Note: God's word is God breathed and unchangeble. I by no means want to change it. But merely want to write stories from the Bible of men, women and God. Of romance between God and between man and woman. This is not meant to offend anyone but merely for my enjoyment :) I hope you all enjoy.

Part 1

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel."

Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)

Last of Eden

Eve remembered a time when Adam had stared at her in wonder. It had been when God had first brought her to him. Adam's dark eyes had looked at her with such awe. How beautifully and perfectly they had been sculpted. They had been a part of each other. But it was her fault that the rift was between them. At times Adam would look at her with a strange look in his eyes.

Once long ago, when life had been harmonious Adam had said to her, "This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." She had came from him when God had created her to be his. Now with the smell of dust and the hard toiling of the earth, Adam didn't look at her the same way. He toiled sunrise to sunset. He would return with a mere glance her way and their sons would follow him to the fields. She felt very much alone that morning as she set about her daily tasks of cooking outside of the cave they called home.

When they had been banished from their garden, she shuddered to think of it now. It had been long ago. Yet, sometimes she remembered the lushness and beauty of the garden. She remembered how things were when you didn't sweat from work, when the animals were in harmony with one another and when they had choice fruits to eat that was pleasing to the eye.

Now Adam would scour the earth, looking for edible herbs that weren't browned by the sun or dying. Life was hard outside of Eden, but Eve had adapted well and God had blessed her with two sons.

Leaving Eden and the complete and unhindered fellowship with God and Adam had been sobering. She had walked in beauty and had been so very happy and confident. Now emotions rose up in her like a hot tide. She doubted life, she doubted God and most of all she doubted Adam's love. She remembered the look of fear and blame that had been in his dark eyes, directed at her as God had found them.

"It was the woman you gave me, she gave me of the tree and I ate," he had accusingly said.

Eve had felt shame and fear that she had done so. Automatically she had blamed the serpent. He had deceived her but she knew deep down that their fall was her fault and she lived with that knowledge daily. Life wasn't unbearable but often her tumultuous thoughts were and the silence as well. She occasionally caught glimpses of God but it wasn't the same as it had been in Eden. Nothing was the same as Eden and even after all these years she could almost taste how paradise had been.

She heard a rowdy voice and coming further away from the mouth of the cave, she saw Cain, her eldest son. He stood there, a replica of Adam but much more brawny and strong from his work of tilling the ground. He was drinking water from a makeshift vessel Adam had fashioned, the water pouring against his tanned skin and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His body seemed tense and she sensed something was amiss.

Eve knew her eldest son disliked her or Adam interfering in his life, but he was her son and she felt a stab of worry hit her as she made her way forward. Wiping her clammy hands on her tunic she started forward with a slight smile to hide her worry. Only walking a few yards, she was in front of Cain.

"Son, what is wrong?" she gently asked, searching his eyes.

His dark eyes, so much like Adam's were hard with a deep anger and rage she couldn't understand. He had always been much more outspoken with a lightning temper compared to her youngest son who was more gentle in temperament.

"Nothing is wrong," he shortly said, his eyes boring into hers. "Why do you ask mother?"

She didn't reply but merely patted him on his arm. His arm tensed under her touch, the muscles twitching. She would stay out of his problems. Still, she thought back to when he was born. She remembered the overwhelming pain and fear followed by love as he had been placed on her breast. She had tenderly whispered, "I have acquired a man from the Lord."

It had been so long ago. Adam had been happy that day. One of the few smiles she had seen on his vacant face. Adam wasn't a man of many words, often silent but when he did smile or laugh, her heart always leapt with joy.

She realized her mind had been wondering. Cain seemed antsy, he was staring at her with an aggravated look as if asking if he could be dismissed. His eyes were brooding and his jaw clenched under his beard. Suddenly, she wondered where Abel was. Abel who would always be her little boy even though he was fully grown.

She was about to ask Cain if he had seen Abel in the fields with the sheep when over the descent of a hill far off, she saw Abel. He paused on the top of the hill and placed a hand over his eyes, shielding the light as he searched and found who he had been looking for. He waved and began to run down the bluff quickly, as if he were running on the wind

"There is your brother," she laughingly said.

"Yes, my brother," Cain darkly muttered.

Eve slightly frowned, wondering why Cain seemed angry at Abel but decided not to say anything for Abel had reached them. His face beamed at her as he threw his arms around her, kissing her on the cheek. His tawny face had a glow about it and his dark eyes sparkled.

"Mother, I gave the Lord an offering and he was pleased. I left as soon as I could to tell you but I got distracted as one of the sheep strayed. Where's father?" He looked around as if he expected Adam to appear any moment. But that wouldn't be for hours. Indeed, he wouldn't be home until supper was nearly ready.

Cain who had remained silent suddenly spoke up, surprising them both, "Come brother let us go out into the field and see if we can find father."

Something about Cain's tone made Eve want to object. Yet, she couldn't shelter them forever. They were grown men and though they had a few fights here and there, Adam had seen to it that they were behaved. She knew God watched over them. She needn't worry, yet something didn't seem right.

She longed to hold Abel for some reason as she had when he was a little boy. He had always been closer to her while Cain and Adam had always tarried out in the fields late, tiling the ground together and being the food gatherers of the family. Not Abel, who had clung to her legs and had always been so inquisitive and kind.

She heard them talk amongst themselves as they started off. Cain had his arm slung around Abel and the sun was beginning to set. A momentarily glow was cast about the two brothers and she berated herself for her foolishness. Soon they would return from the fields and Adam would return...

Until then she would make ready the cave for night. However as she began to move the vessels and the makeshift resting places, she heard the sound of footfalls. She hadn't known how long the time had passed but it must have been awhile for she saw Adam at the mouth of the cave.

He had paused there, sweat beading on his broad forehead and his body looking weary. She heard him sigh and her eyes met his.

Rising to her feet she quelled the urge to draw near to him. She had been feeling the insane desire to want to be closer to him, to speak as they used to. They had been so happy when Cain was born, for at least a while then it had passed. Little words were exchnaged between the. Only a few moments of closeness remained over the years between the two.

Now she watched her husband as he wordlessly came into the cave, looking for a bowl of water to wash his hands. Everything was always dusty and filthy when your lodging was a cave. But she did observe him unnoticed.

He was still fit for his one hundred and thirty years, it had been that long since they were driven out. There were slight lines around his eyes from squinting in the sun and his dark hair wasn't as lustrous, yet Eve still loved him. She always had and always would. Even though he blamed her and occasionally acted as if she meant nothing to him.

Yet, she knew he must care for her. She had bore him two sons and had spent her whole time trying to please him and somehow make up for the pain she had caused. He ruled over her as God had said and she desired him. Desired anything he had to offer her. If only he would give her more: a little warmth. She continued to watch him and he was silent. She swallowed and sighed.

"How was... today?" she haltingly asked, looking at her feet.

He shrugged. "The ground is unyielding as always. Where is Cain and Abel?"

"Out in the fields." She wondered if she should say more to break the perpetual silence but he spoke first.

"They are out this late? It is not safe, Eve."

His voice was slightly accusing as if she were unequipped to be a good mother. She felt a sense of uneasiness as her suspicions were confirmed in his voice. She shouldn't have let them go out into the fields alone. But surely they had done so many times before.

She saw him make move towards the mouth of the cave. She took a step forward, uncertain. There was an urgency in his long strides. Eve made move to follow him but he stopped her.

"Where are you going?" she demanded, her voice rising with hysteria and tone more demanding then she had ever used at him.

"To find them," he snapped, his eyes narrowing. "Didn't you think something would be amiss? Eve you don't realize how dangerous it is out there. We know very little of this land."

"I am going with you," she said instead.

"No, you shall stay here."

She knew she wasn't supposed to argue. She had been the docile loving wife, but not now. Not now when fear coursed through her and she wouldn't let him go alone. She placed a hand on his arm and his eyes went there. She quickly removed her hand with a sigh.

He jerkingly nodded and they started out of the cave. The sun lay low in the sky. A darkness was cast over the land, a semi-darkness that made it slightly difficult to see at first. The sun was setting and there was a chill in the air. Adam was moving fast and she had to run to keep in step with him.

They were nearing the field that Cain and Abel often were. Here Abel would herd the sheep. He would stay here for hours, simply enjoying the land though it wasn't much. He couldn't know for he had never seen Eden.

Finally they were near the place where Abel and Cain often were. She could hear Adam shouting their names. "Abel...Cain!"

Eve lingered in the same spot, her eyes scanning the field. She didn't see a thing but Adam was moving too fast. She could scarcely see him save the outline of his body moving far from her. A shiver coursed through her and she felt very much alone as she waited.

The sound of her breathing reached her ears and the gusts of wind. A deafening silence and then she heard a hoarse cry ring out followed by her name. She knew it was Adam. She ran quickly towards the sound of his voice, her heart beating madly with icy fear.

Then she saw it. Adam was kneeled over a body. There was blood all over, it stained the grass and earth darkly. Her eyes widened as a sob came to her throat. It was Abel, her sweet Abel. She fell to her knees beside Adam and suddenly, she was choking with sobs and she tasted the salty tears upon her lips.

A cry came from Adam also as if from his soul. He who rarely showed emotion. His broad shoulders shook for a moment before he rose to his feet and looked at her desolately. She could feel his pain as well as her own. A deep, stabbing pain that staggered them both with the force of it. Adam was looking at her.

"Death has finally come. From dust we are and dust we shall return," he raggedly said, his eyes going to Abel.

The haunting words God had said long ago came back to her. This was the curse of her disobedience... death. She saw the stain of blood on Abel's head. A head she had once craddled to her breast when he had been a baby.

Someone had inflicted the wound. Where was Cain when Abel had needed him? And just as that thought processed in her dull mind, she thought, no, no not Cain. Cain couldn't have done this. He was her son, her flesh and blood and she would have known...

"I-I shouldn't have let them come out there," she said, sobbing. "I knew something was not right. I sensed it. This is all my fault. If only I hadn't been deceived. I am a c-curse and those around me suffer!"

She rocked herself gently back and forth still on her knees, wanting to bury her face against Abel. She heard Adam move and he embraced her. It had been so long and she sobbed harder, burying her face in his chest and her hands holding on tightly to his tunic.

"You are not a curse, Eve," he said in a low voice that slightly broke. "I ate the fruit also. I should have stopped you. I should have protected you. As I should have protected Abel..."

So many should haves, she thought numbly. Her eyes went to Abel. She disentangled herself from Adam's embrace and scooted over to her son's lifeless body. Her hand went to his cheek as if in a dream. It was pale and cool to the touch. God's life was gone from him and she pulled her hand back from her first touch of death. She pulled back as if burnt and would have fled if Adam had not caught her against his chest.

His grasp hurt. He was suddenly holding her as if he were drowning and she could feel the tremor in his arms. Her cheek was against his and she could feel his tears. Their pain and tears mingled as she held him, not willing to let him go again. In Abel's death she knew numbly that life was fast and precious... too precious to waste.

"I'm so sorry," Adam whispered against her hair, his breath hot and his embrace warm.

There was deep regret and pain laced in his voice. The pain of the past melted away a long with a fresh grief that it took the loss of both of their sons to make Adman open up to her, to finally remove the coverings that had hid them from one another. It took death to finally grasp life. If only they were back in Eden at the tree of life... they could have lived forever. But no, Abel was dead and Cain was fleeing from the deed he had committed.

Thus Adam and Eve, arms around each other in mutual grief staid long there in the darkening field over the body of their son. The wind could be heard and the murmur of their voices. God stood nearby in the cool of the night as the last strains of Eden could be heard, gone with death but always the cry of the human heart.

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed."

And as for Seth, to him a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.

Genesis 4:25-26 (NKJV)

TBC