Actions

Work Header

Darkness on the Deep

Chapter Text

Crack. Boom. Expand. Heaven. Earth. And God said, “Cool.”

An excite of atoms. Fission. Fusion. Come hither and heart to light. Shadow and light. Light swam on the floor of heaven and accidentally kicked away all the toys. Shadow squalled. Reached. God burped Shadow. Shadow threw up darkness on God’s back, but God didn’t mind. God (is/was/will be) cool like that. Both Light and Shadow were there. They saw the whole thing.

Seas surged. Full of darkness below waves tops lapped in light. Land born then of the sea. And God said, “Cool.”

Land stretched. Pushed up mountains and dipped and belled belly rolled out plains. Sand swirled deserts. Ice crunched vast tundra. Shadow waxed and waned to the rise and set of light. And God said, “Cool.”

From the land, green then pushed out. Spread. Curled vines and fruited trees. Heavy. Grass waved full blades and wheat bent heavy brows of seeds. Shadow for each blade in the day. Night for the day. And God said, “Cool.”

From the land, creatures for each to its type. Dromedaries to crunch tundra ice. Birds to soar the mountain high. Coral to reef the sea and fish to silver cloud dart. Monkeys to jump and swing bellflower joy. Each and on. And God said, “Cool.”

God was not done. Done? God leaned on a mountain and finger combed the clouds. God said, “Let us make something else. Something in our image.” There was much discussion over what that meant. God being inherently mysterious, enigmatic and occasionally fond of a good joke. In the end, they created her.

Lilith. Dark hair curled like spring vines. Eyes from the sea. Bones and flesh from the land. Light and shadow in the spaces between. And God said, “Cool.”

God cracked fingers the sky. “Everyone, be fruitful and full of multiplication.” God sat down for a chat with Lilith then. Light and Shadow were there. They saw the whole thing.

God said, “Hate to do this, but you’re going to be the world’s mom. Someone has to be and it’s you. Now get out there and name everything.”

Lilith narrowed her eyes from the sea and said, “Uh, what?” She had just been born. There (is/was/will be) no living thing that is bright at the moment of birth. Not even Light, which was slightly dim when it first shone. However, just as Lilith was about to really let God know how she felt, a bird started to build its nest in the tree next to them and Lilith said, “You, there. Don’t build that there. It’ll fall. And, not like that. It‘s not structurally sound.” The bird cheeped. Lilith showed the bird what she meant.

God smiled. The Heavens and the Earth smiled. Light and Shadow were there. They saw the whole thing.

Lilith named the animals. She gave them their names and their directions. The wise serpent was her particular. Often would they walk in the garden and speak.

Lilith ate all the fruit of the garden. She ate and was fruitful. She grew round with child. A boy-girl the Light called it. A girl-boy the Shadow called it. Lilith called it Adameve. God held it up and slapped it on the butt. Breathed life into and Adameve screamed in the face of God. God did not mind. God (was/is/will be) cool like that.

Adameve had no one to play with. Adameve had no one to talk to except Lilith and God and the animals and actually that was quite a lot. But still. Adameve was lonely.

So God caused Adameve to fall into a deep sleep. God split Adameve into two. God cracked Adameve in half down the middle. Adam and Eve. Eve and Adam. Light and Shadow were there. They saw the whole thing.

God said, “Adam. Eve. Pay attention. Eat anything that you want, but don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”

Eve said, “I bet if we even touch it, we’ll drop dead.” She pushed Adam.

Adam said, “I bet if we even look at it we’ll drop dead.” He pushed Eve.

Lilith said, “No one is dropping dead.” She separated them and sent them to bed without dinner

The serpent, who was wise, said, “Maybe they should eat from the tree of knowledge.”

Lilith put her hands on her hips and said, “No one is eating from the tree until they’re old enough.” Lilith didn’t speak to the serpent for three days.

The serpent told Eve, “I think you’re ready.” Eve looked at the tree and she looked at the fruit, deep dark figs. Full purple and sweet. Juice dripped from them and bees buzzed at them. High on the tree, a sparrow pecked an overripe fig. Gulped seeds.

She said, “Bees know the difference between good and evil. Birds know it.” She climbed the tree. She ate of the fruit and she gave it to Adam, who ate it because she told him it was delicious. They ate and they knew the difference between Shadow and Light. Shamed. They knew shame. They ran away into the world and out of the garden and they lost their way.

God appeared to them and God said, “Lost, huh.” It was not a question. God knew the answer.

Eve cried and said, “Yeah,” and then she said, “I want to go home.”

Adam said, “Tell us the way.”

God skipped a stone across the sea. It bounced on the waves and bounced. God caught it as the stone came back. God said, “Hope you got that, because I‘m not going to repeat myself.” God sighed then. Heaven sighed. Shadow and Light were there. They saw the whole thing. Adam and Eve were cold. They gave them clothing to wear.

Lilith appeared to them and said, “What part of don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil didn’t you get.” She put her hands on her hips. “Well, come on.”

Adam looked at her. He looked away from Lilith. He looked away from his mother. He shut his ears then. Eve felt shame too. She looked at her feet.

They walked away then. Along the shore of the first sea.