Chapter 1
The Seven Scorpions
“I am bread and milk,” said the stranger who used the sound of his voice as a guide through the heavy mist and rain.
“No,” a woman replied. “You are darkness.”
Before dawn, outside of Bethlehem, the first few rays of light appeared against the great caves that dotted the mountain looming upwards.
“Can this be?”
He wiped his brow and peered into the darkness. He fell down on his knees but moved quickly away and watched as a black scorpion stung a desert viper.
“Aye, my little friends, go on.” He watched intently.
A sliver of light played upon the scorpion as it scurried between rocks while the viper with its tongue out inched closer.
The two fought a lonely, timeless battle: the scorpion, tail raised high, fought with evil intent but was pushed back by the blinding rain while the viper slithered through the mud with ease.
The creatures faced each other but were washed away in the storm to continue their old battle far from human eyes.
A baby cried from the caves.
The robed stranger stood up. “I have bread and milk.”
A woman wrapped in a sackcloth peeked through the cave’s entrance with a sly smile on her face.
“And with me came the seven scorpions,” she whispered. “And then did I speak magical spells to the poison of the scorpion saying, ‘Oh poison, come out.’”
“Is this the cave of the hungry?” the stranger asked.
“We have nothing for you here,” she said as she moved away from the entrance.
“I heard the baby cry,” he said.
“Who are you?” she yelled into the wind.
“I am bread and milk.”
The dawn crept slowly upon the desert and its light shone through the wadis and great valleys while the darkness held fast among the caves and the cold desert air swept around the mountains.
“Bread and milk?” the woman asked.
“Bread and milk,” he said.
Continue reading… Chapter 1 | Chapter 1 | The Moab Priest
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