The challenge? Write a story in exactly 6 sentences based on Denise’s one word prompt: TONIC. Visit, comment, and write & perhaps post your own on SIX SENTENCE STORIES
Man and Woman stood under the arch, then passed through the gate, shivering in the uncertain wind, sere landscape and unfathomable horizon splayed before them.
All they had ever known was closeness, lush splendor, and the blissful peace of protected infants, but now there would be only the comfort of one another’s hand, and the strange anxiety that gripped them as their bodies pressed together.
She stood under the tree, her sharp white teeth snapping through the fruit’s firm skin, and tilted her head back to catch the honeyed, crisp juice, the red fruit a tonic to all itchy questions, thinking “those two will have a difficult time, since they chose to fight over the apple, rather than to taste, share, and grow, as intended.”
Reaching up, she plucked another globe from the tree, and felt for the rightness in her hand. Reassured, she hailed the woman outside the gate.
“Eat, and tend the seeds of this paradise, for you two will have your work cut out for you, if you ever wish to return,” she called, tossing the apple into Eve’s clever hands.
Thus blessing, she turned back to the remaining family as the gates clanged shut.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2024)
Valley of the Trolls 
I have to join the others in applauding your excellent version of this familiar tale!
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Thank you, all, for receiving this in the speculative spirit as intended. I thought it might trigger some friends, so added a warning when sharing with them…
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Excellent. Lilith’s refusal to be subservient to Adam has always resonated with me, along with the idea of challenging patriarchal norms.
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And of course she’s going to help them, post-banishment. Bc nothing ever changes without a little risk (creativity). 💐
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This is a most interesting version!
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Exploring the corners of the envelope, drawing on other interpretations, thinking what if…cuz why not.
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What a wonderful retelling of the apple tree🍎
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Thank you! God only knows what the true story is…😉
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Being a ‘family blog’ I think I’d best forego the version of the story that I favor when it comes to Adam’s first wife.
(What isn’t surprising is the smear campaign on Lilith that persists to present day. That said, gotta say I’m surprised at how comprehensive account of the ‘First Breakup’ was left in the record.)
;p
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Nice retelling of Genesis 3.
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Thanks, Frank!
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Well done! An interesting take on the Garden of Eden!
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Never did cotton to the idea of seeking knowledge as an original sin…maybe a patriarchal mistranslation?
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It could very well be, because the ancient world was very patriarchal. The interpretation I always heard (which doesn’t necessarily make it right) was that the knowledge they sought was the same knowledge God had, as in they wanted to BE God, which didn’t fly. But as I say, that’s an interpretation, and has to be taken as such.
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Yep.
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