It was a nice day.
All the days had been nice. There had been rather
more than seven of them so far, and rain hadn't been invented yet. But clouds
massing east of Eden suggested that the first thunderstorm was on its way, and
it was going to be a big one.
The angel of the Eastern Gate put his wings over
his head to shield himself from the first drops
"I'm sorry," he said politely. "What
was it you were saying?"
"I said, that one
went down like a lead balloon," said the serpent.
"Oh. Yes," said the angel, whose name was Aziraphale.
"Oh. Yes," said the angel, whose name was Aziraphale.
"I think it was a bit of an overreaction, to
be honest," said the serpent. "I mean, first offense and everything.
I can't see what's so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil,
anyway."
"It must be bad," reasoned
Aziraphale, in the slightly concerned tones of one who can't see it either, and
is worrying about it, "otherwise you wouldn't have been
involved."
“They just said, Get up there and make some
trouble,” said the serpent, whose name was Crawly, although he was thinking of
changing it now. Crawly, he decided, was not him.
“Yes, but you’re a demon. I’m not sure if it’s
actually possible for you to do good, said Aziraphale. “It’s down to your
basic, you know, nature. Nothing personal, you understand.”
“You’ve got to admit it’s a bit of a pantomime,
though,” said Crawly. “I mean, pointing out the Tree and saying ‘Don’t Touch’
in big letters. Not very subtle, is it? I mean, why not put it on top of a high
mountain or a long way off? Makes you wonder what He’s really planning.”
“Best not to speculate, really, said Aziraphale. “You
can’t second-guess ineffability, I always say. There’s Right, and there’s
Wrong. If you do Wrong when you’re told to do Right, you deserve to be
punished. Er.”
They sat in embarrassed silence, watching the raindrops bruise the first flowers.
They sat in embarrassed silence, watching the raindrops bruise the first flowers.
_____________________________________________________________________
Neil Gaiman has quickly become one of my favorite author's to read. The above excerpt is from a book that he wrote alongside Terry Pratchett. Gaiman's works have added to my love of reading and has somewhat influenced my will to write, though I would not say that his stories are the sole reason that I have an interest in writing.
Here are some links about Neil Gaiman. (I'm only including Neil Gaiman here because I have yet to read anything Terry Pratchett has written excluding "Good Omen's")
http://www.neilgaiman.com/
http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/
Here are some links about Neil Gaiman. (I'm only including Neil Gaiman here because I have yet to read anything Terry Pratchett has written excluding "Good Omen's")
http://www.neilgaiman.com/
http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/