Adam's Apples
Toby sat beside Zonia, his head cocked curiously, his tail twitching while he watched Adam Beam wave the dream doodler in the air after pressing the "DREAM DRAW" button. When a large dream drawing appeared in mid-air, Grandfather Adam and the children gathered behind him gasped an amazed gasp.
"Once the dream drawing is painted in the air," Adam said, "we must hurry and step into it before it closes. The Dream Door doesn't stay open very long."
"And you say you first must imagine the drawing?" Grandfather Adam stroked the white whiskers on his chin while he thought about the amazing demonstration.
"Yes, sir. You just imagine what you want to be and what you want to do, and then when the dream drawing appears, you hurry through the Dream Door's portal."
"May I try it?" the old man asked when the boy had put the dream doodler back in its holster.
"Sure," Adam Beam said, removing the it again and handing it to the old man.
"Now ... let's see here..."
Grandfather Adam held the dream doodler clumsily and fidgeted to try to remember how Adam had used it just seconds ago.
The boy, seeing the old man had forgotten, reached to point out the "DREAM DRAW" button.
"Oh, yes! I see now!"
He held the dream doodler at arm's length, shut his eyes, and thought of the scene he wanted to dream draw. Suddenly, an image of a pasture appeared with several princely horses grazing on thick green grass.
"Amazing! ... Truly amazing!" Grandfather Adam said. "And you say I can just walk right into that pasture?"
"Yes, sir. But you must hurry through the portal quickly. It closes really fast."
"May I try it again?" the old man said in a voice that expressed his delight.
"Sure...but remember you must imagine yourself back here when you are ready, and don't ever push that button." The boy pointed to the button marked "OUT".
"Why not?"
"Because that will take Zonia and I instantly back to the time and place we came from...the Exploretime Cube. That's why there is a covering over that button, so that it can't be accidentally pushed."
"Oh...I see."
Grandfather Adam again held the dream doodler at arm's length and depressed the "DREAM DRAW" button. Again, the scene of the grazing horses appeared.
The old man said, "Now I will just step through into the pasture."
But when he tried to step through the portal, he bounced off the dream drawing as if he were running into an invisible wall.
"What happened?" he asked, startled, and just a little bit shaken up. He, along with the children, watched the dream drawing disappear within just a few seconds.
"I ... I don't know," Adam Beam answered with a puzzled look. "Try it again."
Again, Grandfather Adam pointed the dream doodler, shut his eyes, and the scene appeared in mid-air. He walked to the picture and put one hand up against it, but his hand would not pass through. He bumped against the painting with one shoulder, but bounced off.
"I guess only Zonia, Toby and I can pass through," Adam Beam said, as if speaking to himself. "Let me try it." Adam then imagined the same scene, and when it appeared he quickly passed through the door into the pasture. The portal closed behind him. Moments later, he reappeared in front of Grandfather Adam and the children.
"There's nothing wrong with the dream doodler," he said. "I guess it's just for Zonia, Toby and me."
The experience with the Dream Door drawing had tired Grandfather Adam so he sat on a nearby stone, where he sat silently for quite a long time, stroking his long white beard with his hand. Then he spoke to the children, who had gathered close by. "I am sure you have been sent to me to find the apples," he said to Adam Beam. "This must be the purpose for your coming to me."
The old man had the faraway look in his eyes again while he talked. "The slegna know you have come for the apples...how, then, can you ever find the apples if I cannot go with you to show you the way?"
"Maybe I can go, Grandfather!" Enoch spoke up with enthusiasm. "Let me try it!"
Grandfather Adam looked at his great, great, great, great grandson, then at Adam Beam. "What do you think, young Adam?"
"I'm not sure...maybe no one from the First Time can go through the Dream Door portal."
"Let me try," Enoch said. "Maybe we could go together through the door. Maybe at the same time."
"Let's try it," Adam Beam said, standing beside Enoch then pointing the dream doodler in the air. He shut his eyes and waved the instrument.
The same dream drawing the old man had painted in the air once again appeared. Both boys started through the opening at the same time. Adam Beam passed through easily; Enoch bounced off.
A few seconds later, Adam stepped out of thin air back into the presence of Grandfather Adam and the others. "I guess that's it...only Zonia, Toby and I can pass through the portals," Adam said, disheartened. He could see that Grandfather Adam and Enoch were as disappointed as he was.
"There is one way." The voice was the same Adam Beam had heard before. It was the voice of the lighton. "What way?" Adam said out loud, causing all the others to look at him in a funny way. They could not hear the voice.
"He must be hearing the lighton's voice," Zonia said, seeing the others' puzzled looks.
"Imagine Enoch as already a part of the dream drawing," the voice said.
"Great! That's it!" Everyone watched Adam's face light up with the realization.
"What?" Enoch asked. "What's great?"
"I'll just imagine that you are already part of the scene and that way we can get you through the portal!" Adam said cheerfully.
Although he was not sure about what it all meant, Enoch was more than willing to do his part. "Let's do whatever you said."
"I'll imagine you into the dream drawing, then I will step through the portal, and then I will imagine you back here again."
When Adam Beam pointed the dream doodler, the scene with the pasture appeared. Only this time, Enoch appeared in the scene also, standing between the grazing horses. Adam Beam stepped quickly through the portal, and the Dream Door closed.
Grandfather Adam, Zonia, Toby and the children looked around to see that Enoch had indeed vanished.
Within a few seconds, Enoch again appeared in front of them, a big smile on his face. Adam then stepped out of thin air into their presence. He, too, had a grin of delight. Now he knew how to get Enoch and the people of the First Time through a Dream Door.
Grandfather Adam sipped on the apple juice he poured himself and the children from the pitcher made of pottery. Adam Beam thought it tasted as good as the apple juice from the manna manger at home. The thought made him just a bit homesick to see Mom and Dad. But he couldn't let Zonia know he was homesick because she seemed to be doing just fine. The other children laughed and chit-chatted happily as Grandfather Adam looked at the oldest of his granddaughters. "Ruth, will you please serve the honey cakes we made?"
"Yes, Grandfather," she said, and hurried into the next room from which the delicious smells were coming. She returned with a platter of light brown honey cakes, from which wisps of steam streamed upward.
"Thank you," Grandfather Adam said, kissing the girl on her cheek.
"These are just like Grandmother Eve once made," the old man said, the glint of loving remembrance in his eyes. "Of course, she invented them!" he said with a chuckle.
The children, including Adam, Zonia and Enoch, sat around a large table of unfinished wood. It was stained by the spills of many such gatherings over the hundreds of years since Grandfather Adam had first made the table.
Toby, who sat between Adam and Zonia, was so big that his head stuck up well above the table top. He cocked his head curiously every time the cookie plate passed from one child to the next. Finally he became impatient and snarled an impatient snarl.
"Ah! We've forgotten our striped friend," Grandfather Adam said with a laugh. "Someone give Toby Tiger a handful of honey cakes."
Adam Beam piled a number of the scrumptious cookie-like cakes in front of Toby, who quickly downed them. He then began watching the honey cake platter as it was passed back and forth across and around the table.
"You have been sent to find the apples. I am certain of it," Grandfather Adam said, looking at Adam from across the table. "But how you will find the apples...that is the question." The old man's eyes narrowed as he tried to think of how the mission could be accomplished.
"Maybe Toby could sniff them out and we could follow him," Zonia said in a serious tone. Toby cocked his head curiously toward Zonia when he heard his name mentioned. He gave her a big lick on the side of her face, causing her to wince and wipe her face with the back of her sleeve.
"Yes. Toby could no doubt find them with his fine nose," the grandfather said with seriousness in his voice equal to that of Zonia's. "But where would he start? It has been several hundred years since they were stolen. Yet I know the apples can be found. They are to serve some great future purpose."
Grandfather Adam again looked sad, knowing he had failed to keep the apples safe. Knowing that he had once again disappointed the Maker of All Things.
"We'll find them, Grandfather!" Enoch said before taking a big bite of one of the honey cakes.
"But how to begin..." the old man said, rubbing his whiskers.
Adam Beam had been far too busy enjoying the most delicious dessert he had ever eaten to think about the task of finding the apples. But his sister had been thinking very hard on the matter. "Just use the dream doodler," she said, then took a bite of her own honey cake. "We will just have to imagine that we were there when the apples were stolen."
Grandfather Adam looked at Adam Beam, who looked back at him, and they both looked at Enoch. They all three looked at Zonia.
"Now I know she is the granddaughter of her Grandmother Eve! ...A wonderful, wonderful suggestion!" Grandfather Adam said. "Can the dream doodler do that?" he asked, looking at Adam.
"I don't know, but there is one sure way to find out..." the boy said, his expression reflecting that he was anxious to try out his sister's suggestion.
"We must gather some food and water for you to take with you," Grandfather Adam said while he sat with the children surrounding him.
"We don't need to take food or water," Adam Beam said with assurance. "When we get hungry or thirsty, the dream doodler will provide whatever we need."
"A truly remarkable thing!" the old man said with a raised eyebrow. "The Maker of All Things be praised!"
Toby, enjoying being scratched behind his ears by Grandfather Adam, added a snarl of purring praise.
"Now, let's see..." Grandfather Adam walked slowly with the help of his walking stick. He pointed the stick toward some thick bushes. "The well was right about there." He jabbed the air with the stick to show Adam, Zonia and Enoch.
"Right there is where I was standing while I drew water from the well. The water has of course long since dried up."
"And where was Grandmother Eve?" Enoch asked.
"She was near the old house, which was torn down more than 300 years ago." The old man poked the walking stick in the direction of some large trees and just beyond them to an open field filled with beautiful flowers. "That serpent had her cornered. I left the well so quickly I forgot the sack of apples I had laid by the well before drawing water."
The old man put a hand on Adam Beam's shoulder. "Do you think you can go back to that time and place, young one?" he asked with hope in his voice.
"I don't know...but I will sure try," the boy said with determination.
Grandfather Adam put his arms around both Adam Beam and Enoch. There was concern in his voice. "My children...there could be many dangers for you. But I am certain that the Maker of All Things will be with you as you search for the seven apples. And your great striped friend here will protect you as well." The old man patted Toby's head.
"Perhaps you should stay with me until they return, my daughter," the old man said to Zonia.
"Oh no! Mrs. Levin told me to stay with my brother at all times!" Zonia moved closer to Adam.
"Very well, then. May the Maker of All Things be with you," the old man said, holding his hands out as if blessing the children. "And your ... Great King ... may you bring glory and honor to him always."
The old man looked at each of them; Toby, too. Then said, "Remember, the slegna...the ones you call the evols...have the powers of the Evil One. You must use the powers you've been given through the dream doodler very wisely as you seek out the seven apples from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil."
"I will dream draw a Dream Door. You can tell me if it looks like the time and place that you drew water from the well," Adam Beam said, taking the dream doodler from its holster.
He shut his eyes and imagined what the scene might look like in that time long ago. He pressed the "DREAM DRAW" button and the large dream drawing appeared in mid-air, a portrait filled with fruit trees and birds and small creatures such as rabbits and squirrels flying, hopping and scurrying about. At the center of the image stood a well made of stone with a small roof of wooden shingles atop six thin poles made from small tree trunks. A single rope twined around another pole that stretched across the width of the well. This pole had a crank handle with which to lower and raise the bucket attached to the rope that hung straight down into the well.
Grandfather Adam, looking on, stroked his beard and squinted one eye. "That's almost right," he said. "But not quite."
"I don't think this will work unless we get it exactly right," Adam Beam said, disappointed.
There was silence for a few moments while all considered the problem. There had to be an answer. Adam heard the voice in his mind speak once again. "Touch the old one. Hold his hand."
Adam Beam moved close to Grandfather Adam and grasped his right hand. "I must hold your hand," Adam said, holding tightly. Grandfather Adam gripped the boy's hand, wondering what would happen next.
"Tell him to remember that long-ago time exactly as it was," the voice said in Adam Beam's mind.
"Grandfather Adam, you must remember the scene exactly as it was back then. This is the way the dream drawing must be made."
"Very well!" the old man said, closing his eyes.
"Now use the dream doodler while he remembers," the voice told Adam Beam.
Adam raised the dream doodler, pushed the "DREAM DRAW" button and waved the doodler in the air. Another large Dream Door appeared, replacing the previous one. Grandfather Adam opened his eyes and saw the well in that long-ago time. His younger self stood at the well and he watched his younger self take the sack of apples from around his shoulder and lay it beside the stones of the well.
"Quickly, Adam," the voice in Adam Beam's mind said. "Imagine Enoch in the scene, then hurry through the portal. But first push the "VANISH" button so you will all become invisible when you pass through."
Adam did as the voice said and Grandfather Adam, along with his great, great, great, great grandchildren gathered around him, watched the Dream Door that had been hanging in midair suddenly vanish.
Adam, Zonia and Enoch watched the man draw water from the well. Toby cocked his head curiously and snarled a quiet snarl of curiosity.
"Ssshh," Adam said in a whisper to Toby, patting him on the head. They were invisible now, but could still be heard. They must remain quiet.
The young man at the well was tall and straight, and had a strange but beautiful glow that seemed to surround him while he cranked the rope that drew the bucket full of water upward. The dark brown sack by the well had to be the sack with the seven apples, those the Maker of All Things had told Adam to always keep with him no matter what.
The beauty that surrounded the three children and Toby far exceeded that of the time from which they had just come. The trees hung heavy with fruit of every color and size. The small animals that fluttered or hopped about seemed to have no fear of the man as they gathered around him. Some of them clung to his shoulders. One squirrel even sat atop his head while he drew the water. The birds, too, flew about the young, strong man while he worked, and he talked to them in an almost whistling language. They seemed to understand.
The peacefulness suddenly shattered when a cry rang out in the distance.
"Help!...Adam!" the female voice screamed while Adam dropped the bucket of water and began running toward the woman.
"Let's follow him!" Zonia said in an excited whisper.
"No. We must watch the sack of apples," Enoch said, his eyes trained upon the dark sack that lay crumpled next to the stone well. Seconds later, the birds who had been chirping about happily suddenly could no longer be seen or heard. Rabbits and the other creatures that had been playing about the feet of Adam before he heard Eve's call scurried into the bushes. All was silent and still while Adam, Zonia, Enoch and Toby watched the sack of apples.
"Let's just go get them now and leave with them," Zonia said.
Her brother thought the idea sounded reasonable. "Yes...that would keep them from being stolen," he said in a whisper.
But before Adam, Zonia, Enoch and Toby started for the sack of apples, Adam heard the voice that caused him to hold his hand out to stop the others.
"No, Adam," the voice said. "Don't you see? If you take the apples, then you will have stolen them from Adam, who was told to keep them with him at all times."
"Hold it! We can't take the apples because they haven't been stolen yet. If we took them, we would be the ones stealing them."
Both Enoch and Zonia thought on Adam's words for a moment. Toby interrupted their thoughts with a snarl when he sensed an evil presence.
A spirit-like being became visible and hovered over the sack containing the apples. Several other spirit-like beings appeared and floated in the air. A deep, sinister, cackling laughter came from within the black hoods.
The children, invisible to the evols, watched while the eerie creatures opened the sack and peered inside. They laughed again, their horrible cackling shaking the very air surrounding the children.
The evols slowly faded, finally becoming invisible. But the bag with the apples did not vanish; rather, it began floating away.
"They are taking the apples!" Enoch said, pointing at the sack, which was now whisking through the air faster and faster.
"Hurry! Let's follow...we can't afford to let the apples get away!" Adam commanded, running the direction the sack was flying.
"It's no use. We can't keep up," the winded boy said after a few moments of chasing the flying sack.
The children stopped to catch their breath. Toby stopped to look back at them, wondering why they had given up.
"What are we going to do? They're getting away with the apples!" Enoch said, watching the sack get smaller and smaller as it flew away from them.
"You can do whatever you can imagine, Adam," the voice suddenly said in Adam's mind. "Just think what you must do in order to follow the flying evil ones who are stealing the seven apples."
"Yes! Quantum!" Adam said loudly.
"What?..." his sister jumped, startled by her brother's sudden excitement.
"Hang on!" Adam said, quickly removing the dream doodler from its holster. He shut his eyes and waved it in a circular motion.
Suddenly, the children were lifted, as was Toby, as if a mighty wind whirled about them. It was a whirlwind and it swept them swiftly in the direction the sack of apples was flying through the air.
Enoch said nothing, his wide eyes and open mouth saying it all.
"Quantum!" Zonia said, her straw-colored hair streaming behind her head while she, Adam, Enoch, and Toby whisked through the air in pursuit of Adam's apples.