Eden [2020]

My head hurts. I drag myself up from the wet ground. The air is heavy and weighs on my shoulders. I am standing in a lush clearing at the base of a sprawling mountain. I don’t know how I got here; in fact, I don’t remember much of anything. I know I had a life before this, but the memories are clouded in my mind. These trees don’t look right. They are vast and wide and overgrown with beautiful vines. I don’t think trees look like this where I am from. Everything here is so real, so full of life that it almost hurts to look at it. I don’t think that I am supposed to be here.

There’s a path near me to the right of the clearing. It goes through dense overgrowth. I walk over to the path, dragging my shoes through lush, vibrant grass. The path looks very dark, but I don’t feel afraid of it; I don’t know if there is much fear in this place. As I walk along, I can hear a cacophony of creatures buzzing and humming throughout the trees. Everything sounds so familiar, but it isn’t quite right; it’s all just a little different from what I think I remember. Sometimes I hear sounds that I have never heard before: croaks, groans, and vibrations that must come from huge animals.

Eventually, I reach another clearing where I can get a better view of the mountain ahead of me. The trail is running along its base next to a raging river. I can’t see the river from here, but the entire area is overcome with the noise of it. The trail keeps going, and so do I, gradually making my way up. Looking away from the mountain, I can just barely catch a glimpse of a range in the distance covered in overgrowth. I think that I am already quite a bit up the mountain. As I continue, the path starts to become wider, and the forest opens up. The sky is dark, and the clouds look so close that it’s as if I could reach up and touch them. The heavy air is filled with mist. As the trees keep moving away from the path, I start to notice strange things in the air—lights and waves of light that move in a way that would make you think they are alive. I can even make out what sounds like music corresponding to their movements, but it is faint.

The wide clearing I am now walking through is regularly hit with bursts of chill air, and I hug my jacket around me closely. The path comes to a bend before doubling up and climbing at a steeper angle. From the bend I can see down into a valley nestled between the ridges of this mountain and another. There is a flash of light and some commotion down at the base of the other mountain. I can almost see what looks like a snake moving quickly in strange patterns. The realization hits me that this can’t be a snake—it is far too large. It is menacing and strange and preoccupied, but I feel a distinct terror that if I continue to watch it, it may notice me.

Part of me can’t look away, and I am nearly overcome with a dark curiosity to know what the snake might want with me. But I know it is dangerous and much smarter than I am. I turn and begin to run up the trail, away from the direction of the snake. I feel as though it must have known I was watching it. For the first time, I feel unsafe in this place.

I continue to run and run, and even though I am pushing myself hard, I find it easier and easier the farther up I go. The air is refreshing, and my heart is calm in my chest as I push onward. I walk for quite some time before reaching another bend in the road. It leads up along another path between two rises in the rocky outcropping. The air shimmers with a faint light, and as I pass between the two stone cliffs, I feel as though time has stopped.

There is someone else here. A little ways along the path stands a man carrying a basket. He doesn’t notice me. He is gently picking fruit from a bush that looks more like a tree. The strange fruit he gathers looks delicious and makes me realize that I am quite hungry for something to eat. As I start to approach the man, he stops and turns to look at me. We stand for quite a while looking at each other. I think that he is surprised to see me, but he doesn’t show much expression at all. The look on his face betrays a complex mind, but something is missing. He doesn’t look quite right. At first I think he is missing something, but as time goes on I begin to get the idea that he has something I don’t. I can’t figure it out.

I take a few steps closer, and he takes one as well. I don’t know if he can talk. “Hello?” I ask and wave my hand toward him. The man takes a moment to think. Has he ever heard someone else talk? He nods and then opens his mouth. What he says, I have no clue; the language is so far removed from my own he may as well have said nothing. I think that he knows I cannot understand him. As we approach each other, he reaches into the basket and offers me some of the fruit. It is wildly delicious. The fruit is sweet, cold, and light. He seems fascinated by my clothes.

The man starts to walk away but looks back to make sure I am following him. He looks calm, but as we go farther, I get the idea that he is excited. There is something that he wants to show me. As I follow him, the area around us becomes more lush and vibrant, with colors I have never seen before, pouring down from the lights above us. The sun is obscured by clouds, but light still fills the forest floor. We pass by trees and streams and creatures that are all new to me. The animals seem to know the man and acknowledge his presence with a kind of reverence. Some nod, some make noise, and others almost seem to bow lovingly toward the man. For a while, what look like large dogs run alongside us, as if they are waiting for the man to stop and play with them.

I get the feeling that the man has less something he wants to show me, and more someone he wants me to meet. As this idea permeates my mind, I begin to feel nervous. The man is excited, but I am beginning to become fearful. I feel as though whoever he wants me to meet knows more than he does. They may even know that I am not supposed to be here. I think for a moment of splitting away from the man when he isn’t looking. But I cannot do it. It seems as though the meeting I am heading for is unavoidable.

The path becomes clearer, and the forest opens to a wide clearing. In the center of the clearing is a beautiful tree with shimmering leaves and a pool of water at its base. There, beside the water, seated upon a stone, is someone else. The man I am following stops and turns to me. He wants me to go and talk to the man by the water. I am nervous. There is something about the man by the water that is striking and strange and powerful. His brown hair falls along the sides of his face as he looks down at the pond. He is wearing a long white robe and a red sash crossed along his side.

I walk through the emerald grass, dragging my feet. The man by the water stands up and begins to turn around. I am stopped dead in my tracks as I meet his eyes. He does not look impressive, but his authority is undeniable. His brown eyes are set back against tan skin and a thick, bushy beard. As the man continues to look at me, my entire world starts to spin. I can barely stay focused on his face as my perception of reality melts. I feel tired. I think he knows that I am not supposed to be here. But I don’t think he is angry. Before I know it, the man is standing right in front of me, smiling. He puts his hand on my shoulder. I know this Man.

He pulls me in and hugs me. I start to remember who I am and where I am from. I know this Man. I wish that I could stay, and I think the Man knows this. But I know that I have to go back home; I am not supposed to be here. I am not sad. I know I will see this Man again somewhere else, somewhere even better than this garden. He holds my shoulders in his arms and stares at me as a father does at his beloved son. Then I wake up, back where I am from.