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by Debbie Sickler 
9/23/2006
“That’s the last of them Dad.”
“Did you lock the cages?”
“Of course!”
“Good job son. Now come in and rest. We have a long trip ahead of us
tomorrow.” Noah called to his family. They all left the ark they had
just filled with animals and supplies and headed off to bed.
At daybreak, Noah gathered his family together and entered the ark. Once
they were safely inside, God really ripped open the heavens. Water gushed
down from the sky, creating huge lakes that spilled over into the oceans,
setting the family off on their journey.
The day wore on and the family fought seasickness as well as boredom. Then
the lightening and thunder began. The animals panicked. Somewhat fearful
themselves, Noah and his sons quieted them down as best as they could.
That night, while everyone slept, one clever little chimp reached his arm
through his cage and discovered the lock. The lock, should have been
secured, but wasn’t. It fell to the floor with minimal effort and the
chimp clapped happily as he took his first steps of freedom.
Wandering about the close quarters, he made another discovery: a set of
keys. He had paid attention to the humans earlier and tried successfully
to mimic the way he’d seen them use the strange objects. The sheep were
now free as well.
Next, he released the turtledoves and ravens, which flew about overhead,
creating quite a stir. The donkeys were next, followed by the kangaroos
and ostriches. One by one, the chimp unlocked each cage, setting his
companions free to explore. He was very pleased with this new game.
Between the thunder and Noah’s snoring, none of the humans had a clue
what was happening. They awoke the next day and started about their
business as usual, well as usual as one could expect when sailing in the
first rain storm of their lives, on an enormous boat everyone else had
thought was being built by a nutcase. Anyway, the animals continued to
enjoy their freedom until Noah’s wife went down to retrieve some eggs
for their breakfast.
Now, Noah’s kids weren’t exactly angels while growing up and were in
fact quite mischievous. They’d enjoyed the occasional prank at their
mother’s expense, but none of their nonsense had ever created such a
scream as the one she let out on that trip to collect eggs. The entire
family rushed to her side to see what was the matter. Noah’s faced
turned even whiter than the snow colored hair on his head. He’d never
seen such chaos, not even in his sons’ bedrooms.
“I thought you said you locked the cages!” Noah shouted at his son.
“I-I did. At least I thought I did. I’m pretty sure…there were a lot
of locks to remember Dad and the animals were so smelly. I was kind of in
a hurry to get out of here.” He didn’t really have much of a defense
prepared.
“How are we ever going to fix this? Look at them all!” Strands of hay
floated about, birds were squawking, bunnies were hopping and one little
chimp was swinging from a beam in the ceiling with an amused look on his
face, jingling the ring of keys.”
“Grandpa! That’s not how the story goes!” Tory had had enough of his
grandfather’s ridiculous retelling of the famous Bible story.
“How do you know? Were you there?” Grandpa asked with the raise of an
eyebrow.
“Well, no, but that’s not how they taught it to us in Sunday
School.”
“You’re right Tory. That isn’t how the story goes, but it very well
could have happened if Noah’s family hadn’t taken their
responsibilities seriously. That’s my whole point. Everyone has a job to
do, some small, some big. The Bible says everything you do, you are to do
as unto the Lord. Do you know what that means?”
“Kinda. Doesn’t it mean to do stuff like if God was the boss you’re
doing it for?” Tory was starting to get the point his grandfather had
gone to such lengths to show him.
“Right.”
“Grandpa, I’m sorry I didn’t take my chores serious. I’ll try to
do better from now on.”
“That’s my boy. I knew you’d understand. You know, it really could
have happened my way. Just imagine…all those animals!”
“Grandpa!” Tory rolled his eyes and they both laughed at the thought
of poor old Noah and the clever little chimp.
(c) 2006 Debbie
Sickler
Debbie Sickler, a mother of three boys, began writing as a hobby in 2005.
She has since won several awards and been published both on line and in
print. She is currently working on a Christian fantasy screenplay.
Contact her at:
debbiesickler@faithwriters.net
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com
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