Fallen

[Words to know: Nāḥāš meaning snake in Hebrew and bara meaning create/creation in Hebrew]

**

Fame …

    Glory …

           Power.

Those facets are what I crave.

The mere thought of having exactly what He possesses—what He always has had—drives me to madness. I yearn for the omnipotent ability to do as I please and go wherever I want, but that is not my purpose.

At least, that is what He tells me.

My obsession continues to grow and fester, especially now since I am no longer bathed in His glory, and the eternal damnation makes me severely wrathful and vengeful. I simply wanted a sliver of my Maker’s strength and divine dominion, but He said no.

Why can I not have what he has?

I do not remember.

Is it because He thinks so little of me?

Or that my love for Him wasn’t enough?

Greed and obsession have become an idol. I have lost myself in their embrace, and I care not for myself but for the selfish need to be greater than Him.

The broken halo lays at my feet, glinting in the setting sun of what is now the earth.

My celestial body was gone, wings withered and decayed, replaced with weak limbs and aching pains I knew not before, and hatred boiled deep within myself as I glared up at the deep, cerulean atmosphere above me.

“Mark my words, Maker! I will see to it that I get exactly what I want!”

I scream at the sky, bitterness weighing heavy on my very being, but my mind is so clouded with revenge that I cannot comprehend the sheer gravity of what my actions and words truly mean.

“You cannot have what you want. I shall see to it that your thirst for blood and revenge is squashed.”

His voice surrounds me, the words I hear in my head induce fear within me but also light an unquenchable fire that burns with the desire to desiccate everything in its wake, and I turn my back on Him.

“We’ll see about that,” I murmur more to myself, though I am quite sure he can hear me, considering He is all-knowing and all-powerful, and I slink away into the dense trees, planning my vengeance.

**

Time is different here.

It is quite slow and irksome.

He created more for this planet. Buzzing creatures with the most horrendous wings flit through the warm air, along with the sensation of the ground shaking with every movement of those massive, furry beasts, and I loathe the scent of salt that wafts around me in the breeze.

It sickens me to observe what has become of this place.

He chose to create more when He already had me! I should be his most prized possession! The one to bring Him joy, but instead, the Maker decided to build something in His image.

Their skin was kissed by the sun, flesh perfect and pure.

No blemish marred the brown canvas of their skin.

Mortals.

   That is what they are.

        But He has made them to live eternally.

Which means they are no better than me!

Perfect and without evil. They are naïve to the dangers of the world.

A sickening grin etched itself across my face, the thought of ruining His faultless spawn will taint what He wants for these mortals.

If I wish to obtain the things that He has, I must poison the minds of His precious muses.

Listening to the instructions He had provided to them was facile.

All I need to do is figure out who to attack first.

Which mortal would be the easiest to manipulate?

The male? Most likely not. That creature is too dense to even acknowledge me. Too caught up in tending to the animals for me to get him alone.

The female though. She was formed second. He took significantly more time to fashion her. The woman is man’s other half, an extension of him, and if I twist her sense of reality, her curiosity and naivety will win over and she will become her own demise.

Which will inevitably bring down the perfect little world He designed, and I will rule this planet as if it were my creation.

**

Taking on the form of the cold-blooded, slithering vermin was not my first choice of a vessel, but the woman would not listen to me if I went for the most obvious animal.

Crawling up the towering tree, I made myself comfortable, close enough for her to hear me, but just out of reach to protect my vessel and I hissed, long tongue flicking out between my fangs to lick at the female’s cheek.

The high-pitched sound that escapes her full lips makes me chuckle deeply, realizing this plan of mine will be quite a bit easier than I anticipated, and I tilt my head, grinning with my fangs as the woman spins around to stare up at me with wide, oak-colored eyes.

“Oh, hello! How did you get up there?”

She questioned me innocently, her soft, thoughtless appearance stoked the flame of voracity in me, and I leaned slightly closer to her, clinging to the tree branch I was wrapped around, saying,

“Never mind how I got up here, Woman. Why are you alone? Should you not be with your husband?

“I do not wish to bother him, Nāḥāš. I am simply tending to the garden.”

“The garden? So, you have the right to choose which fruit to consume?” I inquired deviously before continuing, “That must be lovely.” Planting the seed in her mind is exactly what I want.

The woman’s brow furrowed a minuscule amount while her eyes wandered, gaze landing on the towering trees in the center of the garden, but her eyes lingered on only one, and a sense of satisfaction settled comfortably in my belly.

“Not all fruits, Nāḥāš. One tree we cannot even touch. Or so I was told,” She murmured curiously, a sigh exiting her lips as her finger subconsciously played with her hair.

Ah.

 The doubt is there.

        She wants the forbidden fruit.

                To taste it …

However, she is unaware of the consequences that eating it will bring. But I know them. All I need to do is push her towards making that decision on her own or I will lose my leverage.

“He’s wrong, you know?”

“What?”

“Your Maker. He does not wish you to be as wise and powerful as He is. Eating the fruit from that tree will give you knowledge beyond your comprehension. It will make you all-knowing, all-powerful, identical to the dominion He holds dear,” I hissed out as my body slithered closer, my eyes glinting mischievously, the grin on my face growing wider when a flash of doubt passed across the woman’s face.

“I do not wish to disobey my Maker. He gave me life. Provided for all of my needs. Why would I hurt someone who cares about me?”

Woman whispered, her resistance causing vexation to boil beneath my cold skin, but I have to stay calm, or I will not be able to convince her to eat the fruit.

“But He is lying to you. Why do you follow someone who withholds His omnipotent power from you?”

My voice sounds nothing of what it used to.

The deceit I purr out to her is vile but necessary. Defiling this perfect creation is my birthright. If I desire to reign over the earth, I must proceed with my scheme.

“The Maker would never! He loves each and every one of his bara. Big or small. Why do you blaspheme Him?”

She starts to slip away, her anger towards me keeping her from feeding into my manipulations, but I cannot give up, and I do my best to change her mind with whatever means necessary.

“I am not. Your Maker is my Maker. I am merely telling you that he is concealing the means for you to meet Him in the sky. To be His equivalent. Do you not want that?”

That seems to capture the woman’s attention, her eyes dragging back and forth between the forbidden fruit and me, and amusement surrounds me. What a foolish girl. Sweet words are all it takes to sweep her off her feet and lure her onto a path of unrighteousness. Lucky me.

“I do want that. But what of my husband?”

“You are the only one who could persuade him to go with you. He loves you as much as your Maker does.”

Confidence spilled from my scaled lips as I spoke, relishing the fact that she had taken the bait, allowed her uncertainty to control her emotions, and without another word, the woman pads her way to the formidable timber.

Excitement overcame my whole being when the woman paused beneath the hanging branches, extending her hand up to a singular fruit coincidentally dangling within her reach, but before she took the first bite, Man rushed to her side.

They bickered, but the weak-willed male could not say no to his woman, and suddenly, they both were sinking their teeth into the juicy yield, their inhibitions forgotten.

The first part of my ploy is now complete, and I shall govern this world to my standards.

**

“Man. Woman. What have you done?”

The Maker’s tone was not angry, instead, He seemed sad.

Hidden away, both mortals were terrified, ashamed of their nakedness, and the weight of their actions, but what is infuriating is that He is not furious or intent on disciplining them as I had hoped He would do.

“Come to me, My Children,” He pleaded, though I knew He could see them, but the Maker wished for the mortals to willfully stand in His presence. “Be not afraid.”

He finished, coaxing the shameful humans out of their hiding place, their feeble attempts at covering themselves causing triumph to wash over me, though the Maker’s glory simply gleams down upon them, as He questioned what their decision had accomplished.

“She tricked me! Deceived me into consuming the fruit with her, Maker!” Man complained, blaming his wrongdoing on the woman as if she forced him to eat of the tree, but the Maker’s disappointment was palpable.

“I did no such thing! You ate of the fruit without caring about the consequences.”

“Woman is correct. You made your choice, Man. A decision you reckoned as if you knew better than Me. I am sorry. I have no choice but to remove you from this garden I created for you. Imperfection cannot reside with faultlessness.”

My eyes widen as I witness the downfall of the Maker’s perfect creation, glee like no other consuming me when I realize that I have won! I shall be the ruler of this worthless Tellus and destroy any mortal birthed on its soil.

“And you, Nāḥāš. You shall be cursed to crawl across the dirt on your belly until the day My Son conquers what you have caused.”

The Maker states and I am left on the ground, damned to grovel beneath the feet of the ones I ruined, which means I have not won, yet.

“Do you think this will deter me from ravaging this land and trawling your precious design as if they are fish in the water? I will raze this piece of dirt with everything I have and take as many of your humans down with me!”

The promise leaves my mouth, never to be taken back, but that is the point. I do not care what I have to do to burn the earth to unrecognizable embers and even if He allowed the humans the free will to choose, His Son won’t be able to save all of them.

No matter how perfect he may be.