Genesis 7

Genesis 7:1

Then Void called from under Eden, saying, “Come near, little one; come beneath the roots.”

Genesis 7:2

The lamb heard her voice through grass and root; he had known that shadow before, and it had once held him gently.

Genesis 7:3

Above the hollow, Eden still breathed; below it, Love's body lay still on the table of keeping, beautiful and wrong.

Genesis 7:4

The lamb entered because no fear had taught his small warm body to refuse her.

Genesis 7:5

He stepped where roots braided into a dark stair, with dew on his wool and garden-scent still clinging to his breath.

Genesis 7:6

His hoof found stone beneath soil, and the green above thinned to a hush of root, shadow, and hidden air.

Genesis 7:7

Void went before him with a tenderness that trembled; he followed freely, and still the way bent inward around him.

Genesis 7:8

The house breathed under the garden, a hollow made for keeping, a vessel where release could not reach.

Genesis 7:9

Then the deep under Eden opened its foundations: root parted from stone, and the below-world widened its hollow.

Genesis 7:10

Above, leaves kept their morning, and wing and hoof remained under the mercy of open air.

Genesis 7:11

Underneath, silence gathered around the chamber, pressing softly against the walls of preservation.

Genesis 7:12

Stone took in hoof-sound, wool-warmth, and breath, and the dark remembered each small sign of life.

Genesis 7:13

In the chamber the lamb saw vessels, red hair-thread, salt, ash, and tears laid where hands had worked in grief.

Genesis 7:14

He saw the still body on the cross-shaped table, the low gold around her, silver laid thin upon her ruin, pale ribbons at her wrists, and blonde hair pale in the dark; he thought only that a sleeper rested there.

Genesis 7:15

The stillness looked like sleep to him; table, silver, ribbon, and red thread were mysteries beyond his small life.

Genesis 7:16

Void set her hand upon the hidden door, and the dark learned the shape of closing.

Genesis 7:17

Silence rose around the house, yet it did not cover the lamb; it stood near his warmth and listened.

Genesis 7:18

The chamber learned the weight of his hoof, the pace of his breath, and the soft place where hunger lived inside him.

Genesis 7:19

Void watched him within the place she had made for Dead, and comfort came to her inside a boundary.

Genesis 7:20

The lamb nuzzled the floor where root met stone, still seeking grass by creaturely habit, and the chamber kept the sound.

Genesis 7:21

Dead remained still; the red thread did not pull, and no stolen life moved through the chamber.

Genesis 7:22

The lamb folded his legs beneath him and slept near the dark, innocent as morning before a name is made useful.

Genesis 7:23

Void stood beside the sleeping warmth, and free nearness rested inside enclosure.

Genesis 7:24

Void shut the dark behind him, and the lamb did not yet know a door had closed.