Fabulae

From That Tree, You Must Not Eat

From That Tree, You Must Not Eat First, she imagined the taste. She didn’t mean to, but the fruit tormented her with its colors of the world. The snake said, everyone’s eating it. Look how happy they are. She stopped eating everything. She felt light as the rib of a new-made boat and decided to keep the fruit around, in bowls. It was so pretty, and she didn’t even want it— she didn’t want anything; she felt light as the arm of a crystal chandelier. Adam said, you look beautiful. Let’s play volleyball. That night she couldn’t sleep. In the kitchen, in the dark, she choked down sixteen of the fruit very fast and made herself throw up. God said that didn’t count. She was happy; she felt light as the rib of a plastic drinking straw. She looked almost translucent. Is anything wrong? asked Adam. Is this breakfast? Two slices of apple on a bone-white plate. 52 ...