The Flood From a Child's Viewpoint (concluded)

Another stern command came from above, and Raibo said later he thought for sure Noah and his sons were going to plunge into the crowd and break up the fight, but just then Jakal yanked Shabo to his feet and dragged him away. Raibo didn’t dare follow, he was sure Shaba would be dead anyway.

Several weeks went by and Shaba slowly mended but made sure he never, ever came near the village where he grew up again. He would rather be torn by the claws and jaws of a lion than face another adult human. Raibo eventually found him, because he wanted to, then he went away and brought back three or four youngsters who were in just as dire circumstances as themselves.  The children hid out in the jungle but close to the Ark so that they could glimpse and hear Noah’s earnest pleading.

One day everything changed. The children stared transfixed as not one pair but two, they more and more animals filed out of the nearby woods and distant plains and up the ramp in a most orderly fashion. The children, forgetting their fear, rushed out to get a closer look at this strange phenomenon. The whole crowd grew silent, and the news must have been spread by runners because soon the surrounding hillsides were swelling with the marveling throng. 

As the animals came the sky grew dark and there was the occasional flash of lightning and loud clap of thunder. Shaba saw many look nervously at the sky, but the threatened rain didn’t come.

Soon the animals had all filed in and Noah started to speak once again.  All around him men and women were muttering then beginning to disperse. 

Shaba lifted his arms in longing.

 "Please, please, let me come," he begged, but Noah didn’t hear him because a burly giant next to him knocked him over and kept him down with his foot.

The giant eventually walked away and Shaba sat up, and rubbed the dirt out of his eyes. His companions had all snuck back to the safety of the undergrowth and before Shaba’s tired eyes he saw the doors slowly shut.

Shaba hung around with his friends the next few days but they were all strangely silent. 

If they were terrified of the earthquakes that repeatedly shook the earth they didn’t mention it. More and more innocent young children who had been brutally treated somehow found their way to them. Shaba became their unspoken leader.

“Shaba, I am so scared,” Kenzy murmured. Eight year old Shaba brushed the hair from the little girl’s eyes.

“We all are, Kenzy,” he replied.

“I’m afraid he was right,” Loto whispered.

“Who was?”

“Noah.”

Shaba nodded.

“And we’re all going to drown.”

Shaba put his hand on the little lad’s trembling shoulder.

“Ya I know we will.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“A little.” The earth trembled beneath their feet and they hung on to each other for support.

“But I’ve listened carefully to Preacher Noah for many days and I think I understand what he was saying,”

Right then the unnatural stench from a non-wood fire reached their nostrils. Terrified, the youngsters clung to Raibo and Shaba.

“They making more and more sacrifices to appease their gods,” a newcomer announced soberly. “There was five thrown into the fire last night.”

So they believed Noah, Shaba thought, but don't want to admit it.

“What was Noah trying to tell them?” the newcomer asked a moment later.

Shaba took a deep breath and looked at the sky. He reached out his hand as the first raindrop fell. 

“That the earth would be washed clean of all wickedness,” He looked at each child in turn. “You know what wickedness is. “ They shuddered and stared into each-others frightened eyes.

The rain fell faster. 

“Shall we go to higher ground?”  Raibo asked.

Shabo hesitated then shook his head. “The bad guys will be there, and some of them will be meaner than ever,”

“What shall we do?” Kenzy wailed.

“We will pray,” Shaba decided, “To Noah’s God.

They did, and then Shaba told them that God was preparing a happy place for all the little children: a place where they would have plenty of food and playtime with no reason to ever fear again.

For some reason they became intrigued by how much water was gushing over the waterfalls and walked over to see it. All around people were yelling, screaming and pushing their way to higher ground, but the seven little children watched the  cascade with rain gushing all around them.  When the ground gave away beneath their feet they were swept away to Heaven’s gate.

The Flood From a Child's Viewpoint

Have you ever gotten the feeling that there were things in the Bible that didn’t seem right but you thought you should bury your head in the sand and pretend you didn’t notice? One question you might have asked yourself is: why did God allow man to have a free will then destroy him with a flood

Noah was begging them to find safety in the Ark because a flood was coming to drown all the bad people. Shaba didn’t need anyone to tell him what a flood was. He would never forget how some older boys had thrown him over a small waterfall and he had thrashed and screamed his way to shore. How he had survived he would never, ever know.

                “Shaba!” The barked command made Shaba’s knees buckle. Was it Mobid? No, but it was just as bad.  The crowd quickly parted as his dad shoved his way through and flung Shaba on the ground. A woman tittered nervously as Jakal thrashed him.

                A sharp cry came from the Ark’s doorway. Jakal rose and shook his black hair out of his eyes, glared at Noah then continued beating the lad.

                Another stern command came from above, and Raibo said later he thought for sure Noah and his sons were going to plunge into the crowd and break up the fight, but just then Jakal yanked Shabo to his feet and dragged him away. Raibo didn’t dare follow, he was sure Shaba would be killed anyway.

Several weeks went by and Shaba slowly mended but made sure he never, ever came near the village where he grew up again. He would rather be torn by the claws and jaws of a lion than face another adult human. Raibo eventually found him, because he wanted to, then he went away and brought back three or four youngsters who were in just as dire circumstances as themselves.  The children hid out in the jungle but close to the Ark so that they could glimpse and hear Noah’s earnest pleading.

One day everything changed. 

The Flood from a Child’s Viewpoint

Have you ever gotten the feeling that there were things in the Bible that didn’t seem right but you thought you should bury your head in the sand and pretend you didn’t notice? One question you might have asked yourself is: why did God allow man to have a free will then destroy him with a flood?

Shaba’s eyes rounded in horror and he clasped his hand over his mouth to keep from vomiting, or worse yet screaming. He couldn’t keep from staring at the charred bones in the pit of ashes. At first he was totally frozen to the spot then completely involuntarily his foot nudged at the bones. Yes, it was a skull, a tiny human skull. He knew it was, had known it would be. A shadow felt across the pit, a huge black shape holding a machete. Before he had a chance to flee or even scream he was yanked by his hair and dangling a foot above the ground.

                “Ha! I knew your curiosity would get the better of you sooner or later! Yup, that’s your kid sister alright. Made a mighty good sacrifice, she did, but not as good a one as you would have.”

                Shaba wanted to wriggle and try to get free but was too terrified. The monster-like man whipped the machete within a hairbreadth of his neck then slowly pressed it closer, drawing blood.

                A small crowd was gathering around, some cheering him on.

                “What do you think guys? Should we take this one?”

                “Nah,” one of his companions drawled. “He’s too skinny. One brute a night is plenty or it will get too common.”

                Faintly over the breeze they hear someone with a strong voice speaking.  Shaba saw the crowds’ attention shift from him to the distance preacher. Mobid’s grip slackened and Shaba fought desperately to get away.

                “Hey, I didn’t say you could go!” But Shaba had vanished, a ripped piece of his tunic dangling from Mobid’s hand. Mobid lunged after him but he didn’t have a chance.  Shaba was fleeing for his life.

               

                “You okay, Shaba?” The small boy shrank back in terror into the dark recesses of his thatched roof hut. He was pretty sure who was looking in on him but wasn’t about to let his presence be known. Not yet.

                “C’mon Shaba, you’ve been hiding here most of yesterday and all night. Mobid and his gang are picking on other prey. Let’s go find out what Preacher Noah is talking about. It’s pretty safe if we get up close to the ramp.”

                Shaba knew that was true. People hurled insults or even rocks from a distance at the old man but they seemed afraid to do it within twenty feet of him. Did they think he would strike them dead or something? It took a long time for Raibo to convince him to come out, and when he did it was only because Raibo had slashed open a pineapple and coaxed him to come out and help him eat it.

                The boys slipped stealthily through the lush, over-grown jungle, ever keeping a wary eye open for vicious animals and even worse humans.

                Raibo pushed his way through the restless, scoffing multitude hanging around the ark that was being built, with Shaba at his heels.

                Shaba felt his tension slowly ease away when he gazed into Noah’s kind, gentle eyes.

                Most of his sermon was hard to understand but he knew that Noah was pleading with the people to repent of their wicked ways. Shaba knew what wicked meant. He saw it every day. Every day someone was being abused. He didn’t know the words to describe what was happening mainly to little kids like himself and Raibo, but he knew it was evil, very evil, and terror haunted him wherever he went. He looked longingly at Noah and his wife, his three sons and their spouses and knew with a certainty that they never ever had treated each other in the way that every kid and women in his village were molested.

                Noah was begging them to find safety in the Ark because a flood was coming to drown all the bad people. Shaba didn’t need anyone to tell him what a flood was. He would never forget how some older boys had thrown him over a small waterfall and he had thrashed and screamed his way to shore. How he had survived he would never, ever know.

                “Shaba!” The barked command made Shaba’s knees buckle. Was it Mobid? No, but it was just as bad.  

to be continued...https://www.createspace.com/4837922