[Authoress's Notes:

[I have always wondered what Eve made of Genesis.  This is simply my interpretation of events, my guess at what might have been going through the Great Mother's mind.  It ought to be noted that I don't even buy the whole creation story as anything but a very nice and inventive piece of fiction.  To anyone who does believe the story as it is set down in the Bible, you have my apologies because you will no doubt find this offensive.  This is my version of events.

[This was all heavily influenced by the excellent musical "Children of Eden"]

Journey of Eve

"And the woman did eat

And her eyes were opened

Through her tears, she saw the beauty all around her"

~~Children of Eden

~~*~~

On a warm summer day – all days there were warm summer days – a woman standing next to a tree cradled a half-eaten fruit in her hand.  She was very tall and very beautiful, with properly proportioned curves, healthy limbs, and a mane of chestnut brown hair that curled and spiraled around her body, tickling the tips of her breasts and pooling around her hips.  Her skin was a luscious golden brown, and her eyes were the same perfect green as the grass in which she wriggled her toes.  Those eyes were even now pooling with water, an experience which she did not understand but found marvelous all the same.  Gazing around at her surroundings, she did not seem to notice that sticky juice from the fruit had dripped down her hand, sliding into the crevices between her fingers and trickling down her wrist.  She was far too interested in the world around her, which seemed suddenly brighter and more colorful, to take notice of anything so near herself.

Her name was Eve.  She had a story that began before this point, but it did not matter.  Nothing before this moment mattered; it was all dark, all an illusion.  She had spent her entire life – and she knew now precisely how many years that had been – in ignorance.  Eve had seen every inch of the garden she shared with Adam, had explored every grove, rock, and bush.  She had appreciated it all as a gift from her Father, but never before had she realized how beautiful it was.  The world before had been taken entirely for granted, but now she saw the sweet intricacies of everything, the delicacy in the wings of a butterfly and the stability in the wood of the oak.  Her eyes welled with tears, which appeared unbidden as she tried to sort out the flood of comprehension that had swept into her brain.

I have a brain… she thought.  It seemed odd to her now that the thought had never occurred to her before.  It was this jarring realization that shook her out of her stupor.  I have a body… Eve noticed, glancing down at herself.  And it is entirely naked…  Naked.  She had never thought that word before, but now intrinsically understood the meaning.  It is a nice body… I should thank Father for making it so nice…

Eve looked at the fruit in her hand, and then up at the angel who had plucked it from the tree for her.  He was a tall man with fae-like features: very pale skin, very dark hair which he had tied at the nape of his neck with a white ribbon, and a structure that made it seem as though his bones were made more like a bird's than a human's.  Several things occurred to Eve in very rapid succession.  First, that he was not mortal and therefore likely had no bones at all; second, that if he did have bones they were not likely to be as dense as a human's; third, that she suddenly knew there was a difference between her bones and the bones of the cardinal twittering a few trees away; and fourth, that she had made the comparison before realizing she knew the difference.

"That's going to be happening a lot," the angel drawled.  He had not told Eve his name, even though she had asked.  He had said it did not matter.

"You… you know?" she said tremulously.

"Of course, my dear," he said, lazily brushing pollen off the shoulder of his well-cut black suit.  Adam would look wonderful in clothes like that… Eve thought aimlessly.  "Of course I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking that you'll never be able to process what you know, that the ideas and realizations will keep swarming your pretty little head until you go mad."  Eve nodded dumbly.  "Don't worry.  That will fade with time.  But for the near future, yes, it will happen a lot.  I sincerely doubt you'll go mad.  You seem a capable sort."

She blinked at him.  "Your name is Lucifer," she said softly, after a moment.  He raised one dark eyebrow delicately.  "Angel of Light."

"Yes… that's one of my names.  You're cleverer than I thought," he said, a pleased smirk crossing his fine features.  "I was betting it would take you at least a day to figure that out."

"I haven't figured out yet… why?"
"Why?"

"Why give me the fruit?"

He smiled again.  "You deserved to know.  Your Father's being an utter prat, trying to keep you and your lover in complete ignorance forever.  It's an insult to you both."

"He's going to be furious…"

"You knew that before you ate it."

Lucifer was right.  She had not known much before accepting Lucifer's gift, but she had been fully aware that her Father did not want her to take it.  "But Mother will understand…"

Lucifer nodded slowly.  "Yes.  Your Mother will understand."

But what will She be able to do? Eve wondered.  The thrill of revelation had clouded Eve's reasoning process, but it was clearing now.  She had not really given consideration to the consequences of her actions.  What was Father going to do?  And does it matter?  She regretted this rebellious thought almost immediately, banishing it from her mind.

But it crept back.  Honestly, she asked herself.  Does it matter now?  I could… I could leave… I know now… I could leave this place, see the transient beauty of what lies beyond…

"Yes," Lucifer said.  "You could."
"That's very unnerving, you know," Eve said, impudently chastising the angel.  He did not, however, seem insulted.  His pale blue eyes actually sparkled with pleasure.

"I apologize," he said politely, though Eve was not certain whether or not he meant it.  "I don't mean to frighten you.  I'm used to living with those who communicate primarily through telepathy."

"Angels don't use their voices?"

"Not often," he replied with a shrug.

"Whyever not?"  Eve was getting to like her own voice rather a lot.  She had not before noticed its musical qualities, its ability to traipse up and down scales, changing pitch and intonation.  Eve's was a clear alto, full and strong and infused with the power and vigor of her person.  "Voices are… lovely.  Why don't they use them?"

"I've never understood," Lucifer confessed.  His own was a sliding tenor, with a very cultured quality to it.  "There are a lot of things I've never understood about the other angels."

Eve met Lucifer's eyes for a moment, and a strange but comfortable moment of camaraderie passed between them.  She then looked down at the fruit.  "Adam… may not understand…"

"He may not," Lucifer admitted.

"Whatever I do… wherever I go from here… it may be without… without him."  She said all of this very slowly, as it was occurring to her for the first time, and she did not entirely want to believe it.  In everything that had gone through her mind since eating the fruit, she had somehow not managed to conceive a world without Adam.  "It will not… be easy…"

"Few things are, pet," Lucifer said, with only a slight consoling note in his voice.  "Your life until now has been easy because you knew nothing.  With knowledge comes power… and responsibility.  And choices."

"Adam may not make the same choice as me."

"True.  He may not."  The coolness left Lucifer's voice as he continued.  "But… I think he will."

"What makes you say that?"  Eve was still crying, though only half-aware of it.  She had never cried before, because she had never needed to.

"Because the poor sod loves you," the angel said simply.

"He… loves me…"  Eve's perfect face screwed up in confusion.  She knew that, of course, had always known that.  She loved Adam and he loved her.  Nothing in the world was more simple.  Had been more simple.  Suddenly her chest felt tight, her stomach uneasy.  Muscles she only just realized existed tightened, and she could feel her heart racing.  Love wasn't simple anymore

Lucifer laughed.  "The fruit won't help you understand that, dear.  Emotions are more complicated, more mysterious than knowledge."  He stepped forward and tipped her chin up.  "And more beautiful.  It's what makes you humans so wonderful."

Eve blinked, sending streams of water down her smooth cheeks.  "It's starting to hurt… the knowledge… the burden…"

"I warned you it would."

"I know…"

"Would you go back?"

Eve regarded him for a moment, then stepped away and looked at the garden.  Her eyes darted to the wall of trees far in the distance, not quite as thick and forbidding as before.  "No…" she said softly.  Then, with more conviction, "No, I would not go back.  And I will not stay where I am… I… I need to go see Adam."

Lucifer reached up and with his long fingers plucked another fruit from the tree.  "Finish yours on the way, and give him this."

Eve took the second fruit from the angel.  "Thank you," she said, with guileless honesty.

Lucifer waved a hand dismissingly.  "No need."

Eve turned her back to him and took a few steps down the path.  She looked over her shoulder, but Lucifer was no longer standing by the tree.  He had gone back to wherever it was angels came from.  Mother will know… Mother will know where angels come from… She just wondered if she was going to get a chance before Elohim did whatever they were going to do about her transgression.

[A/N:

[Elohim, as the god of the Bible was originally called, is a plural term.  The original Jews were henotheists, not monotheists, which is why I've chosen to include a Father and a Mother in my version of the story.

[Next time… Adam's choice.]