Eve walked through the garden, sighing. She had gotten tired of listening to the rabbits. All they ever talked about was where they hopped. And, personally, Eve thought they had too squeaky of voices. She would have to remember to talk to God about that. Adam, on the other hand, enjoyed talking to all animals; from the squeaky rabbits to the shy chipmunks, the outgoing seals to the sly snakes. Eve shivered. She disliked the snakes. They made her skin crawl; always cunning and deceiving. But she knew better than to say so to Adam. He was created to watch over the animals, and he loved each one dearly. It would be wrong of Eve to say she wanted to stay away from certain animals.

Eve admired the garden. Eden was so beautiful, from the sunny skies to the green grass. It was a perfect day-- then again, they all were. She carefully picked a few blueberries and popped them in her mouth. They were sweet and juicy-- then again, they always were. Eden had no flaws… okay, well maybe one. There was one tree that had the most delicious-looking fruit. It was round, but pointed at each end, light pink, and probably very juicy. But Eve didn't know for sure because she wasn't allowed to eat it. God had told her that if she or her husband were to eat the fruit, they would surely die. But Eve had to wonder about it. How could something that looked so good be so bad? It seemed nearly impossible!

Walking around to the other side of the blueberry bush, Eve ran into a snake.

"Hello." he hissed.

Eve, not wanting to be impolite, responded. "Hello. How do you do?"

"Quite fine. But I had a question for you. Are you really not allowed to eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden?"

"No, I am not. Lord said it is bad for me to eat it."

The snake made a sound that sounded like laughter. "You s-s-silly girl. It will not harm you. It will make you jussst like God, knowing everything! God knows-s-s this-s-s, and will do anything to keep that fruit from you."

Eve considered what the serpent had said. The fruit didn't look harmful. It looked good in fact. Maybe just one bite, thought Eve. I shouldn't, God said no… but then again, that fruit is tempting. Okay, just one bite! Walking over to the tree she hesitantly reached up and grabbed it. Pulling on it, it released itself from the branch.

Eve held the fruit up to her lips. It had a strong smell; sweet and sickly. Closing her eyes, Eve bit into the fruit. It tasted of nothing she had ever eaten before. Mixtures of sweet and tart filled her taste buds, then faded away into nothing. Craving the taste again, Eve devoured the fruit.

As she was about to eat her second, Eve remembered Adam. Running up to him, she held out the fruit.

"Adam," she cried breathlessly, "you simply must eat this! It is the most wonderful thing in this garden."

"Eve, this is from The Tree! How dare you eat it, even touch it." Adam scolded her. But looking into her eyes he saw no regret. Only happiness. Sighing, he tentatively reached out and grabbed the fruit. I should just toss this away. Nothing good can come from disobeying God, thought Adam. However, Eve seems to really like this. And nothing bad has happened to her. Staring at the fruit, Adam tried to make up his mind. After a few minutes, he bit into the sweet food.

Moments later, both of them were scrambling to get the fruit. But just as they were about to bite into more, they realized something. Something was wrong. Running into the cover of the trees they began to collect fig leaves. Using the fig leaves along with vines, they formed makeshift clothes. Much better. the both of them concluded.

God called out a greeting to them as he approached. Looking at their newfound attire and the fruit pits on the ground, he quickly gathered what was happening. "Did I not tell you that the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was strictly forbidden? Did I not say that you may not eat, nor touch the seeds that come off of it?"

Adam and Eve hung their heads in shame. Eve stepped forward. "It is my fault Lord. I gave some to Adam after I had eaten one. It just tasted so wonderful. And I wanted the wisdom that came with the fruit."

"Wisdom?" the Lord asked.

"Yes, the wisdom. The ability to know right from wrong. But it didn't come, so the serpent must have tricked me."

God turned to the serpent who had been hiding in the bushes watching. "For what you have done, you will forever crawl along the ground, hated by humans." Turning back to Adam and Eve he said, "For what you have done, I shall sharpen your pain. You must leave Eden and provide your own food. And when you die, you will return to the dust, for it is the dust you came from. Now go!"

Walking towards the opening in the hedge, Adam and Eve silently cried. No longer would they know the garden as their home. No longer would Eden provide food and safety. For only God knew what lied ahead of them. They stopped to look one last time into the garden of Eden. Then their shame and sin tore them away.


"This is all your fault!" Adam paced back and forth underneath the oak tree where he and Eve were resting. They had only been walking for a few minutes when Eve complained of tiredness… she wasn't used to walking much. Back in Eden, she had mainly sat around listening to the birds sing.

"My fault?" replied Eve indignantly. "I thought I made myself clear when I said that the snake tricked me."

"You made yourself crystal clear. We all learned that women are incapable of making wise decisions." Adam turned his back to her. He was so frustrated with Eve; why couldn't she just admit that this was all her fault?

Eve narrowed her eyes. She felt like grabbing one of the many branches that littered the ground and bashing it upon the back of Adam's head. "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your wife, and you should talk to me with a little respect?"

"Respect? Respect?!" Adam laughed as he turned around. "How can I have respect for someone who is spineless?"

Eve decided she had had enough of this. "Listen, it's getting dark. We can either continue arguing, which won't get us anywhere, or go find shelter for the night. The choice is yours."

"Well of course the choice is mine." Adam said. He was completely fed up with her. Who did she think she was anyway. Adam was supposed to be the one in charge! "If I let you make the decision we would be dead by morning." There, he thought, maybe that will shut her up.

Eve was taken aback. Adam had never said anything of the like before. It wasn't like him to snap at her. A tear silently rolled down her cheek. Wiping it away, she rose from the log she had been sitting on and started walking away. Eve barely noticed Adam calling after her. Eve's senses were numb, and tears streamed down her face. She picked up her pace into a run. Eve didn't want Adam to think she was weak too.

Blindly running through the woods Eve realized it was getting dark. She would have to stop soon so that they could find a place to sleep. Eve also realized that it was getting colder. Every time she breathed, a puff of white smoke came out from her mouth. Focusing on the smoke coming out of her mouth, and trying to figure out what it was, Eve didn't see the branch on the ground. She hit her foot on it and tumbled down onto the soft bed of leaves beneath her. Sobbing, she sat up just as Adam came running up. He sat down next to her.

"Eve," he began. Adam had never had to apologize to Eve before. He didn't really know what to do. "I-I'm not exactly sure if I'm doing this right, but… I'm sorry. I guess I didn't mean to-to snap at you. And I hope you're okay."

Eve smiled. It wasn't the best apology, but at least he was trying. "I'm fine. Except my leg hurts from when I fell. It's really strange… I've never felt pain before."

"What does it feel like?"

"I can't explain it. It doesn't feel good though."