Adam's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Inside the cave, Adam and Eve gathered twigs and broad leaves. They wove them into a soft nest against the back wall. Eve set a plain pillow at one end and pressed it flat. "This will do," she said. "We start tonight." Adam looked at the bed and felt the shape of his purpose settle into something he could touch. The grey ones had given him hands, a mate, and now a place. He was clay still, but the hand had finished pressing. The nights passed. Eve grew round, then heavy, then full. She bore a son on the leaves and named him Cane. A season later she bore another. "Able," she said, and laid him beside his brother on the pillow. Two small mouths cried in the cave. Adam watched the boys breathe. The workforce had begun. But the bed was small, and the cave was small, and already Cane reached for what Able held. Adam saw it and felt something new tighten in his chest.