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shown you, whose fruit you may not eat and remain in your freedom. The day you eat of that tree, affirming Good and Evil, you will have already died.”
    “The Good I know, for You declare it always, but what is evil?”
    “Evil is to death as Good is to life. To turn from life, light, and Good, away from love and trust, is to embrace the shadow of death, for life is in the face-to-face and death is in the turning.”
    “I do not want death or evil!” Adam stated.
    “Then take joy in all the freedoms you celebrate in Us,” declared God.
    Adam climbed up on God’s lap as if he were a little boy and nestled into his shoulder and closed his eyes. Eternal Man embraced humanity and sang to him a lullaby.
    Lilly drifted off as well, lulled to peace by Adonai’s song. In the gentle space between waking and sleeping, she sensed Eve picking her up. The girl lay back in her mother’s arms, Eve’s warm breath falling like kisses on her shoulder.

Six
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I NVISIBLES
    L illywoke in the middle of the night with the floral scents of Mother Eve still on her skin. A chill rushed in where Eve’s warmth had been, but Lilly felt calm and peaceful. Although it wasn’t any time close to morning, she was completely aware. Subtle blue iridescence lit the room, just enough to throw shadows onto the rock ceiling. She glanced around, half expecting to see Eve, and was disappointed.
    A conversation of sorts drifted into her chamber, hushed tones and whispers. John was nearby, talking to someone. Lilly almost called out but decided instead to listen. The other voice wasn’t speaking exactly, but almost singing. The language, the pitch and rhythm, soothed her.
    “I haven’t decided yet,” John said. “I agree, she needs to be told soon. The Menders and Healers have worked near to exhaustion restoring her, but there is only so much they can do. When itcomes to the mind and heart and soul, the best surgeon’s knife has its limitations.”
    The Singer spoke for a time, the timbre of words wafting through Lilly’s body and teasing loose deep knots in her muscles. It was irresistible, this voice, and she breathed it in like air, trying to capture the melody. She almost fell asleep again.
    “Thank you for saying that,” said John. “But may I be so bold as to ask, why hasn’t God spoken healing directly to her?”
    Again the response came like a song, and again she lay there with her eyes closed, letting the music of the tonal words tumble over her. Inexplicably, in this moment she was not afraid. Within her an assurance grew that whatever was coming it would be all right. It reminded her of what it felt like to be near Adonai.
    “I do trust,” said John. “I trust both Love and God’s purpose. But what you are saying is . . . Well, it’s so remarkable! Are you certain that she is a Witness?”
    The moment John referred to her as a Witness, vivid memories of her hallucinations returned and took Lilly’s breath away. She felt no fear, but rather unexpected warmth and the embrace of hope.
    Three worlds had collided within her: The first unknown but for flashbacks. The second filled with hallucinations in which she was Witness to Beginnings. And the last, and in ways the strangest, was this world in which she lay awake, held entranced by someone’s unearthly singing.
    There was no way to tell which, if any, of the worlds was real.
    “Lilly is so young,” John was saying, undeniable sorrow in his voice. “And so . . . broken.”
    The reply was like cascading laughter, notes of humor spilling over each other. Lilly almost laughed out loud herself.
    “You’re right,” John said, chuckling. “I’m old and tired, but I’m not alone. Quite a different figure than the energetic man of my youth, as you well know!”
    The thought of John as an exuberant young man made Lilly smile. It made her think of Adam, so sure of God’s love and affection. But wait—that was the dream world and this was the true. Or was it the other way