In the Garden (segment two)

As men and women grew up, they married each other in order to fulfill God’s command to multiply and moved into other areas near the garden, creating new towns.  The newly married taught their children to play with the utmost courtesy and respect since they were always mindful of the needs of others.  For the longest time, they did not know what an argument or serious disagreement was. Living in such idyllic conditions caused them to be just a little lax about certain conditions that God had laid down.  They began to take life for granted.

After all, it’s not everyone who can live in paradise, have no need for clothes or to cook food or worry about anything at all.  Everything had been provided for them because God loved them so much and not once did the man and woman ever imagine a life outside the garden.

Until one day, a serpent sidled up to the woman.

“Hey, woman,” said the serpent coyly.  “How are things going today?”

“Hello, serpent.  Things are going just fine,” said the woman, slightly annoyed.

“You don’t sound like they’re just fine.  Want to talk about it?” asked the serpent.

“Well, I’ve run out of ideas for dinner.  We seem to keep eating the same things over and over again.  Adam doesn’t complain, but I’d really like to serve him something different for a change.”

“Oh,” said the serpent smiling.  “I thought you had a real problem.”

“This is a real problem,” said the woman.  She had her hands on her hips and was about to walk away.

“Don’t leave.  I was just teasing,” said the serpent with a twinkle in his eye.

“And just why should I stay here talking to you when you don’t understand my dilemma? It’s easy enough for you to find a variety of food; you can travel all over the place at ease.  Besides that, you probably don’t have any taste any way,” said the woman carefully scrutinizing the serpent.

“I meant no harm and besides, I know what you can do for a change for dinner.  You know that tree over by the other side of the garden, have you tried that fruit yet?” he sidled up a little closer.  I had some the other day and man was it ever delicious.  You really ought to try it.  I’m sure your family would love it.”

“Are you referring to the tree in the middle of the garden?” she asked skeptically.  “The one we were told not to eat from?”

“Well, surely the big guy didn’t mean you could never eat from it.  Perhaps He was just saving the best for last.”

“Oh, no!  He specifically said that we were neither to eat from it nor touch it or we would surely die,” she responded hastily.

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In The Garden

As God stood back and appraised His work, He noticed that the man appeared to be a little subdued.  The man had just finished naming all of the animals, and then he just sat around sighing and yawning.  Realizing that all of the animals had mates for companionship and the man had none, God decided that this was the reason for his apparent depression.   So, He gave him a sleeping potion and in a few minutes the man was deep in slumber-land.  God made an incision down the side of his chest, opened it, and extracted a rib.  He then laid aside the rib for a moment so He could stitch the opening close.    After giving the rib considerable thought, He then, from the dust of the earth, formed a new being around this rib, causing it to look noticeably different from the man, but with the intent of the parts being able to jointly fit together.  He waited for the man to wake up before He breathed life into the new being and presented the man with it.  The man, seeing stitches in his once flawlessly smooth chest, understood immediately what had happened and he named the new being—woman, because she had come from him.

Now, when the man first looked upon woman, a gorgeous creation with long, flowing hair, statuesque figure, flawless skin, big brown eyes, and a luscious mouth, he started having feelings that he had never experienced before now.  His heart pounded furiously, his mouth went dry and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.  After seeing his reaction to the woman, God immediately performed a wedding, blessed them, and told them to be fruitful and multiply.

For many years in the garden, the man and woman lived in blissful peace.  They didn’t waste any time multiplying and actually discovered that it was a past-time they both enjoyed immensely.  Their children loved playing in the garden with all of the animals, swimming in the ponds with the fish, climbing the trees, and pulling up the flowers as gifts for their parents.  The man was the undisputed leader of the tribe.  He set the rules and his wife helped to keep them enforced.  He was the priest and king of his family.

The woman, who was later named Eve, enjoyed her life as mother and wife.  Unlike modern housewives, she had no real complaints. Whenever the women forgot to pick enough fruit for all to eat, the males still living in the garden, excused themselves and foraged through the abundance of the garden to gather more.  The females of the group tended the younger children in the family and taught them how to swim and to frolic with the near-by animals. The weather was always picture perfect.  The magnificence of the brilliant blue sky was piercing, as was the ever-present warming sun.  Once in a great while they would witness a billowy white blanket moving across the sky and they would wonder what it should be called.  Since God had not informed Adam of this particular element, he had no reason to think of a name for it, as yet.  So whenever they saw the blankets of whiteness moving across the sky, they would pretend that they were on them, travelling far and wide.

This is the first segment of a contemporized short story based on events in the Garden of Eden from Genesis 3.