Hopefully with the completion of Story Card 2, I can actually call this a project of some kind. This particular story has been banging around in my head for months. I think this is probably the third time I've written it out, and each time has been different. I'm still not quite happy with it, but story cards really lend themselves to the "fable" format.
Story Card 2 was sent to Estelle, whose literary knowledge far surpasses my own. Read the rest below.
IN THE BEGINNING, God looked down on his lonely garden and realized that it was incomplete. It had nothing to keep it, and nothing to love it. And so he created two creatures called Man and Woman. He placed them in the Garden, to keep it, love it, and love their creator.
Man and Woman were happy in the Garden, and happy together. They spent hours lounging underneath the high trees, and exploring the grassy plains. In those days, before the snake, they could lay on the rocks by the sea, holding hands and marveling at the perfection of creation: the air filled with the scent of hot, fragrant trees; the distant cries of unseen birds; and the perfect, untouchable sun that looked down on each perfect day.
But though the Garden was verdant and alive, they were lonely. There was no one like them in the Garden. They were isolated amidst creation. And so, they made themselves a companion. They poured their love into a creature that would be like them, and love them.
They called it Dog, and it was good.
From that day on, Man and Woman were inseparable from Dog. Dog walked with them, talking and laughing. At night, Dog told them stories about the air above the clouds, and the rocks beneath the sea. Together, the three loved and kept each other as they had the Garden.
Looking down, God was displeased. Dog was not his creation -- Dog defied the balance of perfection in the Garden. After all, Man and Woman were meant to keep the Garden, not expand it. It could not be allowed. God reached for a thunderbolt and hurled it down, striking dog in the head.
When the smoke cleared, God saw Man and Woman in tears, mourning the loss of their friend. He saw their sadness and the broken pieces of Dog at their feet. Out of pity, God allowed life to re-enter Dog. Shuddering awake, Dog looked up at the faces of Man and Woman, who were overjoyed at his rebirth.
But things were never quite the same. Mangled by the thunderbolt, Dog had to walk on all fours at the feet of Man and Woman. Smoke had burned Dog's lungs, and he found that he could not speak. Eventually, he would forget talking altogether. But God allowed the love that Man and Woman had given Dog to remain.
They were often seen together walking through the forest; the creations of God and the creation of Man and Woman who, in their loneliness, made a creature that could only love them.
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