They Followed Him Into the Valley of Waters | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: They Followed Him Into the Valley of Waters | Previous Challenge Entry
By Brenda Rice
10/30/14
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The smell of death lingered after a night of terror. No family had been spared the anguish of loss. All night rumors of retaliation had circulated. Even now, the King’s army gathered waiting for first light to receive their orders. Blended aromas of horses, dung, death and vengeance almost made me puke as I watched from my hiding place.

At last, the King mounted his chariot and engaged his enormous white stallion. With one thrust of his arm the army moved forward like some massive living creature. Soon the barbarians would pay with their lives—all of them—millions of them.

I was jostled about in my hiding place aboard a support cart as the horse tried to keep pace with the army. My discomfort was well worth it. I would see the end of the barbarians. Our King would make them suffer for the bodies left to swell in the streets of the capital city.

All day the desert tortured men and beasts, but we were closing in. Signs indicated we would overtake the hoard within an hour. Soldiers spat out curses and predicted how the hoard would die. They seemed sure we would catch them at the sea. They had no means to cross. They would be trapped and easy to overcome.

As we neared the ocean a mighty wind swept sand into our faces annoying both horses and soldiers. Onward was the command! Marching feet, galloping horses, shouting men enraged themselves for the moment of confrontation. Topping the final sand dune the hoard saw us and screams of horror filled the desert air.

The wind blew fiercely, the sky turned dark and thunder rumbled. Soldiers leaned into the wall of wind but each step was more difficult than the last. Suddenly, forward momentum ceased. Horses pranced in place chomping at their bits. Everyone I could see from my hiding place was fixated on the ocean a few hundred meters ahead.

When I could stand it no longer, I revealed myself but the driver entranced by what he saw paid no attention to his stow-away. I turned to face the ocean and my eyes filled with sand. The wind almost robbed my breath from my body. I turned away to cover my face, but was compelled to see what had brought the most powerful army in the world to a halt.

Soon I too was frozen by the sight at the edge of the sea. It defied human logic—it was impossible! Yet, I was a witness to this un-natural phenomenon.

I am sure the driver’s bewildered expression was a mirror image of mine. With jaws a gape a silent question we asked—how? I stood on the frame of the cart to improve my vantage point, but it only confirmed the impossibility of the situation.

The cyclonic wind swirled the clouds, the water, the sand and yet, the massive hoard of people stood firm on the shore. Then the water rolled up into two enormous waves reaching the sky. A valley was revealed between the walls of water. It seemed to me the waters rolled backwards keeping the valley dry. Again, my feeble mind rejected what my eyes reported.

I noticed the man called Moses holding up his arms as he beckoned the hoard into the valley of waters. Were they insane? Our King watched in stunned silence as more and more people and animals disappeared into the valley of waters. When Moses still holding his arms up followed his people into the valley, our King slapped the reins against his stallion and ordered the army to follow him.

Everyone cheered as the greatest army on the earth proceeded with their King to avenge the deaths of our citizens. The driver of my cart was slow to respond as other wagons moved into the valley. The closer we came to the churning walls, I felt like an ant and my enthusiasm waned. At that moment, the driver turned the horse back to shore. The horse struggled, but when his hooves hit the bottom he made a final surge and heaved the cart with us in it onto dry land.

Behind us the walls of water caved in. The army and the horses were gone. The sea was as still as a looking glass and there was silence. What? What was it I heard? Sounds drifted over the glassy sea. It was sounds of rejoicing—the hoard sang praises to their God.

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