Moses and I had to wait a while before doing anymore pranking. Miriam was miffed at both of us, but got over it. Tzipporah kept Moses in trouble for a while. But hey, I guess that's married life!
Anyway, about 11 days after the hair tying Moses flew into my tent. He was shaking me and bouncing up and down excitedly. He was ready to yell but kept the tone to a whisper. "Aaron! Aaron! I just had the best idea ever! Wake up wake up wake up!"
"Mmm? Moses, is that you? What are you going on about?"
"I was-" He struggled to catch his breath. "I was down by the stream and-" He inhaled. "The women were doing laundry and I thought how funny-" For the last time he took in air. "How funny it would be if we switched their clothes up!"
I smiled. "Now, that's a good one. But won't the women be angry?"
"Only if you get caught."
I sat up and scratched my head. "If there's anything I wonder about God, it's how he could choose you to lead his people."
He smirked at me. "I try not to question it."
We left for the stream where I saw the clothes, right where Moses said they'd be. Women left their finished laundry while they returned to their houses to wake their children. They would be coming back with them to bring it home. We went to work quickly.
He and I tossed dresses, robes and what-have-you to one another to shuffle it up. In the end, I would have been suprised if they ever got all their stuff back! To avoid arousing suspicion, we had put the garments which had been on top back in their place. Like the first prank, it was kind of dumb. But also like the first, it was very fun.
The next day, we realized the flaw in our plan. Miriam and Tzipporah did laundry at that part of the stream too. So what got thrown into the mess without our realizing? You guessed it. God's favorite family's robes.
Miriam put on a dress far too tight in the waist, while Tzipporah's was way too short. Moses' was my favorite. He told me that when he returned to Egypt, the people thought he looked homeless. Seeing him in another person's clothes, I understood what it must have looked like.
The man who'd worn it before him was very, very big. Also very dirty. It may as well have been washed in mud, because the stains weren't going anywhere. I myself wearing clothing waaay too long. Strange, I didn't think there were many people taller than me.
Again, Miriam was not happy with us. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together. If I were to list the top ten angriest faces I'd ever seen, the one she showed me that morning was a close second to Ramses' at the Red Sea. Moses and I ran into a crowd of people in the wrong clothes to escape her. But we were not too good at hiding and she found us. Then she proceeded to beat "Our Deliverer" with a broom handle in front of everyone. All the while shouting "You think the plagues were bad? God wishes he had half my wrath! You must feel blessed for all the years of your life spent out of my reach!".
"Ow ow ow! Miriam, you're hurting me! Come on, you're embarassing me!"
My mistake was in laughing at the spectical. My giggles attracted her attention. She grabbed me by the ear and dragged us back to the tent. Must have been quite the show for the people back there. They deserved the laugh anyway.
She tossed us in and gave us a moment to express displeasure. Then she began her rant. "You two have been a thorn in my side ever since we dragged our soggy and frightened rear-ends out of the Red Sea. I understand that there's a lot of lost time to make up for, but I, the Hebrews," She pointed to Moses. "and YOUR wife have reached our limits. Next time you feel the need to goof around with us, don't!"
Miriam was walking out of the tent when she told us our punishment. "Now go help people find their clothes."
