Writing for Fun
July 2016
Noah’s Ark – The long journey - Jan Osborne
The door flew open and Noah was propelled into the house, with more speed than dignity, by the ferocious wind and sleeting rain. The cleated soles of his sodden sandals failed to find purchase on the smooth stone tiled floor and he slid across the room until he collided with the table. He regained his balance and gripped the edge of it, his knuckles turning white with the effort. His long woollen robe clung wetly to his tall, pale, gaunt frame and his straggly white hair and beard dripped water onto the smooth wooden tabletop. He was trembling with cold and fatigue but mostly from an all encompassing fear of what he knew was to come. Nevertheless, with a need to inspire courage in the others he closed his eyes, deliberately relaxed his whole body and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes revealed a new steely light to their bright blue slanted depths. Sitting at the table he picked up the stone jug and slopped wine into four beakers.
‘Come, my sons and drink a toast with me to the success of our mission. We have toiled for nearly two years to have this special Ark built and provisioned. Although we will not be the only boat to try to survive the Deluge to come we have been given the finest of advice, materials and the pick of men to crew it because we need to not only survive but to complete our given task.’
Two of Noah’s sons, Shem and Ham, as cold, wet and dishevelled as he, had struggled to close the door against the fury of the rising storm after Noah’s unceremonious entrance obediently called for his third son Japheth to join them.
‘To the mission,’ they cried in unison as they drained their cups. ‘The last of the fresh provisions and livestock has been taken aboard and the crew and their families are, as we speak, boarding the Ark,’ proclaimed Noah.
Another gust of wind slammed against the house and shook it once again to its very foundations. This and the air pressure he could feel building up on his eardrums made up Noah’s mind. He had to bellow to be heard above the now screaming wind outside.
‘Get the women. It is time to leave. We must board the Ark now!’ So saying he pulled a wooden chest towards them from its place against the right hand wall and unpacked six strong leather belts each with a line and clasp attached and six pointed ended walking sticks with leather thongs for wrist straps.
Japeth who had left the room for the women came back struggling under the awkward bulk of four personal leather back packs, each holding precious family treasures. He silently hefted and secured one onto his own back and then handed one to each of the other men, leaving them to tie their own.
The wives had followed him in. All were crying openly. Emzara, Noah’s wife, after catching the frantic plea for help that she saw in her husband’s eyes, wiped a sleeve across her own and taking a deep breath, tried to rally her daughters in law. She ordered Sedeque, Shem’s wife, to hand out the belts and lines and make sure everyone’s was properly secured; Ham’s wife Nelata and Japeth’s wife Adanes were to hand out the walking sticks.
‘Now you all know what you have to do,’ cried Noah. ‘The elemental forces are gathering strength and you will be swept away trying to reach the Ark unless you follow the instructions that we have rehearsed these many times to the letter. I will lead and latch my belt onto the line connecting the house to the Ark. Japheth, who will bring up the rear, will secure each of your lines to the main one as you step out the door and then secure his own. Use your sticks to keep your ground. Once in the Ark complete your allotted tasks then secure yourselves in your own family quarters. For the next few hours we will be in God’s hands and cannot influence the outcome. If God’s will be done and the Ark survives intact then it will be left to my skill as captain and navigator that will hopefully see that our mission is completed. Come wife let us kiss and embrace for once in the Ark our paths will not be the same until the waters have come.’
Emzara stepped forward and was engulfed in Noah’s fierce embrace, her diminutive form lost in the wet folds of his robe. She raised her beautiful olive tinted face to seek his gaze. He caressed her long shiny black hair then cupped her face and let his eyes rove his beloved’s features. Oblivious of his family’s presence he kissed her long, deep and with passion. She in turn raised her hand to caress his cheek and murmured of the nightly pleasures that would be theirs once more once this ordeal was behind them. He moaned and reluctantly let her go to turn and face his daughters.
‘Come daughters, kiss your father and wish him well. As a treat I have placed in your women’s quarters an adequate amount of Kaneh Bosem to make the next few unbearable hours bearable.’
The girls, excited by Father’s gift, crowded round him eagerly giving thanks, kisses and embraces.
Noah put the girls aside. ‘Come it really is time to go. Be brave.’
When satisfied all was ready he struggled to unlatch the door. Suddenly it was torn from his grasp by the howling wind and slammed back against the fabric of the house with such ferocity that the wooden door splintered and the plaster wall fractured. Noah staggered back under the continuous onslaught of rain and hailstones coming through the opening. The others rushed forward, when they had caught their breath, to help him. The sudden deterioration in the weather shocked him. Although morning it was now almost as dark as night outside. The noise was escalating. The earth was groaning and in the distance could be seen the up-flung spumes of ash and molten rock as the surrounding mountains began to tear themselves apart. Noah and then the others latched their lines to the guiding line to the Ark entry stairs and began to shuffle forward against the wind. Every person was engrossed on their own survival and could think no further than the taking of the next step. Stick after stick was rammed into the soil to give purchase, to pull its owner another step nearer their goal. Looking forward through the driving rain and hail Noah could see the Ark as it lay in a huge wooden cradle with mooring ropes lashing all to the ground. Trailing stone anchors were attached to port and starboard beams by hawsers so that when the waters came they would hold the Ark so that she faced into the wind and not turn and capsize. Access stairs were secured against the hull to reach the door twenty five feet from the ground that gave entry to the family quarters on the middle deck of three.
Exhausted but triumphant Noah opened the Ark door, dragged everyone inside then let Jahpeth cut the entry stairs free from the Ark’s side, sever the mooring ropes and then slide shut and seal the outer door.
Not waiting to see this done Noah made his way up to the first deck then through the watertight hatch to the wooden clad ship’s navigation bridge. Gazing through one of the thick clear quartz observation ports he could see the foreshore and nearly all of the lake. Around the lake perimeter he could still see lights from the houses of many of his people who did not believe the Deluge threat was real. He wept as he recalled the hours he and his kin had spent trying to persuade them to make preparations and by those means perhaps save their families.
Noah noticed that the wind and rain had ceased and all was now deathly quiet. The unnatural silence made his bowels quiver with dread. Suddenly a huge drop in air pressure made his stomach lurch and grip the wheel until his knuckles shone white. Then, under his horrified gaze, the unimaginable happened. The surface of the lake had started to dip down in the middle and then with a terrifying sucking noise that filled his world he saw the whole lake surface spiral down and out of view. He gazed unseeing, unfeeling until he heard it. A screeching, grinding scream of agony from the ground beneath the Ark followed by a low rumbling from somewhere aft that was becoming louder and louder until he tried to shut it out by clapping his hands to his head. The deck began to vibrate in unison with the noise and Noah knew the time had come. The Deluge was thundering towards the Ark with unimaginable force and soon the Ark would be launched in the direction of the lake on the crest of an unimaginably huge tidal wave and at the mercy of the planet’s unleashed and destructive energy.
Fear galvanized Noah into frantic action. He flung himself down the hatchway ladder securing the watertight hatch as he went. As his feet hit the deck below his knees buckled in sheer abject terror and with a sob he felt his bowels void. The long journey had begun.