“Father! Ham! Japheth! Look!” Shem yelled.

The troupe of boys ran outside. Their jaws dropped in amazement.

“Girls! Come” Ham insisted.

The girls casually walked outside. Seeing the line of animals they froze in their tracks.

“Look at them all” Adina sighed dreamily. “May Rebekah, Mary, Mother Martha and I do the honours of putting them in the stalls?”

Ham smiled.

“Of coarse” he said. “You can help with anything you want!”

The girls giggled and ran off to the line of animals. Martha carried to brown monkeys into the ark while Mary and Adina led to giant elephants through the door. Meanwhile, Rebekah strolled the lions into their pens. Other animal were also led in by the girls. Dogs, bears, giraffes, hippos, spiders and the funny looking kangaroos.

“God has tamed the animals for us” Martha exclaimed as she stroked fluffy white rabbit.

Meanwhile the boys prepared for the animal’s stay. They cut up meat for the lions and bears and stuffed fruits into a sack cloth for the monkeys and elephants. Shem and Japheth gathered barrels of water and Noah and Ham spread the hay onto the floor of each of the pens.

“I hope you enjoy your stay” Japheth muttered as he shut the gate of the beaver’s pen.

The wooden gate rattled and he beavers contently ploughed their teeth into the timber floor. A few days later Noah came in with a urgent message.

“We must get into the ark! God will make it rain in seven days. Hurry!”

Adina helped gather the cooking pots and Rebekah, Martha and Mary dragged the grass woven mattresses into the wooden ark. As soon as they stepped in, the door slowly closed behind them. Tears threatened Martha’s eyes.

“What is wrong, mother?” Mary asked worriedly.

“I wish Dinah could be here”

Martha quickly ran to the second floor of the ark and huddled with the pair of lonesome wolves that laid on the threshing floor.

“Did you have friends that you had to leave?” she asked the wolves.

But they only stared into the horizon of the massive boat, eyeing every animal.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The water enclosed around the boat and gushed through the city. The girls hid with the lions but the boys stared at the window, wondering about opening. Rebekah was assigned to feed the small animals for large lions and tigers gave her quite a fright. But the family was surprised when they found her cuddling a leopard.

“It’s been a long time now father!” Ham complained.

“Yes” Noah replied.

He gently lifted a raven from it’s perch and into the sky. Ham and Noah watched it sail through the breeze. After a few minutes, the raven came back.

“No land yet” Noah said and walked away.

The next day Noah grabbed a dove and was about to send it off but was interrupted by Martha.

“May I?” she asked.

Noah handed her the bird. Martha rose and the dove flew away.

“Surely it will find land” Shem said.

“Doesn’t matter!” Martha said. “Lunch is ready”

As the family sat down, they heard a fluttering of wings. The dove! And it had a olive leaf in it’s beak. Noah chuckled greatly and set the dove and her mate free.

“Land! We have land”

Just then, a deafening crash erupted. Adina ran to the window.

“A mountain! We’re on a mountain!” she cried.

They all raced out the door. The girls unlatched the animal pens and furry creatures of all kinds came rushing out.

“God has blessed us. Praise God he has blessed us!”