Adam's Story

Age brings slowness and slowness allows the carnivores to get closer with each hunt. One must have dexterity and speed to avoid the carnivores and strength and cunning to satisfy one's own hungers.

My time, and story start in the Garden of Eden. All people born of woman have experienced the miracle of birth. Neither I or my companion Eve have experienced this miracle. We just experienced the shock of immediate existence. It was like awakening from a long dreamless sleep to a blue sky and lush green surroundings.

The Big Guy created us and although I could see no discernible physical difference between us and those who came from women, their personalities and understanding of life seem less absolute. Where I see sharp distinctions between black and white, good and evil, hot and cold, they see gray, extenuating circumstances and moderate temperatures. This difference may be the result of Original Sin or simply the result of being created from the almighty's edict versus being created in the warm womb of a woman.

Today, I am a very old man. My time in the Garden was short because I was banished to a new place the inhabitants call Earth. It is here that I have lived the majority of my life. It is clear that the people in the Garden all descend from Eve, the first mother. But here on Earth, the concept, or necessity, of having a first mother seems lost on earth people. The people of Earth have little need or interest in knowing who the first mother was. Many here, although not all, trace their birth to the seed of Lucifer. Everyone has a mother but their mother's mother seems unimportant to them and at best, is only an abstraction. I have my suspicions on who might be this "Mother of all Mothers" but I will put these aside until I reach a more appropriate time in my story.

As with my experiences with the Big Guy, I've never seen Lucifer or heard his voice. My knowledge of him is strictly second hand, told to me by the people of Earth. I am told that Earth is within the vast realm of Lucifer but what that means or includes is unclear. He is neither a benevolent or a cruel ruler and seems indifferent to the Earth People as they live their lives with little in the way of guidance or oversight. His direct involvement with the people here is almost exclusively with the women who seem eager to accept his seed above all other men. Bearing a child from the realm would seem to have some benefits attached to it but perhaps there are other reasons. Reasons of the flesh. Unlike the garden with its strict and inviolate rules, privileges and hierarchy, the rules and expectations here are indistinct and equally unclear. But like the Garden and the Big Guy, Lucifer is also unquestionably unchallenged in all matters.

Eve was given to me by the Big Guy. I was told to bond with her and that children will result who will inhabit the Garden in the days yet to come. The Big Guy talks in abstract with little in the way of explanation or instruction but the angel Christopher, who mentored me in all things, proved equally adept at explaining the bonding process. Eve would have certain features and characteristics that I would find irresistible and our bonding often had little to do with procreation. I never found out if the Big Guy approved of this recreational activity but Christopher seemed to take much delight in our discussions as I recounted my activities with Eve.

Many angels visited me in the Garden as I shall soon recount. Although they didn't live in the Garden, their frequent appearances helped me while I slowly developed the necessary skills to feed myself and provide shelter. Their homes were in some netherworld that wasn't a part of Heaven or the Garden. I couldn't understand their hesitancy to tell me more about their lives and how they fit in the whole scheme of things between Heaven and the Garden but it is what it is. I was surely created in their image with the exception of the wings and perhaps they were also created in my image with the exception of sexual organs. The last angel I saw was in the Garden on the day of my banishment. I miss their council and companionship. Angels are nonexistent on Earth and I never did learn why they never visited Earth. I originally thought that perhaps they feared Lucifer but I think that their powers were far greater than those possessed by Lucifer. I have seen Angels turn night into day, conquer and control fire and bring health back to injured creatures from the Garden. Surely, Lucifer's powers would pale compared to the legions of angels.

Reliving the past and bringing back memories as I write these words will hopefully help me achieve a sense of closure to my life. I am mindful of my responsibilities to future generations as the first man but I have little in the way of advise because there is little in my life that would qualify me as an expert. If it is true that most live more in the present than in the past then it is equally true that any insight or knowledge I might have gained from my experiences would likely fall on deaf ears.