author: Nicole J. LeBoeuf

Notes from the author:

I was having some irritated thoughts about all those songs that purport to celebrate some beloved woman, but only really value her for what she can do for the man who's singing about her, when I drew The Lovers card from the Tarot deck. And, well, as a Western writer's body of work grows, the probability of it including a pastiche on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden approaches one. Right? Isn't that a rule?

Which had a lot to do with her current discontent. By laying down this new law, the Designer was giving her an assignment of her own, if in a roundabout sort of reverse-psychology way. Fulfilling her assignment would change the rules of the game for everyone, and not, she thought, for the better.

At first she'd simply played dumb. The Big Guy said no? Fine! Easy. Eden was an orchard of endless breadth and variety; the fruit of a single tree didn't even register. There was no need even to go near it, not with uncounted acres of world to explore. But over time, or, again, what passed for time in the Garden, Eve became aware of the Designer's impatience. She knew He wouldn't be content to simply await developments. He'd do something to force the issue, count on it. So she simply walked away before He could.

Deep in the infinite shadows of Eden, Lilith eventually found her. "Hey, Little Sister," Lilith said, "I hear you've got man troubles. Wanna tell me about it?"

This has been an excerpt from the Friday Fictionette for October 14, 2016. Subscribers can download the full-length fictionette (1120 words) from Patreon as an ebook or audiobook depending on their pledge tier.

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