The Forbidden Fruit

“Give that back, Zia! I called dibs on that apple!”

“ But I’m hungry! Besides I picked it from the tree first!” she yelled jumping off the tree and landing clumsily on the grass.

“Zia,” he gritted his teeth, trying not to cuss, “ my sweet little sister, I’m the one carrying our load of clothes on my back remember? I’m the one carrying you when you tire! And..and I haven’t eaten anything since that night. So. Give. Me. That. Apple.”

“Neither of us have eaten a thing since that night.” she said defiantly. And then almost in a whisper, “ It’s the food you stole, Zane! I swear it was cursed. It’s the reason we landed here. You should’ve never stolen from that Snake Lady.”

They had met the Maegi the night they had run away from home. Gossip had it that she practiced the dark arts. It

was even said by many a village elder, that those who seek her never return. So when She had offered to read their future for free, Zane had denied in that firm, older brother way of his. The Maegi had merely hissed and promised great riches for one of them. But that didn’t make much sense to Zia, if her brother was rich, she too would be rich, by virtue of just being there.

“ I was trying to keep us alive-be the big brother you know!”

“ Well, clearly it’s worked,” she clapped mockingly “now that we’re alone in this garden – eating leaves for breakfast, lunch and dinner- don’t even get me started on the water here-”

“- There’s nothing wrong with the water! It’s crystal clear!” Zane protested. And it was. It was so clear a blue that Zane thought he had never really seen blue before. They had wandered about without a plan after their very first steal and seeing the lush green property , Zane had dragged Zia in the unreal garden, thinking how convenient it’d be to conceal themselves by day and to steal from the village by night.

Except there had been no night. And there had been no village. Everything had melted behind them as soon as they had sneaked past the watchmen in golden breastplates. The lush garden itself had offered nothing to eat, to Zane's increasing bewilderment. Yet they had walked and walked for what seemed like days( for there was no way to measure time with the never-setting, too-bright, picture-perfect sun) . There wasn't as much as a bush of berries in sight. Until now.

A gorgeous apple tree with a single, sinfully red apple atop it. It had looked so picturesque to Zane, and now, he felt angry. Angry at his ungrateful sister. She couldn’t let him have it could she? No, others always had to sacrifice themselves for her. His mother had to sacrifice her life for Zia to be born. Zane had never forgiven her for it. He had to sacrifice his free time to carry her to the village fair so she could buy useless trinkets with their hard earned coppers. No, his hard earned coppers.

An indignant voice in his head spoke up, but you’ve always liked that. She’s seven. She’s allowed to be childish. Besides she’s always protected you from father when he got particularly bad. He decided to swallow the angst. It did not come easily.

“ Listen, Zia I’m sor-”

The air rippled, and there was a sharp crack, something bent to tear a hole in the fabric of the world. Call it fluke, call it intuition but some ancient instinct in Zia's mind knew that the creature walking through that hole was older than time itself. She staggered backwards.

“ I hope I’m not interrupting, dears…” came a sudden hiss. It sounded like a thousand snakes whispering in a single,sickly, sweet voice.

“Snake Lady!” Zia gasped as she ran to hide behind her brother. Zia noticed the apple wasn’t in her hand anymore, it was sitting pretty in the outstretched fingers of the Snake Lady. The tall, slender woman dressed in a flowing red robe almost slithered towards them.

“Come now, child. Don’t be afraid. I’m just here to take you home. Give you what you want- no, what you were promised- in that alley. Come, sweet child.”

Zia was sorely tempted. The Snake Lady had helped them after all. Her brother was the one who’d stolen the food. And yet, the Snake Lady had come to look for them, she must mean well.

And even if she didn’t, Zia reflected, they didn’t have much of a choice except to believe her.

With those thoughts, Zia tugged her brother’s sleeve, nodding towards the Snake Lady when-

“Oh, no child! You poor dear! I thought you remembered what I said in the alleyway,” she shook her head, “This is the worst part of my job, really,” she paused to look so genuine and heartbroken Zia wanted to comfort her.

“ Only one can pass.”

There was a long pause in which Zia and Zane stared at the Maegi.

“And I’m guessing it’s the one who eats the apple”, Zayn spoke like something was stuck in his throat.

"Hold up, Snake Lady! Why can't we share it?" Zia wrung her hands in the air as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, I wish ,dear that were true. But I've found that a human body split in half is quite an ugly thing," .The Maegi nodded with pain in her eyes at their pale white faces and simpered “ Who will it be? The right thing to do is of course to let your little sister go, Zane. But oh, you are a boy, you will be allowed to make a place for yourself in the world. But Zia, with her drunk father and vanished brother won’t be accepted into society. Crueler a fate than isolation, I believe.”

Her voice was soothing and rich with power. An old woman fretting about the fate of two children in danger. Zane found that he… agreed with her. Indeed Zia would never be able to fend for herself, as the riches the Maegi planned to give would pass on to her closest male relative by law. Their father would drink it away. She would have to sell her body on the street corner when she was older, go hungry more often than not and would never be deemed fit to build a family. Zane had seen such women, every village was full of them. It was kinder to take the apple for himself,really. He outstretched his hand.

Zia's brother was selfish. He hadn’t wanted her to have the apple from the start. He was a thief, he was disloyal. He had suggested running away from home when father kept beating him for coppers. He didn’t want home,but surely, Zia wanted it. He could stay here and perhaps she could visit him with this old Snake Lady. It was for his good. Zia outstretched her hand.

The Maegi smiled.

She really is the Snake Lady , Zia thought as she came closer. She had slit- like eyes and a voice that dripped venom when it spoke. Her low, slow hisses made Zia more agitated than she had ever been in her life. Her emotions felt aflame as she looked at Zane and saw the same fire in his eyes.

Zia withdrew her hand afraid it would touch the Snake Lady but Zane was…captivated. He walked ahead briskly and the Maegi's smile widened.

They were only a step apart.

“Zane don’t!” she yelled pulling his hand towards her. He looked back and for a second she saw the brother she loved and recognized, but just as quick as it had come, it left him, looking cold.

“You’re too young and silly to possibly understand what I’m doing. Stand back.”

Please. Please. She pulled him, bit him, kicked him, pleaded with him but he shrugged her off easily. Then she clambered up his back , wrapping her legs around his neck, yanking his hair- blinded he fell screaming- he flung her bodily away from him and she landed bruised, in a heap near the tree. Tears had completely fogged her vision, she reasoned… that was why she was imagining what she was imagining. The rapid crumble of the textbook perfect garden around her, swallowing everything in it’s path. Chaos. The trees evaporated, the grass beneath her rippled and disappeared as if it were nothing but a trick of the light. She screamed at it to stop, it was going to take her with it.

“ I always knew humans weren’t worth saving” a disembodied voice thundered fitting in with the Chaos. No, Zia decided, it was the Chaos. “ Weak, selfish, greedy. You’re the Evil ones. I am merely wise, seeing what God couldn’t – you aren’t worthy of protection. Unworthy of kindness. I didn’t change your emotions, I just created a scenario to reveal who you are and what a show you've given me- sibling against sibling to save your own skin. You disgust me. You have the same blood, do you not? I just inflamed the thoughts floating in your mind, gave you a little nudge and you fell headalong…”

Zia hadn’t realised how scared she was when Zane looked at her, towering above her.

"Brother, please... don't.."

He thrust his hand forward- and clutched hers-

-she had not been expecting that. She withered away, melting in it.

She accepted his sweaty hand and kissed it and then and there she found she wasn’t scared of the endless sky engulfing her.

When Zane laid down beside her, they saw the last streak of blue sky fighting Chaos on all sides and they pretended it was whole. They were just alone in a garden contemplating the infinite sky, Zia reasoned. When she looked at her brother she was proud that they lay with no hatred in their hearts, no terror for their death. They had accepted their lives were forfeit and Zia could’ve laid there for an eternity, in that kind of peace.

But Zane hoped he wasn’t seeing things when he saw a gate bearing the sign 'The Garden of Eden' materialise through the dark. He was stupidly happy. It couldn't be. He saw Zia sleeping next to him, so he picked up his sister and walked through the other side…

…finding their village and their home and an extremely pissed off, drunk father.

“ Just where have you-“

“ We- we were just picking some apples.”