Lost Time (Time Out) Page 11

  Suddenly, the crowd surged behind me, jostling me from my position. I caught my balance and glanced over my shoulder in time to see the huge bulk of a camel pushing its way through the crowd toward Joseph’s table. At the last moment, I stepped out of the way while the camel quickly filled the space I had just vacated.

  Glancing angrily up at the man riding the camel, I gasped as I recognized the man was none other than Joseph’s older brother, Judah, the very man who had sold him into slavery. Looking around the camel, I noticed that all of his brothers waited behind him. Judah casually dismounted his camel, pushed his way in front of the man whose turn it was to receive a portion of grain, and demanded grain for himself and his brothers.

  When Joseph looked up, I immediately saw the change in his face. If your best friend walked up to you and hit you in the head with a baseball bat, you still wouldn’t look more surprised than he did at that moment. Then, as Joseph apparently realized his brothers didn't recognize him, and that he had the advantage of keeping his identity a secret, he composed himself and spoke to Judah as if he were just another one of the many hungry Egyptians bartering for grain. “Where do you come from?” Joseph asked in an extremely harsh yet formal tone.

  “From the land of Canaan,” said Judah, stepping closer. “To buy food.”

  All of the sudden, Joseph’s calm demeanor vanished, to be replaced as if the devil himself had possessed him. He lashed out at his brother. “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

  “No, my lord,” Judah stammered, casting a quick glance over his shoulder to gesture toward his brothers. “Your servants have come to buy food. We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

  “No!” Joseph shot back. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

  “Your servants were twelve brothers,” Judah replied, his tone sounding worried. “We are the son of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is dead.”

  In response, Joseph scowled. “It is just as I told you: You are spies! This is how you will be tested.” He paused a moment, eyeing Judah and his brothers with an unblinking gaze. “As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of your number to collect your brother—“

  “But—“

  “The rest of you will be kept in prison so that your words may be tested to see if you’re telling the truth. If you are not, then surely you are spies!”

  Turning to one of his guards, Joseph gestured. “Lock them in the dungeon! Maybe their imprisonment will bring forth the truth.”

  With a signal, the guard summoned other guards to surround the brothers and take them away.

  Not wanting to get arrested as well by mistake, I quickly hurried into the sea of tents.

  “After that boy!” one of the guards shouted. “He’s running away! He must be a spy as well.” The guard pointed in my direction. Several guards dealing with the sons of Jacob, Joseph’s brothers, broke off from the group and gave chase.

  My heart thundered with fear as I made my way among the tents, doing my best to watch my footing and not trip over the many stakes, ropes and cooking fires that made any movement, in any direction, difficult, if not impossible. As I raced past, people briefly looked up to see what all the commotion was about. Since their entire lives had been spent wallowing away in hunger for the past seven years, it was apparent that a little excitement was more than welcome. As for me, however, the only thing I thought about at that moment was escaping from the guards.

  I quickly ducked into one of the tents, trying to hide from them. Luckily, the guards rushed right past the tent in which I hid. With a feeling of dread, I realized how many guards would be scattered all over Cairo, now searching for me. I realized that the only place I could safely hide and where they’d be least likely to look for me, was in Pharaoh’s palace.

  I slowly made my way back to the palace, forced to occasionally duck behind a tent as a guard walked by. I had no disguise, so tried to act and walk normally for fear of arousing or alerting either the people or nearby guards of my presence. After several minutes, I reached the steps of the palace. Apparently, as a result of all the commotion, Joseph and his personal guard had closed up shop for the day. That was a good thing for me, considering I’d have a zero percent chance of getting up those steps if Joseph had still been sitting there. Gathering all of my stamina, I ran as fast as I could up the steps and into the palace.

  I kept to the dimmer halls and rooms, searching. After wandering around for a few minutes, I found what appeared to be a dining room. As I surveyed my surroundings, I noticed that there was a small alcove located in the far corner of the dining room. I hoped that God would keep the guards away, but I didn't bother waiting to find out. I pulled the T.O.M. device from my pocket and pointed it at the alcove.

  It was then that I felt something sharp press against the back of my neck.

  "Turn around slowly," said a gruff-sounded voice from behind me.

  I turned around and came face-to-face with one of the palace guards. His body was bronzed and very muscular, something that was undoubtedly typical of those whose lives were devoted to the sole purpose of protecting Pharaoh. I saw now that what had been pressing against the back of my neck was a spear. Its shaft was carved out of wood, with what looked like hieroglyph designs etched along its length. About half way along the shaft, where he gripped it, several strips of leather had been braided around it. The spear point looked razor sharp, and it would probably take little effort to pierce my skin with it. As I stood in paralyzed fear, I saw the guard's eyes drift downward to the T.O.M. device in my hand.

  "What's that? Give it to me!" he ordered.

  He snatched it out of my hand before I could comply. As I watched the guard turn the device over in his hands, his expression puzzled, he glanced up at me and inched his spear forward. I felt the tip of the blade touch my throat. One move, and my jugular would be severed. I didn’t move, barely allowed to breathe. My fear increased exponentially. I obviously couldn't get the device back from him by force. What was I going to do?

  With a wave of his spear, the guard motioned for me to walk before him out the door of the room. As we left the room, I glanced over my shoulder in time to see the guard give the T.O.M. device one last quizzical look before placing it on top of a pedestal that bore a small sculpture of some Egyptian god, though which one I had no idea. The top of the pedestal was high enough off the floor that most people probably couldn't reach it without a chair. The guard led me down a maze of several long hallways, each filled with ornate tapestries and statues before coming to a room with its door standing ajar. I paused and looked inside.

  "Who told you to stop?" the guard growled.

  He jabbed me in the back with the butt of his spear. I stumbled forward, tripped over the threshold, and fell to the floor. As I landed, I hit my head on the rough-hewn stone floor. Lights exploded in my head and I saw a rainbow of colors before my eyes. Before I came to my senses, I heard the squeak of rusty hinges as the door closed behind me. It slammed shut with a dull thud, and I heard the guard slam down a crossbar on the other side.

  "This will teach you to enter Pharaoh's palace uninvited," he laughed.

  He laughed as he walked away and the dizziness started to clear from my head, I stood up and looked around. The room looked to be roughly ten feet square, without much in the way of decoration. The only material items in the room were a moldy mat of straw in one corner and a bucket in the opposite corner. Based on the smell coming from the bucket, I had no doubt what that was for.

  I examined the door in hopes of finding some fault that I could exploit in order to escape my confinement. I threw my body weight against the door, hoping it would budge, but all I ended up getting from that was a bruised shoulder. Whether it was from the crossbar on the other side of the door or from the assumption (based on how much my shoulder hurt) that i
t was solid wood, I knew there was no hope of forcing my way out. The only opening I could see was a small trap door near the base of the door, just big enough for a dish to slide through. I figured that was probably how the prisoners were fed.

  I sank down to the floor, partly from exhaustion and partly from the hopelessness of my predicament. What was I going to do? I didn't have the T.O.M. device, I was locked in what amounted to an impenetrable prison cell, and I had absolutely no idea how to change that. As my exhaustion overtook me and I slipped into unconsciousness, I couldn't help but think that, knowing my luck, this probably wasn't going to be the worst thing I experienced before this time-traveling quest was over.

  People say that time flies by when you're having fun, right? Well if that's true, then time must go by really slow when you're having no fun at all. That was certainly true for me as time passed by and I remained locked in the cell. What I thought might be days turned into weeks, and the only way I was able to know this was because I used the jagged edge of a sharp stone I was able to nudge out of the base of one wall to carve lines in the wall, denoting how many days had passed since I had been locked inside. The only human contact I had was a twice-daily visit by a faceless man who shoved a plate of wet, sloppy food through the slot in the bottom of the door. He would return about thirty minutes later to collect the empty plate. The first few times the food came, I didn't want to eat it because of the horrendous smell emanating from it, but after several days with an empty stomach and suffering from severe dehydration, I realized I had no choice but to consume what was given to me.

  To this day, I have no idea what it was, and to tell you the truth, that was probably a good thing. Being confined in such a small space made me stir-crazy, so I passed the time by doing sit-ups, push-ups, stretching and jogging in place until I had exhausted myself and slipped into unconsciousness once again. That was pretty much how every day went for me… until one day I got a surprise.

  Despite not having a clock, I had gotten pretty good at telling when my food would arrive. I waited next to the trapdoor to receive my food as I heard footsteps coming down the hall toward the door. However, this time, instead of the trapdoor opening and a plate of food being shoved through, I heard the crossbar being lifted from the other side of the door and dropped on the floor. The weird thing was, no one opened the door.

  "Who's there?" I asked, my voice raspy from non-use. Nothing but silence greeted my query.

  I stood up and cautiously pushed on the door, which opened with a loud squeak. As I stepped outside the room, I looked left and right along each end of the hallway, but it was apparent that I was the only person there at the moment. A shiver traveled down my spine. I knew that I hadn't heard anyone walking away, so it was as if the person who had removed the crossbar had simply vanished.

  As the fog of imprisonment lifted from my mind, I realized that this was my chance to recover the T.O.M. device. Finally, I had a way out of here! I hurried down the hallway toward the dining room where I remembered seeing the guard leave the device on the top of the pedestal, hoping that it had not been moved during my time of imprisonment. When I arrived in the room, I was happy to see that it was empty. I held my breath as I walked toward the alcove where the pedestal was located and nearly jumped for joy when I discovered the device still laying where it had been left, obviously forgotten. I jumped up, trying to reach it, and missed in my first attempt at getting the device. Suddenly, I heard a shout in the hallway coming from the direction of my former cell.

  "The prisoner has escaped! Guards, start searching every room in this palace until he is found!” came an angry voice. “If Pharaoh finds out about the escape, we will surely have to pay with our lives!"

  I heard footsteps thump off in different directions, and while most faded into nothing, one set of footsteps continued to grow louder and closer as I realized they were coming toward this room. I gathered my strength, crouched down, my eyes fastened to the tip of the pedestal, where I could just see the corner of the T.O.M. device. I jumped upward with all my strength, my eyes focused on the device, my hand reaching forward, prepared to grasp it. There! My fingers felt the device, and then, to my horror, it fell off the pedestal and onto the floor. I thought it would be smashed, but it merely bounced and skittered a short distance away. Just as the steps rounded the corner of the hallway leading to this room, I leapt for the device and quickly pressed the fast-forward button, pointing the device at the floor as the portal activated. Quickly scrambling to my feet, I lunged forward toward the portal as a voice shouted behind me.

  As I stepped from the portal on the other side, I heard a commotion coming from the dining room. Quickly, I made my way along one wall until I neared the end of the alcove that opened into the dining area. I peered around the corner, stunned. Instead of some regal dinner put on for the Pharaoh’s guests, I saw Joseph, his brothers, and Jacob himself sitting at the table enjoying a sumptuous meal of dates, fruits, bread and meat. As they finished eating, the older man, who I knew to be Jacob, stood up to address his beloved son, Joseph.

  “Now I’m ready to die, since I’ve seen for myself that you’re still alive.”

  In return, Joseph smiled. “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh, and will say to him that my brothers and my father’s household, who were living in Canaan, have come to me.”

  Not paying attention to the rest of the conversation, I left them to enjoy their newly-restored relationship and quietly made my way back into the alcove. All’s well that ends well, I thought. I figured there was nothing left for me here, so I might as well see where God would send me next in the Biblical timeline.

  I pointed the T.O.M. device at the back of the alcove and pressed the usual buttons. As the portal appeared, I thought I heard someone approach from behind me. I obviously didn’t want to be found out, so I quickly jumped into the portal as soon as it formed , hoping that it closed up before someone saw it, or worse yet, followed me.

  Chapter 10

  As soon as I emerged from the portal this time, I experienced a feeling similar to the Ferris wheel I rode at the county fair last summer after eating a full lunch… except that it was a million times worse! For a moment, I realized that my sensations emerging from the portal were growing more noticeable, but even so, it only took me a second to notice my surroundings and realize I was falling through the sky at an incredible rate. What had happened? I screamed, thinking that this time, I would certainly die. What had gone wrong? Had I pressed the wrong button? Why was I falling through the sky? It seemed that each time I exited the portal, my surroundings became more and more inconvenient, and more often than not, quite dangerous.

  After what seemed like an eternity, I saw earth rushing up to greet me. My eyes stung and watered from the wind and speed, and I squeezed them shut moments before I knew I was going to hit the ground. A sob escaped my throat at that last moment, and regret swept through me.

  I hit what I thought was the ground… and kept going. It took my mind a few seconds to realize that I had not hit the ground, but had in fact hit the surface of a wide river with such force that it knocked the breath of me. Perhaps it had a reflection of the surrounding terrain that made me think it was solid ground. I landed on my back on the water, a gigantic splash attesting to the speed with which I had landed on the water. A thousand needles pierced my body as my skin and muscles absorbed the impact, and with barely enough time to take in a breath, I was sucked under the water by the dangerous current.

  I opened my eyes, my chest burning not only from the impact with the water, but with the huge mouthful of air I struggled to retain as I was swept downstream at an alarming rate. Where was I? What had happened? I was so confused, and terrified. I thought I’d surely die. Fighting the current was useless; I would only be above the water for a second before the current pulled me back under. I tried to relax my muscles. Not just to fight against the current, but to also save my oxygen and my energy by relaxing my limbs, even though doing so caused me to fight against
every instinct for survival I had. I knew if I let my body loosen, I’d pop to the surface of the water faster and I wouldn’t risk swimming downward when I wanted to surge upward. It was dark under the water’s surface and I had no idea which was up and which was down.

  As I was pulled down the river, I continued to lose my strength. The water felt cold, and the stinging sensation caused by my impact with the water was soon replaced with a bone-numbing chill that seeped into every part of my body. I could no longer feel my feet or hands, and my ears burned as if they’d fall off at any moment. I couldn't even attempt to maintain control, or decide which way to turn my body for the best possible outcome. The decision was made for me.

  My head exploded with pain as the back of my skull made contact with a rock beneath the surface of the water. What little strength I had left had been taken away by that rock. I was dazed and dizzy and felt the warm ebb of blood flowing from the back of my head. Hopeless… I felt hopeless, so I just decided to give up. I couldn’t hold my breath any longer. I could sense the bubbles escaping my lips, my small store of oxygen depleted of all life-saving molecules. Spots and bursts of light flashed behind my eyelids, and my body lost all control. Of course, the second I decided to give up was the exact moment when God decided to save me.

  Just as I felt despair and sorrow surge through me, I realized the turbulent current had slowed, and for a moment, I glimpsed sunlight shining down through the water. The river grew shallower, and with a last burst of energy, I propelled myself upward, reaching for the light. Seconds later, the current deposited my upper torso onto a sandbar rising from the middle of the riverbed. I still couldn’t quite bring myself to sit up, so just lay there on the bank, weak and exhausted. Realizing that I could no longer deal with the pain from that rock hitting my head, I gave in to the sweet embrace of unconsciousness. Just before I passed out, I caught a glimpse of four men downriver who were carrying an ornate box that shone in the sunlight like gold. Before my mind could even grasp what I had seen, darkness descended upon me.