Snake in the Garden

There's an account in the Bible of the devil in the form of a serpent convincing Eve that there would be no significant ramifications to sampling the forbidden fruit she'd been staring at for some time. "You shall not surely die," said the snake to the already entranced woman, and thus the human race was doomed to a cursed life of (among more serious things) toil under the sun to produce fruit from the reluctant earth in order to acquire possessions that would one day return to dust.


Who would do such a thing? What kind of satanic maniac would lead someone into such a trap at such a vulnerable moment, and with so much at stake? Only Satan himself, well, not only him..


Actually, I've been guilty of a similar sinister scam lately. You see, the other day after work I invited a vulnerable young rider over to my house "for a beer." Where I knew he would run smack dab into my nasty looking springer. 


After a potent pint, I offered innocently to let the lad take the seductress out for a lap dance around the block. I even fired her up for him. Now I knew he'd ridden over here on a 400 cc enduro. One twist of that throaty throttle and he'd be completely ruined. I knew it was pure evil. Yet I led him right into the maws of malcontent.


Oh, he hopped on alright and I heard the two of them slink down the street together. And after a few minutes I heard her leading him back by the nose. She pulled into the drive like a saucy woman in a torn dress, and he had that coming-of-age look on his face. His sunglasses were gone, and hair blown back, and his face wore that wowed look of lost innocence.


After a second pint, he had to climb back on his enduro and ride home. I just sat astride her slender saddle and watched him putt on down the way a deeply discontent individual. He won't think of anything else until he has one of his own. It's a curse. 


I knew it would wreck him. It was wrong. I'm evil.