Jennifer P. Tanabe

A while ago, I had a special dream. I was walking through a rather barren wasteland. It seemed like nothing would grow there; it was all dried up and rather colorless. Then the terrain became even more rocky and I saw a cave a little way up a mountainside.

I climbed up and went inside. It was an interesting cave. There were so many stalagmites growing from the floor. No stalactites, though, the ones that hang down from the ceiling. These stalagmites were quite white, and seemed a bit different from the ones I had seen in other caves. But in a way they were kind of beautiful.

I went further into the cave and I saw a woman sitting on a rock. She didn’t look up but I could see that she had been quite beautiful. However, now she seemed very old, and rather worn out. Her hair was long and must have been lovely once. She was brushing at it rather weakly, seemingly without hope of getting it untangled. I wanted to help her.

When I approached, she stared at me and I saw fear in her eyes. She shifted backwards as if to get away from me.

I realized this was Eve, the original Eve, the first woman. I knelt down in front of her and asked her why she was in this cave. She just looked at me. I knew she understood my question, but she had no answer. I looked around and saw the stalagmites again. In response to my unspoken question, she told me that they were formed from her tears.

I asked her again why she was here, all alone in this cave. Why didn’t she leave? She shook her head. It was as if she was saying she had nowhere else to go. And somehow, I knew she wasn’t always alone. “Who else lives here,” I asked? “No-one else lives here, but he comes every night, and …” She looked away, ashamed. “Every night?” I asked. “Who comes every night?” “Lucifer. He comes every night to rape me.”

I felt her shock and pain and fear. Every night! I realized that’s why she had cried so much that the many stalagmites throughout the cave had grown from the salt in her tears.

I wanted to reach out and hug her, but she cringed and tried to move further away; she didn’t want me to touch her. I said she should come away from this cave, come with me. I thought maybe we could find Adam and they could be together. She just shook her head sadly. It seemed she had tried to find him but had failed.

Then she looked worried and stood up and I realized she wanted me to go. “You mustn’t be here when he comes, when Lucifer comes,” she said. “No-one can help me. I belong to him.”

I just nodded and turned to leave. When I was outside, I looked back sadly at the mountainside, still seeing those stalagmites and pitiful Eve sitting there, just waiting to suffer more and more. I wished I could come back some day and free her from the cave.

Now I realize that if I can find my way back to that cave, I should bring a hairbrush. Then I could help her untangle her beautiful hair, carefully, a little bit at a time. Once her hair is all untangled and clean, then perhaps she will feel her value again, and stand up to Lucifer and leave that cave. I hope so.