Adam reached the edge of the clearing just as his precious woman bit into the forbidden fruit. OF ALL THE TREES IN THE GARDEN… He replayed Father’s instructions. Words of warning caught in his throat.

No. Too late. SURELY DIE.…

Not my beloved. Not the mother of all the living. Not his baby girl, his sister, his wife.

Eve slumped to the earth. The Lord’s glow that covered her dimmed then vanished completely. She sat naked on the ground. Now, Adam’s everything would surely die.

 Abba said it.

The confinement of the sorrow within stopped his heart from beating.

No. How could he exist without her?

He could not, not after knowing…her love, the joy of her, Abba’s promise of fulfillment, of being one with her. Aching, he moved forward.

She looked up. Her eyes. Where was the sparkle? The sadness and shame in them clutched and squeezed his heart. Oh Eve, his precious one.

As if to show him what she had done, she slowly lifted the fruit resting on her palm. Higher until it rose above her head, letting her gaze fall ever lower. Only one bite gone. Yet one proved enough. God’s glory departed from his beloved.

Adam ran to her and grabbed it away. He could not live without his Eve. Her smile. He would not. Living life without her, being left behind alone in Eden. Impossible. Much better to die with her than be lonely again, the single creation without a mate. A part of himself, made from his rib. His completion.

He stretched his mouth wide and dug his teeth into the fruit’s meat. He took a big bite, three times the size of his wife’s. He chewed twice then crammed another chunk in. Then another, until it was no more. Juice dripped from his fingers and the corners of his mouth. He swallowed hard.       

The ground shook and rent a gash. A foul-smelling fog erupted. From behind him, Lion roared, and a blur of white wool stopped beside Eve. A pillar of black smoke swirled within the garden’s center. As it dissipated, a huge dark man-like being appeared.

The creature loomed high above; twice, maybe three times his own height. Adam stepped in front of his wife and braced himself.

The apparition cackled. “Have you not heard? The day you shall eat from this tree will be the day you die.”

Yes, God had said it. The obscure spirit approached with his claw-like hand extended. Lion leapt between the Angel of Death and Adam then roared mightily. Repeatedly dipping his horns, Lamb bleated and joined the great cat standing shoulder to shoulder.

Death stepped closer. “I have come to collect my dues.” 

Seduced by evil, Cain kills Abel then flees with his sister to the land of Nod. Bereaved of all their children in one day, Adam and Eve are heartbroken, but not until they both see a vision of Abel in Paradise with their childhood pets Lion and Lamb does Eve find the strength to wait upon the Lord for His blessing.

Though dead, Abel’s soul lives on in Paradise, resting, learning from the old Cherub who God sent to teach the murdered son of Adam. He listens to the war songs the legions of angels sing that battle for his brother and sister and even his mother’s soul. But best of all, the angel elder tells him stories of Heaven and how one day, man and God will be reconciled.

Again the first couple is tested, and must wait upon the Lord’s blessing to begin again. Can they walk in obedience for seventy long years? And Cain’s offering is finally accepted, but by whom?