Princess Pharaoh

She was young and pretty. Okay youngish (well at 19, she wasn’t the youngest princess in the palace) but she was definitely the prettiest. If you didn’t count her 15 year old stepsister who already had the most adorable baby girl and was married to the governor. Oh, why oh why was she still unmarried? Why did she not have her own little beautiful baby to put the royal seal on and show off to all her friends and around the palace? For goodness sake, even the scary looking, intimidating palace guards broke into smiles when they saw her sister’s baby Tahpenes. And who wouldn’t smile at the sight of her curly black hair falling into her sooty eyes, and her soft, smooth chubby cheeks with that wide, sweet gum less grin. Princess Pharaoh pondered all these as she was carried to the stream for her morning ritual on her majestic carriage by her royal entourage. It was a beautiful spring morning, the air crisp and fresh, the sun shining down hotly already at that early morning hour of 7am. Her female servant noticed she was preoccupied and smiled shyly at her, ‘you look troubled Princess, can I be of assistance in any way?’. ‘I’m afraid you can’t help this time Naomi, unless you can pray to your gods to send me a heir. I fear I am the oldest princess in the palace and I may never get to hold my own precious bundle. Oh how I wish I had a baby to love, my very own son’ the princess wept. ‘May the God of Israel,the only true God, hear your cry and grant you your wish’ Naomi replied kindly. 
They had reached the edge of the Nile river. The guards quickly secured the area around the waters edge. The female servants swooped around in a circle with the royal curtains to provide Princess Pharaoh some privacy as she got washed by her trusted maids, the team led by Naomi. As she stepped out of her shelter in her freshly worn gown, the sun caught on a little basket floating on the river. ‘What’s that I see over there?’ She called out, ‘Quick, Naomi, Guards, fetch me that basket before it floats too far away! And be gentle, I think it’s got precious cargo’. Assisted by the guards, Naomi soon got the basket with its priceless treasure safely to Princess Pharaoh. The guards were smiling, Naomi was cooing, and Princess Pharaoh could not wait to peep into the basket. The poor little mite was crying. Then she saw one eye blink and open, then the second and she stared into huge, hopeful, brown eyes the colour of the sand on the seashore. Impossibly long lashes like the silk threads in her mother’s most ceremonial dresses brushed gently against velvety milk chocolate skin. Perfect heart shaped face tipped upwards as he gazed innocently out of his rustic shelter. This was surely the most beautiful baby in the entire world. Out stretched a tiny little hand to hold her finger, and she heard the cutest little gurgle of laughter. Those dimply cheeks stretched into the biggest, most delightful smile she had ever seen. It was as if the heavens were smiling down at her. ‘I shall call you Moses’, she said. Perhaps Naomi, her faithful servant was right, perhaps the only true God had granted her wish.

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