Story Part Three

This is part three in my story based on Numbers 21:4-9.





I watch in horror as a serpent sinks its fangs into a young woman’s leg. The woman cries out and falls to the ground writhing in pain. All around her men, women and children are being bitten. I cover my ears against the horrible sounds that fill the air and run. Bodies strike the earth…people scream in agony…snakes hiss…
I almost trip over a body in front of me. A small child lies limply on the sand. His body is soaked in sweat and he is foaming at the mouth. I drop to her knees and trickled water into his mouth out of a pouch at my waist. I dip my sash in water and lay it on his head. Then I notice an inflamed area at his ankle. It is the color of the serpents themselves, swollen to twice its normal size. The little boy screams and thrashes his body around. I tear strips of cloth from my tunic and tied them tightly above the injured area. Then I cradle the boy in my arms and walk to my tent. I pass other people in agony but I don’t stop. I lay the boy down in the shade and set some water near him. Hopefully there is a chance he will live.
I move on to others as night fell. Apparently other uninjured Israelites have the same idea. They pick their way through the empty camp treating the wounded. The initial panic of earlier has been replaced by a grim determination to stay alive. As I soothe an old man I notice a familiar figure. Standing, I make my way through a maze of empty tents and dying fire pits. “Father!” I scream. Two snakes swarm up his legs. One coils around his arm and bites him, the other sinks its fangs into his neck. I run to him as he collapses on the ground, gasping for breath. I cradle his head in my lap. “Why, father, why?” His eyes bug out and blood spurts from his neck. His body burns painfully.
“Shouldn’t have listened, Lydie…”he chokes, “should’ve stayed in Egypt.” Then his eyes rolled back in his head. I begin to sob. I sobbed for my father and the dying people around me. I cried for the broken lives and homes and families all because we had failed to trust Yahweh. As I cried I was unaware of a coiled snake behind me. It hissed once before it reared up and struck its fangs deep inside my body.