The girl sat by a crystal-clear stream, absently nudging a floating leaf with her toe. The sun was hot on her naked skin, and she was grateful for the cool water. She sighed heavily, tilting her head backwards to gaze at the sun-dappled canopy of trees above. Yes, God had done a marvelous job making the Earth beautiful. Now, if only he could make it INTERESTING! Was this really all there was? A girl could only take so much peaceful scenery before she lost her marbles. She had absolutely nothing to do. That jerk-off of a man wouldn't even let her help name all the animals, always asking her to make him a sandwich… whatever THAT was.

What she wouldn't give for a little excitement. Sure, blissful peace was nice and all… but what was the POINT?! Where was the CHALLENGE?! Where was the MEANING?! Surely the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, omni-whatever-else Lord would have something more in store? Although, apart from the one message he'd left them, they hadn't heard a peep from the deity… nor had they ever actually MET the guy, making it a bit difficult to form any kind of opinion about Him. Call her crazy, but she'd prefer Him to take a more fatherly, hands-on approach to this whole "creation" thing. You know, a little freaking GUIDANCE would be nice! Is that too much to ask? But noooooo…. All they got was a quick message delivered by one of His winged lackeys, saying, "Be good- pass it on," before the little chicken had flown back to his coop. To which the woman had replied ever so eloquently: "What in hell?!"

And so the days passed, each much the same as the last. The man's time was taken up, for the most part, by his little "name-the-f**k-out-of-everything" hobby (seriously, that boy was OBSESSED!), and she took to wandering the Garden, making sure never to venture past its safe boundaries. She had been gifted with very little knowledge of the World upon her creation, but there were three rules that she knew were to be respected, unequivocally:

1. You don't leave the Garden, under any circumstances. The World outside was, as of yet, uncharted territory, and danger lurked behind every rock and tree.

2. Speaking of trees, the Tree in the middle of the Garden was OFF LIMITS. Meaning: DON'T TOUCH IT! Don't think about touching it, don't sing about touching it, don't think about singing about touching it! Just DON'T TOUCH IT!**

3. In the absence of direct orders from God, or his Heavenly Host, you do whatever Adam says. (She figured this had some kind of "he's oldest, so he's the boss while I'm gone" mentality.)

Another absolute truth that she had learned in her short life: She was a rule breaker; a button pusher (well, she would've been if buttons had existed yet). She had… issues with authority. Why God had brought her into being as a teenager was beyond her comprehension. She was one of only two (and thus far, only) humans, and even SHE knew teenagers were rebellious. Especially bored teenagers. So, what she did next really shouldn't have come as much of a shock….

Yep… a little trek into the Outside sounded miiiighty thrilling right about now. Mutinous decision made, the girl skipped merrily toward the outskirts of the Garden.

Little did she know, a pair of onyx eyes were following her from the shadows as she made for the tree line…


I know, I know, it's a short chapter, but believe me, it's important. Also, a special apology to Cara2012. I know I said I'd have this up much MUCH sooner, but money's tight for a starving student, and I haven't had any internet for some time. Please forgive me my transgressions! D;

On a lighter note, I have the week off, so I've got loads of time to work on this story... and then some. :D

**Yes, that was indeed a reference to Walk The Line. Kudos to those of you that caught it!