I Am Adam

by J.T. Twerell

  ***

  Sunna set the sheep's covering on the sand and then walked down to the river and dove into the clear waters. She loved the feeling of freedom the water gave her, and she swam upstream and then allowed the current to pull her back to her original location. She walked out of the river, and saw him standing by her sheep covering.

  "Hello Fire, I hoped you might come see me today."

  He straightened his back and raised his fist toward her, "I told you not to come on our land, and yet you defy me. Now it is you who are making trouble and must learn to obey."

  Sunna walked by him and sat on the sand next to the sheep covering. "I brought some food to eat; do you want to join me?"

  He came and stood over her and glared at her. His face reflected his anger, but his eyes showed confusion. She reached up, grabbed his hand, and gently pulled on it. "I do not wish to make you angry, come sit with me and let me rest and then I will leave your land."

  "I will not sit with you and allow you to break the rules. You come with me and Adam Fish will deal with you."

  She let go of his hand and stood to face him. "Fire, if we go to Adam Fish, he will be very angry, and most likely do something to hurt me. I know the rules he has set up, and while I may not agree, I respect his decision to keep to himself. However, I did not come here to fight with Adam Fish and his rules, I came here to see you, talk for a while, eat some food, and perhaps enjoy your company. Now if you want to take me to Adam Fish and have him hurt me for wanting to see you, then go ahead and take me."

  "Why do you want to see me?"

  "When I saw you the other day, something in me found you exciting and I want to find out more about you. I will answer you honestly if you answer me one question."

  "What question?" he asked.

  "Have you thought about me and wanted to see me again since we met the other day?" she asked as she sat down once again.

  "I have thought about how you broke our rules and did not pay for it."

  She smiled and said, "Well that is sad, as I have thought of you a lot and I really wanted to kiss you. But I guess I was wrong, so if you are not going to take me to Adam Fish for punishment, I guess I will go home."

  She started to pick up the sheep covering when he placed his hand on her shoulder and then sat beside her. "I also thought of you and wondered if you really would come back here. When I saw you today, I was very happy. But, you are still breaking the rules."

  "I know I am, and I am truly sorry if this causes you problems. In the forest above your land, there is a clearing by a small stream. I often go there at night to be alone and watch the stars. It is not Adam Fish's land, and if you want to continue talking, I will be there."

  Sunna left and returned to her village. That night, after everyone had settled in for the night, she walked down to the clearing and lay down in the soft grass to watch the stars. She heard him approach and walk cautiously to her side. "Hello Fire," she said quietly as she continued to look at the stars. "Do you know the story of Sumba the cat?"

  He sat next to her and looked up at the sky. "I know some of the things up there, but Sumba is not one I know."

  "In the very beginning of all things," she began, "Mother Sun found Sumba in the forest and raised her as a friend. Sumba and Mother Sun would race up the mountainside and try to see who was faster. Sumba was running one day and became distracted by another animal in the woods. When she stopped to look at the animal, Mother Sun ran by her and up the mountain. Sumba realized Mother Sun was going to win, and then ran faster than she had ever run. She ran so fast that when she got to the top of the mountain, she could not stop and she ran right up into the sky. She is still running and we see her each night as she runs from one side of the Earth to the other."

  She sat up, looked at Fire, and asked him, "Do you know what that story tells us?"

  "It tells us not to run up a mountain too fast," he said smiling.

  "True, but what I think it tells us is that if we are going in a direction that is right, don't be distracted by things around us, or we may end up running the wrong way forever."

  "Somehow, I have a feeling that you are going to apply that to me," he said.

  "No, but I do feel it applies to my being with you. You tried to distract me from liking you by being angry and nasty. But I stayed on my direction and here we are together."

  He frowned at her and said, "I was not all angry and nasty, you were the one who broke the rules and I was only doing what was right".

  "Oh Fire, you do love trying to be right, and I will once again say I am sorry for being such a bad person and breaking such important rules. However, if you are meeting here to keep bringing up all the things that make you angry, then keep running up the mountain and I will look for you in the sky.”

  He looked at her for a long time, and then laughed and said, "You are one of the most unusual females I have ever known. How is it you can face life with such authority and always think you are right?"

  She sat up straight and looked directly at him. "I am not always right, and I do not have any problem knowing when I am wrong. I also know that the journey I am on is good and whatever happens, will always work out for good. Eve has always taught me to listen to my inside thinking. She calls it the voice of the soul. When I see things going on around me, I often have thoughts that bring me a lack of joy and peace. If I stay with those thoughts, then I become unhappy and find life difficult. But if I really listen to those thoughts and ask myself why I am listening to something that makes me unhappy, then I will hear the voice of my soul tell me things that will bring me back to peace."

  "So you are happy because you talk to yourself? That does not make much sense."

  "I only talk to myself when I have a thought that makes me unhappy. Tonight I am happy and feel great joy that we are together. In my mind, I hear thoughts that tell me you are a stubborn, angry person who I should leave. However, in my soul I remember how happy I am to be seeing you and how I know you are really a person I enjoy knowing. Therefore, I stay here and watch this angry, stubborn man and I feel happy."

  Turning to face her he said, "So in my mind I hear a voice that tells me I am with a female who frustrates me with her thinking, and I should leave her before she ruins me. But inside myself I hear a voice telling me how good I felt when I saw you at the river, and how much I really desire to be with you. I guess I am here because I too talk to myself."

  Sunna reached out, touched Fire's face, and said quietly, "Then we agree that our inner voices speak truths that bring us happiness. This is a good start Fire; I think there may be hope for you."

  Having said that, she leaned forward and kissed him. In that moment, Adam Fish's son began his journey back to the Power of Light.