Short Stories
Look toward
heaven,
and number
the stars,
if you
are able
to number them...
So shall
your descendants
be.
[Genesis 15:5]
********************
(Abram opened the tent
flap, and called out
into the darkness.)
"What are you
DOING....out here,
Sarai? It is LATE!"
(Sarai's soft voice
could be heard,
from not far off.)
"Hm? Oh.....I just
wanted to sit out,
awhile! It's such a
beautiful night!"
(Abram shook his head,
and came out of their
tent. He was carrying
a small wool blanket.
In the quiet hour
of the evening,
his sandaled footsteps
could be heard
crunching on the tiny
stones, that carpeted
the ground of their
encampment. The air
smelled sharply of
cooking fires,
bountiful vegetation,
damp animal fur, and
the fresh manure
of well-fed sheep
and oxen.)
"HERE...then! Sit
on THIS! That rock
you are sitting on is
probably COLD!"
(Sarai stood up,
and allowed
her husband
to spread the small
woolen blanket
out for her.
She smiled, gently.
Abram was always
so thoughtful
of her. He was a dear
man!)
(Now, though, Abram
grumbled.)
"What is to SEE,
out here...anyway?
Come INSIDE, where
it is WARM!"
(Sarai laughed.)
"You're such a ROMANTIC,
Abram!"
(She laughed.)
"Just look up at the
STARS....tonight!
LOOK!"
(Sarai pointed. She was
already sitting back down,
on the thick blanket. Abram was
standing beside her:
peering up at the sky;
he was frowning, though
teasingly, and
his arms were crossed
in front of him:
obviously trying to stay
warm.)
"Yes....YES!
Many... STARS!
Very NICE!"
(Abram shivered,
dramatically.)
"Can we go IN..
NOW?"
(Sarai laid a hand
on her husband's sleeve.
She was smiling,
patiently, as if she
were talking to a small
child.)
"NO.......just LOOK,
Abram! Such a BEAUTIFUL night,
the LORD has given
us!"
(Shiver.)
"YES.
And, He ALSO has
given us a warm TENT...
in which to SLEEP!
Let us go INSIDE!"
(Sarai just chuckled,
and shook her head.
In the dim light,
of the
crackling fire
just a little ways away,
her mature face was still lovely:
showing hints of
the exquisite beauty
of her youth.)
"Here! Just SIT awhile..
BESIDE me!"
(Sarai moved over,
a bit, on the blanketed
rocky slab. The small
boulder was just large enough,
for two people.)
(Abram sighed, and
sat down. Immediately,
he put his arm about his
wife; their faces were
just visible in the
crackling firelight,
and flickering stars.)
"Ah. This is BETTER!"
(The long-married couple,
not-so-young anymore,
now smiled
at one another: their
faces crinkling into
the healthy wrinkles
that living,
and wisdom had brought
them.)
(For a moment, all
was quiet, except for
the popping sparks of
their cooking fire. Then,
suddenly, the sounds of
a very young infant
crying filled the night
air. The tiny, urgent
shrieking noises were
coming from
the large tent, down the
hillside.)
(Sarai murmured.
She gestured down the
hill where their
main servant, Raphael,
and his wife lived.)
"The baby must have
just woken up."
(Abram nodded. He
was looking up at the
starry sky: turning
his head this way,
and that.)
(Sarai whispered,
softly.)
"It is hard to believe
he is already a week
OLD.....now, isn't it?"
(Abram nodded:
murmuring. He was
still looking up at the
stars. The moon was
just coming out, again;
it had been been hiding
behind the edges of
two strips of smoke-colored
clouds. Now, it brightly
lit up the dark sky:
shining down on the
older, married couple.)
"Their oldest.....must
be....fifteen, by now...
isn't he? It seems like
he was born, just nine
months....and, a day...
after Sheenah and
Raphael were MARRIED.......!"
(Abram nodded. He
was relaxed now: though,
still not very comfortable.
Soon, they would have to go
in; the rock beneath them
seemed to be getting colder,
by the minute.)
"Hm."
(Sarai paused; she
shifted a little, on the
rough blanket, and
turned to face her husband.)
"Abram. It's been awhile, since
we've talked about ......"
(Abram sighed, deeply.
He shook his head.)
"Sarai!"
(He waved his free
hand in the night air,
as if pushing away a bothersome fly.)
"I don't wish to TALK.....
about it!"
(Sarai looked sorrowfully
at her husband; his face
was more visible now,
in the bright light of the
waxing harvest moon.)
"But....we MUST,
Abram. We must."
(Sarai laid a warm,
familiar hand over her
husband's own.)
"The time is not growing
any SHORTER...for us!"
(She looked up, again,
at the starry sky.)
"And, the Lord PROMISED you....
as many descendants....
as the stars in the SKY!
Just LOOK!"
(Sighing, Abram
looked up again,
at the sparkling
and twinkling
millions of stars. He
shook his head; it was
hard to believe such
a promise! The number
of stars seemed to be
endless, in the midnight
sky.)
"I don't know.....Sarai.
I just don't know....
I don't understand
it, either. But, we must
trust the Lord. His Word
is true.....you KNOW that."
(Sarai nodded, firmly.)
"Yes.....YES! But,
the time is growing SHORT
for us, Abram!
We cannot DENY THAT..
CAN....WE?"
(Abram stood up. He
was now quite cold,
and the words of their
conversation were
stinging his heart, like
the icy water from a
very deep well.
He shivered, once more.)
"The Lord PROMISED
me a great nation, one
day......Sarai!
One that would bless
all the nations......
of the EARTH!"
(Sarai,
her heart pounding
and her eyes
full of tears,
also stood up.
The wool blanket
slipped off the
rocky boulder
to the cold, stony
ground. The summer's
grass, once so soft,
green, and fragrant...
was now dry and brown-
looking, with the
oncoming time of the
harvest. Soon, it would
be winter. Sarai
took both her husband's
hands in her own. A
tear slid down her right
cheek; her skin was
fine and very soft.)
(Abram reached out,
and with loving fingers,
wiped away the stray
tear. He spoke, gently.)
"Sarai......."
(He cupped his palm
around the fine-boned
outline of his wife's
lovely, damp cheek.)
"Sarai......we must WAIT..
WAIT.....for the LORD.."
(His wife sighed, deeply.)
"But, what about US?
What about US....
Abram? We LOVE
one ANOTHER.....but,
it is many YEARS....
that we have been at
Sheenah's and RAPHAEL'S age:
able to bring YOUNG ONES..
into the world!"
(Abram laughed.)
"Yes!"
(He nodded, and leaned
forward to kiss his
wife's soft cheek.)
"Goodness! I can barely
RECALL.....being Raphael's.. AGE!"
(Abram laughed again.
He looked into his
wife's beautiful, large
dark eyes, with great
tenderness.)
"Let us WAIT.....Sarai.
WAIT. We must trust
the promises.....of the
LORD.........
come; let us go back
to the tent. Your
face is COLD!"
(Abram laid his fingers
against Sarai's lovely
face again, and then
taking her arm in his,
began to lead her back
towards the warm camp
fire, and their tent.)
(Sarai laid her cheek
on her husband's shoulder.
After so many
years as husband and
wife, their steps fell
in step easily, with each
other. There was never
an awkward moment of
silence, between them.
She sighed: their life
together had been so
wonderful....and, yet
so barren. It was terribly
frustrating:
this Promise of the Lord's!)
(Abram seemed to
be reading
his beloved's thoughts.)
"One day, Sarai......
we will understand...
EVERYTHING. And,
EVERYTHING will be
made known to us..."
(Sarai frowned. She
stopped walking, for
a moment, and looked
up to the sky. The
moon had hidden itself,
again, in the feathery
clouds. Harvest time
would be coming soon.)
"Yes. Yes, I know...
but, until that time.....
perhaps, we should DO
something....to...
to HELP the Lord...
fulfil His PROMISE!"
(Abram, his arm around
his wife's shoulders:
put his leathery face
in his palm.)
"Oh....Sarai! Let us
SPEAK of this....TOMORROW!
It is LATE!"
(Sarai whispered
into the still, dark night.
Her whisper carrried
with it, the chill of
the night air.)
"Yes.
It is ...
LATE."
*********************
And,
Sarai
said
to Abram,
'Behold now,
the Lord has
prevented me
from bearing
children;
go in to
my maid;
it may be
that
I shall obtain
children
by her.'
[Genesis 16:2]
_____________________
To my grandparents,
Cecilia and Samuel
descendants of
Abram and Sarai,
who had eleven
children;
and all of
their children
had children.
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Very nice article on Abraham and Sarai. Quite encouraging. Thank you. Please would you like to read my articles?