𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐝𝐞𝐧?
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Born in Paradise, I'm privileged to walk in the Garden of Eden.
It doesn't matter if I long to be more than a servant, i...
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Coming into existence was easy. Possibly the easiest thing I would ever do.
It began with a feeble beating of a heart, then a shaky first breath, followed by the fluttering of opening eyelids. And then, there was light... Too much light. Enough to send a burning sensation through my eyes.
"Are you awake?" a voice asked me. It was unfamiliar, but it occurred to me that I'd never known any other voice.
When I opened my eyes again, my unfocussed vision grasped the vague shape of a silhouette towering over me.
"I just woke up too," said the voice. A blurry set of lips was moving in unison with the words, and I forced myself to pay more attention to the stranger.
His hair was short, light, and slightly messy. The face below was... well, I didn't have any reference to compare it to, but it was... beautiful. Or it was what a beautiful man must look like, at least.
The stranger extended a hand my way, and I lifted my arm to reach for it, somehow knowing what it meant despite it being the first time. With gentle ease, he helped me sit up, allowing me to glimpse at our surroundings. This, too, was beautiful. Green and lush and plentiful.
The grass I was sitting on was soft, mossy, scattered with tiny flowers, and warmed by the sun, which shone high and bright in the blue sky above us. We were in a small clearing, surrounded by trees of all heights, and from where I was, I could see the fruits hanging from some of them. Birds chirped their joyful melodies, colorful butterflies wandered around, and a deer and its fawn were grazing by the edge of the trees.
It was as though I'd been in a dark and empty slumber, only to wake up in a dream full of colors and promises.
"Where are we?" I asked the stranger, discovering my own voice as I did.
"I'm not sure. Like I said, I just woke up myself—moments before you." He didn't seem as troubled as I was, his soft features relaxed and confident.
Disoriented, I looked around again, trying to find an explanation for all this. But the more I thought about it, the more confused I grew. I couldn't recall where I'd been before this. I had no recollection of anything, really. Nothing past a few instants ago, when I'd first felt the grass below me and the wind on my skin. There had been nothing until that, not a single memory or thought. Just emptiness.
"Do you know who you are?" I asked, hoping he could shed some light on all this.
"No, not yet. Do you?"
I shook my head, making my hair dance around my shoulders. We were complete mysteries, to each other and to ourselves.
When I endeavored to stand up, the kneeling stranger assisted me, as if he knew my legs were too feeble. Had it been the same for him, too? As I rose, long and wavy brown strands tickled my skin, all the way to my upper thighs. Grabbing the silky hair, I observed it with a frown, feeling it between my thumb and index. This didn't feel familiar, and yet it was mine. Curious to discover more about myself, I looked down at my body, pushing the thick curtains of hair away. Was this really mine? Why didn't it feel like so?
