Of One Tongue

Willow Dressel

Description

In 2241 B.C., just one hundred and six years after the global flood, the plain of Shinar is a vast wilderness. There a great tower has been built to reach the heavens placed inside a walled municipality known as The City. Strong-willed Nabella lives a quarter-days-journey from the safety of mankind's sole city on her father, Jokaan's, olive orchard. When she discovers a grisly ritual the family believes they've been cursed for refusing to move their business to The City. Nabella is determined to help the men even though her betrothed disapproves. She sneaks through the orchard when she is attacked by a tanniyn-a fearsome beast. Wounded when she tries to escape she winds up overhearing the men say only Noah, Shem or Japheth from the Former World can break the curse. Meanwhile Ra'anel, head celestial advisor, lures people into The City to worship pagan gods so he and Cush can control them. But Nimrod's feats as a mighty hunter become increasingly formidable. And tyrannical. Nabella follows her father, disguised as a boy to seek Shem for herself. But her life is in peril when she finds herself kidnapped, forced to do Cush's will, and her charade is discovered. Will Nabella find Shem? Will the curse be broken? Will her betrothed come to the rescue?

Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 15 février 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781506900162
• Langue: English

Extrait

OF ONE TONGUE



Willow Dressel

First Edition Design Publishing
Of One Tongue
Copyright 2015 Willow Dressel

ISBN 978-1506-900-15-5 PRINT
ISBN 978-1506-900-16-2 EBOOK

LCCN 2015953583

November 2015

Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com



ALL RiGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transimitted in any form or by any means – electronical, photo-copy, recording, or any other – except brief quotation in reviews, without the prior permission of the author or publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Edited by Jennifer Smetana

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dressel, Willow
Of one tongue / written by Willow Dressel.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1506-900-15-5 pbk, 978-1506-900-16-2 digital

1. Fiction / Historical. 2. Cultural Heritage. 3. Christian Historical.

031
Dedicated to my dear sister Jenny—
I love you motek!
Forward

When first approached to write the forward for this book, my first thought was: “How can an entire historical fiction novel be written, based on the outline of history given to us in Genesis 11:1-9?”
I quickly found out as I started reading the novel that Willow Dressel has succeeded admirably in crafting a totally plausible story, incorporating the historical people from the first eleven chapters of Genesis, while faithfully adhering strictly to the biblical account.
This book is exceptionally interesting in how facets of daily life are fleshed out in a convincing manner, while the unpredictability of the plot tightly holds the reader’s attention and makes it difficult to put the book down.
A very important facet of Of One Tongue is the weaving in of scientific subjects such as dinosaurs, the environmental and genetic components of the longevity of the patriarchs, real climate change, human migration, and early technology. Several appendices give succinct summaries of these subjects.
However the most important aspect of this book is its absolute fidelity in expounding spiritual truth as God has given it to us in His word the Bible. Of One Tongue is a marvelous vehicle to convey God’s truth in a very entertaining and positive manner. The final appendix lays out God’s plan for salvation. Of One Tongue deserves a wide readership and extensive dissemination to believers and non-believers alike.

Joseph Kezele, M. D.
President, Arizona Origin Science Association
Adjunct Professor of Biology, Arizona Christian University,
Logos Research Associate
Acknowledgements

Thank you first and foremost to our Lord and Savior Jesus who has been my constant Friend, Companion and Mentor throughout the adventure of writing this book. It was His leading that first peaked my interest in combining the facts of creation science into an entertaining novel and He has seen me through every step of the way.
A special big thanks goes to my sister Jenny Smetana who has been my first editor and creative writing encourager since the beginning. Your integrity, knowledge and faithfulness mean everything to me!
Thank you also to my writers group, especially author Sherry Rossman, who has given me unlimited encouragement, much needed advice, and her valuable time. Your friendship has been a blessing and a gift from God.
Special thanks to Dr. Kezele for his expertise in creation science, linguistics and ancient history.
Thank you to Creation, Evolution and Science Ministries and especially to Rus Miller who took the time out of his incredibly busy schedule to review and endorse this novel. Thank you also to Arizona Origin Science Association, Inc, and Creation Research Society for their endorsements. And thank you, Boddie Hodge of Answers in Genesis for showing an interest in this novel and filling me with encouragement.
Thank you to all my friends—most of all to, Holly, Betty, Missy, Hannah and Jerry. And my family —my kids Brian, Aaron, Amy and Joey, and especially my nephews, Matt, TC, Michael, Ricky, and Kevin all who at one time or another reviewed portions of my book. Thanks a bunch to Father Pete Colletti for his expertise on spiritual matters. A special thank you to my husband, Greg, for his unending patience and support while I whittled away at this journey. And a big thanks to all my beta-readers and reviewers.
May the Lord bless you all!
List of Characters

♣ Abel (Ā-b ĕ l) — male. Means breath. Teenager. Herds his father ’ s cattle.
♣ Adara (Ă-ďară)—female. Means noble. Nabella’s oldest sister.
♣ Barukh (Bă-ŕr ŭ kh — male. Means blessed. Nabella ’ s betrothed.
♣ Channah (Chă-nnăh—female. Means favor or grace. Daughter of Shem and Machlah, wife
♣ of Eber, mother of Peleg.
♣ Cush (C ŭ sh) — male. Means black or black countenance. Son of Ham, grandson of Noah.
♣ Danya (Dăñ-ă)—female. Means she judged. Nabella’s deceased mother. Jokaan’s deceased wife.
♣ Eber (Ē-b ĕ r) — male. Means enclave or Hebrew. Son-in-law to Shem, husband to Channah, father of Peleg.
♣ Elah (Ē-lăh)—female. Means terebinth tree. Sister to Nabella and wife of Jabari.
♣ Gideon (G ĭ d- ē ŏ n) — male. Means hewer. Kfir and Barukh's father.
♣ Ham (Hăm)—male. Means dark or black. Third son of Noah. From the Former World.
♣ Jabari (Jă-băŕ-ē)—male. Means courageous. Brother-in-law to Nabella. Best hunter and tracker.
♣ Japheth (Jă-p ĕ th) — male. Means fair or light. Eldest son of Noah. From the Former World.
♣ Jokaan (Jō-kăn)—male. Means he establishes. Adara, Elah, Nabella, Shoshana’s father.
♣ Kfir (K-f ĭ r) — male. Means young lion. Oldest son of Gideon, Barukh's older brother, neighbor
♣ of Jokaan and Nabella,.
♣ Machlah (Măk-lă)—female. Means my messenger or my angle. Wife of Shem, came from the Old World.
♣ Nabel (Nā-b ĕ l) — male. Nabella ’ s pseudo name.
♣ Nabella (Nă-b ĕ l ă ) — female. Means kind. Main character. Seventh daughter of Jokaan, twenty years old.
♣ Nahni (Nă-nē)—endearing term for grandmother.
♣ Nimrod (N ĭ m ŏ d) — male. Means rebellious. Grandson of Noah.
♣ Noah (Nōă)—male. Means motion. Obeyed God’s command to build an ark and take his family and two or seven of all the animals kinds on it to endure the global flood.
♣ Peleg (Pāl ĕ g) — male. Means the earth is divided. Baby born at the time of the confusion of language.
♣ Ra'anel (Ră-ăn ĕ ĺ ) — male. Means high, lofty, god. Head celestial advisor and an influential member of The City ’ s government.
♣ Semiramis (S ĕ m ē -r ă m ĭ s) — female. Means highest heaven. Wife of Nimrod.
♣ Seth (S ĕ th) — male. Means appointed. Crippled boy that lives in the portion of the tent city bordering the Little Euphrates.
♣ Shem (Sh ĕ m) — male. Means dusky or brown. Second son of Noah. From the Former World
♣ Shoshana (Sō-shăń-ă)—female. Means rose. Youngest sister of Nabella, seven years old.
♣ Terach (T ĕ -r ă k) — male. Means wanderer. Fourteen-year-old that Nimrod has taken under his wing.
v Tomar (Tō-măŕ)—male. Means tall. Brother-in-law to Nabella married to Adara.
ONE


“Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron...”
Genesis 4:22 (NIV)

One Hundred And Six Years After The Global Flood
The Year 2241 BC
The Month of Second Beginnings

Nabella dared a glance through a hole in the stained tent wall and gripped clammy hands together. Two men locked eyes, a third towered over them. Her father, Jokaan, stood arms crossed over his brawny chest. She knew that stance…he had reached his limit.
“Oh Father, be careful,” she whispered.
Her eyes darted to the thin man who confronted Jokaan. Pale eyes flashed at her father. She cringed from Ra'anel’s glare, though it had nothing to do with her. A slight shift of her eyes and she took in the third man. Cush stared down at her father. A deep scowl tumbled across his rough features, and ebony skin stretched taut over his bulging muscles. One hand encircled the largest spear she had ever seen. She couldn’t help but wonder if Ra'anel had brought him along only to intimidate.
Her lip curled. Scum. Both of them scum. Just the other day she had overheard her father speak with men he trusted. He had sought and received confirmation of his doubts about Ra'anel and Cush.
Her opinion matched theirs—scum. Worse than scum actually. Both were smart and educated, they were dangerous, for their ambitions seemed to outweigh their integrity.
All the more reason to secretly observe them despite Father’s warning to stay out of men’s business. The twenty-year-old tore her eyes from the hole and pressed an ear there instead. The muffled tones became clear.
“You think only of yourself. Perha-a-ps… you should be less egotistical.”
Nabella recognized Ra'anel’s voice. It dribbled overt piety. The corners of her mouth tilted down. He sounded so…intellectual, but something still bothered her. Father said Ra'anel possessed false humility, maybe that’s it.
“You’re not welcome here if you choose to speak in such a manner,” Jokaan’s low voice stiffened.
“You know there are great benefits to living in The Cit—”
“Ra'anel, you have been pushing me to move into The City for twenty years. You know I will not disobey God.”
“God, pah…He no longer rules like He used to. You know as well as I the benefits to living in The City. No more traveling to outposts endlessly carting your goods around. Just think. People would come to you…one central place that would benefit everyone, not just you.
“Let your workers live here in the orchards. Or your daughters’ husbands and their families. But you move to The City and set up a permanent shop…” Ra'anel’s voice dro