Irad, son of Enoch

1261 BF (before the flood)

 

 

“Hello, Kenan.” I stepped out of the shadows of the trees into the light of the sun. I had spent the last couple of days since finding the first village locating my old friend and then waiting for him to be alone so I could confront him. I watched as his tanned face turned away from the flock he was shepherding to stare at me. His brown eyes began with a look of confusion, then turned to realization, then back to confusion.

 

“Irad?” It was one word that portrayed so many questions.

 

“I told you I wanted to see your village,” I said with a smile. “So here I am.”

 

“After 40 years, I thought you might have changed your mind,” Kenan responded. “I’m glad to see you survived the war. You look grown and healthy. You’re so far from the boy I met back then.”

 

My smile turned dour. “That was a dark day,” I told him. “They weren’t prepared for us at all. I’m not sure if they really did steal our cattle or not. Harkoles slaughtered them all and burned down their village.”

 

“I was afraid that was his plan.” Kenan’s tone matched mine. “Thank you for saving me from that experience and I wish that I could have done the same for you.”

 

I did my best to return to the smile that I had put on when I revealed myself. “You wish you could have hit me with a tree branch?”

 

Kenan chuckled. “There were times when you tempted me,” he said. “Walk with me and my sheep. We are heading back to the village now. My family will be interested to meet you.”

 

“Wife?” I asked. “Children?”

 

“Of course,” Kenan responded. “My wife just gave birth to our fourteenth child last month. We named him Mahalalel because my wife praised God when the laboring was done.” 

 

A snicker escaped my lips. “I’m sure your son will be happy to learn that one day.”

 

“Well,” Kenan started, “maybe we’ll give him a different reason when he asks.”

 

The trek back to the first village was a short one, as I knew it would be. When I had found it the first time, it was larger than I had expected. It stretched for miles in many directions, which had made locating Kenan a difficult job among what seemed to be thousands of people. It had become increasingly obvious that I was going to have to do more than observe from the outskirts of town in order to find him when I was lucky enough to see Kenan leading the sheep. After hours of following the herd from a distance, I had finally worked up the courage to show myself to my old friend.

 

Once the sheep were put away in their sheepfold, Kenan handed his crook to a young man who would stay with them during the night. “This is my oldest son, Shimon,” Kenan told me. Shimon bowed his head slightly to me. “My old friend, Irad, has come for a visit,” Kenan said to Shimon as he began to lead me away. “I hope your mother has made plenty of food.”

 

The mudbrick home that Kenan’s family lived in was on the opposite side of the village from where I had searched the past few days. Chaos rose as we grew near. Multiple children ran up to us, some overjoyed that their father had returned while others were enamored with the newcomer. Kenan shouted out several names to me that I knew there was no chance of me remembering.

 

“Your life now is a far cry from the man I met that wanted to see the world,” I said.

 

Kenan nodded. “That day brought my life into perspective,” he said. “I was young and brash at the time. Now, I know that my family is my home. I could never want for anything more than what I have here. And I will be happy to never see another Nephilim again.”

 

My shoulders slumped. “That may be unavoidable.”

 

Kenan stopped just short of entering his home. “What do you mean?”

 

“The real reason I left Enoch.” I paused and took a deep breath. “The Nephilim are expanding. Azrael took over as leader of our town. Then, he started making arrangements for other Nephilim and their half-blood children to found other human colonies. Most of our people believe the Nephilim were made to lead us because they’re so much stronger than us.”

 

“And you don’t?” Kenan asked.

 

I hung my head. “Harkoles killed my father. Grandfather Cain has completely disappeared. I know what those monsters are capable of and, if I had stayed there, I would be next.”

 

Kenan put a hand on my shoulder. “You’re welcome to stay here,” he said. “Let’s go eat. I can smell the food from here.”

 

Inside, Kenan introduced me to his wife, Freeda, as the man who once saved his life. I’m sure my cheeks turned red at the attention I received for this. Kenan didn’t bother telling the details of how I had nearly broken his leg. The smaller children danced around, imagining the many ways it could have happened, asking questions without waiting for the answers. 

 

When we took our places around a table to eat, one of Kenan’s elder daughters sat next to me. Sky blue eyes lingered on me a little too long from behind a veil of black hair.

 

“Hadassah.” Freeda nudged her daughter with her elbow. “Don’t stare.”

 

“I’m sorry, mother,” Hadassah said with a sheepish grin. “I’ve never seen anyone from another village before.”

 

“He’s human just like us, daughter,” Kenan said.

 

“Well, you never know,” Hadassah responded. “I remember the stories you told us of the Nephilim, Father. And how they had children with women.”

 

“You would know if I was Nephilim,” I told her. “They have human qualities, but they’re… different.”

 

“But you knew them, right?” Hadassah asked.

 

“Yes,” I said solemnly. “They’re interesting at first. Some people have infatuations about them. But if you’re smart, you’ll stay away from them.”

 

“Oh,” was Hadassah’s only response. She could tell that the conversation was uncomfortable for me and went silent. Other conversations erupted from the children, who wanted to talk about themselves. Kenan and Freeda placated them with grins and multiple responses of “then what happened?” I passed out smiles to any of them who wanted to tell me of their grand adventures of the day. However, that pair of blue eyes continued to glance in my direction as the night went on.

 

Freeda made a place for me to sleep among the boys. The animal skins I laid on that night were the most comfortable I could remember sleeping on in my life. I wondered if my grandfather had lived this way before he left. What could have possibly changed him so much?

 

----------

 

 

Morning came far too soon. The rooster crowed his announcement of the sun rise. I stepped outside and stretched my arms. I was thinking of what I could do to help Kenan and earn my keep when Hadassah appeared in front of me.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said in a rushed whisper. “I know why you’re here.”

 

Confusion knitted my brow. They all knew why I was here. I had explained it last night.

 

“Come with me,” Hadassah said. “I’ll show you where it is.” I was going to ask what she was talking about, but she put a finger to her lips and motioned with her other hand for me to follow. 

 

We walked with the sun at our backs away from the village. We passed through an open field, then a grove of apple trees, and past a cave in the side of a large hill. Finally, I could see where she had been leading me. 

 

In front of us was a wall of trees so close that no human could fit between them. Vines had grown over and around the trees, lacing between them in ways to assure any observer that there would be no trespassing. However, the thing that really caught my eye was the giant flaming sword pointing in our direction.

 

“Don’t mind him,” Hadassah said. “He’ll point at anyone around, but he won’t attack unless you actually try to get past him.”

 

“Him?” I asked. “Did you just call that fire sword a ‘him’?”

 

“Oh, yeah,” she responded and started to walk in a northerly direction. “I decided the sword is a ‘him’. I didn’t like calling him an ‘it’.”

 

I followed her, and the point of the sword followed us. “How much time do you spend out here?”

 

“I come here a lot,” the girl said. “There’s nothing more interesting in this town than what that sword is guarding.”

 

“It’s the garden,” I said stopping to stare again now that I had fully realized where I was. “The Garden!”

 

“Exactly,” Hadassah said matter-of-factly. “Isn’t that what you wanted to see? I can’t imagine anyone coming here for any other reason.”

 

“I did. Thank you.” My awe must have been obvious to her. I turned my attention to the young woman. “Sorry, you probably see this every day.”

 

“Most days,” she told me. “Today will be different though.”

 

“How?”

 

“We’re going in.” A Cheshire smile spread across her face.

 

I didn’t know how to react. “That’s not possible. I might not live here, but I’ve heard that even if you get past that sword,” my finger and the sword pointed at each other, “there’s still angels waiting to stop intruders.”

 

“Sure,” Hadassah said. “But I found another way in.” She started hiking north. “Follow me.”

 

I hurried after her. “How can there be another way in?”

 

“I’ve been studying the Garden for most of my life,” she told me as she led the way through the woods. “There are two types of animals that go in and out all the time. Can you guess what they are?”

 

“I don’t know.” I huffed and puffed trying to keep up. “Birds, I guess.”

 

“That’s right, but we can’t fly so what’s the other one?”

 

I racked my brain for the answer to her trivia question while at the same time trying to figure out where we were headed. “Monkeys?”

 

Hadassah laughed out loud. “No, fish!” She pointed up ahead where I could see a river coming down from the mountain that flowed into the Garden. “Fish go in and out of the Garden through the water all the time. So, that’s how we’re going to do it.”

 

“Do you really think we can swim into the Garden?” I asked. 

 

“Only one way to find out,” she responded.

 

Hadassah trekked on and I followed close behind. The young woman moved with a determined purpose. She had clearly taken this path many times before, and I couldn’t help my curiosity.

 

The sun was high in the sky when we found the place where the river met the trees. On both banks, the trees leaned in as if grasping for each other. Branches and vines intertwined to both pull closer together and support themselves in the air like the trees were locked in an intricate dance.

 

“See?” Hadassah threw the word in the air, announcing her presence to all of nature. She gestured toward the rushing water. “Above the water is blocked, but there’s nothing stopping us from going under the water. How long can you hold your breath?”

 

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’ve never tried to hold it very long.” 

 

“Well, we have one short swim to paradise. Are you ready?” She was already wading into the river with me in tow by the hand.

 

Part of me wanted to take some time to think about this, but Hadassah was up to her neck in moments. If I didn’t go with her, would I miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime? Is it possible that the two of us could live out the rest of our lives in a place that no human could ever find? 

 

The questions didn’t matter anymore. The river rushed us up to the point of no return. I drew in a deep breath and ducked my head under the water. I passed below the first branch. It was hard to see past my companion right in front of me, but there seemed to be a growing amount of foliage and rocks around us as we moved forward.

 

Hadassah dodged left to evade a large branch that had grown under the water and I followed suit. Above us, all I could see was brown and green. We came across more tree limbs and vines that we had to push by. It became increasingly difficult to force our way through. Fish began to swarm around us, blocking my vision. Then, we approached what looked like a wooden spider web with no holes large enough for a human to pass through. 

 

I tried to pull myself up toward the surface, but I couldn’t even find space to bring my mouth up for some air and it felt like a vine had wrapped itself around my ankle pulling me down. Hadassah was gesturing that she needed air. I desperately looked around for any way out. I couldn’t let Kenan’s daughter drown. I grabbed her hand and tried to pull her back against the current to no avail. In moments, her hand went limp in mine. My chest burned, demanding my mouth to open.

 

Then, it felt like everything pulled away from us—the vines, the fish, even the water. A bright light came over us. I felt an arm wrap around my waist and yank me back in the direction we had come. I was airborne for a few seconds before finding myself and Hadassah on the bank where we had first entered the water.

 

A man stood over us. It was difficult to make out his features. “Don’t try that again,” he said in a deep masculine voice. Then, he was gone.

 

Hadassah spluttered next to me. She choked up water onto the grass. “Was that what I think it was?” She asked when she was able to breathe again. 

 

“I don’t know,” I told her. “But I think we should follow his advice.”