"First or Next" is a rejected flash fiction story
Adam Byzantine-III was the first grandson of Adam Byzantine-I
and his girlfriend Eve Havah. He tasked himself to do focused research to
understand the lives and deaths of his grandfather Adam-I and granduncle Rishon.
His ancestor programs research revealed no children of
Rishon and his wife Mattea. Saved family letters confirmed that Eve and Mattea
became close friends after Adam-I and Rishon died the same day. The women often
speculated about whom died first or next. Authorities ruled Rishon’s death
suicide, but there were questions in the minds of both women. Were the
authorities wrong and one death was by murder? If so, which of the brothers
murdered the other?
The young doctoral candidate saw irony in his grandparents having
biblical given names. Adam-III was the first born of his parents, but he knew his
name didn’t mean first born. He fully accepted the biblical account of Adam being
the first human and Eve was the name God gave as his gift to Adam.
From his studies in Hebrew, Adam-III knew Rishon means “the
first” and Mattea means “gift of God.” The given names were as confusing to him
as his family name. Skipping past the classic meanings of Byzantine, he found the
improper noun meaning – of something characterized by intrigue, scheming, or
deviousness.
Oral and documented family history verified that Rishon and
Adam-I were raised as one and what one did the other did also, but not
necessarily at the same time. Rishon was generally kicking, crying, and
colicky; Adam-I was restful, cooing, and tranquil. Just as in the legend of
Romulus and Remus, Adam-I and Rishon were orphaned, disagreed on most things,
were raised without human loyalty, and found women lacking in their early
lives.
Adam-III discovered that Rishon and Mattea met during studies
for a degree in sociology. Adam-I, also a student in the Masters of Sociology program,
met Eve under different circumstances. She
was the graveyard shift waitress at the Dunkin` Doughnuts where insomniac
students added to their inability to sleep with strong brewed coffee and often
unnecessary over-study of assigned material.
Coincidentally, Cain, the son of the original Adam and Eve, killed
his brother Abel and Romulus killed his brother Remus.
Only Rishon knew he would be taking Adam-I with him when he
leapt from a cliff into an abyss below.
Or did Adam-I go first?
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