Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a grand garden. Plants would grown to twice their normal size, animals would roam freely and in natural equilibrium. The grass and leaves were always a verdant green. The birds would fly and sing their songs. There was at least a group of every species of plant, animal and insect living in this place they call paradise.
However, in one sunny day, a new creature emerged and took a stride in the garden. Animals began to notice it and backed away. The apes said that it appeared similar to them, though it stood tall and had no fur on most of it’s body. The pigs said that the skin of this creature had a similar color to their new born. The wolves, tigers and lions saw that this creature was alone but they did not strike for this creature had a particularly strange smell.
For several days, the beasts large and small ignored this new being, thinking it to be a diseased monkey. Yet this new creature walked around, plucking fruits and eating nuts anywhere he pleased. Everytime this creature came upon a plant or an animal, he would name it. The first animal to approach this new being was a horse, The being approached it and said “I call you stallion and you shall carry me around this garden.” The horse tried to communicate to the being yet the being did not understand. He climbed upon the back of the horse. The horse tried to run and shake the being off, yet the creature grabbed his mane tightly. Eventually, the horse grew tired and the pain of being his hair pulled finally forced him to obey this new creature.
“Great white oak”, “Nightingale”, “Rose”, “Terrier”, “Fruit fly” on and on this new being would name the animals and plants in the garden. Yet eventually, he finished naming them all and sat down stump. He grew bored and felt alone. Several days passed and he disappeared.
The animals thought he finally died or had gone mad after naming everything. Yet in another day, the creature was back and it was not alone. Along with him, a female version of him accompanied his side. They frolicked around the grass and ate fruit from the trees. At night, the two creatures held each other and mated.
Soon, the diet of the creatures didn’t stay vegetarian, they started eating animals. The animals began to get annoyed by the two new beings. “All they do is eat!” said the pig. “I had to give up one of my young to let them have their ‘bacon’.” “We sacrifice our babies!” said one depressed hen after giving dozens of eggs to the new beings. “They know how to create fire, they are demons, we can’t attack them” said the large grizzly bear.
For days, the animal council argued on how to get rid or live peacefully with the new creatures. Animals that could kill the new creatures, feared of getting killed themselves due to the tools used by the new beings. They thought of attacking at night yet the cave where the beings stayed had only one entrance and they created a wall to block of entry. Finally, the snake approached and suggested a plan. “Let them eat the forbidden fruit…” it said. “That is too dangerous! The effects may be unpredictable!” said the wise owl.
The forbidden fruit of knowledge was known to be deadly to all animals. It carried a neurotoxin that made anything that ate it smarter at the cost of creating a hormone imbalance. This hormone imbalance would lead to a quicker aging and thus faster death. Most animals did not live long thus they blatantly refused to eat this fruit. However, the 2 new beings have yet to show age after several years in the garden.
The snake reasoned that since other animals could not kill or get the 2 creatures to leave, might as well poison them with the fruit. Eventually, there was a vote and the snake won on the condition that he would be the one to convince the hairless monkeys to eat the fruit.
The snake knew that the male of the species could not talk to animal kind due to the somewhat brutish nature. The female, on the other hand, was caring and empathic. She could understand what animals say though not communicate back in the right way. One day, the male went to bathe so the snake made its move. It first gave the female a hypnotizing glance while offering some eggs to show peace. The female delightfully ate the eggs and wondered why the snake was doing this. Eventually, the snake after trying for some time to get the message to follow, got through to the female. The female followed the snake curiously until they reached an old withering tree with bright red apple shaped fruits dangling from it.
The female at first didn’t dare take a step closer. The old tree was moldy and somewhat rotting. Yet the snake broke off one of the fruits from the branch and carried it over to the female. The sweet succulent scent of the fruit entranced the female so she walked over and took a bite. The sweet juicy flavor washed against her tongue and so she couldn’t control herself. She ate it all at once.
The male, returning from his bath, noticed that his mate was gone. He rushed off and tracked the whereabouts of his girl until he came upon the tree. The female handed him the fruit and asked him to try it. The male at first was surprised as he never noticed this tree before. He took a bite and like the female, finished it as fast as he could. In their greed, they both rushed and plucked more fruits and ate them.
The snake in glee left to tell the other animals. The owl decided that he would take a look and see what happened. The owl was shocked when he arrived; the creatures ate all the fruit! The male looked at his mate and said, “You know this paradise, this garden of eden, could be better. Look at us, we are naked. Let us gut some rabbits and use their fur to cover our skin so we will not fear the cold. Our feet get wounded sometimes on fallen branches, let us skin some crocodiles and snakes and make leather for our feet. Our home is so small, let us build a new home outside this garden where we can live without listening to the noise these animals make at night. We can cut down several trees to make use of wood for our home. Let us use the animals as workers, let them carry the logs, our water and supplies over to our new home. Let the animals plow a field of plants to serve us…. I only realized now that this garden is not paradise, it is a cage. Let us leave here, Eve, let us leave this place to create a world of our own, where our creativity will not be hindered by the walls of this forest we live in.”
Eve stood and looked at her mate in the eyes. “You’re right Adam, let us leave. This place is too filthy actually. The dirt floors and mud always makes me filthy. Also, this place is not a paradise for our baby…”
Adam smiled and taking the hand of Eve, started walking towards the edge of the forest.
The owl, hearing all this, rushed back to the animal council. “Snake! You fool!” he cried. “The devils have awoken. Though they plan to leave, they will destroy this place! They will take the fruits of the trees, the hard barks for their home, your skins for their clothes and your lives as slaves. Now! They have an offspring ready to come in the world. One was a nuisance, two are a pest yet more will be chaos.”
The wolves after hearing this, formed into their pack and rushed after the scent. Hours later, only one returned with one eye cut off. “They carried new tools and their bodies now are covered with the barks of the trees, our claws and fangs could not pierce.”
Two tigers after hearing the story of the wolf began to track their prey. A few hours later, only one returned. “The male carried rocks. Not ordinary rocks, sharp ones. He hurled them, with some sort of wooded device, at my sister crippling her even before she could react. The female, too, carried the same weapon. Fear started to control me, so all I could do was run.”
The large grizzly bear got enraged. He charged out of the forest to hunt. Several days later, a vulture dropped the head of the bear to the animal council. “I found this outside of the garden. His body was already chopped and mostly bones remained. I believe they ate him.”
A swarm of insects buzzed through the meeting of the animals. In their tiny voices they cried, “The eastern forests have been burned and cut down. Cows, horses, a few dogs, chickens, rabbits have been captured or killed. The rest living there have been burned or slaughtered.”
The animal council began to shake and tremble in fear. Most of the animals seemed ready to run for their lives. The owl angrily stared at the snake. “This is your fault! What did those creatures call you? Cobra is it? The greatest of our kind have been defeated, but you might be able to stop them. Your bite can fall the largest of us in a mere second. You must strike his leg, while he attempts to strike your head. You must not fail. Should you succeed, you might be known as the greatest of all animals…King. You could be King Cobra. However, do not return to this place unless you have succeeded, you are in exile as they are snake!”
The snake slithered away towards the east.
He did not return.
