The first time the world ended.

“You mean you actually believe them?!” My mother yells. 

“Yes.” I answer quietly. 

“And you’re going with them?” Quieter. 

“Yes, you can too if you want to, there’s plenty of room.” I say hopefully. 

“And lose everything? No, I will not be taken in by these lunatics. Obviously they’ve put a spell on you.” She says. 

“They’re not crazy, and I am completely in my right mind.” I say firmly. 

“I should never have let you marry that man.” Mother murmurs. 

“That man has been nothing but good to me. And his family treats me like their own daughter.” Better than you ever did, I finish in my head. 

"You call this good?” She gestures behind me to the ark. “You slave all day for a delusion. Noah is lucky he didn’t have any daughters if this is how they treat their family.” 

Angry tears struggle to leave my eyes but I blink hard. 

“Mother,” I say, choking back the knot in my throat “I’m going with Japheth. And you can either come with and live, or stay here in your sin and bitterness... and drown.” 

The last two words are barely more than a whisper but the weight of them on my tongue is more than anything else I’ve said. 

My mother continues yelling but I block out the sound, numb to anything else she says. I feel someone’s arms wrap around me and a kiss on the top of my head. As mother storms off I turn to Japheth and finally let my tears go. 

When I’ve cried all I can Japheth says “It’s time.”

“Already?” I hold him tighter. 

“God spoke to father this morning.” He says, “The rain is going to start in seven days.”

I let go slowly and we walk to the ark hand in hand. 

It still seems so strange that water could fall from the sky. I look around at the trees, flowers, and rolling hills, soon to be covered with water. I wonder what everything will be like once this is all over. 

The cool interior of the ark is refreshing after the sun outside, my sisters in law’s singing in stark contrast to my mothers yelling. I don’t regret my choice, but I wish my family would come with us. 

We eat our first meal on the ark that night. Noah prays over the food and his voice echoes throughout the huge space. We have everything we need aboard already except the animals. 

“How are we supposed to get all the animals?” Ham asks once we’ve finished eating. 

“A week isn’t a very long time.” Shem adds thoughtfully. 

“God will provide. He told us to take the animals and he will not likely let us leave them behind.” Noah says. 

Japheth and I go back to the stone house beside the ark for the night. It is the first place I have ever felt safe, and loved. It will be sad to leave the house, but I’ll be with the family who made it home. 

The next morning proves Noah right. We wake up at dawn and there is already a long line of animals at the door of the ark. 

Noah opens the door and they file in, even walking to the correct stalls. We all stare in disbelief, except Noah and his wife Imari, they only smile. 

The line continues all day and into the night, but the next morning the plain in front of the ark is empty. Crushed grass from thousands of feet and animal droppings are the only evidence that they were there. 

From behind rocks at the edge of the road the faces of children peek out hoping to see the parade again. 

“I have to go to town,” Japheth says beside me, “do you want anything?”

“No, I’m fine. Just come back safely.” I say. 

“Shem and Ham are going with me, I’ll be fine.” He says giving me a kiss. 

I send up a prayer as he leaves and remind myself to trust God. He’ll come back, he has to come back. Most people in town leave us alone by now, but there are always a few who have something to prove. 

“Lilah! Can you help me move this bed?” Salome, Ham’s wife, calls from in the house. 

“Coming!” 

Maybe hard work will distract me. 

A huge pile of clothes and furniture is on the grass outside the house. A bed is stuck halfway through the door and Salome is on the other end trying to move it. 

“You know we have beds built into the ark right?” I ask trying not to laugh. 

“Yes, but I want to bring this with for when we build a new house.” She huffs. 

I help her get it through the door then go inside to collect my things. Going through the hallway to our room I pass Noah and Imari’s door. She is sitting on the bed with a cup in her hands and a few stray tears in her eyes. 

I stop at the door and knock. 

“Are you alright?” I ask. 

She looks up at me and smiles “Yes.” She says wiping at her eyes “I was just remembering.”

I stand a few moments longer. 

“Are you alright?” She asks, her eyes seeing straight through me. 

“I’m fine.” 

She looks sceptical. 

“Japheth just went to town.” I say quietly. 

“And you’re worried.” 

I nod. 

When I was fifteen my father went to town and never came back. He owed money to a Nephil who decided it was time for him to pay up. Two years later my brother went to town for a girl, he got in a fight about her, she chose the other man and killed him. After that I hardly left our farm. No where was safe. 

Imari doesn’t brush away my fears she simply says “God will watch over him, he always has.” 

I nod again and walk away feeling lighter. 

The men come back as we are loading the last of the things on the ark. The heaviest things are still outside the house but everything else is in its proper place. 

I’m on the third floor of the ark and see them coming first. They all look alright and the knot of fear I didn’t know I still had unravels. I run down the stairs and out the door, finding them at the house already. Japheth is holding a squalling dove in his hands. 

“What happened?” I ask. 

“She has a broken wing. A group of boys were torturing her, I stopped them before they got too far.” He says handing the bird to me. 

I cradle the dove close to my chest and bring her into the house. Her wing is bent at a weird angle and she has numerous cuts on her small body. Pity and anger fill me as I examine her. 

Shem’s wife, Onna, comes up behind me and gives me a bandage. 

“Do you think we can save this one?” She asks. 

“Maybe, but only if the splint works this time.” I say. 

“There’s not much point in saving it,” Ham says “it might be kinder to just kill it.”

I ignore him and tie the splint carefully. Salome passes me an empty basket and I place the bird inside laying a cloth over top. 

“It’s no wonder God wants to destroy everyone when even the children love hurting things.” Salome says bitterly. 

I understand what she means. Sometimes I feel sorry for all the people who will die soon. They have no idea what is coming. But most often I feel only anger and fear because of them. 

Four days later Japheth wakes me earlier than usual. 

“Lilah, it’s time to go.” He says. 

“What’s wrong?” I ask groggily. 

“Nothing, father just said we need to leave now.” He says. 

I gather the few things left in the house and follow him out the door. The ark is big and black against the sky casting a shadow on the whole plain. I look around at the beautiful world, enjoying all the wonderful smells and sounds. 

Then I see a woman running up the road, I recognize her run, it’s my mother. I walk slowly out to meet her, maybe she’s changed her mind. 

“Lilah!” She says “You need to leave this family! The Nephilim have put up with Noah’s craziness for long enough, they’re planning to destroy the boat. It makes people nervous.”

“That boat is our only way to survive.” I say, wondering why she doesn’t understand. 

“I can find you a new husband if you come with me, you’re still young and pretty, is that what you want?” She says. 

“No, I want to survive. And even if Noah is wrong and we all get killed I’d rather die with Japheth.” I say. 

“Fine!” She says, angry now “Well don’t come crying back to me. I tried my best.”

At that moment a drop of water lands on my head, I look up and see only grey clouds. 

“Lilah!” Japheth calls behind me. 

“Lilah!” My mother yells in my face. 

I turn and run. 

As soon as I am safely on the ark the door closes with enough force to shake the whole ark. We stare at it in tense silence realizing that this is actually happening. Shem and Ham race up the stairs and everyone else follows. 

Through the windows on the third level we can see the rain that is now pouring from the sky. Grey sheets of water hit the ground with enough force to displace the dirt, turning it instantly to mud. It sounds like drums on the wooden roof, the roar only broken by screams from the town. 

In fifteen minutes the water is already lapping at the sides of the ark. And then the earth splits. At the bottom of the hill a chasm opens up in the earth, jets of water shooting out of it. Even the mountains tremble at the wrath of God. 

More cracks open all around us, the water rises faster and the ark starts rocking from the waves. Our house is already gone, swept aside and covered by water. I don’t want to watch anymore. It is terrifying and heartbreaking and it feels like it will never end. 

Salome is crying and Imari looks shocked, the men are stone faced, Onna tries to comfort Salome. I’m shaking. 

Finally Noah says “Let us pray.” 

We kneel in the third story of a wooden boat surrounded by a world in chaos. While Noah prays the pounding rain and screams and breaking trees become background noise and I feel peace. God promised to take care of us and he keeps his promises. 

It rains. Constantly. We don’t know when it’s night or day because the sky always grey. 

We try to function normally, taking care of the animals and ourselves as well as we can. My dove gets better, her wing heals long after the cuts but soon she can take short flights around the ark. 

Then one day the silence wakes me. We’re not rocking anymore, I can’t hear the rain. Japheth is already sitting up, we look at each other then run up stairs. 

The sun is out. The water is still and blue all around us only the sky matching its brilliance. Then again, sky and water are the only things I can see. 

“We made it.” I whisper. 

I look over at Japheth and he smiles. 

“We made it!” 

Ten months later...

We stopped moving two months ago. I think we got stuck on a mountain. 

When it stopped raining we thought we would be done on the ark soon. But it turns out a world wide flood takes awhile to dry up. 

A week ago Noah released a raven and a dove. The dove came back but the raven didn’t, maybe there’s land somewhere. 

“I’m going to let a dove go again today.” Noah says at breakfast. 

Everyone looks up from their food, hopeful but nervous. Ham rolls his eyes. I understand how he feels, sometimes it seems like we’ll be stuck here forever. 

Imari cleans up after the meal while we go to take care of the animals. Japheth and I are in charge of the first floor where the birds, insects and small animals are. Ham and Salome work on the second floor with the biggest herbivores and Shem and Onna are on the top floor with the carnivores. 

Every morning we feed them and once a week we change their bedding. Boredom is one thing we can’t complain about, although it’s easy enough to find other things. 

“When we get off this boat we need to build our own house.” Japheth says. 

“I agree.” I laugh. 

“But seriously, how nice would it be to have a house all to ourselves and only see people when we want to?” Japheth says. 

Ham and Salome can be heard arguing through the ceiling and it proves his point. 

“It would be wonderful. We could have our own room and a garden and a place for our children to play!” I say imagining the paradise that will be ours. 

The picture stays with me for the rest of the day, reminding me that it won’t always be like this. And that one day there will be children. Seeing Onna only makes me more hopeful, she found out she was pregnant around the time we stopped moving and her bump is starting to show. She practically glows now and finds almost everything funny. Everyone is happy for her, her baby represents the new world that we will build together. 

In the evening the dove returns. We are sitting at one of the windows looking at the tops of the mountains that are emerging from the water when she flies in and lands on Noah’s shoulder. 

At first we are disappointed but then we see what she is holding in her mouth. A tiny olive branch. Somewhere, not far away, a tree is growing. It’s almost time to leave. 

“Praise the Lord!” Noah shouts. 

We all laugh with joy and Imari starts singing. We join her song and dream of tomorrow. 

A fresh world. 

A new beginning. 

Our second chance.