The Command
Retold Story of the Flood
Published by Shell Isenhoff at Smashwords
Copyright 2012 Shell Isenhoff
******
Smashwords Edition License Notes:
This free ebook may be copied, distributed, reposted, reprinted and shared, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration and the reader is not charged to access it.
Cover image by Wildcat Dunny (Flickr)
Tamara rode to town behind the family’s oldest pair of donkeys. The cart creaked and groaned like a wounded beast as it followed the rutted gravel road beside the shallow creek. She had to drive the old vehicle because the newer, larger ones were being used to haul hay and feed.
The donkeys hit a particular rough spot, and the cart swayed so she feared for the eggs she carried to market. One donkey stumbled over a loose rock in the road. It was time for a short rest. “Whoa, Cain. Easy there Abel.”
The way wasn’t far, but the elderly donkeys quickly grew tired. Tamara pulled gently on the reins. Both animals paused and stood with their great heads drooping and long ears swiveling at her voice. She tied the reins to the brake before hoisting her skirts and climbing over the wheel.
A wide-mouth clay jar sat in the bed of the cart, cracked and full of spider webs. She rinsed it out in the creek and used it to carry water for Cain and Abel. Lovingly, she stroked the whiskered muzzles. “It’s not much farther, boys. We’ll take another break if you need it.”
Abel’s long tongue brushed across her hand. She fancied the wise old donkey understood her and was telling her he was ready to move on. She gave each one a piece of carrot and climbed back on the wagon seat.
As they wound their way to town, Tamara wondered how much longer these animals would continue to serve her. At least they had led long, happy, animal lives. But what about the people who were so much more important? What about her friends? Why would they not listen?
It was really for this reason that she made her way to town. The eggs were just a cover, and her whole family knew it. She reflected over the many, many years that had passed in which not one single person had listened to her. Was she a fool? Maybe, but she had to try one last time. The building was nearly completed, and the loading was more than half done. Time grew short.
The faithful old beasts sensed her urgency and picked up their pace. By the time they made it to market, they were breathing heavily.
Tamara quickly sold her eggs to the same old lady who always bought them. She saw people snicker and point to her, caught hushed phrases like “crazy girl” and “preacher woman,” but she didn’t have time to stop. Drunkards sprawled out on corners, and ragged street children watched her with hollow eyes. The sounds of a fight echoed out of a dirty alley. All of this she took in but paid no heed. She had told them before, but they had chosen to disregard her. Their fate was sealed. There was only one person she wanted to talk to today.
Tamara guided the exhausted donkeys to a small farm outside town. She set them loose in a yard enclosed by a stone fence, and both animals sank down in the shade of a scrubby tree.
A dog barked joyously as Tamara moved toward the low, brick house. “Hi, Enoch.” He bounded over to lick her face, and she scratched behind his ears. “Where’s Hannah, boy? Hannah, are you here?”
“Tamara?” a voice called from inside. A large, work-worn woman came to the door with a young child peeking from behind her skirt. “Tamara, it’s good to see you. Come in and sit down. I just baked some bread.”
Tamara hugged them both and followed them inside. She sat on a mat that covered the hard dirt floor. On the hearth, several loaves of bread sat cooling. Enoch and the child played in the center of the room, laughing and rolling.
“To what do I owe this call?” Hannah asked.
Tamara’s face grew serious. “This isn’t just a pleasure outing, my sister. It may be the last chance I have to persuade you to join us.”
Hannah’s face clouded. “Tamara, we have been through this before. You know…”
“Please,” Tamara interrupted. Her unusual urgency caused the larger woman to fall silent. “Please listen to me. It’s nearly completed. The women are filling the rooms with feed. It won’t be long now. They let me leave the work to come plead with you one last time. You are the only family I have left. I beg you, please come with us.”
Hannah regarded her sister with contempt. “Look, Tamara. We have always been very good friends. I took your marriage into that crazy family without a word. I didn’t laugh when you told me your father-in-law’s foolish plan. I want to remain friends with you, but I do not want to be involved.”
Tamara felt close to tears. “Please, Hannah, reconsider,” she pleaded, but her sister’s face remained stony. The subject was closed.
Tamara sighed, and her last bit of hope leaked out with the small breath. “I must be getting back,” she said, rising. “You know where to find us if you change your mind.”
Enoch bounded out the door after her. Hannah followed more slowly and helped harness Cain and Abel. Tamara climbed onto the wagon seat and looked deeply into her sister’s eyes. She knew it would be the last time. Slapping the reins over the old donkeys’ backs, she whispered, “I love you, sis,” and drove out of the yard.
She spared the animals on the trip back, letting them choose their own pace. Her insides felt like wash rags that had been rung out and left to dry, and even on the crowded streets she felt completely alone. She hardly noticed the murmur of the brook or the buzzing of bees in wildflowers growing alongside the path. She saw only the image of her sister standing alone in her yard, waving.
The cart topped a hill and the building project became visible in the distance. The huge structure sat like a giant beached whale in the valley, drawing the ridicule of the entire countryside. For a moment, doubts tugged at her mind, and she wondered if all the work had been worth it.
Her kindly father-in-law spotted her first. He knew by her expression what had happened. “I’m so sorry, dear,” he said and led the donkeys away.
After washing the tears and the road dust off her face, Tamara joined her mother-in-law loading hay in a new wagon. “She wouldn’t listen, Mom.”
Silence was the only reply.
“You knew she wouldn’t, didn’t you?” Tamara asked.
“Yes. She never listened before.”
“Then why did you let me go?”
“You needed to try again, if not for her sake, then for yours. Otherwise you would forever ask yourself ‘what if…?’” The wise woman looked at her steadily. “What matters most is that you still believe.”
Tamara nodded, her doubts forgotten. “I do, but it’s hard to believe alone.”
“I know, dear. I know.” The older woman stood a long moment gazing at the horizon. Perhaps she was remembering her own friends and family. Presently, her eyes refocused and she said, “Come, there is still much to do.”
The next week flew by in a flurry of activity. Tamara, her mother-in-law, and her two sisters-in-law worked like ants, loading food from dawn till dusk. They took turns preparing meals for the family and cleaning up. Their husbands stopped work on the huge vessel only to eat and to fall into bed at night, exhausted.
Soon, Tamara’s night came to make supper. She finished preparations early and had just enough time to sneak out to Cain and Abel’s pen before her family arrived. She took with her a few vegetables saved from the meal.
Abel snorted a welcome and trotted up to her, kicking his heels and tossing his gray head like a yearling colt.
“You know, don’t you, old boy? You know we are almost done.” She offered him a turnip. Cain jogged over to receive his fair share. She laughed as he nosed the folds of her apron where the vegetables were hidden. She petted and talked to them until she heard voices. Then, with another carrot and a final pat, she closed the gate. “Sleep well, boys. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
That night, as she crawled under the covers, her husband whispered, “We’re done.”
Dread and excitement churned inside her, mixing like mud and water. The years of hard labor were completed. Now everyone would know they were not fools. The people would learn that the God they served was real, but it would be too late for them.
“Japheth,” she asked her husband, “what will happen next?” But there was no answer, only the deep even breathing of the man who lay beside her.
The next morning she rose early and hustled outside to Cain and Abel’s pen. She called their names, but neither of the great, shaggy heads appeared over the fence. She called again and opened the gate. There, against the far wall of the pen, both of her pets lay sleeping, Cain with his head resting on Abel’s neck. She called to them again, but they were as still as the rocky ground they laid on. She stifled a sob as the realization hit her. Her beloved pets were dead.
She heard a whisper of sound behind her and turned to find one of the biggest cats she had ever seen in her life. She screamed, and the cat streaked away into the vessel that the men had just complete. A second one appeared from out of nowhere and followed like a tawny shadow.
Japheth came running from the house at her scream. He saw her pale face and caught her up before she fell. “What’s the matter, honey?” he asked in alarm. She was a strong girl. What could possibly have frightened her so badly?
“Two huge cats killed Cain and Abel,” she sobbed.
He held her close while she recovered from her fright and cried over her pets. Then he let go and said, “Stay here.” He entered the pen and knelt beside the donkeys. There were no signs of a fight, and the animals bore no marks. He returned.
“Those cats didn’t kill your donkeys. There isn’t a scratch on either of them. God let the old fellows go peacefully while they slept last night. It was painless for them,” he comforted. “We would have had to leave them behind if He hadn’t stepped in. They never would have survived our trip. We must take younger animals. It really is better this way.”
Tamara sniffed. “What about those awful cats?”
“I’m afraid God sent them, too. We have to take them with us, and I wasn’t about to go looking for them. I imagine you will see many, many other animals today.”
Japheth was right. For days, the animals came, drifting out of the countryside in pairs. The men guided them into their rooms. In between, they loaded the sheep, chickens, goats, horses, pigs, and donkeys, and still the wild ones kept coming; enormous creatures, tiny ones, and every size critter in between. Some were familiar, but many, many they had never seen before. They wandered from near and far and entered the ark.
Tamara watched with wonder as they kept coming. “They’re all so different,” she whispered. “I never realized how many kinds God made.”
Her mother heard and smiled. “You’ll become familiar with each one as you feed them.”
Tamara clapped her hands together. “I’ll enjoy that so much more than the work we have been doing.” Then she made a face, “Except for those terrible cats.”
“The men will care for the large animals.”
“I hope so,” she shivered.
Just then, a familiar bark echoed from the top of a hill. Enoch came bounding down the slope, followed by a black and tan friend. He put his big furry feet on Tamara’s shoulders.
“Enoch!” she yelled, “is Hannah with you?”
Enoch simply barked again and the two dogs chased each other across the yard and into the ark.
Tamara watched and waited in vain for her sister to appear. Storm clouds gathered as the men finished loading the last of the animals. The woman scurried around for last minute articles and still Hannah did not appear. Finally, they could wait no longer, and Noah repeated the Lord’s command to enter the ark.
“Just one minute more. Please!” Tamara cried desperately. “My sister is coming!”
“We cannot wait, my child. The command has been given,” Noah said gravely.
“Please!” she begged, falling onto her knees.
“It’s too late. You must get on.” He guided her aboard as she sobbed into her hands.
On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in. (Genesis 7:13-16 NIV)
Lightning rent the sky and thunder rolled so close that it shook the walls of the ark. Tamara could hear the shrieks of people gathering outside. She recognized the voices of friends and relatives and neighbors. They banged on the door screaming, “Let us in!” Fingernails gouged at the wood and the thumps grew so desperate that Tamara covered her ears. The men in the ark wore grave expressions, and the women wept bitterly, but they were helpless.
Again, Noah said, “It’s too late.”
For forty days, the flood kept coming on the earth…(and) the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. (Genesis 7:17, 24 NIV)
Read about it…
in Genesis chapters 6-9.
####
Thanks for reading!
This was a sample story from my Smashwords title
Another Perspective: Retold Bible Stories,
which includes 14 more similar tales.
Check out my mainstream middle grade novels
published under my full name, Michelle Isenhoff.
Connect with me:
on my website
on my mainstream blog
on my personal blog
on Facebook
or on Goodreads.
Sign up for my monthly newsletter
for freebies, contests and new release info.