Prologue
“So here we are at last, my friend.” Dr. Albert Walton raised his drink with a grin and quickly downed a glass of $300 champagne. He always bought by the bottle, thinking it to be classy. The expenses of the evening were piling up, but he didn’t care. Not even the generous bribe the maître d’ required to get him seating without a reservation could dampen his spirits. Not tonight. He gave a genuine smile to the man seated to his right, saying “I hope the crew on my private jet treated you well? Lovely people.” His voice showed his age, weathered by decades of and shouting until his cheeks were red on the stock floor. His hands were dexterous and stable for their age, honed by a lifetime of medical experience. His face was covered with lines and wrinkles, but it still retained the quiet pride of his youth.
His companion, Mr. Francis “Frankie” Mirelli, was a few decades younger, but his voice was just as strained, if not more. Frankie Mirelli shrugged and said “They were nice, yeah. Food was excellent, by the way. I gotta give my compliments to anybody who can cook fried chicken like that on a moving jet.” The years had been kinder to him than most. At nearly 60 years old he had a full head of hair, and only half of it had turned from black to gray. He lit a fresh cigarette with the embers of his last one and tossed the butt off the balcony. It fell 49 stories, leaving a thin vertical line of smoke floating through the still night air. Anyone below would have heard a quiet little hiss as the free falling cigarette butt splashed into the water on the curb.
“Glad to hear it, Mr. Mirelli. Ah, allow me to say again how glad I am that we can do business. You’re helping me to do God’s work before I, ah… leave this world.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ve got another decade or two left in ya.”
“Let’s hope not, I’m becoming a real bastard in my old age.”
They both chuckled and looked out at the night sky, where the stars were all but invisible thanks to the sprawl of thousands of city lights. The lights were sprinkled everywhere beneath them, as if mankind had stolen the very stars from the sky for their own use.
They both were silent for a reflective moment, each man gazing at the same world beneath them and seeing a vastly different picture.
“Mr. Mirelli… tell me again how you’ve made my dream a reality.”
“Sure. I, uh, pulled some strings with some acquaintances of mine and made some calls. Managed to get you a beautiful 25 square-acre piece of property right in the cradle of civilization. The fertile fuckin’ crescent, Doc! Perfect, right? I know a guy who knows a guy, and that guy happens to owe me some favors from the Iraq War. There’s jack shit but sand and more sand out there nowadays, so you can imagine how eager he was to sell the land when he saw your offer! ‘Fertile crescent’ my ass.” Mirelli forced a laugh at his own words.
Dr. Walton just smiled and poured himself another glass of champagne. “Care for some bubbly? I can’t drink this whole bottle myself… or at least I shouldn’t.”
Mirelli held up his hands and shook his head. “No thanks. I been on the wagon for 2 years now. But Doc… I gotta say, what you want this land for… don’t you think it’s a little much, even for you?”
“Not at all. I want to give humanity a chance to redeem itself in the eyes of God, to prove we have learned our lesson, so that we may once again receive God’s favor and hear his voice in our hearts.”
Frankie nodded slowly as the doctor spoke, mostly to be polite. “But how are you gonna get that thing built? It’s gonna take forever to make a fuckin’ 25 square acres across, indestructible dome, with its own damn ecosystem and weather. If it weren’t you, I’d say it’s nuckin’ futs. Science fiction. But with all that cash… you could build a whole god damn Death Star if you wanted!”
Dr. Walton laughed out loud at that. “Don’t you worry, I’ve got it covered. I have my connections too, you know. I want to help everyone find God’s love, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get us there.”
“Whatever floats your boat, Dr. Walton. Just remember to gimme my cut, yeah?”
“Fine, fine… I’ll get you that check right now.” Dr. Walton reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a leather bound checkbook, along with a solid gold pen. He quickly scratched out a number, filled in some zeroes, and finished it off with his oversized, illegible signature. He handed the check over to Frankie, who made no effort to hide how eager he was to receive it. “Go in peace, Mr. Mirelli, and serve the Lord.”
“Thank you very much. And hey… good luck with this. Take care of yourself, Doctor. Evening.” He patted the doctor’s shoulder before turning to walk back inside.
“Evening.”
When Frankie had gone, Dr. Walton pulled a cigar case from his pocket and took from it a big premium Cuban. He lit it up with a match and puffed as he stared up at the sky, letting his eyes wander across the infinite space above him. His mind turned, as always, to thoughts of his Eden, his life’s greatest endeavor. He tried not to let himself wonder too much if he would live to see it completed.
Breaking himself from his thoughtful trance, he gently set his cigar in a diamond studded ashtray and bowed his head. Speaking low, he said “Dear Lord, hear my prayer… if I have been a good servant to you, if you wish me to be a shepherd to your lost sheep… let my dream be realized. For this I pray, Lord. Amen.”
Chapter 1
A man awoke to a furious headache. He could barely open his eyes in the bright sunlight, but he saw lots of green around him. He managed to get to his feet and looked around, confused and a little scared. “I’m in… a forest?” After figuring out where he was, he tried to remember where he should be. It wasn’t working. “Who… who am I? I can’t…” He stumbled forward, looking down to find that he was naked. “Oh, I’m… hmm.” He rubbed his eyes vigorously and looked around, shielding his eyes with his hand and trying to get a bearing. His lips were dry and cracked, and he felt his lower lip split painfully as he grimaced in the sunlight. “Need some… water. Water.” Glancing around intently, he spotted a stream down a hill to his right. “Good. Need some water.” As he walked he realized that he could not remember anything about himself. He had no recollection of anything before he had just woken up. Except…
“Adam. I.. My name is Adam,” he said to himself. He paused a moment to ponder this, and see if any other memories were connected to it. Nothing came to mind, so he pressed on, murmuring the name, trying to lock it in his memory. It was all he had. “Water. I’m thirsty.” Finally reaching the edge of the stream, he rubbed his pained forehead and bent down to meet it. He saw some fish swimming in the clear water. They were swimming upstream, fighting the current. For some reason it made Adam proud to see it. He glanced at his own clear reflection and smiled. It appeared he wasn’t injured. His skin was light, his hair was brown, and his eyes were green like the grass. “Ah, so that’s how I look. Okay.” Unfortunately it didn’t help him remember who he was at all. He cupped his hands and filled them with water, then took a deep draw. Adam repeated this many times until he was satisfied. “Oh, that’s good!” He spoke to no one in particular. The fact that he was utterly alone suddenly hit him. He drew a deep breath and called out, “Hellooo!” There was no response but the sound of the wind shifting the trees. He tried a few more times, but heard nothing in response but the ruffling of a million leaves in the gentle wind.
His stomach growled. “Nnn.. hungry.” Looking around for something to eat, it occurred to him just how lush his surroundings were. Beautiful, healthy trees and shrubbery surrounded him on all sides. He appeared to be in a valley. The gentle breeze was constant and refreshing, and the almost hypnotic rustling sound it made as it navigated its way across the valley made the innumerable trees seem all the more alive. The foliage was too thick for him to get a bearing on his location, but he thought he had spotted one tree with some kind of fruit on his way down to the water.
Making his way back up the hill, Adam found the tree he had been searching for. It was a peach tree. He counted himself lucky to have gotten to the low hanging fruit while it was still in season, not to mention before any wild animals got to it. He grabbed a larger, juicy looking peach from the tree and slowly took a big bite. The juice rolled down his chin. Sighing, he closed his lids, both to savor the taste and to block the sunlight from his still sensitive eyes. The pain in his head just wasn’t going away. Adam took another bite and sat down in the shade of the peach tree, leaning up against the trunk. He took a few deep breaths. The air here was really fresh. It made him feel at peace with himself, even through the pain and confusion of his current state. And this peach, it was delicious! A sudden memory opened his eyes. He remembered having this taste before, but where?
He sat up suddenly, trying to remember. Trying to remember anything. “I am Adam. I’ve had peaches before.” He began to worry. Who was he, really? Where were these memories coming from, and why couldn’t he remember anything else about himself? Thinking about it made his head hurt even more than usual, so he decided to take a break and a few more bites.
Adam sat like this for a long time, choosing to clear his mind and… what was it called again? Meditate. He finished his peach and two more, all the while seated beneath his new friend, and let his mind wander. It wasn’t hard to do, since he had scarcely anything to think about. There were no clouds in the sky, but the sun wasn’t too hot. In fact, the temperature was so pleasant that after a while he forgot about the pain in his head and let his eyes close. Sleep found him soon after.
Chapter 2
Pain. A throbbing pain in her head was the first thing she noticed upon awakening. It was dark… pitch black, in fact, but she could feel the night breeze on her exposed skin, and she knew she was outside. She tried to clear her throat and found it very dry. “H… hello? Hello? Can anybody hear me?!” Her voice was very hoarse and seemed way too loud; it made her head pound like crazy to yell. She scowled and rubbed her eyes, opening them wide to let in any possible light. There was none. The wind was getting chilly, and even though she saw nothing she realized she was completely naked. She stumbled around in the blackness, listening intently and feeling around with her hands and feet. “Hello! Help! Hello?!” After a minute or two, she faintly heard the sound of running water – it was a steady trickle somewhere nearby. Where the hell was the moon? Was she blinded? She forced the thought out of her head and navigated onward.
The water was closer now. She was definitely headed in the right direction. Suddenly her left leg was plunged down into something icy cold. She had found the water alright. Quickly, she pulled herself up out of the water and rubbed her leg to warm it up again. A memory suddenly came to her…
“Eve. My name is Eve.” After a moment reflecting on this, it occurred to her that she couldn’t remember anything else. Her head started pounding again, like someone was crushing it between two rocks. “Ugh… what the… it hurts…!” Eve lay back on the soft grass and groaned. Her eyes welled up with tears from the pain, but she wiped them away in disgust. She resolved to drink some water and find shelter as soon as possible. Eve forced herself to sit up again, and cautiously leaned forward off the edge of the land overlooking the stream right beneath her. She dipped her hands into the chilly water, and pulled some up for a drink. She did this a few times, then stood herself up and began navigating back in the direction she thought she came from.
Eve made her way slowly along, taking care not to trip over any rocks or logs. She was on all fours, feeling everything around her intently. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the dark, but there was very little light to go by. The night sky was dark and starless – probably overcast. That would explain the absence of the moon, she thought. Her only guides in the darkness were the facts that she seemed to be going up a very slight incline, and that the silhouettes of the trees were slightly darker than the sky behind them.
At long last, she felt her way to what seemed to be a cave. She hoped no dangerous animals inhabited it as she stepped inside. The cave was relatively dry and shielded her from the wind, so she resolved to spend the night just inside the entrance. Eve huddled herself up against a wall and shut her eyes. An almost inaudible dripping sound from deep inside the cave served as her lullaby. After what felt like forever, she finally overcame the pain in her head and fell into a restless sleep.
Chapter 3
Adam awoke as the sun was just creeping over the distant treetops. He yawned, scratched his cheek and felt a little stubble. It took him a moment to remember where he was. For a moment he thought his peaceful first awakening was just a dream, but he soon recognized the tree he was seated beneath as the same peach tree from before. He figured he must have been very tired to have slept through nearly an entire day. His painful headache was gone, but his head still felt heavy and slow.
Once again he noticed he wasn’t wearing a shred of clothing, but it didn’t upset him too much. The weather was so pleasant, he didn’t feel inclined to cover himself at all. Why bother? Adam was all alone out here. He had yet to encounter any creatures besides himself and the fish, but then again he hadn’t really gone very far yesterday. Had it been yesterday?
Climbing to his feet, he grabbed four ripe, tasty looking peaches from the branches above him. A nearby plant offered large, thick leaves that looked promising as a sort of makeshift bag for his supplies. This place was very nice but he still needed to think about survival. After eating a peach for breakfast, he decided to explore for a bit. Maybe that would lead him to some answers concerning his identity, and why he was here. Perhaps if he found a tall tree that wasn’t too difficult to climb, he’d get up into the higher branches and try to figure out where he was.
The warm, refreshing breeze was still blowing pleasantly and consistently. Adam was in high spirits as he started his trek. The position of the sunrise told him he was heading south, and on top of that, it was downhill and the wind was at his back. These bits of survival knowledge he had, they didn’t feel like memories… they felt more like instinct. He carried his leaf bag in one hand, and grabbed a convenient looking walking stick with the other. Now he was ready for whatever laid ahead, though he didn’t expect much, judging by the beautiful places he had been to so far.
Adam started down the hill, glancing up with wonder at the open blue sky above him as he went. There were no clouds in the sky, but somehow the sun wasn’t too hot on his bare back. Thankful for the continually gorgeous weather, he paused to stretch his body out and get his muscles and joints loosened up. He wrapped his arms behind his back and leaned against them, working out the kinks in his back. It felt great to do all this. Feeling refreshed and relaxed, he started moving again.
After a minute or two of steady progress down the gentle hill, he spotted a strange, giant rock formation further down the hill and a little to his left. His curiosity was piqued and he decided to go check it out. As he neared it, it became obvious that this giant pile of rocks was in fact the entrance to a cave that led, presumably, deep into the blackness of subsurface earth. Adam broke into a jog as he neared what he thought to be the entrance. Excitedly, he set his bag of peaches carefully onto the ground and raced around the corner to peer into the cave.
His face fell. It was a cave, yes, but just barely. It extended no more than a dozen feet past its entrance, and at first glance there seemed to be nothing of interest inside it. Disappointed, he sat down at the mouth of this sorry excuse for a cave and sighed. He was suddenly bored, so he held his new walking stick with both hands and started smacking it against the inside wall of the little niche. It made a satisfying ‘chak!’ noise as it connected, followed by an immediate, but quieter, echo from within.
“What?” He asked himself aloud, confused. He had only swung it once, but he was sure he had heard two sounds. Again he swung his stick against the rock, and again he distinctly heard two impact noises in rapid succession. Adam smacked the rock over and over again, yet his experiment gave him the same result every time. He stood himself up and squinted into the cave. Had he been wrong about this cave? Was there something inside it? Or someone? With caution, he stepped slowly down into the cave. It was dark inside, but the sun provided some ambient light near the entrance. Adam squinted and stared into the cave. There was still nothing there. He scratched his head in confusion.
The floor of the cave was a little damp and it made the soles of his feet cold. A chill came over him as he stood at the edge of the sun’s influence and stared into the pitch darkness. He backed out of the cave, for the first time having negative thoughts about his new environment. Maybe he would pursue the mystery of this second sound another time.
Chapter 4
Eve awoke to the sun against her eyelids. She immediately noticed that the pain in her head was long gone. Though she was still sat against the wall of a cave, the sun was shining down onto the spot where she was seated, and it felt wonderful. She braced herself with a hand on the wall and stood up, looking around. The world didn’t seem nearly as scary as it had in the dark of the night. With the confident light shining on everything outside, she soon correlated everything that had happened to her with what lie outside her cave. She saw, not too far away, the stream she had plunged her leg into, and the trees she had used to guide her way in the black. Eve couldn’t resist smiling as she strode out into the grass, actually laughing a little bit as she stretched her muscles in the warm sunlight. As she yawned, she caught a glance of her arms. They were brown, like the soil of the earth. Her entire body was this color. Her hair was brown as well, but an even darker shade. She smiled.
Suddenly she heard a strange sound. It was a distant noise that reminded her of hitting two sticks together. Alert now, and curious, she tried to figure out which direction the noise was coming from. It seemed to be coming from somewhere on the other side of the rocks.
Eve was intrigued and started to circumnavigate the miniature mountain. The noise was continuing, and its steadily increasing volume confirmed she was headed in the right direction. Just as she rounded a corner, expecting to find the source of the sound, she saw… nothing. She had been right on top of it, and it suddenly had faded. However, her trip had not been in vain, for lying on the ground before her were five peaches, sitting comfortably on a giant leaf. It suddenly occurred to her that she had been very hungry. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten. Confused, but not about to take such a blessing for granted, she grabbed a peach and took a big bite. It was delicious! Another bite, and she let the juice run down her chin. She sat down happily, and prepared to enjoy this random gift.
Out of nowhere, something came from around the corner. It was a man! A light-skinned man, and he was carrying a stick. A weapon? “Hey!” He yelled. His eyes were wide, not with anger, but with wonder.
Eve scrambled to her feet, terrified, but too hungry to let this bounty go away. “Y… you left it here! I’m hungry!”
To her great surprise, the man shrugged, grinned and said, “Okay. There’s a… whole tree of them over there.” He lifted his stick and pointed off in a direction behind Eve. They stared at each other for a moment, taking in the new encounter. The only sound was the ever present warm breeze. The man spoke again. “I thought… I thought I was the only one here.” He took a step toward her, but she backed off. “I’m Adam… who are you?”
Eve suddenly felt her cheeks grow hot. “Eve… Eve. I’m Eve.” She cleared her throat. “Can I, uh…” she mumbled, gesturing toward the peaches on the ground. ”I’m… hungry.”
Adam sighed. “Yeah, I guess so. You should find your own later, though. I’ll show you where they are. Where the tree is, I mean.” He was starting to blush, too. As it turned out, he really enjoyed looking at her. It made him feel warm inside. He summoned the courage to say something. “You, um… you look nice.”
“Thanks.” Eve said, smiling wide. “You look nice, too.” She giggled as she took a bite of peach. Adam smiled back and took a bite as well. They sat in silence for a while, eating their meal, stealing glances at each other.
Soon, as the sun set and its warmth withheld itself for another night, they found comfort in the cave where Eve had spent the previous night all alone. The various foods they had gathered – apples, blueberries, potatoes, and of course, peaches – would make a delicious meal. Adam had gathered some firewood, and after a few hours of experiments, figured out how to start a fire with sparks from rocks and dried leaves, followed of course by wood. They successfully built the fire at the mouth of the cave.
Adam stabbed two potatoes with a stick and held them over the fire. Together they watched the flame grow and dance in the light breeze, consuming the leaves and spreading slowly to the small sticks Adam had gathered for tinder.
Eve took a deep breath, let it out, and asked, “Adam, where do you think we are?”
Adam shrugged, and kept staring at the fire. Seeing that she was not satisfied with such a response, he said, “I really have no idea. By my count this is the second night I’ve been here.”
“Me too!” Eve said, excited. “Did your head hurt a lot when you woke up the first time?”
“Yeah, it did! It was awful. I couldn’t remember anything.” Adam sighed, and stared at the fire again.
“… How much do you remember now?” Eve asked him slowly. “I can’t remember anything… except my name, I guess.”
“Uh… not much. I remembered my name pretty quick, but otherwise it’s all, um… just gone.”
Eve couldn’t think of anything to say. She grabbed a handful of blueberries. “I got these blueberries out, um… west, I think it was? There was a nice group of bushes of ‘em.”
“Really? That’s where these apples were, too.” Adam laughed. “But those peaches were way up on a hill.”
“Hey, thanks for letting me have some earlier. You’re a really nice guy, Adam.”
He blushed furiously, and took an awkward bite of an apple. Eve giggled and scooted a little closer to the fire, and to him. She crossed her arms and rubbed them with her hands, shivering.
Adam looked at her, a little concerned. “Are you cold?”
She looked down at her feet and frowned. “Yeah, a little. The fire is nice but it’s windy.”
“Yeah, it really is.” He moved closer to her. “I’m feeling okay, I’ll protect you from the wind.”
She quietly accepted this and leaned her head against his shoulder, then moved her hand to his leg and smiled. Adam smiled too. Her skin was so soft compared to his, he thought. And so much darker. Seeing his skin contrasted to hers in the light of the fire made him wonder.
“Hey Eve?”
“Mm.” She mumbled, clearly trying to fall asleep on him.
“Why is your skin so much darker than mine?”
For a moment there was no sound but the crackling fire.
“Um, I dunno.” Eve sat up and smiled at him. “It doesn’t matter to me, though.”
“Yeah, me either. I’m just a little curious.”
“So I am, but I’m so tired…” She let her eyes shut and leaned against him again, pressing her face into his chest and laughing.
He smiled broadly. “Let’s sleep, then.”
Eve sighed happily, nuzzling her face against his chest. Adam wrapped him arm around her and closed his eyes. The wind died down and the fire burned away, the warmth and gentle light comforting the sleepers until the embers finally went out in the early morning. The two lonely strangers slept through the night undisturbed.
Chapter 5
“We are gathered here today to pay our last respects to a great man. Dr. Albert Michael Walton was a celebrated medical professional, a generous philanthropist and donor to all manners of charity, and perhaps most importantly, a devout proponent of the Christian faith. He was a born-again Christian, who found Jesus Christ to be his personal Lord and savior. Albert Walton was a loving husband…”
Frankie Mirelli was only half-listening to the eulogy of his friend. It had been hard enough getting the necessary time off to fly all the way from New York to some dumpy hick town cemetery in Minnesota, where the good Dr. Walton had requested his funeral and burial place be held. Not many of his business partners had bothered to make the flight out, but that was really no surprise. Walton had alienated many of his peers with his overzealous religious beliefs that severely impacted the effectiveness of many of the businesses he had his hands in. How many millions of dollars had he cost his company by insisting bibles be handed out to every sweatshop worker? How many millions had he just given away to charities, sometimes without even including his name with the money? Frankie’s head swam, and Father Andrews was still talking about Albert.
The service was nice enough, for being outside in a drab cemetery. The Doc’s coffin was made of walnut and was covered with a mass of beautiful bouquets. An expensive portrait had been set on an easel at the front of the coffin. The headstone had already been cut and placed. It read:
ALBERT MICHAEL WALTON
BORN DECEMBER 18, 1939
DIED APRIL 11, 2021
“Walk with God always”
Dr. Walton’s wife, Opal, had always liked Frankie, in a totally platonic way of course. She was too old for him, being nearly 80. He much preferred young, sexy college girls, anyway. On top of that, she always treated him like a son. The other side of the headstone had been cut to include her as well, but of course with no date of death. It was just a matter of time, Frankie figured coldly. Opal was using Frankie’s shoulder as a place to sob. He could appreciate her sorrow. He was human, after all. But, this suit had cost him over $3,000 dollars and he was fairly doubtful a decent dry cleaner even existed in the Midwest. “Oh Francis, I miss him so much already…” Opal’s tears continued.
Frankie stole a glance at his watch. Shit, he had already been here for half an hour. Suddenly, the priest seemed to wrap up his speech and invited Opal to the podium. He gave her a big hug and smiled earnestly at her before handing her off to Dr. Walton’s younger brother Pete, who gave him a meaningful nod and guided his sister-in-law up toward the microphone.
Now was his chance. Frankie used this opportunity to quietly slip away from the funeral and toward the front gates, where limousine was parked and running. He climbed into the back seat and the driver left immediately.
“Sorry for the long wait, Raul. I’ll pay for the gas.”
“No worries, Mr. Mirelli. It was your friend’s funeral, right?”
“Yeah. Shit’s depressing me. Hey, just take me to the hotel, I’ll buy you a drink at the bar downstairs.”
“You’ve got it, Mr. Mirelli.”
The hotel was about 25 minutes away, back in the city. Frankie poured himself three fingers of scotch and reclined in the comfortable back seat. Today had been a long day. First with the damned airport, then the plane, then the hassle of trying to find limo service that would take him out of the city. He had barely made the service on time. Now that the funeral was over, or at least it was for him, he could finally have some time to relax.
Maybe some down time would be good for him; he had been working nonstop for the last few years, making his fortune and all but hoarding it for himself. Maybe, he thought, the poor dead bastard Dr. Albert Walton had the right idea. Frankie had to admit, the guy left a legacy as a benefactor of mankind, and still had shitloads of money left when he croaked. A couple sizable donations to some bleeding heart charity would certainly help him build up some good PR, he thought as he took a sip of scotch.
“Hey Raul, put on some music. Classical, please.”
“Coming right up, Mr. Mirelli.”
Chapter 6
Four months had passed since Adam and Eve first met each other, and things were going well. They had made a home out of the cave they spent their first night in together. To help against the cold nights, Eve had begun to fashion makeshift clothes, first from leaves, then from tough, flexible tree bark and ropey vines. She became the gatherer of fruits and vegetables from the western side of the cave. Adam crafted tools and weapons from rocks and sticks, including a small rock shard used as a rough sewing needle for Eve. The making of these tools came easily to him, as if he had made them before. After a while, he had begun assuming that anything which came to him naturally was probably based on a memory he couldn’t quite recall.
Exploring the strange new land he inhabited with Eve led him to discover there was no shortage of food or water anywhere. Nearly every tree and bush gave some sort of fruit or vegetable. Every day he would find some type of delicious berry or nut growing in a place he hadn’t noticed before. He carved for himself a few wooden bowls of various sizes for carrying water and food.
One day, while out walking along the edge of the long, winding stream that divided the land in two, Adam came across something strange. He had been moving against the current to find out where the water came from. There was some kind of very shiny object resting on the bed of the shallow stream, glinting in the sunlight like nothing he had ever seen. Intrigued, he carefully set down a bowl of raspberries he had been carrying and made his way to the edge of the water. The water was crystal clear and perfect for drinking. The distortion of the waves on the water’s surface made it hard to identify the object, but it appeared to be a sort of round disc shape.
“What is that?” He asked himself, squinting curiously at the spot of light. Adam dipped a foot into the water. It was very chilly, but not so much that he couldn’t ease into it. Besides, afterward he could simply dry himself off in the warm light of the sun. Slowly he eased his leg in, then the other, then waded slowly toward the strange shiny thing glimmering in the submerged sand. When he was close, he bent over to grab it, but it wouldn’t budge. It turned out to be the top of a shiny, alien-looking cylinder buried in the stream bed. He tried to grab it with both hands and pull it out, but it refused to budge no matter how hard he tried. Astounded by this strange discovery, he climbed out of the cold water as quickly as he could and took off running for home, leaving his raspberries behind.
“Eve! Eve, come here!” Adam shouted as he neared the entrance to the cave. “Eve!”
Eve came running out of the cave, a look of deep concern on her lovely face. “What? What’s going on, Adam? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m… I’m fine. But you have to come with me, there’s something you have to see. It’s in the water.” Adam gestured enthusiastically toward the direction he had come from, and took her hand, pulling her with him. “Come on!”
“Okay, I’m coming!” She was initially confused and a little irritated at being pulled by the arm, but she was interested in whatever was in the water.
After about a minute of silent running, Adam spotted his bowl of raspberries. As they approached, Adam pointed to the spot in the water where the shiny cylinder was. “There, that’s where it is.”
Eve looked carefully for a moment. “Where is it? I don’t see it.”
Adam frowned and walked to the edge of the water again. “It was… it was right there. I went out in the water and grabbed it… it was really cold.”
“Are you sure? Could it have been a rock or something?”
“No! I mean, I don’t think so… it was so strange, Eve. It was like a shiny little tree trunk. I know it was there.”
“Okay, okay, Adam. I believe you. Honestly I do.”
“… Thanks.” Adam sighed. How could it be gone? He had only just seen it, felt it… it had been there, there was no doubt in his mind of that.
Eve came up from behind him and pressed her body against his, wrapping her arms around him. “Hey, I believe you, okay? You probably knocked it loose or something.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry for dragging you out here, Eve.” Adam turned to face her.
“Don’t worry about it,” she whispered, and leaned up to kiss him. “Let’s go home, okay? I’ll grab the raspberries here.”
“No no, I’ll get them. It’s my fault they’re still out here.” He kissed her back before leaning down to grab the raspberry bowl. “Okay, let’s go. I’m hungry after all that.”
“Me too!”
They walked together back to the cave, laughing and eating berries, but when Eve wasn’t looking, Adam stole quick glances over his shoulder, back toward the spot in the stream where the strange object had been.
Chapter 7
The year was 1969, and Albert Walton was 30 years old. Fresh out of medical school with a Ph.D, Albert found work almost immediately – not in a hospital, but as an on-site medic at a big counter-culture music festival that was to be called Woodstock.
Being present at Woodstock would change young Albert’s life. He discovered LSD while treating concert goers who seemed to be out of their minds, and unknowingly ate some while on duty. His experience there was so profound, so striking to him, that he later wrote of the experience in his memoirs:
I grew up in a conservative household. I was a young teenager in the late 1950′s and never felt I had a chance to rebel. My parents were well off and I was always taken with academics, so the world as I knew it was very tame and limited.
A few weeks after receiving my Ph.D, I needed money and found a one-time job as a medic for a rock concert. New York was only a few hours away from Pennsylvania, where I lived at the time. I was eager to apply my skills and signed on immediately. On my first day, I was shocked at the lifestyles of the people who had come to the festival. It was a wholly different world than the one I had grown up in. These people were utterly filthy and dressed in every color of the rainbow. The air constantly smelled of mud, body odor and marijuana smoke. One patient whom I was treating for a minor scrape offered me a handful of grapes from a bag of them he had. Unsuspecting, I accepted the gift and ate it, unaware it had been tampered with – someone had added a generous amount of LSD to the grapes.
I felt the effect within a half hour. It was as if my mind and body were rent asunder, each set to its own curious whims. I would often find myself staring so intently at, or rather through, my surroundings that my eyes would well with tears, merely from the physical intensity of the trip. Patterns and colors abounded in my brain. My analytical mind was utterly floored by the chaotic, flowing nature of LSD. I had to excuse myself from my work for the purpose of simply coping with the music playing in the distance and the sheer number of people there, for such a simple concept was far too much to handle in my twisted state.
For years I struggled to make sense of what I had seen, revisiting the trip many times. I confess that while scientific curiosity was my foremost motivation for these tests, the spiritual void I detected in myself upon my return to reality urged me on as well. Finally, in 1971, I took a great many doses – an excessive amount in retrospect – and sat in isolation to meditate. It was then, lost deep in the quiet, myriad corners of the human mind, I gazed into the eye of God, and I saw the path of redemption. Only by LSD did I discover how far I had strayed from the Shepherd.
For a time, Albert considered trading his hard-earned medical profession for the life of a man of God, but found organized Christianity to be dissatisfying and “riddled with the corruption of man.” He decided to remain Dr. Walton and practice medicine.
In 1972, Albert met his future wife, in those days named Opal Mae Emerson. He had just entered his local pizza parlor, Antonio’s Pizza. Suddenly a young woman burst from the kitchen and slammed right into him, spilling a hot large sausage and mushroom pizza all over the both of them. As they both apologized profusely to each other, Albert realized she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He offered to pay for her dry cleaning and a drink, if only she would tell him what time her shift ended? They were married in 1974, and the first stop of their honeymoon was for a hot slice of Antonio’s Pizza.
Albert saved up lots of money from his profession as the years passed. His affluent parents left him a small fortune, and with some considerable effort and smart investing in stocks of all kinds, he managed to turn it into a large fortune. He commissioned the Walton Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping the poor and spreading the word of God. As the years passed, Albert slowly began to reconcile his scientific mind and his faithful heart. He started developing a plan that would close that gap, not just for him but for all mankind.
That plan, funded partially by the Walton Foundation, would come to be known as The Shepherd’s Garden. There had been previous efforts to make a fully contained ecosystem, particularly the Eden Project in England. However, Dr. Walton had been unimpressed by the project and elected to craft his own Eden. He hoped that by recreating the biblical Garden of Eden, he could help mankind convince God that they could be redeemed and their sins would be forgiven, and they could once again win God’s favor and commune with him directly as in the book of Genesis…
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More to come as I write it! Hope you like it so far… leave comments and feedback below!
