Sarah's Laughter

By Rebecca D. Bruner

A desperate husband, a stunning wife, a perilous promise:
“Please tell everyone that you are my sister.”

Abram bowed low before Pharaoh’s throne. “We beg your Eminence to show the hospitality of Egypt to us humble shepherds.”
“And what do you offer me in return?”
“Simply name what you desire, and it will be yours.”
“I hear that there is a woman among your people who has the face of a goddess. Bring her forward.”
My whole body was quaking as Abram led me from the shadows to the Pharaoh.
“Remember your promise, my sister. My life surely depends upon it,” he whispered.
My heart was in my throat. I wanted to scream and run. I looked at my husband, my eyes pleading that he relent and tell Pharaoh the truth, but he would not look me in the face.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rebecca D. Bruner
• Release date: Oct 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301916443

Rebecca D. Bruner

Rebecca D. Bruner is a multi-published author, Bible teacher, and conference speaker. She is passionate about helping women embrace God’s “very good” design for themselves and their families. Her non-fiction book, A Wife of Valor: Your Strategic Importance in God’s Battle Plan, was a 2017 finalist for the Excellence in Editing Award.Rebecca’s primary goal in writing fiction is to share her joy in telling stories with people who find joy in reading them. Some of her favorite pastimes include walking barefoot in the grass, baking, and strolling with her husband around their neighborhood lake. She loves art museums, libraries, live theater, and traveling.

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Sarah’s Laughter

by Rebecca D. Bruner

Cover art by Suzanne Peavy

Copyright 2012 Rebecca D. Bruner

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This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and incidents are either used fictitiously or are the product of the author’s imagination.

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Sarah’s Laughter

Table of Contents

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

Epilogue

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

About the Author

I

Vultures circled over the desert. One, two, three, four, five black carrion birds wheeling in formation against the harsh, blue glare of a cloudless sky. For me, it was a sight that had become far too familiar.

My husband, Abram, arose from his seat in the shade of the tent door and headed out to see what remained of the carcass they preyed upon. He carried a large, flint knife in his belt. Though the meat of the animal would be useless, it might still be possible to salvage a part of the unfortunate creature’s hide. And with this drought showing no signs of abating, he knew we needed to preserve anything we could.

Later, he returned with a sheep’s skin slung across his shoulder and a bleating ewe lamb cradled in his arms. Handing me the fleece, he drew the sharp, stone blade from his belt. Without a word, he cut the little lamb’s throat, silencing her plaintive cries forever. He hung the poor creature head downward from the brittle branches of a nearby tree to drain the blood from its body.

I didn’t pester my husband with questions about what had happened. It was all too clear. The suckling’s mother must have died from lack of water and food. Without her milk, Abram knew the baby would perish in a day or two anyway. Better for our hungry people to receive the nourishment from its meat than for it to fall dead in the desert along with its mother, only to fatten more jackals and vultures.

I gathered enough brushwood to roast the creature. It was a shame to destroy such a fine ewe lamb. She ought to have been allowed to grow up, to give us wool and baby lambs of her own. A good shepherd like my husband would never have killed her under normal circumstances. But nothing was normal any longer.

The rainy season had come and gone, with hardly a cloud to shade us. The wild grasses on which our flocks depended had shriveled and died. Even the wells were running dry. Dust blew in on every breeze.

I had long since given up my daily chore of grinding barley and making bread. The remnants of our grain had to be measured out sparingly and given by the handful to our donkeys and camels. In order to save their lives, we had to supplement what little they could forage from the desert sands.

We could eat meat, so that’s what we did, slaughtering the animals on which our livelihood depended. But we knew full well that with every mouthful, we were taking a bite out of our own future.

Once the lamb was roasted, Abram served it to all of our servants and shepherds and their families. It was food, and for that everyone was grateful, though no one went to bed with a full stomach.

After we had eaten, Abram sat down beside the fire. Sarai, I have come to a decision.

What is it, my lord?

We must move from this place.

But the famine is severe throughout this land. Where can we go to find better pasture when there is no rain?

To Egypt, he explained.

And so it was settled. While we still could, we would gather our people, load our donkeys and camels, and drive our flocks and herds down to the land of the Pharaoh, where the Nile still provided food and water for both man and beast.

The night before we left, I lay awake beside my husband in the darkness of our tent, trying to think through all that would have to be done in the morning.