The earthly Path

While something irreversible and eerie was happening at the Easternmost Gate of Eden, the garden was in an unbreakable pre-dawn silence, cut only by the loud, heart-rending and soul-rending cry of the already former angel Seraph. Seraphim, who had the courage to contradict the Lord. Not a single living being, by the will of God himself, paid much attention to this, except for one small angel who guarded these gates. This morning, the Guardian of the Eastern Gate, Aziraphale, was very worried about what happened last night and was almost sure that his friend had been killed. Of course, it did not fit into my thoughts at all that an angel with a high rank could be so tactlessly and shamelessly killed in the middle of the night, washing the approaching dawn with his blood. In cherubim's memory, only dominions, a couple of archangels and countless angels completely dissatisfied with something disappeared like that, but Seraph was the first and only, as it will become known later, seraphim. He himself did not understand why the angels were raising protests, did not understand the unrest in society, did not know what they wanted to change the way of life that had already been invented, and simply thought up flawlessly, conceived by the Lord himself. Isn't it better for Her to know exactly how to live Her creatures, not for Her to decide what to do, wish for, and dream about in her life? The questions that arose in the blond head were eternal, but the name Seraph, which remained forever in memory, was translated as "fiery snake". - They wouldn't have given him such a big name just like that, right? He'll get out of it, he's fine," Aziraphale reassured himself, "he'll be fine.  The Guardian spent the whole morning in his thoughts, in his anxiety he overlooked the arrival of the Archangel Michael, who always appeared too spectacularly not to notice him. Twitching, the cherub almost pierced the archangel with his flaming sword, only scorched him with sacred fire. "Aziraphale, Guardian of the Eastern Gate of Eden, tell me, did you see anything suspicious this morning?" – the angel spoke contemptuously and irritably extinguishing the fire with the power of one of his palms, since the very morning he had not forgotten about his duties, but rather making a tour of the Garden, once again confirming his own importance and responsibility. - I didn't see anything, Your Holiness, - smiling modestly and closing his eyes, the cherub bowed his head, in this gesture either sincerely expressing respect or laughing heartily at Mikhail's assumed pathos. "Good job," the archangel concluded dryly, with inherent importance, retreating further along the wide wall, instilling in all those who saw him a sense of his own extreme importance, as if he were the holy Seraphim here, or, look at it, the Lord Himself.   - It's actually funny that we do all the work. – Death of Life said, when the young creatures were hiding in the shade of green bushes, - She definitely knows how to distribute responsibilities. - Come on, my dear, - Life blinded him with the tenderest of its smiles, - you should not scold the one who gave you the right to control human life. She took his hand in hers and looked intently into his gray eyes, as if looking for glimpses of his feelings and thoughts. This silent scene was accidentally seen by the most businesslike archangel, who was completely unable to be touched by any manifestations of love, except the love of the Lord. "So it turns out that we are little Gods ourselves," the girl concluded, laughing softly, "there is a God, and you and I, my dear. The last phrase touched Mikhail's fanatical mind to the depths of his soul, who saw an excellent prospect for promotion. As a simple archangel who had never seen Life or Death, he decided that it would be a great idea to convey to the Goddess the fact of inexcusable desertion and talk about the possible rise of a full-scale uprising against all living and existing things. With this thought in mind, he went to the Goddess's reception room, literally inspired by his own idea of denouncing stupid and stupid little angels. - Today, the Goddess accepts only handwritten appeals, - Metatron closed the "door" to the chambers of the Almighty with his whole body, - you can leave your appeal to me, or wait for the end of the working day and apply personally, but by appointment. With the agility of a tiger, the archangel began to fill out an application form for a personal meeting with the Lord, but he was refused a visit. - Your rank is too low for what you have in mind, - the angel of the altar, grinning venomously and winking, gave Mikhail a form for written appeals. - Never mind, soon my rank will be so high that you did not even see it! In all colors, the angel began to talk about all the circumstances, not forgetting to tell how well he performs his many duties: "Hello, our Supreme Goddess, Creator of two worlds and all of us.  In the name of Archangel Michael, I want to inform you about an unforgivable and simply outrageous crime: dissent and terrible pride in the ranks of your subordinates. This morning, as the most responsible of all your workers, I was making a tour of the land of Eden and in one of the corners of your wonderful creation I heard voices. They talked about being on an equal footing with you, Lord, they say, "they can control human life." One of the voices tried to convince the other that you need to be scolded, because the second participant in the dialogue claimed that your creatures do all the work for you and very ironically stressed that you "know how to distribute responsibilities." Where have you seen such a thing, my God? I am waiting for your answer as soon as possible, because I also decided to report this as soon as I heard it, and the words of the criminals remained in my head in my near memory. With love, Archangel Michael." The letter remained on Metatron's desk, and Mikhail, full of a sense of real justice and a sense of accomplishment, went back to Earth. The goddess was just waking up at that moment, remembering what she had been doing yesterday. She created animals, overthrew seraphim, admired the stars... it seems that everything was logical and important. "I'm good," She concluded, remembering that She had been asked for something, but the Goddess did not remember what. - Metatron, tell me, what are my things for today? – She called her best employee, - Metatron?  The Lord lazily stretched out on a soft cloud, almost falling back into a sweet sleep. - Yes, my Goddess, I am here, - he entered to her, carrying a fresh appeal in his hands, - you have been addressed in writing, and it is also planned for today ... - the throne flipped through a long glider, numbering more than one eternity of records, - "rest". - Maybe I didn't do something yesterday? For some reason, I'm sure there are unfinished business. – assuming a sitting position, the Goddess assumed a serious and puzzled look. - The "creation of the first man" was planned for yesterday, - the altar angel replied, rustling the pages, - you entrusted this to Seraph and Life. - I'm starting to remember, yes... - her look became even more thoughtful, - has this bastard already been taken to his kind? – her eyes brightened, She reveled in her act, - so tired of my eternal questions ... as if I myself know how to answer them, really. - Yes, today at dawn, - stretching out like a thin string, Metatron began to worry that a similar fate could befall anyone, - how soon Would you like to come down to Earth to revive the first person? – it was easier to translate the topic so as not to anger the Almighty once again. - I think it's possible right now, yes, - there was determination and confidence in the voice, - is that all? Then the angel remembered the letter he had been keeping out of sight. - Something stupid, your omnipotence, - the throne handed her a small piece of paper, on which various words were carefully written. The handwriting jumped, the letters increased and decreased, betraying the sincere excitement and fighting spirit of the writer, who was completely imbued with his own part of the delusional idea. The goddess began to read, read for a long time, trying to comprehend and understand what she had read as best as possible. - Who is this brave Mikhail? – She tightly crumpled the paper, after which it burst into flames, burning to the ground, - his devotion is commendable, but the bad thing is that he betrays his comrades so easily ... there is no one on Earth except Life and Death, in their case such a conversation is the pure truth. I don't understand why it was necessary to translate the paper? – The Lord chattered literally under her breath, going through other documents that had been lying in her office for more than one eternity. Metatron did not react to the words of the Goddess in any way, only retired to his chambers, knowing that she does not like to be in society for a long time. The goddess descended to Earth without any warning. "Life, my child," the Almighty called, "where are you?" - I'm here, your everything ... - Life rose from the tight embrace of Death, faltering in its extremely respectful remark, which, ideally, would have put it in the best and most respectful light before the Creator - the almighty. - Come with me, I'll teach you what you don't know yet, - taking the virgin by the hand, the Goddess went towards the ill-fated cave, - come with us, - She invited Death to follow, who smoothly rose from the wet ground in the thickets of tall grass and followed. The Guardian of the Eastern Gate watched this scene, extremely surprised by the appearance of the Goddess herself on the still empty Earth. "I wonder why she's here." – the only reason was an exceptional love of order and control, a personal visit in this scheme was supported by a love to check everything personally and the cherub did not betray the significance of this incident, waiting for further.  - Look, my children, - the Almighty crushed the clay, which from a distance resembled an angel sleeping peacefully under a spreading tree, and divided it into two parts. - Knowing how much you love each other - not without the merit of the Lord himself, who created them specifically so different that there was no chance of not falling in love - you need to show each other in this clay, display the full depth of your feelings in an exact copy of the object of love. In fact, to be honest, it was an inventive way to make people beautiful and equal in each other's eyes. A method that works flawlessly, because, in fact, they will be like divine creatures, but the Almighty herself will not get her hands dirty on earth's clay. Life, with all the tenderness concentrated on the very tips of her fingers, molded every fold of her lover's lips, showed him strong and independent, at the same time the look of the product was expressive, a little languid, but much closer to playful. Death depicted his beloved as airy, charming with his strength and lightness. He made each finger and crease curly, honed, bright so much that anyone who saw it would have stared at this pure art for hours.  - Now Life, look, - the Goddess motioned her closer, seating her opposite, - I'm showing it for the first and last time. At first, particles of the surrounding space were concentrated in the hands of the Almighty, mainly fragments of granite, pieces of coal. She divided this lump of different dirt into two, after adding young iron and put freshly prepared souls into the heads of clay angels. The chest of one opened, the Goddess put a bright red ruby there, and did the same with the second figure. "Get up and go, my children," said the Goddess. Clay sculptures opened their eyes, timidly contemplating the surrounding reality.  - Oh, right, - one careless wave of the palm and people began to speak in a language known only to them, but, fortunately, the angels knew all the languages of the world, - I name you Adam and Lilith, - the Almighty said loudly, after which she disappeared from her place. Death and Life did not know at all what to do with these new creatures. They did not know what to call them, they did not know what rules about their world should be interpreted, but they understood one thing – they needed to be fed and the rules of local decency interpreted to them. - Hi, I'm Death, – the young man ventured, looking into the brown eyes of the clay angel, - your name is Adam, right? – the gray ice of the soul reaper's eyes seriously scared Adam, sitting on the floor in some damp place. The only negative is that it's cold, and the cold has completely shrunk him, also trembling with fear. Quickly and radically, he made an attempt to run out of the cave, but from ignorance of how to use his feet, the clay angel fell on the bare stones, completely smeared in the surrounding mud. After trying to move each of the individual fingers, he jumped up from the floor again, but this only gave him a skinned chin. Adam crawled towards the exit, like a curious dark snake crawling past, which Life did not remember at all. Aziraphale almost fell from the height of his gate. The new creatures interested him very much and attracted his gaze. He couldn't think of anything else but these creatures, of which there would probably be a lot. Lilith extended the hand of Death, who helped her to get up from her seat. Leaning against the dirty wall of the cave, the girl hugged herself with her own arms, showing that she was terribly cold. Hand in hand with Life, she took her first steps, stepping out into the bright sunlight. The tickling grass touched her rough feet, making her laugh for the first time. A few meters away, she saw Adam, tired of crawling. The enchanted guardian of the Eastern Gate spent his days just watching people, people who were the most interesting and exciting by their very existence. Her first words to him were those expressing a desire to help. Already she stretched out her hands to him, helped him get up from the ground, and together they learned to walk, coming up with their own separate set of sounds for each object around them, as a name in their new, just emerging language, which quickly acquired more and more new words, constructions, sign designations.  Gradually, they studied each other's bodies, diving deeper and deeper -they learned the differences and the importance of individual parts. They did this all the time, and both angels and God caught them engaged in learning, but they were not at all ashamed – it was natural, but both did not always like it. One always wanted more and more, wanted to own, always thought and dreamed of that beautiful body that is very close. She wasn't that interested. She was pleased with the world around her and the kind angels, she constantly walked around the garden, learning more and more new plants, getting to know new animals. On one of these walks, even "escapes from reality", she met an interesting young man who was also fascinated by the outside world, but no less by her inner world. They communicated in a mixture of angelic and human language, because he knew something, and she learned something from Life and Death when she communicated with them. Their conversations were about everything, and they were so interesting that she left more and more often, leaving Adam alone with himself. After some time, the heavens opened and the Voice of God was heard speaking in the language of those creatures that were soon to fill the Earth. "God is telling you," the word "God" was new and unclear to people, "to love each other and not commit sins," the literal "not to commit what?" was read on people's faces. - then you can stay in this heavenly place, - "paradise" was also equated to the incomprehensible and strange in their narrow circle. For Aziraphale, this revelation of God was not new, only for the angels it was "if you sin and lose your white wings, you will lose your connection with the Almighty." People played by completely different rules and they seemed to have a choice.  - Can I ask God a few questions? – Adam listened with fascination, attentively and was going to get an answer to his question – "Who is God?". "God hears you," Metatron replied, inviting the Almighty herself to talk. - Who is God? – annoyed by all these sudden events, the man could not even formulate a question, because there were no such words in their language yet. "God is the one who created you," Metatron replied, "your Creator." - What is a sin?  Lilith replied. "Something that does not need to be done," the Goddess already replied, "for example, there are fruits from my beautiful tree of knowledge. - why?  Adam asked. - Because you have hundreds and thousands of other trees with equally beautiful fruits. - What happens if you disobey? – not so long ago, Adam and Lilith coined the word "listen" together. It meant to understand what was said, and now, experimenting with the language, she wanted to deduce a new word. "You will not go to heaven," the Almighty snapped. - What is paradise?  Adam asked. - Where you are is heaven on Earth. After this long and unclear conversation for both sides, everyone dispersed. "So we're not going to heaven," the first man mused aloud. "Honey, they called this place paradise. How can we not get into it if we are already here?  Lilith threw up her hands to the sky, expressing her displeasure, "it's at least strange and stupid to speak in such riddles. "That's right, child of God," Lilith heard from somewhere far away and did not look like Adam, it was pleasant and beautiful. - I'll talk to God about this topic, - making the most serious face, Adam looked attentively at the frightened Lilith, - I'll talk right now, go away, woman. It was not at all clear who was talking to her – heaven, earth, God personally or someone equal to him, but his words captivated Lilith. Leaving her husband, she went into the depths of the Garden in search of the source of such a charming voice, literally taking the soul out of her chest. - Lilith, you are not made for ordinary life, - the voice called, - you should not be with him, you deserve better and more. "I don't think so," the woman replied, "he loves me, so I have to be with him." "But do you love him?" – big and warm hands embraced Lilith's carved and somewhat rough palms, - do you really need a person who is completely unloved by you? Lucifer stood in front of her. The very first rebellious angel, so long punished for his ideas that he had already managed to found a "new Paradise" - Hell, literally overflowing with the same rebellious natures who wanted only the best for themselves and their neighbors. - He and I were created from the same thing, - Lilith hissed angrily, pulling her hands out of a tight grip, - we will be connected to the end, otherwise I will not be the wife of the first man on Earth! It wasn't her who was talking, it wasn't her at all. It was her subconscious that was already leading Lilith back to Adam. Why did the woman refuse the angel? Why did you deprive yourself of the right to happiness, in favor of some God?  Had she come to the conclusion that she was only the wife of the first man? They were created from the same dust of the earth, their souls are made of the same iron and granite, they live in the same conditions and have the same needs. Why is she the wife of the first man, and he is the first man?  That's what God taught them. That's how he taught Adam to lead the family, that's how She wanted to make Adam the main one, but for what purpose? It was still worth finding out, but obviously not now. Now she has decided to run away. Without a doubt, her soul was created by God. But the body is the reaper of souls himself, who put a piece of himself into this portrait of his beloved, showed simple clay how to love. Lilith wanted to find exactly this feeling – endless love for someone who was created especially for her. Everything was not perfect in her marriage to Adam. For some reason, he believed that he had every right to treat her as his own thing, which she did not notice in her initial euphoria. At the level of her mind, she was attracted by the idea of something eternal, beautiful, pure. She had a passion, she had a desire to have an equal relationship with her husband, but he decided that if God wanted to communicate with him, then he was more important or even the most important here. All she needed from Lilith was a quick satisfaction of her base needs, from the outside world – exceptionally delicious food, which he consumed for no particular reason. He was constantly angry at Lilith, poking at Life and Death, sincerely wishing that they were exactly as close or even that Lilith, his wife, would become Life. With these thoughts, Lilith came to Adam, who had just been at a meeting with the Lord. - Where did you go? Today, the Goddess taught me loyalty, and I believe that you have sinned while I have not seen. - And I think I deserve the same treatment as you, - the woman came closer, almost wanting to strike, - we are both the first people created from the same and living the same. - But I am the first person here, Lilith, - Adam looked at his wife with an extremely fierce look, - you are just my addition, just a "woman". - Did God tell you that?  She came even closer, ready to start a fight. - God, that's right. Lilith raised her hand above her head, but Adam struck first, with a precise punch to the stomach. "This is your punishment," Adam reveled, but did not have time to finish the sentence, because Lilith hit him accurately and quickly in the most delicate and fragile place on the man's body, after which she hit him in the chest with all her might. - What right do you have to punish me? "Who gave you this right?" she shouted. Leaving him in the soft grass, the woman went to where she had last seen her angel – in him she now saw her chance for real happiness, she wanted to get to him, leaving her past behind. - Lucifer! "I'm going to leave with you because I don't love him!" she screamed, looking in all directions. Once again, Aziraphale unwittingly witnessed this scene. Watching the separation of loved ones and the struggle for his true love was really exciting, but in all this fuss, he couldn't help but remember Seraph, his friend, for whom he was very worried. On that ill-fated evening, at sunset, he remembered that bloody dawn, sat down at his post and quietly wept. It couldn't be that his friend was dead. But you can't say for sure if you're not allowed to leave your post. It is impossible to hope for something when you do not know at all what your curiosity will turn out to be. He did not count the days, he only knew that Seraph was alive. Wherever he is, whatever happens to him, he will live and they will definitely meet.