This is a story that I wrote that was published in my school magazine.
VENOM: a short story
The sun bled through the canopy of the forest. The air was cool and soft, feeling light on Eve’s skin. The breeze was sweet on her lips. Innocent curiosity bloomed in her mind as she explored the unknown regions of an ancient garden.
As she made her way through the deep jungle, she plucked exotic flowers from their vines, cautiously taking in their perfumes to discover if their scent was sweet or sour. There were a million different tunes being sung by hidden birds. Some songs were wretched, others soothing. Some were energetic, and others were sad. All of these songs blended graciously together in wonderful harmony.
In Eve’s hand, she tightly gripped a spear crafted from wood and stone. It was a gift from her husband, Adam. With its sturdy and heavy weight, she felt powerful.
Soon, thirst began to itch her throat from her long journey. She conveniently found a small pond nearby.
In the pond’s glass-like surface, she could see her reflection. Leaves and twigs had made a nest of her wild copper hair. She began to pluck the fragments from it and combed her fingers through the knots.
After taking several gulps of fresh water, she was startled by a faint noise. It might have just been the wind, Eve thought, but just across the pond she noticed a slight movement in the trees. She knew it was probably nothing, but the itching feeling of being watched crept upon her.
She quietly reached for her spear and slowly raised herself into a crouch, ready to run. The birds had strangely paused their singing and all Eve could hear was her heart pounding.
Suddenly, the faint shadow rushed away from sight and Eve could hear footfalls trail away. Curiosity blossomed in her mind again and she chased after the noise. Eve hurried through the jungle with her spear. Her hair flew behind her as she sped through the trees.
As she fled deeper into the jungle, the trees grew closer together and less sunlight filtered through the canopy. Yet, soon, Eve saw a clearing up ahead and she hurried toward it.
When Eve broke free from the shade of the trees, she found herself in a large, empty meadow. Only grass and flowers carpeted the earth. Yet, in the middle of the meadow, towered a massive tree that shadowed the meadow in its mighty presence. Eve immediately recognized where she was.
Beneath the tree was a man. With wide eyes, Eve watched the man pull a ripe fruit from the tree’s branches and slowly bite a mouthful from it, juice dripping down his chin. In fury, Eve bounded forward to the man. She reached out, tore the fruit from his fingers and tossed it to the ground.
“Man, do you realize what tree you eat of?” Eve yelled. “It is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil!”
The man turned to face her. His eyes burned through her with radiance more glorious than a billion suns. They were sharp and hot, like that of a serpent. His hair was a piercing jet black, a color that clashed with his flawless, milky skin. He had sharp cheek bones and a sturdy jaw accented with soft lips. He was glorious. Eve was strangely attracted to him. She took a step back, trying to pinpoint what made him seem so alien.
When he spoke, his voice did not match his beautiful lips, for his voice was as a dragon’s. “Why do you fret?”
“God has told us not to eat the fruit of this tree! It would be like kissing the very lips of death!” Eve confessed.
“He said you would die?” the man asked curiously.
“Yes! And if only that was what bothered me. The Lord condemns the eating of this fruit. It is a sin!” Eve scolded.
The man laughed. “Sin,” he said the word ponderously. “What is sin anyway? There is no such thing as sin, dear. Your God fibs.” he said. He began to circle Eve. Cautiously, she kept her eyes on him. He snatched a lock of her hair in his fingers and twirled it in his hands. The man‘s movements were graceful and smooth. Each bend of his joints fluidly weaved together in a strange, snake-like rhythm. “You surely will not die.” He whispered. “For God knows that when you eat of this fruit, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Him, knowing Good and Evil. Do you even know what Evil is? You speak its name, don’t you? ”
Eve turned to face him. “Evil?” she played it on her tongue. “I’ve heard of Good before, and I know what it means. God is good, isn’t He? Sunsets are good. Water is good. I know Good, but what is Evil?” Her eyes narrowed.
“Taste the fruit,” he said, “and you will know.” He reached up and plucked another fruit from the branches. He held it out before her. It was a beautiful little fruit, thought Eve. It was plump and small. But what really caught her eyes about it was the color. It was a sunny yellow and orange, blended smoothly together with a rosy pink. It reminded her of a sunset. The rich colors made her imagine just how good it could taste.
The man looked at her deeply. His smile was blinding and glorious and his blazing eyes burned like divine light. “Take it.”
Above her, God’s sorrow shadowed the garden as dark clouds rolled in, hiding the sun. A cold, chilling wind stabbed her skin. Eve’s stomach churned. Her thoughts were scrambled. Her instinct wasn’t just telling her not to take the fruit, but to run, to flee from this stranger as fast as possible.
“This isn’t right.” Eve said weakly.
“Eve…” he breathed and she melted. The sound of her name from his lips was wondrously sweet. It was a song more powerful than an angel’s. “You can be like God, Eve.” He smiled darkly. “Just one bite.”
Slowly, Eve carefully took the fruit from his grasp. It was soft and ripe in her hands. It seemed to take an eternity just to raise it to her lips. Then cautiously, Eve sank her teeth into its flesh.
The meat of the fruit was beautifully sweet, but the juice was putrid. Yet, strangely it seemed to float over her tongue like a cloud. She swallowed hard and the fruit settled bitterly in her stomach. She wiped the juice from her chin.
And then the wrath of knowledge hit her like a tidal wave.
She dropped the fruit. Goosebumps cancerously spread across her skin. Her fingers were numb, but her face was hot.
“Evil…” She breathed the word.
New emotions bled through her at light speed. Her mind named them for her. Eve was ravaged by fear, lust, greed, hate and hundreds of other bitter, wicked thoughts and feelings that felt like knives through her heart.
She fearfully dared to look at the man. Suddenly an emotion erupted through her. She nearly screamed its name. Dread. She immediately flinched away from him.
“Evil!” She yelled and pointed. She was stunned by the truth of her own words. And even more fearful. “Evil! Evil! Evil!” She cried.
Suddenly, the tingle of the fruit on her tongue changed into a deep, searing burn. A blazing fire seemed to rage through her throat and began to spread down through her chest.
She whirled around to flee from the man’s presence, and she spotted Adam hurrying across the meadow. She darted away from the tree, and turned to find that the stranger was no longer there.
“Adam!” Eve yelled, trying to beckon him, trying to lure him away from the tree. But his eyes caught site of the bitten fruit on the ground, the fruit that was her sin. He reached for it.
“Wait! Adam! Stop!” Eve screamed, she clawed her fingers through her hair in fury, in fear, in pain. “Adam! Don‘t!”
But he had already tasted the fruit. Adam fell to his knees in agony. His head fell into his arms as the wrath of sin slowly broke him down.
Eve could literally feel the sin course through her veins like fire. It burned like the venom of a thousand serpents. All she felt was bewildering, hideous burning. Eve gritted her teeth, afraid that if she unlocked them, she would lose her composure, would lose her mind in screaming.
She started toward Adam, but it was as if she were carrying a crushing weight upon her shoulders. Eve forced all of the remnants of strength in her to keep fighting, but she was startled by a voice from behind. Eve whirled around to see the stranger laughing darkly, wickedly.
“Damn you!” she screamed. She let the tears come, hoping that they might cool the aching, raging venom of sin in her flesh. She could feel her strength fading and the crushing burden of sin forced her to her knees. Help me God, she prayed. She looked into his eyes. They burned viciously like the venom boiling in her veins, in her blood.
The beast pointed to her and uttered one word that struck sheer horror in her heart as the ravaging fever burned mercilessly. His voice was as a dragon’s, his eyes blazed like cinders from hell. “Sinner.”
