Remembrance of Eve *NANOWRIMO13*

Chapter 17

We named him Absalom, Peace. He brought us peace from the moment he was born. Adam determined to offer sacrifice in gratitude for the safety of his family, Absalom and I had lived. I had lived through the ordeal of giving life to another.

Adam offered sacrifice the next Sabbath. Together, we walked to the altar on the hill, followed by a young male antelope, who offered himself as sacrifice for us.

Absalom sat quietly in my lap watching the sacred offering. He never cried, nor laughed. He sat soberly and watched. We knelt together, our little family, and thanked Father for the life of this little one. He was truly worth the sorrow and pain necessary to bring him to this earth.

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Absalom was a happy child, laughing at the animals, reaching for the birds, seeing the butterflies and insects. He was joy, and we loved him. He went everywhere with us, riding on my back in his basket. When he got older, he rode on his Adam’s shoulders, hanging on to his hair as Adam worked, sometimes Adam was on his hands and knees, pulling weeds, with Absalom riding on his back. Papa was his first pony.

One afternoon a flock of chickens flew in, landing near little Absalom. He giggled and grabbed at them. One laid an egg next to him. They seemed to love Absalom’s joyful laugh, and stayed with us in our Home Valley. We now had access to eggs. These were added to our meals.

It was not many moons before he was toddling about around our house and the valley. I was required to tie a length of vine around his little tummy, in order to keep him close. He had determined that he wanted to eat the same food as his mama and papa. His stomach was not yet able to eat the grains and dry meat. What would I feed him? The wheat softened and cooked was good for his little tummy. It was not long before he joined us in eating squash and other vegetables. He was a joy.

Adam stood watching the little flock one evening, chickens, goats and Absalom. “He is quite the little friend. He has made friends with all the creatures here.”

“Only the cow keeps her distance! She does not like it when he tries to swing from her tail. I do not blame her. I am sure that would hurt.”

“Smart cow. The little rascal thinks everyone loves him. And we do.”

The cow mooed gently to her newest little calf.

“She is a good mother, just like you, Eve.” He pulled me into his arms for a quick hug. It did not last long, for the cat yowled and little Absalom grabbed at her tail. I had to reach down and rescue the cat from him. She settled into my arms, licking her tail and purring.

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Adam surprised me one day. He brought home a rock with a small indentation in the middle. Another hard round rock sat in the middle.

“What do I do with this?” I asked.

“Place grains, wheat, oats, or rye, in the middle of the indentation, and grind it with the round rock. See what happens.”

I chose a small handful of rye and let it trickle through my fingers into the center of the indentation. Picking up the small round rock, I slowly ground the wheat between the rocks. It broke up the grain. It would not need to be soaked and steamed to eat. But, how to eat it?

I scooped the ground up rye and put it into a basket with water. The next day, it was all bubbly and frothy. I dumped off some of the water, and added more. I wanted to see what would happen. Four days I watched the ground up rye and water. On that day, I ground more rye, and mixed it with some of the rye and water mixture. To that I added a small amount of honey, and some oranges. I mixed these together and let it sit. The mixture doubled in size before I slipped it into the oven. When we cut the bread, it tasted wonderful.