Through the Desert and the Sandstorm.
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. It's all © of DreamWorks.
Moses had no idea what he had gotten himself into. In less than a day, he had gone from prince of Egypt to his present state, wandering alone in the desert. "Where did it all go wrong?" he murmured to himself. Moses sighed as he remembered the events that changed his life.
It all began with a banquet. Moses's brother, Ramases, was made prince regent. This meant that he was now responsible for overseeing all temples in Egypt. As a tribute to Ramases, the two high priest, Hotep and Huy, presented him with a gift.
The "gift" was a young woman. She had been stolen from the far-away land of Midian. She was the most beautiful woman either Moses or Ramases had ever seen. They both gasped when they first laid eyes on her. "We offer you this delicate desert flower", Hotep said, as he yanked the woman off of her camel. She Grunted.
"Let us inspect this delicate desert flower", Ramases said causally as he touched the woman's face. She bit him "More like a desert cobra!" he said surprised and jumping back.
Moses chuckled. "Not much of a snake charmer, are you?" he asked his brother. "That's why I give her to you", Ramases said. "No, no, no," said Moses. "That's generous, but."
Then the woman snapped "I won't be given to anyone! Especially an arrogant, pampered palace brat!" "Are you going to let her talk to you like that?" Ramases whispered to Moses. "You will show the proper respect for a prince of Egypt", Moses told the woman. "But I am showing you all the respect you deserve", she said. "None."
Then she grabbed the rope that was wrapped around her wrist and swung it like a whip. Many guards gathered to try to restrain the woman, but Moses stepped in front of them.
"Be still", he told her. "Untie this rope, and I demand you set me free." "Hold still", Moses repeated. "Let go", she said, even angrier than before.
"As you wish", said Moses. With that, he let go of the rope, and the woman was sent tumbling back into a small pool of water.
The crowd erupted into laughter, even Moses. But his smile faded when he saw the look on his mother, the queens's face. She looked very sad. Moses loved his mother, and he never wanted to disappoint her. A pang of guilt came over him for a brief moment. He was brought back to his senses when Ramases, who was still laughing, tapped his shoulder.
Ramases motioned to a guard and the woman. "You there", he said to the guard. "Have her dried up and sent to prince Moses' chambers."
Then Moses and Ramases turned to face their father, Pharaoh Seti. "If it pleases you, father", said Ramases, "my first act as regent is to appoint Moses as royal chief architect." Then Ramases removed a turquoise ring from his finger, and placed it on Moses' finger. He held his brother's up for all to see. The crowed cheered. Moses smiled. He felt happy to receive such a special gift from his brother. He took one last look at the woman, who was still dripping wet, as she was taken away. She looked at Moses, anger flaring in her eyes. It was at that moment that Moses knew what he must do. He would try to apologize to the woman.
Moses carefully opened the door to his room. He sighed as he walked up to his bed. The shadow of the woman could clearly be seen from behind the curtain that hung over the bed. Moses cleared his throat, took a deep breath and opened the curtain.
The sight Moses saw wasn't the sight he was one was expecting. Instead of the woman, he saw the guard tied up on the bed. The guard muffled incoherently through the cloth that was tied around his mouth. Then Moses saw that his two dogs were tied up to a column. Moses gasped at this sight. Then he noticed a rope made of sheets leading out of his window. "She must have escaped", Moses thought to himself. Then he climbed down the rope. He saw two guards standing there.
"Guards", Moses called to him. "Prince Moses", the guards said in unison. "There's a man tied up in my room", Moses told them. The guards stared at each other blankly for a minute, then back at Moses. "Well, look into it", said Moses. "Right away sir", the guards said, as they ran off.
When the guards were gone, Moses followed the woman. He followed her all the way until she stopped at a well. "Please, I need water. I have a long journey ahead of me", said the woman. "May God protect you", said a young girl. "Thank you", said the woman. Then she mounted her camel, and rode off into the desert.
With a smile, Moses watched her go. Then he heard a crash and felt a cool liquid on his feet. "Oh , I'm so sorry" the girl said, as she bent down to pick up the broken pieces of pottery. " I didn't expect to see you here, of all places, at our door. Mmm, at last", she said, running over to a taller man and hugging him. "Didn't I tell you, Aaron? Didn't I tell you? I KNEW he would return to us when he was ready." "Miriam, do you want us flogged?' asked Aaron. It was clear that these two were brother and sister. "I knew you cared about our freedom", Miriam said to Moses. "Miriam", said Aaron.
"Freedom, why would I care about that?" asked Moses. He was really confused now. "Because you're our brother", said Miriam. "What?" asked Moses. "They never told you?" asked Miriam. "Who never told me what?" asked Moses. "But you're here. You must know", said Miriam. "Be careful, slave!" said Moses. Aaron stepped in then.
"My good prince", he said. "She's exhausted from the day's work. Not that it was too much. We quite enjoyed it. But she's confused, and knows not to whom she speaks."
"I know to whom I speak, Aaron!" said Miriam. "I know who you are", she said to Moses. "And you are NOT a prince of Egypt."
The revelation caught Moses off guard. "What did you say?!" he asked Miriam.
"Your highness, pay her no heed", said Aaron. "Come Miriam, may I discuss something with you?" "No, Aaron", said Miriam. "Moses, you must believe. You were born of my mother, Yocheved. You are our brother!"
"Now you go too far!" said Moses. "You shall be punished!"
Then Aaron threw himself down kneeling in front of Moses. "No. Your highness," he said. "She's ill. She's very ill. We beg for your forgiveness. Then he started to drag Miriam into their house. She tried to resist him.
"Our mother sent you adrift in a basket to save your life!" Miriam said to Moses.
"Save my life?! From who!" Moses asked her. "Ask the man you call "father"! Miriam answered back. "How dare you", Moses said angrily. "God saved you to be our deliverer", said Miriam. "Enough of this!" said Moses. "And you are, Moses, you are the deliverer", said Miriam. Then he grabbed Miriam's wrist and threw her to the ground. "You will regret this night", Moses said sternly.
Then Moses started to walk away. As he did, Miriam began to sing. Hush now, my baby. Be still love, don't cry. Sleep as you're Sleep and remember my last lullaby. So I'll be with you as you dream.
Tears were coming down from Miriam's eyes. A gentle wind blew her hair across her face.
A look of horror made it's way across Moses' face. He looked back a Miriam, and finally realized she was telling the truth. In a panic, Moses ran back to the palace, and fell asleep.
The next day, things went from bad to worse. Moses joined Ramases in the work pit where the Hebrew slaves work. Moses wasn't listening to anything his brother said. The events of the previous night were still fresh in his mind.
Then he heard the crack of a whip and saw a taskmaster whipping an old man. The old man's harsh screams pierced through the air.
"Stop it. Stop. Leave that man alone", said Moses. In an instant, Moses jumped on the taskmaster, and pushed him to the ground. The taskmaster died as soon as he hit the ground. People started crowding around the dead man's body.
Moses couldn't believe what he had just done. He started to run. Miriam tried to stop him, but he kept on running. He was finally stopped by Ramases.
"Moses, what's going on?" he asked. Moses broke away from his brother's touch and resumed running. "Moses!" Ramases called out to him.
Moses made it as far as the gate, until Ramases caught up to him with his chariot.
"Moses", said Ramases. "Let me go", said Moses. "No", said Ramases. "You saw what happened. I just killed a man," said Moses. "We can take care of all that. I am Egypt, the morning and the evening star. If I say day is night, it shall be written. And you will be what I say you are. I say you are innocent", said Ramases.
"What you say does not matter", said Moses. "You don't understand. I can't stay here any longer. I'm not who you think I am," said Moses. "What are you talking about?"asked Ramases.
"Go ask the man I once called "father", Moses said. "Moses, please", said Ramases. "Goodbye, brother", said Moses. Then he walked out into the desert. "Moses, Moses", Ramases called out after him. But Moses did not turn back.
That was how Moses ended up here. He had come a long way from Egypt, the only home he had ever known. He had braved the blistering hot desert days and the freezing cold desert nights. Exhaustion was taking it's toll on him.
"No", Moses whispered softly. He tripped on a sharp rock. He groaned in agony. Overcome with rage, Moses tore off both of his sandals, his necklace and his armbands. Then Moses came to the ring Ramases had given him. He slipped it off his finger. He stared at it for a moment.
"Maybe I'll hold on to this", Moses thought to himself. He slipped the ring back on his finger.
The last thing Moses got rid of was his wig. It was quickly devoured up by the sand. Then the winds picked up speed. Moses knew what that meant. It meant that a sandstorm was coming. Sure enough, a sandstorm did come. It passed through in an instant, and Moses, the former prince of Egypt, was buried alive.