The Ark

The Ark and The Flood didn't happen like they say. God's usually not that direct, you know. God's a mysterious force with a dry sense of humor.

Noah, you can call him Noah if you want, woke up one day with an inexplicable tickling sensation in his limbs. He felt a strange desire to use a hammer and nails. He was an accountant,well versed in the abacus, but for some reason felt drawn to hammer and nails and wood.

His wife certainly had a lot to say about the ruckus of a man unused to the swing of a hammer. And then there was the saw. She feared for his thumbs, his limbs, his mind.

How could Noah explain this strange urge to BUILD? It buzzed in him and kept him awake at night. The neighbors threatened to burn his house down if he didn't stop with the racket.

"What are you making?" his wife asked. But Noah didn't even know.

He did know exactly how many nails he'd used. How many pieces of wood.

And he knew he felt and urgency to complete his project. He could taste rain. It flooded his mouth and made him thirsty. He could smell it in the air long before the rain clouds cast their shadows over him.

The ship took shape until its shape became clear to everyone who saw it. All the gossipy angry neighbors pointed and laughed at the absurdity of it.

One night, the ship was surrounded by animals. Goats fled their goatherds, snakes came out of their burrows, mice crept out of their corners, tarantulas... Noah's wife was alarmed--but the animals banged their bodies against the boat as if scratching themselves against a post or as if they wanted to get inside.

The rain smell grew. It tickled Noah's nose until he decided--absurd or not--when a man gets an urge to build a boat in the desert and the animals all come out and try to get on it--there must be something to it. So he dragged his wife aboard and let the animals in.

All the while, the neighbors yelled--"You fool, Noah, go to bed! Get those animals out of here! Noah! That's my goat, you goat thief!"

And then the first rain drop fell