The mountains loom far above their campsite, like a purple backdrop. No one knows that a landslide has forced a hungry pack of wolves far down-slope from their usual hunting grounds into the nearby foothills.

A crackling campfire spreads its warmth like invisible fingers into the surrounding night. The flames repel all wild animals, except for the heat-loving viper whose hollow log has been piled upon the woodpile.

Enclosure and protection are provided by the tent, its thin but durable surface shielding those within from the outside ills. But sharp, pointed Swiss Army knives can cut through surfaces such as canvas—or skin across a delicate, feminine throat.

Cups clink in bedtime, cocoa toasts to finally escaping the rat race and taking some time out just for each other before the coming years of family life. Still, in one cup, arsenic powder mixes well with cocoa that will mask the taste and take away the prospect of a lifetime spent with someone not the father of the child.

Adam and Eve, poised to populate the world forever, smile gently at each other to cover their thoughts of murder, hate, and betrayal

.

The wolves sense prey, move toward it. A viper slithers near a careless bottom gap of the tent. A keen-bladed knife springs open in a hand that trembles, as the other hand brings a cup to lips.

Oh, Adam! Oh, Eve! Oh, dear God, please stop it!

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SUSAN CORNFORD is a retired public servant, living in Perth, Western Australia. She has had pieces published or forthcoming in 42 Stories Anthology, CarpeArte Journal, Cloudbank, Corner Bar Magazine, Curating Alexandria, Drabblez, Fewer Than 500, Medusa's Laugh, Moonchild Magazine, Subtle Fiction, The Gambler, The Vignette Review, and Theme of Absence.