He knew if he could just get them there, they could rest and refresh and somehow determine what their next move should be. He hoped that Eve would be able to walk after a short rest as his back and legs were aching along with his troubled heart. He sat down beside her but was at a loss for anything to say. The look on her face told him of the seriousness of her state of mind but he really had no idea what he could say to comfort her. As he sat there studying her expression she turned to glance at him and as their eyes met she could control her composure no longer. Her eyes welled with tears and when she tried to speak an apology for them her voice could not be found, only an unintelligible croaking sound uttered as she buried her face in her hands and wailed loud and bitter sobs. The sadness of her demeanor crept over him and he could not keep his own eyes from oozing likened bitter tears. He moved closer and put his arms around her and tried to hold her close but the motion of her heaving sobs necessitated a looser hold. She laid her head on his shoulder and he on hers but could think of no word or movement to comfort her so for a time they both sat weeping in silence.
Tears, while of themselves not pure, have the capacity to carry impurities from the body. Not the physical impurities evacuated by the liver or kidneys but emotional impurities that build in the wake of dire thoughts. The act of weeping cleared their minds of the bitter residues of remorse and despair and allowed them to emerge from the wreckage of their present situation to a point where they could at least continue toward home.
Eve was able to walk now and so side by side, hand in hand they set out in silence. And though the immediate debilitating effects of their morning had passed, the more permanent damage of the broken relationship with the only remaining intelligent being that they knew and loved continued to envelope them in dreariness. Adam was truly sorry that he disobeyed the old man’s instructions regarding the forbidden trees. While he certainly did not look forward to their next meeting, he did hope that he could think of some way to apologize and at least clear the air. He glanced sideways at Eve and noticed that she looked different now somehow. He had always gotten a certain feeling when he looked at her before, one that he was at a loss now to describe but he knew for sure that it was not there anymore. It was not just that the leaves were now covering her bosom and genitalia. He remembered how that had aroused him so by the lake that he was literally paralyzed. He wondered if he would ever have another experience like that.
He could not actually pinpoint what was different now but he knew that eating the forbidden fruit had changed him. Many of the things that he saw now on the way home seemed different to him as he viewed them from his new perspective. It was like the awe and wonder that he used to feel about even simple things - the miracle of the tadpoles and how their tails fell off and they gained legs as they matured into frogs, or the great horned green worm emerging from his cocoon as a colorful monarch butterfly - that magic was gone, replaced by an understanding of natural metamorphosis that would probably serve him well as he struggled to eke a living from the soil while robbing him of his former child-like appreciation for the joy around him. He thought that wisdom was not necessarily a good thing and would have given anything to return to the way things were yesterday, not only with Eve but with the old man as well.
The old man was heartbroken. He was devastated by the action that he had had to take. Infuriated with himself for turning his back on that serpent for even one second. “Damn him,” he thought. “We go back far enough that I knew what he was capable of but I hoped that Adam might be strong enough to overcome him. I thought not knowing good and evil would protect them from his guiles since he really had no way to tempt them. But now, now that they have eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they can certainly not be trusted again. Surely their new found wisdom will compel them to eat of the Tree of Life and if they become exactly like us, who knows the destruction they could wreak, especially now that they are vulnerable to the serpent’s influence. I’m sure he is defeated for now, but I know his deceitful ways will soon bring him into full recovery so there is no choice but to separate the man from the Tree of Life. He must be banished from the garden.” With that decision, the old man felt compelled to sit down and weep his own bitter tears.
They were relieved to be back to their familiar surroundings as they collapsed into their comfortable bed. They fell asleep immediately. She curled into a fetal position with her back to him and he draped himself around her like a comfortable wrap as they journeyed into rejuvenating slumber. They had only slept a short time when they were awakened by the old man’s voice. Adam would have preferred to sleep much longer as he felt very groggy and tired when he woke up. But he knew that was not an option so he dragged himself from his bed and adjusted his fig leaf apron to cover himself adequately as he went forth to greet the old man. Eve was beside him and he was aware of her struggling with her coverings as well.
The nap had lifted them from the point of utter exhaustion that normally follows an adrenaline filled emotional experience. It left Adam in a compliant state willing to do anything to try to gain back the old man’s favor. He had tried to consider his options on the walk back and had come up with a plan that involved him and Eve moving to a place in the garden farther away from the forbidden trees. He would clear away the grass and bushes and carry seeds and plants from other parts of the garden and plant them there so that they would never have to go near the forbidden trees again. He was hoping that would appease the old man and they could try to return to their normal unstrained relationship.
When they were all together, the old man showed them some clothes that he had made for them. They were made from animal skins and so were much more durable than the fig leaves they were wearing that were starting to dry and crumble around the edges. When they put them on, they found that the new clothes covered their whole bodies and not just their genitalia. The clothes protected them from the brush and thorns that they noticed were scratching them as they moved along the pathways earlier on the way home. Adam had not noticed that happening before and thought perhaps it was another peril of their new found wisdom. The old man explained the dilemma that he was in regarding letting them stay in the garden. He told them that they would be leaving soon, even before night fall, and that they would have to make their way in the world that waited outside of the garden.
He told them that he still loved them and would protect them in the world and that they could meet with him when they wanted to talk although once they left the garden they would not be able to see him in his current form. He blessed them and gave them some special traits of which they were not yet aware. They would become the indomitable human spirit which would enable them to overcome adversity through perseverance and faith. As they walked forth from the garden into the world, they were overwhelmed by a feeling of loss of a simple, happy way of life. The thought of turning back crept into their minds briefly but when they saw a giant tongue of flame descend over the path that they had just trod they understood once and for all that this period of their lives had come to an end. And so like children reluctant to leave the security of the only home they had ever known, yet driven to explore and build something they could call their own, they turned their eyes eagerly toward the wonders and hardships that awaited them just over the horizon and neither looked back again.
The End
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