Adam’s Rib: Part Two

“Click, click, click. What God meant is that it would be the end of all things familiar. Truly, if you ate of this tree you would see with the eyes of God. Then, certainly, He would make for you a mate to keep you company in the times when He would not be here. You and your mate, you would be as gods and the secret of creation would be yours.” 

Adam sat and his heart was heavy with the weight of jealousy. He felt betrayed and reached for the fruit and ate of it. 

His eyes were opened. He stood naked. He thought of things and the thoughts took many shapes. Adam ripped leaves from fig trees and covered himself but it was not enough. 

The Lord God walked through the garden and called out. “Adam, Adam, where art thou?”

And Adam trembled in the knowledge and his nakedness and he was afraid.

“Lord, I am naked,” he called out. 

“Who told you that you were naked?”

Adam did not answer and his thoughts told him many things. “You have eaten from the tree,” said the Lord.

“I was lonely. You had left me. The snake told me to eat and then you would make me a mate to keep me warm in the times that you have gone from me.” 

“You-man, you of little faith. I am never gone from you. I am within you and without you.” 

Adam dropped to his knees.

“My Lord, forgive me,” the words from the mouth of Adam.

God steps back.

“From this time on you will fall to your knees and beseech me, yet I will never appear to you. You will have only faith and when faith is gone, there will only be the Void. At times you will kneel to other men and other men will kneel to you but you will be punished and looked down upon for your love of other men, you-man.” 

The eyes of God flashed with fire and his hands became hot and the air rippled around them. God reached for Adam and His hand plunged into his side. 

“I take you a mate. I make you a mate, ripped from your own body, the hidden half of me that dwells within you; the free-male part, the Wo-man, the part of you that is strength and love together. I take this back from you that no you-man should ever be whole again. At times my form will appear to you, yet it will only be image and, amongst you, it will be cursed and scorned and called a freak.” 

“You-man will always seek to cleave the halves together but it will be a great source of pain and loneliness and your halves will barely understand one another. When you seek solace and love from alike halves you will be cursed by others and called ungodly.” 

Adam cried out against the revelations as the Hand of God ripped the flesh and bone from him. It turned soft and shaped in the air and it looked more like God than he himself did. 

God breathed life into the form. 

“To this half I give the gift of creation. But just as you, my creation-mate who has betrayed me with lack of faith and jealousy, has raked my Holy Spirit with pain, I will give the Wo-man the pain that my creation has caused me and when she births she will cry out and curse your name. There will be the flowing of blood at birth and, each month, there will be a blood flow of the seed of creation for Her and there will be the pain of it in smaller measure. 

“You will be called sexes and you will labor for your offspring as I have labored for you. You will divide the labor according to your beliefs and the divisions will cause anger and resentment amongst you. 

“Just as I have named you Adam, I will name your mate. She will be Eve. She knows all that you know and more. You know all that she knows and more. Yet, it is the different forms that shall cause unrest between you. 

“You-man will write books and claim that it is I who have spoken and you will capitalize My Name. The books will be well-written and will divide man from man, wo-man from wo-man, and group from group. This book will be one of them. There will be curses and bloodshed and you man will call Me by many names. 

“Your eyes will cloud your vision and your knowledge will distort the truth. You will focus on the difference that you see and ignore the truth that you know. 

As God spoke, Adam turned away and stared at Eve. She felt naked in his gaze and stepped away behind a tree. Adam followed her. 

Suddenly God noticed the snake in the clearing. 

“You,” God roared, “have tempted the weakness of my love into betrayal. I take your legs. The wo-man will hate you and man will seek to kill you at every opportunity. You will hide and some of you will kill with the spit of your mouths; others will kill with the coils of your legless bodies. You will shed many skins. I will take the power of speech from your throat and fork your tongue. 

And so this was done. 

God listened to the voices of Adam and Eve as they bickered. Adam wished for a son like him. Eve wished for a daughter like her. They cleaved together and yet they were lonely. 

Their voices rose and the other animals were afraid of what had happened. They ran away. 

God spoke one more time to Adam and Eve but they were not paying attention. 

“You will see me no more. It will only be through your faith that I will become apparent to you.” 

“Huh, what did you say?” asked Adam, but God had already vanished. Eve may have heard but she never spoke to Adam about it. 

No one left the Garden of Eden. They just forgot they were still there. 

From then on Adam and Eve knew the truth and it was a flaming sword, double-edged. First it moved this way, then that way.