A few days had passed and 7 year old Emunah was yet again running out of food. He had eaten all he had found in those bags Doe carried, and now was surviving off of goat milk and any wild plant he assumed wasn't poisonous. By now the streets still were littered with the dead bodies, however the vultures came and picked almost every last one clean, leaving nothing but bones and hairs on the corpses. Emunah was now able to stomach the smell of outside due to this, as the lack of rotting flesh allowed the air to become clean again. Emunah began to stroll around the town, with Doe at his side like a loyal dog, scavenging for food and moving dead remains out of his way with a large staff he had found. Doe, in her true nature, pretty much ate any and everything she saw fit including shattered clay remains. Emunah took another sip of milk from his container and rested on a stone bench as he watched Doe poke around for her own breakfast.
He began to cry and shout in frustration at the air, as he had no idea what to do. "What am I supposed to do now? I don't know where to go, I don't know what to do, I'm afraid and barely alone. Maybe I should just lay here and die" he said out loud angrily wiping his hot tears.
"Munah, stop it! You are a man aren't you?!" he yelled to himself.
"Men don't cry unless someone dies! You need to be a FULL man, a BIG man and figure this out!" he continued to scold himself. "Maybe i should eat Doe…." the thought quickly crossed his mind but he dismissed it when he thought about what he would do when even all the meat from Doe would be gone. As he thought this, at that moment he realized Doe was no longer in his sight. He searched the area and could not find her. Panicked from possibly losing his only sign of life and companionship, he forgot about his hunger and frantically ran around the town in search of his goat.
He went to every single neighboring home he passed and still no Doe. It was approaching midday, he was sure of this because the sun was at its highest in the sky, and his heart began to pound at the thought of never seeing Doe again. Emunah looked up at the sun and aggressively wiped the sweat off his face, as he let out a deep sign. As he looked down at the ground he noticed a bloody hoof print on a slab of stone. He inspected it closely and was sure it was Doe's foot print. "She must have stepped in someone's blood while looking for food" he thought. He looked around and saw another bloody print on more stones that were lined up like a walk way. Emunah was a bit hesitant at first (he had never ventured this way with his mother or on his own before) but for the sake of his Doe he gathered his courage and followed the bloody hoof prints.
About 5 minutes of walking/following went by and Emunah saw Doe grazing weeds near a large tree. Munah ran to Doe and hugged her with a few tears of joy in his eyes at the sight of finding his only friend. Doe allowed the affection but appeared indifferent about it and continued to graze. Emunah looked up at the tree and realized what it was, a very large olive tree. Shocked, he turned around in all directions to survey where he was, and noticed there were fields broken into sections. One section was wheat, another barley, then there were a few small fig trees and a few grape vines that also had their own section. Emunah was so excited he could have turned multiple flips right there.
"Wow! Doe! Do you see this?!! Look at all this food!" Emunah spoke to Doe but she continued grazing as if she did not hear him. Excited, he started to pick grapes right off the vine and eat them as fast as his little arms could bring them to his mouth. Once full, he looked a bit closer around him and realized this small patch of crops was not small at all. Emunah felt some of his joy flee when he saw the burnt remains of the once very large field of foods. He concluded the pillagers must have set the fire on that dreadful night, but he was puzzled as to why so many crops were seemingly untouched by the fire. Not only untouched but had been thriving without any tending for days. Emunah was plagued with a bit of fear that maybe the pillagers would be back to harvest the foods and that's why they left it alone. This thought inspired an idea for him to grab something to put the food in so he can carry it back home. He was still afraid but decided he would prioritize his survival over fear of being attacked. Besides, if the pillagers come back he would get his chance to be a man again. "So let them come if they dare," he thought to himself as he hurried back to his hut for items to load and carry back with the help of Doe.
Weeks went by and Emunah was becoming more and more brave the more he needed to venture to the small field of foods. By now he had spent the majority of his time teaching himself how to tend the garden, clean his home and items, and he even built a small cistern behind his home to store and collect water. Emunah had a much easier time teaching himself how to prepare and cook his food as he was able to watch his mother so closely cook for them. However, he was not so lucky in the gardening area due to never being taught or trained on how to tend crops. He winged it as best as he could but by the time he got the hang of it, a significant amount of crops had perished. He had plenty of olives for oils, grapes, and figs. Yet he barely had enough grains to make flour for bread or even yeast. At this time he was thankful Doe was a goat and did not require many specific foods to nibble on. Emunah was very proud of himself, he had made his house once again a home and was living as comfortably as he could with the circumstances at hand. Although from time to time he could not help but think about his mother.
"Oh how I wish I could find her, save her, and kill those who took her from me." He thought out loud more often than not. One day, Emunah was tending to his field and mumbling to himself about the harvest.
"Tabarnak! [slur/curse word], winter is coming i can feel it. This harvest is NOT going to get me through the winter. What am I to do now?... well at least i have food for now" He yanked stalks of grains out of the soil and placed them in his woven basket he found in a neighboring home. Just then, he heard a horses pitter patter followed by shouting:
"HEY! HELLO THERE! I AM THE ROYAL HERALD AND I HAVE COME WITH A MESSAGE FROM THE KING!! GATHER ALL! GATHER ALL! I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM THE ROYAL HIGHNESS!!" A fairly wealthy-dressed man rode up to Emunah who was standing with confusion, fear, and hope all over his face.
"This can't be real, I must have gone mad and now I'm seeing people and horses and hearing things' ' he said to himself, head tilted to the side. The man rode up to Emunah and asked "child why are you not going to fetch the others like i've announced?" Emunah said nothing, still staring at the man with a puzzled look and tilted head.
"Young man, are you hard of hearing?" asked the man. Emunah picked up his staff and poked the man in the stomach without warning.
"Oof! You little….! Now why did you go and do that?! WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?" the man demanded. Emunah jumped back when he realized he was not going crazy and the man was real.
"I'm sorry sir, I thought I was going mad and you were a ghost of my brain. I am not going to gather the townspeople because there is no town sir, and as for my mother I haven't seen or heard from her in so long, you know where she might be?????" Little Emunah said with so much hope in his eyes. The Herald looked at Munah and burst into laughter. "Okay child, no more playing games go an…."
"I AM NOT A CHILD SIR. I'll have you know I am a MAN…..well a half-man but when I win my first battle I'll be a full one!" Emunah interrupted the herald. The man stared at the boy until he was convinced the child was telling the truth or at least the child deeply believed what he was telling him about the town.
"Ha" the Herald laughed. "You know I like you, what's your name?"
"Emunah…." said the child while looking at the ground.
The Herald sized up the child, "show me this town of nothing and no one young man" he said with all humor cast aside from his tone. Emunah carried the basket and staff with him back towards the town. The herald was at a loss for words when he saw the skeletal remains of human corpses littered in the streets. The vultures and rats did not leave much after they got their daily meal off the dead bodies. Emunah continued to lead the way, seemingly unphased by the sight he was now accustomed to seeing daily. The Herald stopped and stared at Emunah from behind. "Poor child…..what has come of him and his life" the herald thought to himself. Following this thought The Herald became flushed with guilt. He knew all too well what had happened to this town and he mustered up the courage to ask the child what the town was called.
"Mishkan sir…." Emunah stated "and my mom's name is Tikvah! Are you sure you don't know where she is????" He followed up with hope and excitement at the thought of finding his mother. It had been so long since he saw her, he missed her so terribly. The Herald, now overcome with guilt, responded to the child, "son, why are you still here? Why do you dwell in the land of the dead, and alone?? Surely you want to find a better place to sleep at night".
Emunah took a moment to think about his response, "well sir, i don't know where to go and i am afraid i will get lost and die…also, i'm not alone, i have my friend Doe with me to talk to. She is my best friend. She is my family now". The Herald took another look around at the devastation that once was a lively town and deep down he knew what he had to do. But could he? Surely he had taken a wrong turn and ended up in a town he was supposed to avoid, but now that he was here he could see the destruction that he had only heard rumors of back in his hometown. So what was the Herald to do? There should have been no survivors let alone a child, but the child surely could not go back with him. The herald looked at the boy who was playing in the dirt with his staff. Such a child at heart even in the midst of madness. He noticed the child's clothes; brown knee length cloth made of wool, now tattered and covered in dirt and what looked like dried blood or fruit. The child himself did not look very dirty and the Herald wondered about this. He then looked down at his own attire; a tabard with the arms of the sovereign across the chest, made with the finest threads and colors of purple and blue. At that moment he decided in his heart he would help this child the best way he could. "Young man, please can I see your home where you and your friend sleep?" Emunah led the Herald to his one room hut and showed him around. The place was surprisingly clean considering what was expected. The Herald spent the rest of the evening with Emunah sitting by a fire talking and teaching the boy basic male lessons. He promised the child he would come back and visit him and bring him gifts that he could take with him into manhood.
By morning, The herald prepared his horse and before setting off he gave Emunah the clothes off his back. "Now try your best to keep this clean young man. When I return I will show you how to wash your soiled linens, and hunt for meat! After all, it's time you learn how to be a 'full man' correct?" Emunah smiled at the gesture of another human coming back to spend time with him. He playfully shrunk as the Herald gave him a farewell pat on the head, mounted his horse and rode off back the way he came wearing less clothes than he came with.
The Herald made good on his promise and faithfully came back to visit little Munah every chance he got. Every day he was sent to deliver messages, he found a way to quickly stop by and bring Emunah a gift. If he had to travel to a town close to Mishkan, he would stay hours with Emunah and at times spend the night with the boy, most times leaving whatever clothes he wore with Emunah. He would tell the king "sire, the wild animals are becoming so fierce! They shred off every piece of clothing I travel in leaving me to return in my underwear! So embarrassing for me sire, please understand" The Herald would plead. The Herald would also begin to pack extra items for his journeys stating to the king "I'm not sure what's going on sire, I surely do not have my wits about me in the wilderness these days! Maybe my aging is a culprit for my forgetfulness. I get so lost these days sire!". For a long while the king bought these explanations for The Herald's sudden change of behavior. Until one day, someone got into the King's trust and began to sway his thoughts.
The Herald packed his belongings inside his appointed room in the palace. He had been teaching Emunah how to hunt and the boy was becoming very good at it, just in time before winter starts. He had been getting so skilled, Munah now had enough meat and food foraged to last thim an entire winter. His progress made the Herald proud as he was never allowed to reproduce due to King's orders. Over time Emunah had become much like a son to him, and to reward the boy's efforts, he planned to give him his very own hunting tools. "Surely I can convince the king that mine have been cast aside in the wilderness due to having to use them so much lately, they broke. He will just get me a new set and Munah can have this one" As he packed the bags for his weekly journey, he had no idea he was being watched.
"Sire, surely you see the herald's behavior lately is very very odd?" said the watcher to the King as they sat in his war room. The King finished his move on the mancala board before responding, "well, he is getting older. Surely he is losing some of his wits about him." The Watcher finished his move and purposely allowed the King to have the upper hand in the board game. "Whits lost? Are you sure? He seems to have enough whits to pack items he normally does not need for his trip" the watcher replied matter of factly. The King happily made his next move putting himself closer to a win. "I don't see any harm in being prepared Semyaza. If anything it shows the man's whits may be coming back!" The King was optimistic about his trusted Herald. Afterall, the Herald had been with the King his whole life by his side as his only true friend. Semyaza made his final move, and smoothly planted a seed in the King's mind "yes, sir this is a great point and perspective. However, you can never be too sure who is plotting with the enemy. I understand the Herald is your friend, long time friend, but surely you have heard of all the King's who were overthrown by just that; a TRUSTED so called friend"
The King made his last move and shouted for joy at his seemingly flawless win. "You know Semyaza, if i trusted your advice based on the way you play Mancala, i would for sure have been dead by now!" The King chuckled to himself "ha!! Now, seriously…..You do have a point, Semyaza. However I could not betray the trust of my friend by even questioning him about such things, surely not for treason!" The King looked Semyaza seriously in his pitch dark eyes. At times they were so dark you could swear they were black holes. Semyaza stared back at the king, as a smile slowly crossed his face. "Your Highness, allow me to simply follow the Herald and report back to you. That way your hands are clean and your mind can be at ease. What's the worst that could happen? He proves me wrong?" The King pondered at this, "Alright. Fine. as you wish. But surely my Herald will do just that, PROVE YOU WRONG!" The King playfully pounded on the table. "Now, what do you say I give you another beating in Mancala huh?" The King chuckled while Semyaza smiled at his new mission, not the idea of a board game. He thought to himself "I shall give him a little time, and then ill be watching him so close i may as well be his shadow".