Morning Star

The minute I woke up I could tell. Something was off in the garden of Eden, but I couldn't say what. The emerald trees still glittered brightly, with technicolor apples and pomegranates dangling enticingly from their branches. Vivid butterflies still alighted onto the flowers that spotted the ground around the cool rivers. I slowly got up from where Adam and I had been resting under a leafy overhang, careful not to wake him.

I began to walk to one of the many streams, when a huge gust of wind blew my hair back. Startled, I looked up to the sky, where grey clouds were beginning to form. My heart clenched in my chest. Was He angry with us? God had never sent bad weather before, but what would prompt him to now? Quickly, I whirled around to tell Adam, but stopped when I saw her.

A pale woman was sitting against a tree in the middle of the garden. Her lanky blonde hair whipped around in the wind, obscuring her face from my view. She was wearing a tattered grey tunic, that appeared as if it had once been white. Intrigued, I approached her, intending to ask where she had come from. Once I was close enough, I could finally see her face. In contrast to her clothes and hair, her face was luminescent. Huge, red-rimmed blue eyes bored into the ground, as if trying to read something. An innocent mouth curved gently into a frown. In the stormy atmosphere, she appeared to glow.

"Excuse me", I started, "are you alright?"

It was as if I hadn't spoken. The radiant girl continued to stare at the tulips sprouting under her feet. Maybe she just hadn't heard me. I tried again.

"Who are you?"

Finally, she looked up at me, grimacing with the slight movement. She shifted slightly, and my breath caught. Magnificent white wings spread behind her, but they looked as if someone had tried to hack them off. Her back was covered in blood, some spilling onto the grass. Where the blood dropped onto the ground, the grass withered into grey stalks.

"I am the morning star."

Overhead, a clap of thunder sounded. For a morning star, she looked incredibly dismal.

"Do you have a name? Mine is Eve."

Her crystal eyes locked onto mine, and my head started to spin. She was beautiful.

"You can call me Dawn."

What a fitting name for someone so bright. It looked like the sun was caught inside her skin. The feeling of something being wrong left me immediately as I was enveloped by her warmth. For a moment, I couldn't speak, my awe was so great.

"How did you get here?"

Dawn didn't break eye contact with me.

"I'll tell you, but you must heed my warning: your God is dangerous."

How could God be dangerous? My feelings of doubt crept up again, but I forced them down. I was curious as to what she had to say.

"I was once an angel who served your God. My service was my life, and I became His closest friend. Together, we ruled a paradise even greater than the one you have here. He began to become distant, though, and cruel. His jealousy of the power I was gaining grew until I was no longer bright in his eyes."

I find it hard to believe that Dawn could have been dull at any point in her life. Her eyes filled with tears as she continued.

"Today he cast me out. He cut my wings and threw me down here. If you think your God is great, then think again. He is violent. He brought suffering upon me, and now I can never see paradise again. Eat of this tree, and you'll know the truth."

Dawn took a shuddering breath, then slumped against the tree. Slowly, I glanced up. The fruit glittered temptingly. I reached up to pick a pomegranate, when the garden was suddenly lit by a strike of lightning. Realization quickly flooded my mind. This was the Forbidden Tree.

"I can't eat this fruit. God told me it was forbidden!"

Dawn's face became ripped with fury.

"After everything I've told you, you still trust the word of God? He doesn't care about you! He is lying! Everything that he says harms others! He hurts innocent people like me!"

At this point, Dawn was screaming. Rain began to pour down, and she looked at me. I felt like I was being torn open and lain out for her to see my soul. The dizzy feeling overcame me again, and my hesitations disappeared. Dawn wouldn't lie to me. She was bright, and pure. I could trust Dawn. Besides, what was the harm in knowledge?

I turned to the wet branches of the tree and enclosed my hand around a piece of fruit. With Dawn's icy eyes fixed on me, I took a bite.

All the trees in the garden fell down, shattering the earth. Wet tornadoes of leaves, fruit, flowers, dirt, and rocks tore over the ground. Thunder and lighting cracked through the clouds, and I screamed. I turned to Dawn, but in her place was an amber serpent. Terror seized me, and I stood frozen to the dying earth.

God screamed overhead as the serpent lunged for my throat. A flash as bright as a morning star burned my eyes, and then all was dark.