Faith

PART TWO: ACCEPTANCE

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: MARIAN

Her hair lay to the side of her head; collections of strands diffused across the dirt mixed in with the drifting particles that strayed because of the strong winds that swept throughout the whole valley. Her hair made her standout among the bare, dry valley. She laid there, unmoving as if she was a rotting corpse left for creatures to mingle over and dispose of. But there were no other living things around to do the job. She was sleeping. She was not dead. This is the first time she would see and experience a desolate and seemingly beautiful world. It would be the first time she would experience pain, labor and maybe even joy: for she held a task that would be most difficult. It required strength, patience and faith.

            Stronger winds rushed through the air and whisked her dark hair slightly that it slid across the dirt. A light brown material was wrapped around her raw body covering all her skin and providing her with a small warmth. Her skin was very light and smooth. Her face was small and fragile and contained a various beauty that shined as bright as a sun ray erupting a dark rain cloud. Her face shown a delicate kindness and softness that may even have made the breeze gentle in its blowing and voices saying, “wake up” “it’s time”. Her eyes opened gradually, revealing dark colored eyes. She transitioned her head so that her face was pointed towards the sky. A beautiful and glorious light beamed down from the clouds causing reflections of the light to bounce off of her irises. The light was too blinding. She could only gaze at it long enough to feel it burn her eyes and so she had to shield them. What she saw was the sun: shining forth through puffy white magnificent clouds that partly concealed the whole blue sky. She was in a daze. Where… am I? She wondered. She reached up her left hand towards the sun as if to capture the light in her hand. Then she slowly brought it down to her side. She searched the rest of the world around her. Tall pointy objects stood in the distance popping out from a bare and colorless valley.

            A figure began forming in the distance. It was striding towards her at a slow pace. She watched it draw closer and closer until she began to recognize it. Him actually. He looked so familiar to her. She remembered his face but she couldn’t remember exactly when and where. He was a lot like her. They had similar bodies and features but slightly different shapes.  He stopped right beside her, invading the sun’s rays from shining down on her. His gaze rested upon her. He was tall and slim. His chest, shoulders and arms were muscle toned and he wore the similar material which covered her body around his waist. His hair blended in with the light for it was pure white: the same color as the sun.

            “Marian,” he spoke.

            She didn’t move. She only gazed back at him. Marian… She was Marian.

            “Marian… that is my name…”

            He nodded and his mouth curved into a reassuring smile. She stared at him for the longest time.

            “You are…”

            The man hunched over and reached out his hand. “I am Julian. Don’t worry, all your memories will come back soon.”

            Marian put her hand in his.

            “Memories?” She questioned. Her eyes looked into his deep grayish blue ones.

            “Yes. Memories of the Garden of Andros.” Instantly, memories flashed through her head. There were green meadows filled with thousands of colorful scented plants, forests of tall bulky trees and roaming creatures both small and large. The Garden of Andros.

            “I remember,” she said. Julian pulled her onto her feet. She looked around.

            “How come we are not in the garden anymore? Where are we?”

            “Do you not remember?” Julian asked softly. “The fruit.”

            Again, more memories appeared in her mind.

            “I… remember.”

            Julian nodded while they stood beside each other. Marian put her left hand to her chest.

            “Do you feel it too?” Julian asked. She nodded.

            “Something in my chest is squeezing. I feel like something is going to make my chest burst. I feel different than how I did in the Garden of Andros. What is this?”

            “I don’t know.”

            “What is going to happen to us? Has God abandoned us?”

            ‘We have fallen, Marian. We disobeyed our father. Our bodies have changed. We are going to feel differently from now on but I believe God has not abandoned us for he still loves us. We are suffering the consequences from disobeying his commandment.”

            “What are we going to do now?”

            “We have to make ourselves a living in this world.” Julian took a few steps forward. He turned his head to look at her.

             “And we have to follow God’s other commandment. To have children.”