The Garden of Eden

Chapter One

"I will always love you, my sweet, sweet daughter."

The small toddler looks up at her mother, her brown eyes shining with tears. She stretches her chubby arm through the hole in the gate and grasps for her mother's hand. "Mama! Mama!" Her chest rises and falls rapidly, her sobs growing louder.

"Get the girl away from the Gates."

The toddler's cries stop abruptly at the sound of the man's smooth voice. Even at the young age of two, the girl knows how to obey the rules. Her mother has taught her well.

"I'll see you soon, Elisabeth. I promise."

Elisabeth's eyes fly open, only for her to shut them tight again with a groan of frustration. This is the fifth night in a row she's had this dream, and it gets more confusing every time. Elisabeth has known she was the toddler from the very beginning. The woman calls her by name and she has the same cinnamon eyes and thin, tawny hair the color of mud.

But the woman that she calls "Mama" isn't her mother. That's the confusing part. Her mother has beautiful golden hair and eyes the color of the sky, and a soprano voice with a laugh that sounds like tinkling bells. The woman in her dream looks nothing like her mother. She has ratty brown hair and eyes that are so deep blue, they almost seem black. She is stripped to just a white dress made of rags and her feet are bare. The clothes of an Outcast Child.

The woman in her dream feels so real, so tangible. And Elisabeth gets the lung-crushing, heart-twisting fear every time the toddler is pulled away from the Gates, away from her mother.

Elisabeth sits up and rubs her eyes. Dreams are just dreams, even though this one seems more like a nightmare. There isn't time to dwell in the world of imagination. Not when a world as real and inviting and beautiful as Eden awaits.

"I think it's a coral kind of day. Am I right, Closet?"

The silver tube sitting in the corner of the room chirps in agreement before flashing red and opening to reveal a simple lace dress, a light shade of coral. Elisabeth grins. "You are the best, Clossie." Elisabeth jumps from her bed and rushes over to the machine, grabbing the dress.

She slides out of her gold nightgown and slips the lacy dress over her head, feeling the little prickles of excitement spreading up her arms. Angel would love this look. She's always had more of an eye for colors and patterns and textures than Elisabeth. That's why she's always disgruntled when Elisabeth shows up to lessons wearing a simple white or gray dress when she has the option of wearing any color on the pallet. Angel will be proud of her today.

Truthfully, Elisabeth isn't doing this to please her best friend. Not that she would ever admit to it, but Elisabeth is doing this to impress a boy.

A new boy, actually. The funny thing is, the Garden of Eden doesn't allow late memberships. You're born there and you die there, unless you're Exiled, but that's a whole other story. The fact that there was a boy on her class list that wasn't there before confused her immensely. But, sure enough, a Notice was released that night stating that there was a new member of the Garden. And, for the first time ever, he was not a baby.

The boy is sixteen years old. His name is Joshua and the conditions of his membership are absolutely classified, according to the Notice.

A curious beep brings Elisabeth out of her daze. When she turns, she is almost blinded by the glow coming from Closet.

"Beep. Beep. Bop, bop, boop."

"Oh, shut up, Clossie. Curiosity killed the closet."

But of course Clossie is curious. Elisabeth can't even remember the last time she asked for a brightly colored dress, and when she did, it was always for Sunday Service. Elisabeth has always been self concious. With her plain face and skinny body, she could easily pass for a boy. That's the only reason why Elisabeth keeps her hair long. She tells herself that she does it because she likes it better long, but she's a horrible liar, even when she's lying to herself.