The Devil's Lettuce

When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden he had but two rules for his creations to follow. He had placed them in this magnificent paradise, where food and nature were abundant and the world knew no sin. Evil nor temptation nor sin existed and life would be pure bliss for the two if they followed the only two rules that their creator gave them. In this paradise there existed a field of herbs and called The Magical Pasture and a tree of abundant fruit called The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were allowed to enjoy all the herbs of this land and eat all the fruits and foods that Mother Nature offered them besides the herbs from The Magical Pasture and the fruits from The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This seemed like a very reasonable proposal when all the abundances they were allotted were taken into account. Adam and Eve agreed to these rules and lived in perfect harmony and bliss. That was until they encountered the serpent.

“The herbs of The Magical Pasture can take you to another world and experience powerful visions” the serpent hissed at them. “God tells you to stay away to limit your power and keep you from flourishing as you should.”

 Adam and Eve did not know what to make of this news. God, their creator, loved them and could not possibly want to do them harm. On the other hand, something about the serpent was drawing them to listen to him, and they started to become curious about what this field had to offer them. The serpent promised them that nobody would find out and that it would not harm them. Adam was the stronger willed of the two, and rejected the serpent’s notion despite the power of manipulation he had used on him. Eve followed suit in rejection; but inside she felt a deep urge to do what the serpent had told her. The thought of the pasture consumed her for days and she was torn on what she should do.

One day as Adam slept, Eve crept away from their dwelling and wandered into the garden in search of the mysterious serpent. She hissed for him in hopes of gaining his attention. As if she was willing it to happen, the serpent magically appeared. 

“Yes my dear” he hissed at her “what do you call me for?”

“These herbs in The Magical Pasture that you speak of, how do I unleash the power that you say they possess?” Eve asked eagerly.

“My darling you must pick the buds off of the plants, and then you must grind these up until they are in many tiny pieces. Then you must roll these into a leaf off of one of the trees. Once you do this you must start a fire and light the rolled leaf by it. Once the end is lit, put the other end to your mouth and puff on it. You will inhale the smoke and exhale. This will give you access to the power within.” The serpent was grinning wildly and knew that he had convinced Eve to disobey God’s orders. He knew this herb would lead to apathy and the loss of ambition and had even given it his own pet name of “The Devil’s Lettuce”.

Eve disembarked with the serpent’s instructions solidified in her mind. She followed his steps one by one, and finally smoked the herb from The Magical Pasture. She instantly felt confused and relaxed. Everything seemed to be in slow motion but she did not mind. She actually found it pleasant and continued to smoke the rolled leaf until there was nothing left. She felt as if she had never felt before, and it was at this moment that God came to her.

“My child” he spoke to her sadly. “I forbade you from the herbs of this field and you have disobeyed me by the works of my nemesis Satan the serpent, who represents all the evil and sin that I wish to shield you from.” His tone grew in anger as he progressed. He collected himself and spoke solemnly “However I am a merciful, forgiving God and I will forgive you as you did not eat off of Thee Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. As long as you abstain from this act I will forgive this transgression and allow you and Adam to continue to live in paradise in The Garden of Eden."

Eve was overjoyed at God’s mercy and felt horrible for succumbing to wishes of Satan. Her and The Father parted ways and she went to journey back to Adam. For a reason she couldn’t produce she started to feel an unnatural hunger that she had never encountered before. Her body was telling her that she needed to eat and she needed to eat now. She searched for food but in the dark it was hard to find. In the distance she could see the shiny golden fruit hanging from The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and she was instantly drawn to their delicious glow. She forgot all about what God has just told her and ran to the tree as fast as she could. She grabbed the fruit two at a time and ate them savagely until her heart was content, cackling in pleasure as she filled her insatiable appetite.

It was then that Adam showed up to the tree—awoken by a strange sound in the night he had noticed Eve’s absence and feared the worst. He could not believe his eyes. The pure woman he loved was betraying God’s orders right before his eyes and appeared to be relishing in it. As much as Adam loved God, he loved Eve just as much and wanted to understand why she would do what she did. He sprinted to The Magical Pasture and rolled up a fatty. When he finished smoking the blunt he felt the same relaxation and hunger that Eve had encountered and joined her at The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and filled his appetite with forbidden fruit. This enraged God beyond belief that both of his creations had disobeyed both of his only rules. However as an all knowing and all merciful God he knew that Eve’s first transgression led to her second; and that Adam’s actions were done out of love to Eve. By eating the fruit they introduced natural sin to the world and the knowledge of good and evil. However God allowed them to remain on Earth with the condition that these herbs be restricted. They told God that these herbs were not all bad, and that if used in the right way could have a purpose on the Earth. God agreed and said that this herb should be illegal for humans to use unless it has a medicinal purpose for them. This has led to countless debate throughout the years and it can all go back to Adam and Eve. 

Red and the Trickery by Kelsey Osucha (Final copy)

Red and the Trickery

There once was a very well known young lady named Rya. However, in her town she was not known by this name, everyone called her Red. This was due to the fact that she had long, beautiful, vibrant red hair. She also always wore red clothes to match, with coordinating red lipstick and ruby red shoes. Red was so well known because she was the granddaughter of the richest woman in all of the land. Grandmother lived alone in a gorgeous highly secured cabin privately set far into the woods. Red and grandmother were the best of friends. Red went to visit grandma as many times a week as she possibly could. In order to reach grandmother’s house she had to travel a path in which she was very familiar with all by herself in the woods. However she was not fearful, for she was a strong and independent young woman. Grandmother’s house had the highest security system that you could ever imagine. Not even a machine gun could make it through the walls. It was known by all that Red was the only person alive that knew grandmothers security code to enter her house. Grandmother trusted Red with all of her soul.

Now you see, it was every teenage girls dream in town to become a model. All over girls longed for the opportunity to someday pursue their dreams. They even held modeling clinics together so that one-day, if they ever got the chance, they were prepared. Red was the leader of this club and had the greatest passion for modeling.

In the village there also lived a family of wolves, that no one associated with and everyone tried their hardest to avoid. All that was left of the family was 4 brothers. Their parents passed away in a hunting accident years prior and after that accident occurred the boys were never the same. They became evil wolves that hated all humans and wanted nothing but revenge. They were vicious young wolves that were feared by all.  The oldest brother was by far the most evil 4 brothers.

The Eldest brother, Walter the wolf, knew everything that was going on around town and knew everyone’s personal business. Walter was the only brother who was old enough to support his siblings, and was struggling day by day to do so. Knowing that grandmother was filthy rich and that Red dreamed of being a model, he came up with a twisted plan that was extravagant, so he thought…

Red was home alone on a warm summers day while her parents were at work. Her mother always told her every day to never open the door for strangers while she was home alone. Red was practicing her runway walk when suddenly… 

(Knock, knock, knock)

“Who goes there?” called Red from inside her house in the heart of the village.

“It is I, Sir Walter Watson. You may not know me, but I am the President of a modeling agency called Surely Beautiful; maybe you have heard of it?”

Red quickly fluffed her hair, checked her make up, and stood tall and confident as she flung open the door. Standing in front of her was the most handsome man she has ever laid her eyes upon. He was tall, dark, and well groomed in his suit and tie.

“Nice to meet you sir.” she said, shaking the man’s hand. “My name is Rya, but people call me Red. How did you discover me?” wondered Red.

“Ahh very wise question young lady. You see, I ran into a very sweet woman this past week at the market; she told me she had a beautiful teenage granddaughter who had wanted nothing more than to get the chance to model. After she showed me your picture I knew we needed to add you as a member to our team.” said the man.

"How flattering sir, I would be honored to be a part of your agency and to pursue my dreams with Surely Beautiful. Let me just go call my mother and make sure this is okay.” proclaimed Red.

“Oh no my dear!” called the man quick and loud. “That will not be necessary. Your grandmother has already spoken to your mother and she has given full permission.”

The man gave specific instructions for Red to follow, he said, “simply run along quickly. You don’t need to bring anything but yourself. Please leave your cell phone at home, as well as any other personal belongings. Make sure not to speak a word to anyone of this opportunity, for it will be a surprise.  Please bake a cake, our cameramen enjoy cake very much so and would love a small treat. Don’t forget chocolate milk is their favorite as well!” he said.

Overwhelmed with all that has been thrown at her, going through countless different emotions, Red simply nods yes to the handsome gentlemen standing at her door.

“Oh and one more thing.” said the man, handing Red a piece of paper. “Here are the directions you must take in order to get to our agency building. Leave your house promptly in a half hour. We will be seeing you soon my dear.” and off walked the man quickly pulling away in his car.

Red had not a clue what to think of what had happened. She felt as though this seemed too good to be true and was worried to trust the man’s word. But then she remembered her grandmother had referred her and her mother had given full permission. She quickly baked the cake, grabbed the directions, and headed on her way.

Walter Watson was indeed not named Sir Watson at all; in fact, his name was Walter the wolf. Walter had the ability of transforming himself into a handsome gentleman, of whom he called Sir Walter Watson. The wolf knew that if he approached Red as Sir Watson, pretended to be part of a modeling agency and told her that her mother and grandmother gave her permission, that he could surely trick the girl into his evil plan.

Skipping down the path feeling elated, she began to notice that she was familiar with her surroundings as she looked around.

“This is the way I take to grandmother’s house, the agency must be right around the corner from her house and all this time I never knew it!” thought Red.

Out of nowhere a big, scary wolf popped out at Red. “Hello my friend!”  she said to the wolf with no fear at all.

When this didn’t scare Red enough, the wolf sent out another brother to scare Red in order to hurry her along the path. This time, two wolves had approached Red.

“Oh my goodness you startled me, have a good day men.” Red said as she continued to skip along.

 However, this time she had become slightly nervous. So the oldest brother sent in yet another wolf brother to scare Red and make her run right to grandmother’s house. Sure enough, out jumped the third wolf with his two other brothers, growling with their awfully large teeth showing, chasing Red as fast as they could run. Red had never been so frightened in her entire life. As she was running away she decided to run to grandmother’s house in order to get to safety. As she approached the house the three wolves ran off, leaving Red frantically entering grandmother’s security code as fast as she possibly could. Little did Red know, Walter the wolf was hiding in grandmother’s bushes waiting for Red to open the door so he could sneak in with her.

Surprised to see Red, grandmother said “My dear what a pleasant surprise I was not expecting company.”

Throwing the cake and milk down on the table she said “Grandma I am here because I am in great trouble, I was chased by three vicious wolves in the woods and”…

Before Red could even finish her sentence the evil wolf had jumped through the door and attacked grandmother. Right in front of Red’s eyes she had to watch her grandmother get ripped to shreds by the wolf.

The next thing she knew she was waking up in a daze. The last thing she remembered was seeing her grandmother’s life get ripped away from her by a ferocious beast. With tears streaming down her face as she was gaining her vision back, she realized she was strapped to a chair. Out of her blurred vision she saw the wolf packing all of grandmother’s money, jewelry, and valuables into a large duffle bag.

 In a soft, sad voice Red had whispered, “why are you doing this?”

Quickly turning around the wolf explained to Red that there was really no Sir Walter Watson after all, that he transformed himself in order to gain Red’s trust and get her to unlock grandmother’s house. He told her that there was no modeling agency and everything was simply a lie in order to trick her. He explained why he needed the money to support his family and that he chose grandmother because she was an easy target and the richest of them all.

 Thinking through all these thoughts and realizing exactly who the wolf was, Red became disgusted that she had fallen for this trick, and infuriated that because of it, it caused the dearest person to her, her life. As her anger grew, so did her strength. Ripping herself free from the ropes, Red charged at the wolf with a knife that was lying on the counter. Decapitating the bad wolf, Red stood over his dead, bloody body in shock.

She had defeated the wolf and given him what he deserved.

What happened to the grandmother and Red was nothing short of a tragedy. Every day Red found it more difficult to cope with her grandmother’s loss. The big bad wolf was dead, and the three other brothers were locked in prison for life.

Red was the only person grandmother had included in her will. It specified that all her money and everything she owned went to her granddaughter Rya. Needless to say, Red had inherited all of her grandmother's riches. With these funds, she decided to start up her own modeling agency in which she named Granny’s. She was the president of this organization and gave all young girls the chance they had always hoped for to fulfill their dreams.

Red learned her lesson that mother always told her to never open up the door for strangers when she was home alone. The people of the village were inspired by Red’s strength and courage. They also admired her for taking the wolves out of their town so they no longer had to live in fear. Red and her family were then able to live a comfortable life knowing they were safe, but they missed grandmother more with every day that had passed.