Plan B
Eve look at the snake curling around her ankles with benign interest. Like every other animal here, Eve knew that no creature would hurt her. Why should they? God provided all with sustenance, warmth, and happiness. They wanted nothing, so there was no reason to fight, or to harm. Besides, one of God’s commandments included, “Thou shalt not harm”, so she was safe.
The snake wound up her leg, hissing softly. Eve bent down to hear what the snake was trying to say.
“Do you know of the Golden Apple, hanging from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?”
Eve nodded, knowing the forbidden fruit.
“It is time, time for you to rise up to your rightful place. You are not mere animals, alongside other beasts, but above these creatures. The only thing left is for you to take a bite from the Golden Apple...”
“Don’t be silly, snake,” Eve said, gently prying him from her thigh. “God dictated that the fruit was forbidden, and so it will be. Please excuse me, I wish to walk alongside the river.” She carefully put the snake down, and continued on her way.
The snake crept over to Adam, and, coiled around his neck, whispered the same message in his ear. Adam shook his head, gently removing the snake. “God dictated that the Fruit was forbidden. I do not long for an increase in status - why should I?” So saying, he put the snake down and joined Eve in her walk.
“Alright, Plan B,” God rumbled, after the snake (having transformed into Lucifer once more) reported his failure. “Instead of temptation, why not try trickery?”
The next day, Lucifer strolled about, in his glorious angelic form, waiting for Adam or Eve to notice him. Soon enough, Eve came close, awestruck. “Are you...an angel?”
He smiled down at her, his perfect face shining. “Yes, I am. I am glad to have the honour of meeting God’s most coveted creation. In fact, I have a gift for you, one I have brought from my realm to yours.”
He revealed a juicy, red apple. There was one catch. It is impossible to completely disguise the Golden Apple; if seen a certain way, one can notice a slight golden sheen, but Lucifer had been careful to mask this sheen as much as possible.
As Eve reached out, her eyes grew unfocused; a frown crossed her face. “This is no apple, but the forbidden fruit! I can see the golden shine! You are no angel, but a trickster!” She turned and ran, hair swinging in the breeze.
He could see Eve telling Adam of her close encounter; the two of them would be on high alert now. Lucifer cursed aloud - a nearby flower withered. Frowning, he flew away, to once again report his failure.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! I was the one who told them angels were good, pure creatures - yet, they still somehow saw through it?” God was getting irritated. He couldn’t move forward, not till his humans willingly ate the fruit - without coercion on His part, at least.
“Alright, I have another idea,” God said, slowly rising from His throne. “Perhaps it would be easier for Eve to stumble upon the fruit, rather than have someone tempt her.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to deceive Adam, my Lord?” Lucifer questioned. “Eve is clever, and will be on her guard.”
“No, it is imperative that Eve be the one to take the first bite,” He replied.
Every evening, Adam and Eve met under the shade of the baobab tree, to have their food. Normally, they snacked on fruits and vegetables, and most fruits were able to be picked off the trees on the way to the baobab tree; resulting in Adam and Eve bringing their own food with them. However, one day, they saw a fruit hanging above their heads, from the branch of the baobab tree. Adam reached up, eager to see the new type of fruit; Eve quickly pulled him away. “The Almighty One has given us enough trees and fruit to nourish ourselves, Adam. Why be greedy?”
Soon, they ate their fruits, and, deep in conversation, the two of them got up and left, leaving Lucifer (disguised as a bird this time) to tweet angrily and fly away.
“Oh my, Eve really is the clever one,” God mused.
“Shall we try my idea now?” asked Lucifer, eager to please his Creator.
“By all means, go ahead,” God said. “The sooner the ball gets rolling for the Grand Plan, the better.”
That night, Adam was on his own, admiring the starry heavens, amazed at God’s creations. Birds chirped to him, and squirrels ran near his side. Adam felt at peace. At a distance, Eve, too, was at peace. Bathing in the cool river waters, she swam alongside the fishes - the water perfectly reflected the night sky, and Eve felt like she was swimming amongst the stars.
Adam stretched back, when his hand bumped against a fruit. In the dark, he could see that it was an apple. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that it has been a while since his last meal. Adam raised the apple to his mouth (a certain squirrel looked on eagerly), but paused (much to the squirrel’s discontent). Adam remembered Eve’s warning, and the previous times they had been tricked to consuming the forbidden fruit.
Adam stood up, and lobbed the apple as far away from him as he could - as long as the apple remained in the Garden, it was fine, and the Garden was infinite.
By the time the squirrel managed to locate the apple, it had all gone wrong. The squirrel gulped, before transforming into his true nature and flying off, to report a drastic change.
“He threw it away? What do you mean, he threw it away?” God was...confused, to say the least. There are only so many ways one can trick a human into putting something in their mouth, but He didn’t anticipate it would be this hard.
“It’s worse than that, Your Gloriousness. He threw it into the...great ape pit. One of the gorillas picked it up...” Lucifer gulped.
The Almighty One collapsed into His throne. “Well, the forbidden fruit is consumed...this means that my plan has...changed?”
Lucifer patiently waited while God thought about this new circumstance.
“It seems like we must carry on with our plan, as before,” He eventually decided.
“Yes, Your Gloriousness,” replied Lucifer, and flew off to exact His plan.
A few decades had passed, and Adam stumbled upon a crevice, a cliff of sorts. Eve was walking with him, and both peered curiously over the edge.
They saw a garden, like their own, but not as perfect somehow. It wasn’t garden all around, but in fact, few patches of garden, whereas the sea covered most of the area. It was a lot more blue than green - apes crossed the limited garden space, and had already formed hierarchical societies, and a basic form of communication.
“What is that? Is that a part of Heaven?” Adam asked.
“No, my dear one,” God replied, materializing next to him. “That is called Earth. The great apes are the new inhabitants of earth. I had gotten bored of the earlier creatures, and decided it was time for a new age. In fact, you were supposed to be the new inhabitants, but circumstances changed.”
“What went wrong?” Eve asked, concerned.
God smiled. “You followed orders too well.”
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