Lost Time (Time Out) Read online

  I gasped and hung on for dear life. My thighs clamped hard against the lion’s sides, I hunched low over his neck and tightened my grasp. The lion’s strides lengthened until I felt I was flying. My hair whipped behind me as I felt the sting of cool air against my cheeks. I had to close my eyes, for we dodged and darted through trees and brush at breakneck speed and I thought that at any moment, we’d both crash into something. Either that, or I’d lose my grip and fall, severely injuring myself. Neither happened.

  I peeked. After what seemed like no time at all, we approached the clearing where Adam had been laying on the ground just a little while ago. Relaxed and relieved, I was not prepared for the lion to suddenly skid to a halt. The momentum carried me right over its head and I flew off his back, sailing through the air without a sound. I felt too surprised to scream. Gravity took its course and I tumbled to the ground, rolling several times before I came to a complete stop, spitting dirt from my mouth.

  Slowly, I sat up, making sure I was all right and nothing was broken. It seemed as if everything was intact except my pride. Self-conscious, I rose to my feet, swatting away the dirt, twigs and leaves that clung to my new clothes. Then I noticed two people standing in front of me. I now saw both Adam and Eve, so it was obvious that the rib-removal ceremony had already taken place. Bushes and branches were positioned in just the right places to cover most of their bodies, so I parted a branch to get a better look at what they were doing. My stomach rumbled, loudly, and I froze. Had Adam and Eve heard me? They didn’t even look my way, which was a relief. However, what I noticed then was definitely not. My gaze focused on the apple that Eve held out to Adam. That apple looked strangely familiar, but I passed it off as déjà vu. Let them have their food, I thought. I’ll go find my own. I turned to follow the retreating lion, but didn’t get two steps before I realized why that apple looked so familiar… that apple was from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and Eve was about to feed it to Adam! I whipped my head around just in time to watch Adam take a huge bite out of it. I opened my mouth to holler a warning at him, and then slapped my hand over my mouth. I couldn’t interfere. Not even five seconds after Adam swallowed that bite, I heard a low, menacing, growl behind me.

  Slowly, and with great fear, I turned around. The playful gleam that had been in the lion’s eyes only moments before was gone. In its place was the kind of look I get when I skip a meal, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what the lion wanted to eat.

  Uh oh, I was in trouble now. Adam and Eve were forgotten as I watched the lion slowly make his way toward me, his head lowered, shoulders hunched and tail slowly shifting from side to side. Ever so slowly, I pulled the T.O.M. device out of my pocket while at the same time trying not to break eye contact with the lion. The lion glanced to the right, and that was all I needed; I took off running as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I knew I couldn’t outrun a lion, but my instinct was to run, so run is what I did. I heard the heavy thud of the lion’s paws hitting the ground as it chased after me. With all of the might my pointer finger could muster, I jammed it down on a button labeled "Activate".

  A beam of light shot out from the tip of the device and hit the ground in front of me, causing me to fall. Instead of slamming into the ground as lion-bait, I felt myself falling. The lion’s enormous paw swooped right over where my head had been not half a second before. I nearly cried with relief that I had escaped. Then, not knowing where I would end up, I closed my eyes and prepared myself to be ready for just about anything.

  Chapter 3

  I opened my eyes just in time to see a dark, cloudy sky. My heart leapt into my throat as I realized I was falling hundreds of feet through the open sky. I screamed, clawing at the air as if I could grab hold of something and hang on. Of course, there was nothing to grab and my arms flailed as I dropped, faster and faster. I couldn’t tell what was below me, but I was sure whatever it was, my end would be quick and painless. Then, my decent suddenly seemed to slow, and instead of feeling a sudden, hard jolt as I landed, I instead felt myself immersed in frigid water. I continued to drop, my screams halted by the water gushing into my mouth and throat, burning my lungs as it enveloped me. I seemed to be floating in limbo. Now, instead of falling, I instinctively shot my arms up and over my head, seeking the air I knew was above. My eyes burned with salt water but I saw a dull light above me and I reached for it, desperate to live.

  I propelled my arms downward and kicked with my feet, gasping out a grateful sob as my head broke the surface of the water. My right hand struck something hard and I latched onto it before I realized it was a large, floating log. Luckily, I was able to grasp it, despite its slippery, sodden surface, and then wrapped my other arm over the log, dangling like a sack of potatoes. I heard rain… pounding rain and saw the indentations the rain made on the surface of the water around me. Weakened with fear and still stunned by my sudden plunge, I glanced around, only to find myself surrounded by water for as far as I could see. Had I landed in a lake, or was I in the middle of an ocean? The rain continued to pound, the wind to roar, the waves to crest and ebb. I felt I was trapped in the midst of a tsunami and hurricane combined, something like I’d never seen before. Where was I? I’d survived the fall, but was I now to perish in the middle of a raging sea? My log bobbed crazily up one swell and then down into the resulting trough, causing me no small amount of panic. If my hands slid off my buoy, I would not likely be able to grasp it again before it was swept away.

  Every time I crested a wave, I gazed wildly around me, seeking a darkened shoreline, a light, anything that might indicate all was not lost. Time passed. I grew so cold my teeth chattered and I lost feeling in my fingers and hands. I resorted to clinging to the log with my elbows, knowing if I lost my grip I was doomed. Up, down, up down, a never-ending ride on a roller coaster without a stop button. Finally, just as I began to lose hope, I saw something that appeared to be a large ship in the distance. It didn’t look sharp and metallic, like a cruise ship or an ocean liner. The shape was lower and rounder. I latched my eyes to the object, hoping it would come closer. Several swells later, I realized it was closer… it was heading my way! Then, finally, I realized that it was made of wood. A wooden ship? Where had I zapped myself—all of a sudden, my head cleared. Why hadn’t I remembered my remote? If I had zapped myself here, I could zap myself out. However, would the remote work? Was it waterproof? I slowly released my grip on the log with my right hand and reached into my pants pocket. I nearly cried with relief when I felt the remote there, safe… but was it sound? Grasping it tightly, I pulled it from my pocket, squinting against the rain to peer at the display screen. Lights still on, one of them flashing. I forced my near-frozen index finger to press the "fast-forward" button. To my dismay, I felt a wave of dizziness came over me. Tightly clinging to the remote and my log, I passed out.

  When I came to, I felt firm ground beneath me. Sunshine shone warm on my face and my clothes were dry. Opening my eyes, I saw myself surrounded by fields of green, in the middle of a clearing and a bright summer day without a cloud in the sky. I sighed, patted the ground beneath my hands and thanked my lucky stars I was alive. No, not my lucky stars… I thanked God for sparing me. I breathed a quick prayer of relief and gratitude, realizing for the first time in a long while that I hadn’t prayed, or even attempted to communicate with God in ages.

  I slowly sat up and looked around. I never would have guessed that there would even be a light shower on this beautiful day. To my right, I noticed a rocky ledge that appeared to overlook a valley. I crawled over to it and looked out over the sprawling valley below. I blinked. What I saw in the valley below looked like a beached ocean liner, but it didn’t take me long at all to realize that this was no ocean liner; this was Noah’s ark! The structure was massive, made of wood, jutting out from the dry floor of the valley like a proverbial fish out of water. It looked ridiculous, actually, dry-docked so very far from any sight of water. Still, I wanted a closer look.

  I
rose, tested my legs and then slowly made my way down the hill toward the ark. As I descended into the valley, I began to see people, most of them milling around watching the construction of the boat. Most of them laughed, shook their heads and pointed at the ‘monstrosity’, while others watched quietly with narrowed eyes. Surely, they wondered if the old man and his family had gone insane, but while I knew the story of the flood, they didn’t. Pushing against people as I tried to get through the crowd that surrounded the ark, I gradually began to understand what many of the people shouted, even though they did not speak my native English. I didn’t pause to wonder how I could suddenly understand this language of the ancients. As I listened to the jeers and taunts, my sight grew distorted due to the rising tears in my eyes. A lump formed in my throat.

  “You’re just a crazy old fool, Noah! You and your foolish talk of a flood! When the flood doesn’t come, you’ll realize the error of your ways!” one man yelled.

  “Don’t be a fool, like your father!” another man shouted toward Ham, Shem, and Japheth. “Leave the old man to his dreams. Come join us!”

  “Leave that old man and come live with me!” another shouted to Noah’s wife. “I make more money than Noah and I can provide a better life for you than that crazy old man ever could.”

  Noah, his sons and his wife ignored the crowd and continued with their work. Once I got through the huge crowd and to the ramp leading up into the ark, I saw Noah up close. He was a strong man, despite his age. His white hair ran past his shoulders, his face weatherworn and firmly formed. His eyes glistened with passion as he stopped what he was doing near the bottom of the ramp and looked down at the crowd.

  “Please listen to me, everyone!” he shouted. “God said he is going to bring a flood that will cover the entire earth in order to rid it of the sin that plagues it. Please heed my warning and enter the ark before it is too late!”

  Noah pleaded with the crowd, but all he received in response were boos and hisses from the crowd as they continued to mock him.

  “Your God is a liar!”

  “Look, how could there possibly be a flood on such a beautiful day as this?”

  I gazed at the faces of Noah and his family, noticing that though they were determined, they also appeared extremely sad and depressed, as if the world they loved was coming to an end. In a way, it was.

  Partly out of sympathy for Noah, but mostly because of my prior knowledge of the flood, I walked right up to Noah. “I believe you, Noah,” I said. “Let me enter your ark so that I may be saved from this terrible flood.” The crowd jeered my words while Noah paused his work of weaving a net to smile at me. He put the net down and stood, gesturing toward the ramp.

  “Enter, my brother. Come join me and my family in the ark,” Noah said.

  The smile he gave me warmed my heart. Normally, I wasn’t so emotional, but this old man’s quiet dignity in the face of sarcasm and jeers touched me deeply.

  “All I ask of you is one thing,” he said. “Please don’t feel contempt toward these people shouting at us. Instead, pray for their souls. They have rejected God’s warning, and as a result, they and all they hold dear will perish in the flood.”

  “I will,” I said, my heart heavy. I resisted the urge to look at all the people surrounding us, knowing they were soon to die.

  “You know my name,” he said. “What is your name?”

  “My name is Adam,” I said, then turned to follow him slowly up the ramp of his impressive ark. I noted the exquisite workmanship on the seams of the prow, each filled with pitch that offered a watertight seal. Every peg fit snugly into place, a magnificent feat of construction for a man and his family who were not skilled and trained shipwrights. I felt an immense sadness for these people as I entered the ark.

  I walked up the ramp until we came to a large door cut into its side, near the top. At the moment, the heavy door hung open. Once inside the ark, all I could do was stare in amazement.

  In the far distance, I could just make out the other end of the ark. It was like standing on one end of a football field, looking toward the other end; that was how long the ark was. As far as my eyes could see were cages, animal pens, and food and water troughs. Smaller cages with tiny nets around them would probably house birds, while bigger pens were built to contain animals like the hippopotamus or giraffe, and everything in between.

  “Here, let me give you the grand tour.”

  The voice came from behind me and I turned around to stand face to face with Japheth. He was a good-looking man who appeared to be in his mid-30s, although I knew from my childhood Bible studies that he was in fact around one-hundred years old at the time of the flood. His face, like Noah’s, was worn with years of hard labor, but he still had a look of energy and excitement about him.

  “I’d like that,” I said.

  I followed Japheth as we began a tour that I can only describe as awe-inspiring. First, we ventured down, below the main level to the ‘basement’. As the tour continued, I realized the ark had been constructed with three levels.

  “This is where we keep all the food and water.” Japheth said. “As you can imagine, it’s going to take a lot of food to feed all the animals, and us, during this flood, so we came prepared. The first thing we realized was that we needed to collect vegetation that has a high water concentration, thereby cutting down on the storage space needed for both food and water.”

  I nodded in appreciation of their forethought. I never would have considered that. After a brief look around this area, we headed back upstairs to the middle level where I had entered, and then up another set of steps to the third level.

  “These are the living quarters,” he said. “As you can see, we made a few extra beds in case anyone joined us, but sadly you’re the only one. We put the living space on the top level so we would be able to peek out these narrow openings over here once in a while to check on the status of the flood.”

  We walked over to openings that had been cut into the side of the ark, covered at the moment and secured with a latch. Japheth lifted the latch and opened the window, letting me take in the view. Have I mentioned that I’m afraid of heights? Well, I didn’t realize how high up we really were until I looked out that window. It was hard to judge the distance to the ground, but Japheth helped me out with that. I won’t bore you with cubits (the form of measurement used during Biblical times by the peoples of the Middle East), but let’s just say it was as tall as a four or five story building. I probably hadn’t been looking out the window for more than two minutes before I felt real dizzy. Once again, I passed out

  When I came to, I saw Japheth standing over me with a smirk on his face. “You know, you need to learn to deal with stuff like this,” he said, a hint of laughter in his voice. “If you think this is tough, wait until the flood waters come.”

  I was just thinking about my sudden, new proclivity to faint, not at all manly in my opinion, when suddenly the floor began to tremble. It started out as a very small tremor, but within a few minutes, the shaking felt like a full-blown earthquake. I’d experienced an earthquake or two in my life, so I instantly recognized the feeling it evoked; much like sitting on a raft on a wavy lake. With a feeling of determination to overcome my fear of heights, I rose to my feet, leaned my arm against the side of the ark for stability, and stole another glace out the window.

  My eyes widened in surprise. “Japheth, the animals are coming!” I shouted in excitement. At that moment, all I saw were the necks of two giraffes poking up over the tree tops, but they hurried toward the ark, the long, swooping movements of their elegant necks offering testimony to their huge strides. Close behind them flew a huge flock comprised of many different species of birds, many of which I recognized but couldn’t name, and I was sure that there were many more behind them. I also noticed the crowd of people that had only a little while ago mocked Noah and his family. They had quickly rushed away from the entrance into the ark so as not to get trampled by the arriving animals. Many of them looked
astounded, while others showed obvious fear. They cast glances of doubt between the oncoming herd of animals and Noah’s ark, as if not believing their eyes. Some looked as if they wanted to change their minds, but no human approached the ark seeking shelter from the coming flood. What were they waiting for? I wanted to shout down to them, to warn them of what was coming, but I couldn’t. Were they afraid of being made fun of? Some, perhaps. Others didn’t want to believe anything that ‘crazy old man Noah’ had foretold, instead ignoring his warnings and writing him off as crazy. I swallowed as my gaze swept over the hundreds of people gathered around the ark. All of them would die if they didn’t climb aboard. Tears stung my eyes. I didn’t know these people, had no knowledge of their way of life nor their beliefs, but I felt for the loss of humanity that would occur in just a short time. I bit down hard on my lips, preventing me from screaming out their dire fate.

  “Come on, Adam, let’s go down and watch the animals as they arrive,” Japheth said.

  I could tell from the tone of his voice that he could hardly wait to get downstairs, so I quickly followed him. Once we reached the main level, I hurried to catch up with him as he moved toward the door in the side of the ark. Just as I got to his side, he opened the door and in rushed a small elephant. The side of his horn brushed my arm and I jerked back in alarm. I had almost gotten gored! Glancing at Japheth, I saw him watching me with another amused smile.

  “They will not deliberately hurt you,” he said. “But that sure was close! You need to be more careful.”