Atom and Erg, the first humans on earth, have traveled through time and space to reach their new home. Atom comes from another planet and is deeply connected to animals, particularly whales. Erg is conceived in a ball of light and is only now experiencing a physical form.

Atom arrives first and, after waiting seven years for Erg, he savors her entry but fears for her safety. For Erg, fear of the dark is her first undoing. She is overwhelmed by physicality: gravity, density, and pain.

Erg is miffed that equality with Atom is already challenged by her smaller size. Apple, snake, and sex test every compromise. Working the land, preparing for migration, the couple moves forward as wary equals.

Atom and Erg migrate to the ocean, finding animal buddies and encountering animal threats. Detours divert their path and endanger their mission. A bond with the natives, though necessary to creation of the human race, is fraught with social upheaval.

In this stunning retelling of the Biblical creation story, Cy Chase derives a human race, entwining intelligence with equality with nature's symbiosis. Hope is prominent-that if humans began with lofty ideals, we may currently resurrect them.