I’m not!” I managed to scream under the gritting of my teeth. “The voices...the bugs...the....”
I hung my head over the side of the carriage, helpless to hold back the vomit.
“Field’s a’gettin’ to you.” Gorg pulled on the reins to slow the horses. “Hey, dun’t get any of that on my carriage!”
I fell off the moving carriage with a thud . My body rolled before it came to a stop. I thrashed about, gripping my head, screaming as the voices become louder, more recognizable.
“It was once perfect...,” said one voice.
“Temptation. Curiosity. Greed,” said another.
The door swung open as the carriage came to a stop. “What did he fall off the carriage for?” said Tsaeb, laughing.
I could hear the pumping of blood like thunder in my head, but not even that could drown out the voices. I could not feel Tsaeb’s hands on my arms, attempting to lift me to my feet, or hear Gorg shouting at Tsaeb to be quick about dragging me back onto the carriage.
I mean, yes, I could feel them and hear them...yet I could not.
“She ate the Forbidden Fruit....”
“One evil then tempted another....”
And just like that, the pain was gone.
I lifted my head and the sky was completely red as if the distant clouds had finally covered me. There was no carriage, or Tsaeb, or Gorg and his two white horses. The air was humid, sticky like a summer day before a storm. What was once yellow grass under my feet was now black, charred and smoking as if it had recently burned. The stench rose up in my nostrils, choking me. I could feel the soles of my shoes warm and slowly melting against the ground.
I gazed out at the never-ending expanse of the field.
There was the voice of a woman behind me:
“Why did you listen to her?”
I turned. A naked body with no gender, no breasts, no nipples, stood before me. The head bore no hair; the face, nothing but skin covering the eye sockets, a mouth and a nose. The fingers and toes of this anomaly, fused together.
“Listen to who?” I said, stepping up to the anomaly slowly. “I don’t understand.”
Another appeared to my left. “You were the First,” it said with the voice of a man. “You brought the Darkness.”
“But I don’t understand — ”
“She was Lucifer’s concubine, his whore,” said the voice of yet another anomaly. “God gave you many ribs, you could have made another. You could have cast her out of the Garden and made another.”
“Adam and Eve?” I said, my face knotted, unbelieving. “But I’m not Adam.”
“You are Man.”
“Yes, you were the First, created from the dust of the Earth and from your rib, Eve.”
The anomaly to my right held out both hands and in them, a bleeding heart.
“The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden was not the temptation of Man,” it said, “but the woman, Eve, was the temptation of Man.”
Without question, I opened my hands where the bleeding heart appeared. The anomaly that had held it never moved, never stepped close enough to place it there. It simply appeared as if by magic. Thick, red blood oozed through my fingers. I looked down upon it to see it still beating.
“Take back your heart, for within it grows your soul and so must Life grow.”
I looked to each anomaly for answers; all eight of them, but no verbal answers came. The beating of the heart began to slow in my palms and my own body began to weaken. My breath was deeper with each exhale and then I felt the warmth of blood upon my chest. Looking down, I finally remembered what it felt like to be frightened. Seeing the gaping hole in my chest cavity, I gasped and stumbled.
“Replace it lest it stops beating, son of Adam and Eve.”
I felt my life quickly slipping away. My skin grew cold, the tips of my fingers turning blue and gray. I wanted to shout, but when I tried to open my mouth, I realized I no longer had one. I fell to my knees, the heart still safely in my hands, and just before I took my last breath, I
I hung my head over the side of the carriage, helpless to hold back the vomit.
“Field’s a’gettin’ to you.” Gorg pulled on the reins to slow the horses. “Hey, dun’t get any of that on my carriage!”
I fell off the moving carriage with a thud . My body rolled before it came to a stop. I thrashed about, gripping my head, screaming as the voices become louder, more recognizable.
“It was once perfect...,” said one voice.
“Temptation. Curiosity. Greed,” said another.
The door swung open as the carriage came to a stop. “What did he fall off the carriage for?” said Tsaeb, laughing.
I could hear the pumping of blood like thunder in my head, but not even that could drown out the voices. I could not feel Tsaeb’s hands on my arms, attempting to lift me to my feet, or hear Gorg shouting at Tsaeb to be quick about dragging me back onto the carriage.
I mean, yes, I could feel them and hear them...yet I could not.
“She ate the Forbidden Fruit....”
“One evil then tempted another....”
And just like that, the pain was gone.
I lifted my head and the sky was completely red as if the distant clouds had finally covered me. There was no carriage, or Tsaeb, or Gorg and his two white horses. The air was humid, sticky like a summer day before a storm. What was once yellow grass under my feet was now black, charred and smoking as if it had recently burned. The stench rose up in my nostrils, choking me. I could feel the soles of my shoes warm and slowly melting against the ground.
I gazed out at the never-ending expanse of the field.
There was the voice of a woman behind me:
“Why did you listen to her?”
I turned. A naked body with no gender, no breasts, no nipples, stood before me. The head bore no hair; the face, nothing but skin covering the eye sockets, a mouth and a nose. The fingers and toes of this anomaly, fused together.
“Listen to who?” I said, stepping up to the anomaly slowly. “I don’t understand.”
Another appeared to my left. “You were the First,” it said with the voice of a man. “You brought the Darkness.”
“But I don’t understand — ”
“She was Lucifer’s concubine, his whore,” said the voice of yet another anomaly. “God gave you many ribs, you could have made another. You could have cast her out of the Garden and made another.”
“Adam and Eve?” I said, my face knotted, unbelieving. “But I’m not Adam.”
“You are Man.”
“Yes, you were the First, created from the dust of the Earth and from your rib, Eve.”
The anomaly to my right held out both hands and in them, a bleeding heart.
“The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden was not the temptation of Man,” it said, “but the woman, Eve, was the temptation of Man.”
Without question, I opened my hands where the bleeding heart appeared. The anomaly that had held it never moved, never stepped close enough to place it there. It simply appeared as if by magic. Thick, red blood oozed through my fingers. I looked down upon it to see it still beating.
“Take back your heart, for within it grows your soul and so must Life grow.”
I looked to each anomaly for answers; all eight of them, but no verbal answers came. The beating of the heart began to slow in my palms and my own body began to weaken. My breath was deeper with each exhale and then I felt the warmth of blood upon my chest. Looking down, I finally remembered what it felt like to be frightened. Seeing the gaping hole in my chest cavity, I gasped and stumbled.
“Replace it lest it stops beating, son of Adam and Eve.”
I felt my life quickly slipping away. My skin grew cold, the tips of my fingers turning blue and gray. I wanted to shout, but when I tried to open my mouth, I realized I no longer had one. I fell to my knees, the heart still safely in my hands, and just before I took my last breath, I
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