Fire and Flood

by Dawn Morris

  We sat and waited for some time before the other women joined us. One by one, the women entered the bus and settled themselves in the seats at the front. “Let’s sing!” one of them shouted, and they began to sing praises to the Promised One, pledging their allegiance and promising to serve him even to the point of death.

  There was a strange disconnect between their joyful mirth and the quiet fearfulness emanating from the rest of the women. I was groggy as the bus drove through the old city. Abruptly, the bus stopped, and I was thrown forward. My face hit the seat in front of me, and I let out a cry of pain. Blood poured from my nose all over my white gown. I held my nose in horror, unsure of what kind of punishment I would receive.

  I heard a man’s voice shout for the women to leave the bus. Since I was at the rear, I was one of the last ones off. Although I pinched it, blood still poured from my nose.

  “Oh, look at her!” An angry woman dressed in a white robe embroidered with the same mark, which she also had on her hand and forehead, stood on the pavement, glowering up at me as I navigated the stairs of the bus. My mind was still foggy and disjointed.

  Two women came over to me and tried to wipe away the blood. The angry woman joined us. “This is unacceptable! There is no way she can be cleaned up in time!” she screamed. “Take her away! Take her away! Get the other women ready! The ceremony has already started, and it’s almost time.”

  I was jerked away by a guard and taken up a massive stone stairway into a beautiful building. Tall columns stretched an immense height, and the carved tops were covered in gold that glinted in the hot, bright sun.

  “Hurry up! I don’t want to miss the ceremony!” the guard muttered darkly. “The Regents have just begun their entrance. You’re ruining everything!”

  We came to a door, and I was pushed through. “This one needs some help. She’s your problem.” The guard turned and left, slamming the door.

  I was stunned and relieved. What had I just been delivered from?

  “What did you do to yourself?” a woman snapped. She walked over to a cabinet, pulled it open, and grabbed some items from it.

  “Sit there,” she ordered, nodding to a tall, black bench covered with white paper. I sat on the crinkly paper, still dazed and confused.

  “Looks like they drugged you. They talked about doing that just in case anyone decided to freak out at the last minute.”

  Roughly she wiped the blood away from my nose and packed one of my nostrils with tissue.

  “Got whacked pretty bad, but nothing’s broken. You lucked out, but you’re not going to make me miss anything. I can’t leave you here, so you’d better behave, or I’ll make you sorry!” She pulled out a small knife from her pocket and flicked it open. “I’ll have no problem cutting you.”

  Numbly, I nodded and followed her out of the room. We entered a large courtyard filled with people. The woman pushed her way through the crowd, and we ended up under a roof supported by pillars. I realized we were in the great Temple where the ceremony was going to be celebrated.

  “I saved you a place here. Who’s she?” her friend exclaimed, scowling at me. “What a mess!”

  “Yes, that’s why she’s with me. I’m responsible for her, so just shut up about it. There’s nothing I can do.”

  The woman ordered me to stand behind her. Through the middle of the crowd ran a red carpet, which led up to a beautiful staircase and massive golden doors, tightly shut. To the right of the staircase was tiered seating, filled with well-dressed men and women. I think they must have been the Regents and other important people. I wondered which one was the representative for United North America. Suddenly, horns blew and the enthusiastic crowd was silenced.

  I looked up. On either side of the stairs were two towers. That’s where a row of men stood, dressed in costumes. They held rams’ horns in their hands and blew them.

  A movement to my left made me turn, and I gasped as I saw the other women I’d been held with, the volunteers, entering the courtyard, their white dresses trailing behind them. They crossed the courtyard and lined the stairs, standing in two lines as we were taught. The massive golden doors at the top of the stairs swung open, and two men stood in the opening. They were dressed in white garments and began chanting in a language I didn’t understand. Smoke billowed out from golden dishes they swung on the golden chains they held in their hands.

  The entire assembly erupted in cheers of joy and celebration as the president and a man I assumed was Angelo Cain emerged. They both crossed the red carpet and mounted the stairs. Standing at the top in front of the open doors, they turned and raised their arms in victory as the crowd shouted praises. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

  Angelo Cain, the religious leader of the Global Union, raised his arms and began to speak. “After his great victory against the rebel forces led by the three traitorous Regents, I received a great blessing. One of our cosmic allies appeared to me,” his voice crackled with emotion, “to me, Angelo Cain, and confirmed what I have been telling you all along. President Emmanuel Bellomo is the Promised One!”

  Enthusiastic applause and shouts of praise erupted from the crowds, though I noticed the two men by the golden doors looked alarmed.

  “As such,” Angelo Cain continued, “by the authority vested in me as the leader of the one true, global church, I declare to the world the one promised in every religion, known by many names, the savior of the world, President Emmanuel Bellomo!”

  Again, the crowd erupted in shouts praising Bellomo. Angelo Cain raised his right arm and waved at the crowd to quiet down. “In honor of our blessed savior, to commemorate this inauguration, he will now enter the Holy of Holies.”

  FLOOD

  Chapter 20

  Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.

  Psalm 127:3

  Finally, the time came to leave the ark. We unloaded the animals first. Getting them off the ark took less time than loading them all into place. It was a sad relief for me to watch them leave. I was grateful for all the sketches of them I’d painted on the wooden panels Japheth had made for me.

  It didn’t take us long to find a spot where we wanted to eventually build our home, a lovely place at the base of the mountain not too far from where the ark had landed. After surveying the area, we agreed to live in one of the many caves we discovered until we could build a proper house.

  But before anything else, the first thing we built was an altar, a place of sacrifice where we could give thanks to God. We searched for stones around the mountain and built a wide, stone circle. On it, Noah made an offering of one of the lambs we’d brought along for just such a purpose.

  I’d seen animal sacrifices before the Flood, but I had watched this little one being born, and played with it. Tears filled my eyes as it was sacrificed. Don’t let it suffer.

  As Noah raised his arms in prayer, the Lord spoke to us! We could not see Him, but the glory of His light shone intensely around us, and we all fell to the ground in worship.

  A voice spoke out of the light, “I bless each of you and command you to go and repopulate the earth.”

  I felt my first child move in my womb at the sound of His voice.

  Then He gave us instructions: “All of the land animals and the birds, all that lives in the sea, will be fearful of you. I have put them in your power. Just as I gave you fruit, grain, and vegetables, I now give you animals for food.

  “Noah,” the voice said, “I make a covenant with you and with your descendants. Never again will I destroy the earth with a flood.”

  I began to weep with relief. We’d made it through the great Flood. Surely, our children would do better than the world before.

  Listen. The same voice whispered in my mind, and I shivered as He continued, “Each human being is made in My image, so I will require the blood of anyone who murders one of my image bearers. If a wild animal kills a human being, it must be killed. If anyone takes a hum
an life, human hands will take that person’s life.”

  “Look!” Laelah pointed to the sky above us, and we all gaped in wonder.

  “This rainbow is the sign of My covenant with you, and all flesh on the earth; never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

  When he finished speaking, the glorious light left, but the bright, colorful arc across the sky remained, the sign of the Creator’s promise. We stood silently watching the rainbow arching across the sky above us. Japheth pulled me close against him, and I rested my head on his chest. “One, two, three . . . ” I spoke out loud, reverently counting, “seven, there are seven colors!”

  “We can actually see His promise!” Japheth replied. I looked up and saw the wonder in his face. We watched until it faded away.

  We moved into the large, shallow cave, using the furnishings from the ark. But since the ark had been pitched inside and out, we were not able to use much of the wood to build.

  “Why did you pitch the inside of the ark, anyway?” I asked Japheth, as we pulled out the iron bars from the animal cages to use for building an entryway to our new cave home.

  “Those were the Lord’s instructions; He didn’t tell us why. We did talk about it amongst ourselves and came to the conclusion it was to preserve the ark for some reason.” He picked up another beam of iron as he concluded, “I think we have enough here.”

  Japheth and I moved the wood and iron rods out of the ark onto a small cart, pulled by one of the donkeys, and trundled the load down the mountain to the cave that was now our new home. The entrance was quite broad, so Japheth and Shem fashioned a wooden wall, complete with a narrow window and barred with the iron rods we’d pried from the animal stalls, so predators could not enter.

  “I feel safer now. We’re not on the ark anymore, and I don’t want to take the chance that one of the bears won’t come in here after the food.” Shem closed the door and slid a heavy, metal latch across it to hold it shut.

  Nua nodded her approval. “I feel much more secure now.”

  The cave was large enough that each family had its own curtained off area for sleeping and some privacy.

  Before the Flood, Laelah, with foresight, had thoughtfully planted vegetables and fruits in pots and stored them in a special room in the upper level of the ark, where slats in the ceiling allowed in sunlight for the plants after the rain had stopped. One daily chore everyone was happy to do was caring for the plants. It was a pleasant room, and the food growing there was essential to the family’s wellbeing.

  Once things dried out enough, we took the vegetables and fruits from the ark and planted them in a garden. Noah also planted a vineyard on the side of the mountain. I took seeds Laelah had packed away in small cloth bags and planted them around the outside of the house. It did not take long for them to sprout. Once they bloomed, the flowers provided nectar for the bees we kept, as well as some of the smaller birds that lived in the area.

  Months sped by, and finally, it was time for our child to be born. My labor was mercifully short, and each of the women helped in the delivery. By then, both Nua and Taina were also pregnant.

  I heard a cry, and my heart burst with joy. Laelah quickly cut the cord and wrapped my child in a blanket. “You have a son,” she told me tenderly, as she placed him in my arms. Tears rolled down her wrinkled cheeks. “I will go and get him.”

  Japheth must have been right outside the cave because he was by my side in a moment. “Are you all right?” he asked me, sitting down carefully by my side and taking my free hand in his.

  “Of course,” I answered, carefully handing him the baby. “Our son.”

  Japheth’s face shone and tears filled his eyes. I had never seen him so happy. After bathing the baby and wrapping him in clean linens, the other women left us alone. Japheth and I basked in our joy, gazing in wonder at our newborn son for a long time.

  “What will we name him?” Japheth asked. We had discussed the matter seriously several times but still hadn’t come to a unified agreement.

  I snuggled our tiny boy and kissed his sweet-smelling head. “Isn’t he wonderful? We must choose his name carefully. This little one has made us a family.”

  He thought for a moment.

  “What if we call him Gomer?” He smiled at the play on words. Gomer means “complete.” I nodded in approval. The birth of our first child was a complete blessing.

  As the months progressed, the other women came to their time and also gave birth to sons. Shem and Nua named their first child Elam. He was a strong, healthy boy. Ham and Taina’s boy was Cush. His birthing was long and complicated, but he, too, was a healthy baby.

  In thanksgiving, Noah declared a day of feasting to celebrate the births of the first children in our new world. The men prepared offerings to the Lord, as well as a fatted calf for our own meal. It took some doing to prepare all the food and care for the babies, but we managed to create quite a feast.

  Noah gave thanks to the Lord and made the offering; after which, we all sat down to eat and drink. There was ale, as well as wine, the first we’d had in some time—the first fruits of the vineyards Noah had planted. Between the long day preparing food and caring for our son and a full stomach, I was exhausted and went to bed early.

  I woke up to Gomer crying. Japheth was not there, which was odd. When the baby finished nursing, I got dressed.

  Scooping up Gomer from our bed, I went out into the family living area to look for Japheth, but he was nowhere in the cave. It occurred to me that he might be with Noah and Laelah. Since the second baby had been born, they had moved out of the cave and were living in a tent far enough from the young children so as not to be disturbed by the crying infants.

  In the early morning light, I could see the table, sitting in the yard outside of the house, had been cleared off and wiped clean, with no sign of the feast from the night before. Breathing a sigh of relief that everything had been taken care of, I made my way across the yard to the large tent belonging to Noah and Laelah. Japheth and Shem were stretched across the threshold of the tent, sleeping. Something was off.

  Alarm streaked through my body, and I looked around in fear. Surely nothing could have survived the Flood, but what if somehow some of the Nephilim had? Water covered the whole earth, but they had super-human strength and powers. Irrational scenarios raced through my mind, and I was about to wake the men when I heard Taina talking to someone.

  Turning around, I saw she and Ham were leaving with their baby. I made my way over to them.

  “Ariana,” Ham muttered as a greeting.

  “Do you know why Shem and Japheth are sleeping by the tent? Are Noah and Laelah all right?”

  Taina looked away from me to her baby, stroking his cheek. Ham told her to come, and they walked away.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “We are moving into the ark,” Ham barked in response. I noticed the bundles he was carrying—their possessions.

  I watched them walk away. Ham was obviously angry. I wondered what had happened after I went to bed, but there was nothing I could do but watch them walk away.

  I moved over to where Japheth slept and shook him. “Wake up! Japheth, wake up!” I whispered. He usually slept lightly, but he was so soundly asleep that it took me some effort to wake him up. I led him over to the garden, so we wouldn’t disturb Shem.

  As soon as we got to the garden, I turned, with Gomer on my hip. “What happened last night after I went to bed? Ham and Taina just left, saying they were moving into the ark.”

  Japheth sighed. “Ham went too far.” He picked a berry from one of the bushes and ate it. “The other women all went to bed after we cleaned up. The rest of us were enjoying the cool evening and decided to make a fire. As we sat talking and joking, Father decided to pull out some more of the new wine he’d made to share with us. You know how meticulously he tends the vineyards.” I nodded. “Father opened the keg, and we all enjoyed a cup of wine together by the fire. Between the feast and the
wine, and the warmth of the fire, I fell asleep as they were talking. It must have been several hours later that Ham woke me and Shem up, laughing.”

  “So, Shem fell asleep outside as well?”

  “Yes.”

  “So why did Ham wake you?” I asked, wrapping my arms around Gomer to pull him out of the sling so I could cradle him.

  “He was laughing about Father being passed out naked in the tent. He wanted us to come and see.”

  “What?” I was shocked.

  “Yes, I couldn’t believe his arrogance . . . the way he was mocking Father. Shem hit him, knocking him to the ground, but Ham rolled around laughing, with tears pouring down his face.”

  As he recalled his brother’s foolishness and disrespect, anger deepened the color on Japheth’s face. “I came back here and took one of the blankets from the trunk, then Shem and I walked backwards into the tent and covered Father.”

  “That was kind, my love,” I whispered, grateful for his respect and honor toward his father. It was so unlike Noah to drink so much that he would be intoxicated. I said as much to Japheth.

  “It is. We all drank a lot, but what Ham did was wrong.” Japheth then came closer to me and whispered into my ear. My ears grew hot as he described what Ham had done. He had disrespected Noah in a way that was unimaginable, taking advantage of Noah’s vulnerable state.

  I put my hand over my mouth as he spoke. What Ham had done to Noah was unspeakable. I opened my mouth to say something, but couldn’t find the words. Japheth just nodded and pulled me into his arms. Nothing was the same after that.

  FIRE

  Chapter 21

  Yes, rescue those being dragged off to death, won’t you save those about to be killed?

  Proverbs 24:11

  The music swelled as President Bellomo, the so-called “Promised One,” according to Cain, entered the golden doors into the Temple, followed by Cain himself. The two men with the long beards followed them, and then the women entered the darkness, one by one. The golden doors swung shut. I watched them disappear and with every step, was filled with relief to not be among them.