, his mind felt strange, he was not calm and trusting but instead agitated and questioning. He looked at his hands in the moonlight. His hands were still the same but everything inside of him was different. He held still until he heard Moma’s wings beat the air as she flew past him.

He crawled over the rock to see what she had eaten. White detritus glimmered in the moonlight. Adam couldn’t fathom what he was seeing. He knew what it was, but he didn’t know. There were white feathers, a foot, and a beak but there was no animal attached to them. There were just pieces of an animal. Adam fell to his knees and held his stomach. He had seen this animal, the large night flying bird but here it was taken apart. He tried to put his thoughts together as if trying to put the animal back together. It was almost too much weight for his innocence. He stared at the broken animal, as his mind pieced together betrayal.

The next morning, he held up the crushed white bone for the others. “This is a leg… of a bird.”

“That can’t be.”

“It is.”

The three young women stared at the leg in Adam’s hand.

Danu asked, “How did it get separated from the bird?”

“Moma ate the rest of it.”

Lilith asked, “Ate it like a mushroom?’

“Yes, like a mushroom but with loud cracking sounds.”

Lilith cringed, Eve covered her mouth in disgust and Danu shook her head. “This can’t be.”

“I saw it - last night.”

The three young women were silent.

Danu again said, “Moma would never do that.”

Eve touched Adam’s arm, “It must be. Adam, what should we do?

Lilith cut in, “Come Adam, show me where you found it.”

Adam tucked the bird leg between two rocks and ran off with Lilith.

Eve watched them, their two bodies, one light and one dark, sprinting through the mossy tree-fern forest. It wrenched at her heart- a feeling she could not name, but it made her, for the first time, dislike her sister. 

Danu tugged at Eve’s arm, “Come, let us gather watercress. We can talk.”

Eve followed Danu as they went down by the water’s edge to find the leafy plant. Eve stroked the head of a large salamander. “If Moma eats birds, that is sad. I like birds.”

Danu pushed away a curious egret and pulled up a handful of watercress. “I’ve never seen Moma leave the Tree.”

“Maybe we should stay up at night like Adam and watch her.” A small colorful lizard scampered up on Eve’s shoulder.

“Even if Moma is eating birds. What does that matter?”

“Adam seems to think it matters.” Eve looked at the horizon, hoping to see him, but he and Lilith were out of sight.

 Adam lay resting with Lilith under a fern tree. Lilith twirled a white feather between her fingers. “It is so beautiful, why would Moma want to eat something so beautiful?”

“Plants are beautiful, and we eat them.” He propped himself up on one elbow and looked at the feather, but his gaze shifted to Lilith’s body. She was beautiful. This made a disturbing connection. The bird was beautiful, yet Moma ate it. Lilith was beautiful. The next thought was unthinkable. Adam put his head on Lilith’s breast. He didn’t like thinking. It was too painful, like scraping his heart against rocks. Lilith played with his hair. He liked that. He rolled on top of her.

“What are you doing? You’re heavy.”

“It feels good.”

“Yes… it does.” But Lilith flipped him over so that she was on top and giggled. He pushed her off and rolled on top of her. They laughed and rolled, enjoying the game.

The night was no longer a time of rest but of competition and lust. Who was going to be near Adam became a question. Adam tried to share himself equally, but Eve was never happy, and she decided that she was going to sleep in her own separate space. Eve's leaving made everyone sad. Lilith and Danu cuddled together and found peace. Adam got up frustrated with being wanted and then not being wanted. He didn’t follow Eve, instead, he walked along the path through the green jungle to the open clearing by the Geneses Tree. He found a hiding spot behind a rock where he could watch the empty Tree.

Eve’s voice floated over the drone of the night chirpers. “Adam?”

“Yes.”

Eve slid through the bushes and sat next to him. “Moma’s gone?”

“Yes.”

“I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore. It feels like I hurt in my chest all the time.”

“Yes, I feel that way too.” Adam put his arm around Eve, and she leaned into him.

Eve slid her leg and arm over Adam. He felt a tremendous urge to hold her and turned towards her. They pressed their cheeks together and then their bodies. Eve wiggled against him, and he felt a wave of desire take hold of his body. They moved together like lapping waves, building in intensity as if a storm was inside them with raging winds and lashing rains. As if a jolt of lighting hit them, they felt a rush of energy. Then the storm inside them calmed, the clouds parted, and the warm sun shone through their hearts. It was beautiful.

The next day Adam was quiet and sat alone looking at the feather and the rotting leg. Eve tugged at him, but he would not break his concentration to look at her. Lilith and Danu came over and sat with them. Eve swatted at Lilith’s leg with a stick. Lilith kicked the stick from her hand. They all stood motionless for a moment in the strange awkwardness of the situation.  

Lilith ignored Eve and squatted down to touch the bird’s leg, “This is not beautiful. Why are you holding on to it?”

Adam's mind began to make connections, “Don’t you see? This will happen to us. We are alive now, but later we will not be alive.”

Eve and Danu couldn’t think that far but Lilith nodded. “Maybe only things that are eaten don’t live. Perhaps we will live on. We should ask Moma.”

Adam shook his head. “I..I can’t.” It was something about the way Moma looked at him. He did not feel love, but something more sinister. He had grown to not trust her.

Eve leaned into Adam. “I will ask for you, but what should I ask?”

Adam looked up into the sky at the flitting colorful birds. One swept by them and caught a large dragonfly. The bird landed and bashed the dragonfly against the tree branch, killing it, then ate it. “Ask if there is anything in the garden that will not be eaten and live forever.”

Eve stood up and walked the trail to the giant Genesis Tree, its girth a 100 times that of any of the other trees. Its low crown branched outward in a spiral creating a nest where Moma lay.

“Moma?”

“Yes, Eve.”

“Is there anything in the garden that will last forever?”

The basilisk rose like a cobra into the air. “This is a peculiar question. Why do you want to know?”

Eve felt no fear. She looked upon the uncoiling basilisk with simple love. “You won’t leave us?”

The basilisk lowered its head out of the tree to gaze into Eves's face and it smiled. “No, I will never leave you. I, and the Geneses Tree are here forever. This Tree is very special. It never dies, and as long as I live within its branches, I too will live forever.” Moma looked up into the silvery-blue sky. “Soon I will call the others to this planet, and they will bring more seeds of Genesis Trees with them. When they arrive, we will plant a forest of Genesis Trees and this planet will be a garden beyond anything you see now.”

Eve looked bewildered. Auror coiled back into the Tree, basking in anticipation of calling the others. The time was near.

Through the next day, Adam thought hard about what Moma had said. Life, death, the Tree, and Moma’s night eating swirled around in his mind making him agitated. Eve kept touching him and he ran from her. Lilith ran after him and tried to talk with him, but he couldn’t talk about his thoughts. Danu also pestered him with questions. Eve pushed Danu aside and took Adam’s hand to lead him away. Adam glanced up at Moma. From her perch, she watched them and seemed pleased at the disharmonies.

A tightness gripped Adam in his chest. This was not right. He ran away from the women and Moma. He went to the edge of the garden where the moss crept steadily out over the lichens. Beyond the lichens, on the lava field, he lifted a heavy stone and threw it. This satisfied him. He threw another one and watched it crumble. He sweated as he threw rock after rock. Throwing rocks made him feel better. Eve emerged from the forest and watched. Lilith trailed behind her.

Adam said irritably, “Why are you always following me?”

Eve looked down and pretended to be interested in the lichen.

Lilith placed a rock on top of a boulder. “Try to hit this one.”

Adam threw but missed. He tried again and again. When he hit it, he laughed with triumph.

“Good.” Lilith set up another rock.

Adam missed the first time but on the second try he hit it. With glee, he picked up a rock and smashed it into the ground.

Eve looked back at the edge of the garden where the moss turned into ferns that rose into bushes and then branched upward to where the Genesis Tree stood on a knoll. Moma lay in her perch watching. “We have to gather food for Moma now.”

Adam was picking up another rock but let the rock drop and put his hands on his hips, defiantly. “I’m not feeding Moma any longer.”

The two women looked at each other. This was outside their understanding.

Eve said, “But we must.”

Lilith said, “Why, Adam?”

“She eats enough at night. Why does she need us to bring her food in the day?”

Lilith pulled at a lock of her wavy black hair, twisting it tight around her finger. Eve stood and started walking back, “But we are her garden tenders, we are her hands. This is our way.”

Both women froze, staring at him, when Adam said, “This is not my way anymore.”