Dawn (In the Beginning)

My Brother's Keeper

Adam and Eve wandered in despair for several weeks, sleeping in caves and makeshift shelters. The desert was harsh and unwelcoming in comparison to the only home they had ever known, the Garden they had taken for granted. Adam mourned the voice and wisdom his father provided and he began going quietly by himself away from Eve to speak to his father as though he could hear and answer him. When he didn't know how to proceed and felt that he needed guidance, he would go off alone and kneel down facing the direction from which they had come, facing Eden, and he would speak. He would ask of his Father advice. Ask what he should do and how to proceed. Then he would concentrate and try to answer his own question the way he thought his father would. It seemed to work. Ideas came to him that he believed would not have otherwise. He wondered if maybe his father and he had a mental connection with each other somehow.

Eve was skeptical about the decisions he made that way, but she followed anyway and did as he asked of her. Eventually they found some fertile ground. Greenery had begun to show up here and there as they traveled and more and more often they were able to find animals to kill and cook for food. When they came to the valley full of lush vegetation and a stream running through it, they knew they had found home.

Eve had given birth to two sons. The eldest was Cain who took immediately to farming and growing food from the ground. The younger was Abel, a mild mannered, quiet young boy who loved nothing more than to daydream out in the fields among the goats and the sheep. He tended them with compassion and gentle guidance, never impatient or harsh in his discipline of them. He sat out there all day long, singing in his clear voice songs he composed himself as he went.

Adam was very proud of his two boys, glad they had grown into two, although very different, hard working and useful men. They would have no problem caring for their own wives and children one day, if he could find wives for them that was.

At the end of every 7 day period, both boys would bring Adam the fruits of their labor. The best of the crops of fruit and vegetables came from Cain and Abel brought a whole lamb, roasted to perfection and seasoned with herbs from his brother's fields. The food was excellent from both of Adam's sons and he praised both of their effort and skill. However he was particular to meat and it was obvious to the boys that he enjoyed it far more than the vegetables, fruits, and nuts brought by Cain. He would sit back with a sigh, juices running down his chin as he chewed and savored the tender meat, eyes closed in ecstasy. When he was finished, his eyes would pop open and he would reach a hand toward his son Abel and beckon him. Abel would walk forward and place his hand in his fathers and accept the praise his father would bestow on him for the delicious meat.

Cain watched from the side as his father delighted in his brother's offering hardly giving his own any thought at all. He worked just as hard, if not harder, as his brother, breaking the ground, tilling it, planting, irrigating, weeding, harvesting, and preserving. He was out there before the sun shed light on the fields and way after it had gone to sleep again in the distance. Abel roamed the hills with his flocks, sat and gazed at the mountains as they grazed, and made up his insignificant little hymns as he chewed on sweet grass and drank cool water from his skin flask. His hands were soft from lack of hard labor and his back was weak. Yet he received the most praise and appreciation from their father for the offerings he brought.

Cain grew increasingly agitated and his anger grew with each passing week. He began to harass his brother, seeking him out just to bully him. He did everything he could to tarnish Abel's image in their father's eyes, even lying flat out about him. Adam was not an unwise man and he caught on immediately to his older son's jealousy and anger. He did nothing to fuel it, but refused to submit to it either. He kept a wary eye on his son's actions and demeanor toward his brother.

One hot afternoon the two young men went out together to one of the far fields. There were fences that needed mending and Cain asked Abel to come help him.