PRESENT DAY
“Open her eyes!”
She could hear the rain splattering hard across the pavement. The water made a ringing sound, and Kai pictured a huge giant dropping an endless supply of nails all over the ground.
“Come on, Kai.”
Kai opened her eyes and saw a blue shirt soaked in water. Her brain quickly pieced it all together. She wasn’t in Egypt but back home in Florida! She remembered Vivian shoving her, and arms catching her as she fell. Arms covered in a blue dress shirt.
Kai looked up and saw Vivian Gold standing over her. Just like the falcon. Rain pouring over them just like the Red Sea crashing down around her and Horus.
Kai stared at Vivian.
Kai looked back over her shoulder and saw that the person wearing the blue shirt wasn’t a teacher like Kai had originally thought.
“I don’t have time to watch you sit here and cry like a baby,” said Vivian.
No more, thought Kai.
She rolled to her right and jumped up. “Get away from me!”
Vivian brushed her hands over her wet shirt and laughed. “Really? You wanna go there?”
Now Kai remembered hearing a teacher’s voice as she lay on the sidewalk. She looked around but didn’t see any adult from school. The crowd of kids had disappeared.
It was just Kai and Vivian and the rain. And the man wearing the blue dress shirt.
“Need help?”
“She doesn’t need any help,” said Vivian. “Do you, Kai?”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Mark Grant.”
Mark Grant?
“Who?”
“Mark Grant. You dropped your book.” The stranger handed her the journal she had taken from Horus. Old man Naaji’s journal.
Kai recalled looking at the old man’s sketchbook. Her mind flashed the name MARK GRANT.
No way! Kai couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Vivian was ready to finish Kai. “Let’s go, Kai. I’m done.”
Kai felt a surge of energy fill her body. She took the journal.
Kai was ready to face her fears. The whole interaction with the Egyptian escape filled her heart with courage….
Even if she had imagined the whole thing, Kai felt an energy flowing through her that hadn’t been there before.
“Kai, do you need help?”
She looked at the newcomer. She nodded.
Mark Grant turned to Vivian. “I think we’re done here.”
The man stepped in between Kai and Vivian.
“Really, Kai? You want some stranger to save you? Too bad you don’t want to hang out with me. We could make a good team.”
“Why don’t you leave? I’m going home now,” Kai said.
Vivian laughed. “You’re a joke, Kai. You walk around the whole school and neighborhood like you’re some queen who’s better than everybody else. I’m sick of it!”
Vivian moved in and shot her hands out to shove Kai, but Mark Grant stepped to the side and used both of his hands to hold Vivian back.
Kai didn’t back down. “You’re done, Vivian. I don’t want to fight you, but you are not going to bully me anymore.”
Vivian just laughed again. “You’re lucky this dude is here to keep me from hurting you.”
“Vivian, I just fought a grown man. You’ve got nothing compared to what I experienced.”
The bigger girl looked at Kai and shook her head. “You are whacked out of your mind. I’m telling my mother that you hit me. She’ll call the school, and you’ll be suspended.”
“You’d better leave me and the other kids alone, Vivian. I’m sick of your bullying.”
Vivian clenched her fist and made a move like she was going to punch Kai. But this time Kai didn’t flinch. She just stood there, strong and brave. Unmoving.
Vivian threw a real punch this time, aimed directly at Kai’s chest. But now Kai was quicker. She moved her right arm in a counterclockwise motion and successfully blocked Vivian’s arm, knocking the bully off balance.
“You’re weird, Kai. Weird. I’m done wasting my time with you. I’ll get you next time when your bodyguard here isn’t around.”
Kai didn’t speak. She stood her ground and watched as Vivian turned and walked away.
When Kai was confident that Vivian Gold wasn’t coming back, she started walking home. She wanted to talk to Mark Grant but felt it was best to go so her parents wouldn’t worry. She stopped and turned back. “Thank you for helping me.”
The man smiled. “Not a problem. If you ever need anything, my family and I live just down the street. 33 Jacaranda Court. You and your parents are always invited.”
Then Kai remembered the book she was holding. “What is this?”
Mark Grant shrugged his shoulders. “I saw it on the ground and assumed it was yours.”
Kai flipped through the journal pages until she got to the page that had Mark’s name and picture. “Look. We’re both in here.” She held out the journal for the man to see.
“That’s me, all right. Kai, uh, this is going to sound crazy, but I’ve had a handful of experiences like the one you just had.”
Kai looked at the man and considered his words. She didn’t know what to say. How did this guy know what she just went through?
Mark Grant continued talking. “I’ve been to the ark and met Noah and his sons. I went through Egypt and witnessed the plagues—”
“Wait! Egypt?”
“Yes, Egypt. I saw the plagues, and I also met the old man who made that journal you’re holding.”
Her brain was overloaded from all the things she had just seen in Egypt. Hashtag mind blown. Now, she was trying to process the fact that this man standing in front of her claimed to have witnessed the same. Nothing in her short life could have prepared her for the experience and nothing could ever take it away. She believed that things always happened for a reason, but Kai had no idea what the point of the whole thing was.
“This is crazy.”
Mark Grant kept smiling. “I know. But, the fact that you have the journal means that things are changing.”
Kai thought for a second. “The old man said something about I have to decide what to do with the journal.”
“Your story doesn’t end here in Egypt.”
“I think you will have more journeys. I think the people in that book are seeing events like you just saw for a reason. I believe that an epic battle of good and evil is coming…one much greater than you and I versus all the Vivian Golds of the world. I think there will be a way that you and I and everyone else in that journal will have to join together and do something big to help people see truth.”
Kai heard the man’s words but was too distracted by all the things she had just experienced.
“Don’t worry, Kai. Just hold on to the journal.”
A young girl joined them on the sidewalk. Kai hadn’t noticed her before. She looked like Lily!
“Thank you,” the girl said.
Kai looked at Mark Grant and then down to the girl. “For what?”
The little one playfully bounced in place. “For helping me.”
“How have I helped? I don’t even know you.”
“That mean girl, Vivian.”
Kai nodded. “Yeah, what about her?”
“Well, she has a friend who has been bothering me. I watched how you just stood up to her and it was awesome. That’s what I’m gonna do too!”
“I’m Kai. What’s your name?”
“Lily.”
No way! “Hi, Lily! I’m glad I could help. You know, I just learned a big lesson.”
Lily stopped bouncing. “What lesson?”
“Well, we may have a lifetime of bullies, but we have to remember that God is always with us and He never leaves our side. He’ll protect us and help us stand up to them.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” And just as quickly as she had appeared, the little girl took off and was gone.
Kai smiled. She made a mental note to keep her eye out for the girl at school. If she could, Kai would make sure Vivian’s pals left her alone.
Mark Grant put his hands together like he was praying. “You better get home now so your parents don’t worry.”
“Okay. Thanks again for helping me.”
“Not a problem. Just hang on to the journal, and when the time is right, you and your parents are welcome to come to my house. You can meet my family and we can figure things out.”
Kai was exhausted. She thanked the man one last time then ran home, clutching the journal tightly as she went.
“Amen.”
Kai lifted her head and opened her eyes. Her dad just finished praying for their dinner. And after every prayer, he said amen. And after every amen, Kai thought of Amenken.
Like most meals she’d had during the last couple of months, Kai spent the time distracted. She’d eat a little bit and think a lot about all the things she saw on that crazy trip.
Egypt.
Moses.
The plagues.
The exodus.
The falcon.
Mark Grant.
She had a hard time sitting still. “Dad, may I be excused?”
“Sure, honey. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I just want to take a walk.”
“Sounds good. Want company?”
“Yeah.” Kai liked it when her father walked down to the school playground with her.
When they reached the end of their street, her dad pointed at a crow that was sitting on the sidewalk. Kai noticed that the bird was in the exact same spot she had been when Vivian pushed her down.
The falcon.
Horus.
Months had passed since she imagined the ten plagues; and like snow in winter, the flashbacks kept coming. Coming more often with the passing of time. She thought that the whole thing would pass like a dream, but that wasn’t the case.
Kai wanted to find Mark Grant and talk to him, but when she googled his address, she found no matches in her area. The only 33 Jacaranda Court that came up was in San Francisco, California. She tried riding her bike around the neighborhood looking for Mark Grant’s street but came up empty. Where did the guy go? She remembered distinctly that he said he and his family lived right down the street. Odd.
As Kai and her father approached the crow, it looked as though it had been waiting on them, for as soon as they reached it, the bird took off. But it didn’t fly away; it hovered in front of them as they walked to the school playground.
As they reached the swing set, the crow took off and flew away toward the school building. Kai followed its flight and watched as the bird headed toward the roof but then changed direction and flew over the back field. The crow touched down in a patch of tall grass just before the fence.
Kai thought she was flashing back to weirder days again because as the crow landed, a kaleidoscope of butterflies exploded up from the grass and filled the air.
“Dad, look!”
Kai jumped off the swing and made her way to the butterflies. They didn’t fly away like the crow but stayed in a tight formation above the ground.
When Kai got close, the butterflies took off on a burst of wind.
She thought she must be losing her mind. Kai looked down and found a tree branch lying on the ground. It was a little longer than she was tall and slightly curved at one end.
Like a staff.
Just like Moses had!
She picked up the branch and turned it over in her hands, feeling its weight and surprisingly smooth edges.
Kai thought about dropping it and returning to the swings. Then she remembered Moses using his staff to make all those crazy things happen back in Egypt.
“Is it okay if I bring this home?”
Her dad put his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t get why you would want that branch, but I love you. If you want the branch, go for it!”
Kai knew why she wanted the branch. It made her feel strong. She tapped one end of the branch on the ground, but nothing happened. Did she expect another plague to rise up and cover her neighborhood? She grinned. Oh well, it was worth a shot.
They headed back to the playground. Kai asked her dad to hold the branch while she went down the slide. He looked like Moses standing there holding the staff. Minus the beard. It felt good to have fun. It felt good to be here, safe, with her father.
Yes, Kai would keep the branch. It was like a souvenir of her crazy journey back to Egypt. But not only was it a reminder of something that had happened in the past, the branch made her wonder about the future. Would there be another place she would imagine? Would there be another Bible story that would open up before her and bring her in? From the way Mark Grant talked, seeing more of the Bible stories wasn’t out of the question.
Yes, Kai would keep the branch.
Just in case.