Anna Marie was not getting up early on her weekend to go to a second school & sit in class for half of the day. She couldn't understand her parents' insistence on going to church. It may not actually be a school, but it sure felt like it to a small elementary student.
A knock came at the door, & before 8 o'clock no less! Anna shrank deeper under her covers, hoping the aggressor wouldn't discover the opossum's trick. The driver-to-unwanted-places entered, unwilling to leave the girl under her blankets. Taking them of with a sigh that sounded more bored than irritated, her mother looked down at the curled up child.
"Anna Marie," she began.
"No!"
"We do this every week."
"Becawse ya don't listen."
Anna waited, but nothing happened. She was not lifted over some high shoulder, no Sunday clothes were tossed her way, no further insistence that she get up. The tired mother only stood there & waited. It had happened before, but the elder's resolve was always stronger.
Finally, her mother sat down at the edge of the bed. She closed her eyes & took a deep breath. What was typically not a good sign for the young heroine took a different direction. Anna's mother laid her back down on the rumbled blanket, opened her eyes again to look at the ceiling, & broke the silence.
"I'm listening now. Anna Marie, why don't you want to go to church?"
"It's a school."
"A what?"
"School."
"How is going to church like school, Anna?"
"Ya git up early & ya git drivin' teh some big building where ya sit down 'n' be quiet while everyone talks to ya, expecting ya teh learn somethin'. Ah can't even read!"
To say her mother was shock was as much an understatement as saying the goldfish was just sleeping. Taking another deep breath, wondering why she needed so many of them in one morning, she asked the thing that truly baffled her.
"Anna, you can read. You're very good, considering your..."
She paused, not wanting to use the word at her lips. Calling your little girl disadvantaged was not how she wanted to start her Sunday. Pausing to find the right words, if there could possibly be any, she was interrupted by a shaky voice.
"But Ah cain't, Mama. I try teh read that book they keep giving us, but Ah cain't!"
"Anna, baby, you don't have to. That's a... different reading level than kids your age are at. Look, would it help if I read some parts of it to you so you'd understand?"
"Ah don't understand when they read it."
"But if I..."
Again, there were no words to convey to someone so young & confused what she could do. Anna Marie's mother wished she hadn't tried to get her daughter up without her usual backup. Anna was always a special case, any child is to their parents. But Anna wasn't the only one that was special.
Thinking quickly for what felt like the first time that morning, the now energized mother bolted up off the bed & turned to face her daughter. The woman who stood there was gone in an instant, replaced by a handsome young man Anna had never seen before.
"Hello, sweet angel of Eden, I am Adam," proclaimed the man. "I've lived in a wonderful garden since my creation by the hands of God."
Anna giggled at the transformation & greeting. She's heard this story so many times, but she could never understand, never picture it all. Realization quickly spread across the girl's face. Her mom had done it! She'd figured it out, & Anna didn't even have to read the book.
"My home was paradise, & I walked among angels like you," the gentleman continued with a little more than some grandeur. "But even in the company so divine, I grew lonely. So I prayed to my creator for someone like myself. He granted me this wish, making my wife, Eve."
Now a women, but still not herself, she continued her tale. "After meeting my handsome & very masculine husband-"
"Mama," Anna Marie complained, but with a grin to make any cat in Wonderland proud.
"Okay, okay. But after spending so long in garden, I grew bored. It was paradise, but nothing happened! Now, I decided since nothing happened on it's own, I should do something new. Now there was this rule about- was it apples? Let's say apples. We couldn't pick them, but you still have to eat your fruits & vegetables. Anyway, I took an apple from an odd salesman."
A snake soon appeared on Anna's lap to get a hug, much to her delight. Well, ignoring the vegetable rule. The serpent left & the man came back.
"Yeah, so my wife brought back apples. I'd never had them before, but they were delicious! But we broke the rules, so God sent us to the corner. Well, down to Earth, but it felt like getting sent to the corner. After that, Eve & I stayed on Earth with all of our kids. We can go back if we become like we were before, good Samaritans."
"Ya sure this is how it goes?"
"I took liberties for my young audience."
"Mum?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Do ya wanna go teh church so you can learn that story, too?"
Author's note: I had a different story up for this chapter, but it didn't live up to the quality standards I hold myself to. The only line I kept from it is the Wonderland one. Also, it was in no way my intention to offend anyone with the butchered Adam & Eve story, it was intended for comedic purposes only. The idea came from a review, so thanks!