I never thought I'd write about this guy. Actually I didn't like Joseph very much before he went to egypt. But yet, you can't help but feel compassion for this kid. :) Ach, well.

Never Alone

A story about Joseph

Camels were really the stupidest animals.

Joseph sidestepped again, the rope around his wrists chafing his skin. If he didn't move quickly he would loose his footing in the sand and fall. And he somehow doubted that the traders would stop and wait for him to get up.

Before two weeks ago, if asked, Joseph would have said that camels moved slowly. After all, when you compared them to horses camels were kind of big and slow. Now however, the slowest pace the groaning, burdensome animals could clomp along was more then quick enough for him. It didn't help that he was tied to the very back of the animal where he was jerked along if he slacked off for a step... and could occasionally get a surprise from beneath the tail.

The sun was directly overhead. It beat unmercifully down on his back. Joseph's father had been uncannily easy on Joseph's share of work on the land, and as such he wasn't quite accustomed to being out during the hottest time of the day. More then once he found himself wishing for his robe again. But whenever he remembered that he's toss his head up and grind his teeth, in a quick burst of anger. He wouldn't be here had it not been for that coat.

For that stupid, silly coat.

It was his dear mother, Rachel, who made it for him. No woman wants to be barren. And really, what good was her beauty if she could not give Israel a son? It was God who gave Leah the sons to make up for Israel's lack of affections, but perhaps the reason for Joseph's birth was because Leah had been less then coy about her motherhood. While Rachel would look on wistfully at the boys, drawing circles in the dirt for play, Leah would state sweetly, "Come over here children. Give your mother a hug."

In any case, Joseph's birth signified the end of something.

But then again, so did being tied to the back of a camel.

The trader on top of the animal said nothing. He had a head covering, his back and neck were probably not as burnt as Joseph's. For a split second the familiar image of his brothers skin- dark from labor- flashed before his eyes and another wave of pain surged him.

'Why God? Why?' his soul looked up at the trader again. He wanted to ask where they were going, but he knew he'd be wasting his breath. The only thing he could possibility fathom was that they were probably going to Egypt, given that they normally went in this general direction for that particular location, and that it usually was the next stop in their route.

What was in Egypt? He'd certainly never been there. His father preferred to have him close by as opposed to going out and taking care of the flocks… or going to other countries for that matter. The only thing he did know was that he was going to be a slave. Somehow the idea had lost its meaning as he turned it over through his mind in a weeks worth of walking.

'Slave,' he'd think, stumbling down the dusty trails, sand pouring into his sandals, scalding his feet.

'Slave,' he'd remember, fighting with the camel for water from the basins poured.

'Slave,' he'd think as he shivered, bedded down with the animals, watching the traders laugh and talk in some foreign language by the fire.

Slave. Because that's what he was now. He certainly was no longer a man to these men. He certainly was no longer his father's son. And he certainly wasn't a favorite. Not anymore. Not with his brothers, not with the traders...

Not with God.

And it was that betrayal that hurt the most.

He looked across the desolate hills, feeling lonelier then ever. No one bothered to tie him up at night anymore. Where would he run?

'God where are you? I've been asking these questions... over and over... for weeks. I think, after this time... I deserve an answer. I've not been patient... but can you blame me in light of recent situations?'

I certainly didn't do anything to them.'

'I didn't ask to be a favorite.'

'Even Rueban betrayed me...''I did not betray you'

Joseph's head snapped upward. The voice was familiar, yet he was sure he had never heard it before. He only knew that the stirring in his spirit was the same he felt when he had dreamed those dreams.

Heart thudding, he looked up to see if the trader had said anything. He had not.

Head down again, he swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut, groping his way.

'God...?'

No answer.

Defeated, he looked back up with a sigh, another melancholy thought crossing his mind.

'I wish they just left me in that stupid pit.'

'Not alone.'

Joseph jolted. The camel made a loud 'harumph!' and the trader shouted something in Egyptian at him that sounded less then friendly, yet Joseph hardly noticed.

The voice! Where was that voice!

It came again, louder, yet not aloud, saying the words he'd longed most to hear, the words he knew were true, even when he'd told God the opposite.

"I'm here."

The presence and the peace, the caring mannerism of the words shook him. A sort golden flow worked its way up through him. God had not abandoned him. That was his brothers. God loved him.

God would help him.

"Hey!"

Joseph jerked. One of the traders was shouting to another. Yet their words were the first he'd heard of his own language since the day they had sold him. Their delight in torturing him seemed to be fading.

"There it is!"

Joseph had barely sidestepped to see where exactly 'there' was when the camel stopped abruptly, making him slam into it's backside and fall back. The camel 'harumphed' another numerous complaint at the thin Hebrew kid hanging all over him. Everyone else ignored him.

He gathered his bearings, looking around the camel. For a moment, he thought it was another joke, a prank to get his hopes up. Yet as he squinted, he could see it. A tiny pinprick in the distance.

Egypt.

"Well it's about time we got here," another trader put his two cents in.

"If we hurry perhaps we'll make the last slave sale of the day," the one atop the camel in front jerked the rope Joseph was on, a jeer spreading across his dark face.

The camel began again. Joseph still sidestepped, looking again at the pinprick.

A whole other country. A whole other culture. A whole other language.

'You are never alone.'

He took a deep breath, gathering resolve. This time, when the traders started speaking among each other in Egyptian, he quietly began to listen.

Thank you for reading! I appreciate reviews. If you enjoy this type of narrative Bible story (some people don't, I know) there are more in my profile. God bless.