Mirium and Jesus headed toward an opening in the trees at the far end of the meadow. Just beyond they followed a narrow path along the ridge. From where they walked there was an expansive, south-facing view of the valley below.

The community's vegetable gardens were there, terraced into the side of the mountain to capture as much sunlight as possible. There was a deep-water spring that provided fresh, water year-round for irrigation. The spot had a magical quality and the Essene community considered it a gift from God. Its bounty allowed the small community to thrive in the otherwise harsh environment.

Mirium gave Jesus a tour of the area and then led him to one particular row of plants. There, she showed him how to harvest only large leaves from each plant, so that the plant would keep growing to be harvested another day. She also instructed him how to show kindness to the spirit that inhabited each plant. She called them the Helpers.

Jesus found her instructions fascinating. He had never thought of plants as having a spirit. He wondered if he could see one, or if Mirium would show him where to look for one. "Are the spirits very big?" He asked. "Are they friendly?" Mirium laughed and said that he'd have to find out on his own, when and if they decided to show themselves.

There was a stack of woven baskets in the center of the garden. Mirium handed one to Jesus. "Here, use this to collect the leaves." She walked to an adjacent row and began picking leaves from another plant.

Jesus began to carefully pick the largest leaves from each plant. He kept an eye out for the spirits as he moved through the row, not sure when they would appear. It was a very warm day, and before long he was feeling a little tired and dizzy.

I'm so tired, he thought. My arms and legs are shaking. It must be from the exercise, he thought. He was not used to strenuous exercise. Plus, he was starved! It was after midday.

In Nazareth, he would have had the morning meal by now. The dizziness persisted. He had to sit down and close his eyes.

He opened his eyes again when he heard Mirium calling to him from across the garden. "Hey, get up you. No sleeping on the job!"

Jesus was surprised to find himself lying on the ground, in the warm mud; his head crushing a small plant.

He didn't remember lying down. I must have fallen and hit my head, he thought.

As he tried to push himself up off the ground Mirium appeared by him.

"Are you sick?" she asked. She had a worried look on her face and her voice was concerned. "You are bleeding? What happened? Did you fall?"

Jesus looked down at his robe and noticed bright red spots on the front.

"I'm not sure what happened to me. I sat down to rest, and the next moment I was on the ground hearing you call out to me."

Jesus pulled at his robe expecting to find a cut on his stomach, but the source of the blood was lower, between his legs. His loin cloth was a reddish brown.

A wave of fear washed over him. He was did not know what to do to investigate the source of the blood. He looked up at Mirium, wishing that she was his mother instead. Mother always knew what to do.

Mirium reached out and touched his arm. "You're as pale as a ghost Are you ok? Does it hurt?"

Again, a swell of dizziness washed over him as he slipped and fell again to the ground.

Mirium could not imagine what was wrong. She had never seen a man bleed like that. She knew that women bled like that. She had her first monthly bleeding -- her moon -- a few years before. Did men have a moon too?

Jesus seemed unconscious. Was he asleep? Had a bad plant spirit possessed his body? He was still breathing. His chest was lifting and falling, though quite slowly. He didn't move.

Clueless about his condition, and with no one around to help, Mirium decided she must act quickly to find the source of the blood. She slowly pulled open his underwear and readied herself for the sight of his genitalia; the first of a person near her own age that she had ever seen.

The bloody material peeled back to reveal something altogether surprising. Something that she could not have imagined. Something very different.

It seemed that Jesus was not really a boy. He had a small penis, but below that, where the blood came from, was an opening like her own, with folds of extra skin on either side.

Mirium stared at the strange anatomy for a moment. Was Jesus a girl? Or something else? She wondered.

Since Jesus was unconscious, Mirium decided to examine his body more closely. She wondered if he had breasts too. She pulled back his robe and saw what appeared to be small breasts, smaller than her own, but covered in light brown hair. How odd she thought, her body frozen, her eyes blinking with bewilderment at the unusual sights.

She looked at Jesus' face and gasped when she realized that he was awake now, watching her as she examined his naked body. She let the robe's fabric drop from her hands and looked away, embarrassed to be caught peeking.

"My mother says that my body is special," Jesus said timidly. "She warned me not to tell anyone about it. She says that people won't understand."

He started to tear up as he continued to speak. "I am a man, but my body has extra... parts".

Though perplexed by Jesus' revelation, Mirium did not take long to sense the pain and fear she knew he must be dealing with. She often sensed how people felt, regardless of what they said. It was her special gift for relating to people.

An elder in the community had once told her that all beings were composed of both male and female. That it was up to The Creator, to decide one's exact form. Maybe God had put both in the same body, she thought. Though, she had never seen such a thing in person. It was odd, yet intriguing, she thought.

"Please don't tell anyone," Jesus whispered. "I don't know what will happen if people find out. Please," he said, his voice rising. "Will you promise, Mirium?"

Mirium put her arms around Jesus, pulling him close to her. He began to sob gently, as she stroked his hair and tried to reassure him. After a moment she spoke. "Your secret will be my secret Jesus. I understand."

She did understand. As a girl, Mirium was regularly teased for being too much like a boy. In the eyes of the elders in the community, she was not quiet enough. She was too athletic. She was too pushy, too willful. She knew how it felt to be judged for being different. For being yourself.

She continued to hold Jesus close. "You remind me of a certain flower," Mirium cooed, "a lily, with three petals. That will be my special, secret name for you. -- Lily," She looked lovingly upon him, and Jesus managed to return a smile.

"Lily," he said the name aloud. "I like that."

On the way back to the settlement, they stopped at the community bath so that Jesus could wash himself up and remove the blood spots from his robe. There, Mirium explained to him that he should expect to get his moon, as she called it, once a month from now on. It was just a part of being part female. He would need to be careful and learn to manage this part of his personal health for it to remain secret.

Walking back to the main building, Mirium felt a new, special connection to Jesus, and he to her.

(End of Chapter 28)