It took him an extraordinarily long time to navigate away from all the people. He slipped around countless individuals attending to their goats; hoards of people watering camels; numerous families seated in a circle, eating a simple meal of unleavened bread; men stooping over and massaging their weary feet; women holding tightly onto sleeping children or whispering comforting words toward little ones awake and troubled. In all their eyes he could see the same expressions: weariness of travel and suffering overlayed with a surprising sense of hope. They all carried the burden of too much knowledge of the world, yet they looked forward to the future with a new sense of eagerness that had not been present in their eyes a few days before. Against all odds, against all expectations… they had been freed from Egypt's rod.
They all recognized him, somehow. They sat straighter when he passed, nodded greetings, murmured thanks. Children pointed chubby fingers and let out outrageous, excited shrieks. Overnight he had become a universally recognized hero to the Hebrew people.
Yet their grateful acknowledgement perturbed him. It was why he needed to get away, find some space from the crowds. He traveled past what seemed like leagues of people, head bowed, feet marching quickly past… until at least he reached the edge of camp.
Sunset blazed in its full glory over the Sinai Peninsula. A glowing, brooding sun turned the entire world into a conflagration, deep red copper clouds streaking over orange-hued skies and burnt orange rocky grounds. The sun itself lingered behind the peak of uneven, parched, rocky ground. Moses stood at the edge of camp, wordless, watching that sun slowly drift behind the mountains and sink below the horizon. The world changed from deep copper to darker reds, to colder blues and violets, and last to the black of night.
He found himself seated cross-legged on the ground, curled up, alone, staring straight to the west black sky, but imagining an altogether different landscape. Sea-like, roiling sand tumbling and splashing endlessly in waves over the land; monuments and pyramids rising over grand cities; proud murals of gods and pharaohs painted over walls. Moses would never return there, to Egypt. He did not know if he felt more pain or relief about that fact, but both of the emotions welled strong inside him.
Moses ruminated so deeply he almost failed to hear the stiff clop of sandals louden behind him. Only when the walker came extremely close did Moses realize someone was approaching him. He turned around, a little uneasy to encounter company… and then realized his company was none other than Aaron.
Aaron glanced once up at the stars, then down at Moses, and then sat down himself on the hard-packed land. He spent several long moments watching the west just as Moses did, a solemn silence overtaking him.
Only after breathing silence for a long time did Aaron speak up. "Miriam was wondering where you'd wandered off to."
Moses barked a short, clipped laugh. "She always likes to know where I am, doesn't she?"
"Well." Aaron shrugged. "You can hardly blame her. She was separated from her baby brother for eighty years."
"Right." Moses lapsed into silence again, and Aaron doubled his mood. Neither of them moved much beyond breathing, staring into the west.
Though Aaron and Moses had only spent a week together traveling through the Sinai Peninsula, the older man had begun to pick up on Moses' emotions. He was surprisingly sympathetic for a man who lived encases inside his own worries.
Aaron let out an awkward cough. "So," he began again, with a little hesitation. "You going to be okay, leaving… him… behind?"
"Yeah," Moses said. "I left that life behind long ago."
"Right, right, Midian, right." Aaron bobbed his long head awkwardly, a bit too fervently. Moses had lived apart from Rameses and his friends in Egypt for forty years with the Midianites before returning to free the Hebrew slaves.
"But…"
Soft silence.
Moses began again. "Returning to Egypt brought back many old memories. All the pranks we played with the palace's staff. And on each other. I got him more than he got me. Even sneaked a crocodile into his bed once. We used to, we used to race chariots through the streets… even through the temples… nothing would stop us. He usually won those races… probably made him feel better since I always outsmarted him on the pranking contest. There was this one time we…"
He realized he was beginning to ramble and trailed off. Aaron would not want to hear about Rameses for many reasons. Many.
"I never saw that side of him," Aaron said, at last.
"No. I wouldn't think so." A quiet voice.
"Sounds like it was fun, though. Good to know he had a fun side to him."
Moses barked a short, nostalgic laugh. "When I dragged it out of him." Turning right, glancing over at Aaron, he asked, "To be honest, I'm a little curious about what your fun side is."
"Hey," Aaron protested.
Moses' mouth rose into a bittersweet smile, reflections overwhelming his mind. Still, satisfied with the present, and thankful for the present company, he said, "Well then, what were some of the fun things you and Miriam did back in the old days?"
"Ahhh…" Aaron ducked his head. "We didn't have much free time."
"Oh. Right."
"But… Miriam was always looking to the bright side." Aaron's gaze fixed on the moon. It was not full, but still bright, outshining every star in the deep black night sky. Its curve looked somewhat like a toothy grin. "Nothing seemed to keep her down, nothing. She was always chattering. Always bright. Always hopeful. Even when work got tough, she made the day pass with all sorts of stories. Stories of the patriarchs she remembered Dad telling us when we were little, sometimes even stories she made up herself. They were usually wild." He laughed. His expression was fond now, as he stared ahead. "And… she's always been one to try to get us all singing."
Moses' eyebrows shot up in amusement at the last remark. He looked long and hard at Aaron, a smirk hiding beneath his beard. "Oh? Does that mean you singing?"
"Well. Frogs have better voices. But maybe… but maybe time-to-time, her singing… infected me."
Moses smiled. "She infects everyone with her good spirits."
"She does." Aaron nodded in full agreement. There seemed to be a… loving tenderness… to how he spoke. A brother who truly loved his sister.
"Well, I have a new mission now," Moses declared.
"Freeing everyone from Egypt wasn't enough?"
"Well… that was basically all God's doing anyway… but yes. I…" and a full grin broke out onto Moses' face "…am going to get you to sing."
"No," Aaron protested.
"Yes."
"No. No no no."
"Oh, come on. You can't tell me something like that and then leave me hanging."
"No-o-o-o-o-ope."
"I'll scheme with Miriam."
"Please don't." Aaron was starting to laugh, though. His head lifted up and a twinkle entered his eye - one of the first times Moses had ever seen it. His brother's eye began to reflect the stars.
Moses might have left Rameses behind, but he could now cherish his life with Miriam and Aaron now.
He turned away from the west.
Looked at Aaron sideways, a sly, mischievous, and thoughtful expression twitching over his cheeks.
"I… don't know if I like this expression," Aaron said uneasily.
Moses laughed, starting to feel free. His mood had certainly lightened. His earlier disturbance, questioning himself, feeling unsettled with thoughts of the world he left behind… was beginning to be replaced by the same hope for the future the other Israelites held in their hearts.
Time to start building new memories of new laughter with the family before him.
He continued to study Aaron, gauged the lean man carefully. "Well… if you're so adamant I don't trick you into singing, how's this? We have some fun with Miriam instead."
"What… sort of fun?"
"I might be getting too old for this… but what do you say… some sort of prank?"
Aaron's face turned up into a mirroring smile.
Clapping firmly on the back, his older brother said, "Alright. Sure. Why not. What do you have in mind?"
Moses leaned in to tell his plan. The brothers conferred as the moon rose up, circled around, and shone with the glowing stars.