All Living : A Seedvision Saga (9781621473923) Read Free Page A

babies. They were created as adults, with language built in, intelligence preprogrammed. They were smart. Now that I think about it, they were genius compared to anyone living today. The things they thought about, talked about, and taught us. They knew a lot, but they didn’t know babies. I was the first baby they had ever seen. In fact, I am the first human being with a belly button. Ha,” Al laughed.
    “Now wait a minute,” cut in Lester, “doesn’t the Bible say that Cain and Abel were sons number one and two? How can you say that you were the firstborn?”
    “I am the firstborn,” said Al, his gaze calm and steady. “The first thing my parents did when they saw each other was explore each other. They spent intimate hours and days getting to know each other, sort of a honeymoon you could say. I was the result of that love affair.”
    “So you were born and they named you Al? How come you’re not in the Bible?” challenged Lester.
    “Well, to answer your second question first, I am in there, but no, they did not name me Al,” said Al, chuckling. “That is a name that I’ve only been using for about four hundred years. My real name, the name my father gave me at birth, is Kole Chay.” And Al spelled it for him. “That’s as close as I can spell it with the English alphabet; Kole meaning entirety, or whole, and Chay meaning life, or living. I was Kole until the King James Bible translated my name as All Living. Then I became Al. Al Living.”
    Lester stared at him. Al stared back. Finally, Lester looked down at the Bible once more, scanning the pages.
    “It looks here like there wasn’t time for them to have a baby before Cain was born. The Lord made Adam and Eve,” looking up at Al, then down again, “uh, your mom and dad, then Adam named all the animals, the devil tricked them, they were cursed, kicked out of Eden, and had Cain and Abel. I still don’t see where you fit in.”
    “Yeah,” said Al, with a sigh, “I don’t really ‘fit in.’ See, that passage there in Genesis was written by Moses several thousand years after the fact. God inspired him to write it that way and conveniently left me out, unless you know what you’re looking for. Here a little, there a little,” mumbled Al to himself.
    “You see, by the time this was written, I already had my assignment, and it was not necessary to include me in the activities of history. Not until the very end. But I am there. After my mother and father satiated each other, my dad continued to name the animals. I mean, it was not something that could be done in a day. It took months. He was also given the task of caring for the garden; touching and tending the plants, singing to the animals and flowers. My mother followed him, picking fruit to eat, singing to him and with him, touching him, and of course, periodically distracting him from other duties. They were very much in love, the first and only perfect couple. Although other couples have come close,” Al said with a faraway look in his eye.
    “One year, in the grand scheme of things, is actually a very short time,” Al continued, “and with the potential to live forever, even a thousand years would seem like a day. The time went fast, and before long my mother was showing her pregnancy. They told me later they were surprised, but the Lord explained to them what was happening. Back then the Creator would just show up and talk to them in person, instructing them and showing them things.
    “Soon it was time, and my mother went down to a clear pool of water. She waded in until the water buoyed her belly and then, after giving my father a small kiss, gently pushed me into his hands. I was born underwater to sinless parents.
    “It was not long after this that the devil started his campaign against my mother. He accurately guessed how susceptible a woman could be, how emotional she was, after bearing a child. I suppose I was about six months old when he made his move and deceived her into