The leaves were golden and reflected every bit of light, filling the canopy over head with a warm, shimmering, liquid glow that danced around on the soft moss. The entire garden was surreal, beautiful, but nobody in it realized that until it was too late. That’s how these things go, though, is it not?
And yet, there she was, naked and beautiful, not perfect like many imagined her to be, but perfect in her own way.
Her red hair was wild and shone in the golden light reflecting on her ebony skin, her wild eyes a deepest blue, deeper than the ocean which her innocent eyes had not yet seen.
Then the serpent, it’s slithering slight of hand speaking silent whispers, hissing and disrupting the sleepy stillness of the silky golden garden. A blazing light. The fruit tree looking gold, like everything else, but so much more, seen as if through a disturbed pond, ripples disrupting the light, making it glimmer like something just out of reach, something just out of sight, something just out of grasp. The forbidden fruit, the tree of knowledge.
She walked up to the tree slowly, her naked feet against the mossy grass; no brambles or pebbles here. The tree seemed to vibrate with every step she took, shaking in the slight breeze full of perfume that wafted through the gardens. She reached the tree and held up her hand for the fruit, hesitated for just a moment, then grasped it. It felt warm in her hand, and soft. She plucked the fruit, and brought it close to her nose and inhaled. It smelled like… like jasmine and thyme and clove and citrus… everything good, everything she loved.
She brought the forbidden fruit to her lips, and bit in. It was warm, and sweet. It gushed out liquid into her mouth, a liquid that tasted like everything, sweeter than music. Sweeter than He ever was, sweeter than anything she ever tasted.
And with that fruit? Knowledge. Liberation. Freedom. She was a woman, she had power, and she was strong. She laughed, her laugh rang out clearer than it had before. She opened her new eyes and saw the world for what it really was. The breeze drifted by, it was cold against her naked skin. It felt good. The golden glittering trees were too golden, she had to shade her eyes. But it felt good. The air was no longer perfumed and sweet, but it was fresh and clear.
She did not bite that fruit because of the serpent. She took that fruit because it was her right. The serpent was not the evil one. The fruit was not an apple. The woman was not full of sin. This was not some great fall of humanity, or a lesson of right or wrong. This was freedom, liberation, woman at her best, not her worst.
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