Songs and Tears

Here is a story that I have been working on for quite a while so now that it's finished I thought I would publish it. I hope that you will enjoy this little piece of Biblical fiction.
                                           
                                                     Songs and Tears
"I'm so hot, Mama," 14-year-old Sarah complained, brushing a strand of jet-black hair under her covering.
"Me too." Her 12-year-old brother Samuel sighed.
"I know dears, their mother answered. "Nevertheless, are not you  glad that we can go home again."
"Yes, and I can hardly wait to see Jerusalem again." Their Grandmother said. Now 78 years old, she had been only 8 years old when she and her family had been taken to Babylon.
  Now Sarah and here family were coming home from Babylon. The land of their captivity for 70 years. Sarah, her parents, and her nine siblings, Abraham (17), Isaac (15), Samuel (12), Hannah (10), Elijah (8), David (5),  Rachel (2), and baby Esther had lived in Babylon for all of their lives.
  Her father had held a high position in the king's court and they had lived just outside of the big city. They had had a very comfortable lifestyle there but their had always been a desire in all of their hearts to return to where they belonged, Jerusalem. Sarah would always remember the many evenings they had spent on their knees, facing Jerusalem, praying for the return of their people to their beloved Jerusalem.
  Then one day the long-awaited news arrived.
"Thus saith Cyrus, the king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him  a house in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah. Therefore, let those of the people of God who are among you go up to Jerusalem and help to build the house of the Lord. And those who do not go to Jerusalem, but stay in the places where they are living, let them give to those who go back to their own land gifts of gold and silver and beasts to carry them, and the goods, and also a free gift toward the building of the house of  the Lord in Jerusalem."
  When the people heard this news, many of them burst into tears of joy and there was much singing to be heard in the houses of the Jews. One of Sarah's uncles wrote a song in this time, which we have in Psalm 126.
  Many of the rich families stayed in Babylon for they loved this land and did not want to leave it to rebuild a broken city. But, although Sarah's family was among the richer class, they decided to return to their homeland. Their friends and relatives that did not come, loaded them with gifts of gold and silver to rebuild the temple just as the king had told them. Even the king himself gave them the vessels of the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had taken away when he destroyed Jerusalem. There were over four thousand gold and silver cups, bowls, plates, and dishes.
  With all of these treasures, it was a gook thing that the king had commanded that they should be given animals and servants to help them carry everything.
  It was a very big group of people that left Babylon on that great day, singing and rejoicing as they went. Without their servants they totalled forty-two thousand people. It was very noisy with all the  people talking and singing, the sheep baaing, the cattle lowing, the donkeys and camels calling, and all the other noises that come with people and animals. Sarah imagined that it was a little like the time when Moses and their ancestors had left  Egypt to go to the same land that they were headed for. They had sheep and many other animals with them just like the Israelites had had. In addition, they set up camp for the night as  the children of Israel had done. They were also in the desert and it was hot just like it was now. That made for slower travel. "One difference is,"Sarah mused half aloud, "That we can travel along the Euphrates river but our forefathers back then had to get their water out of rocks and stuff."
  "What? Did I hear you say something about the river," Samuel asked.
  Jolted out of her revery, it took Sarah awhile to respond. But finally she said, "Yes, I guess you must have. And why don't we ask Mother if we can wade awhile?"
  "Yes! Let's!" Many voices called out for it didn't take any of the children to catch on to the word 'wading'.
  Mother's reply was exactly what they wanted to hear so they all scattered to find their friends. Sarah soon found her favorite friends, Mary and Elizabeth. They hitched up their skirts and splashed into the river. They didn't have to be very careful about the little children because the river was not very deep where they were.
  "Isn't it fun to wade in this river?" Mary asked the other girls.
  "Yes it certainly is," Sarah agreed. "Did you hear the men talk about our leaving this river to go along the Lebanon Mountains?"
  "Yes, we did," her friends answered. "Aren't you looking forward to seeing the huge cedars there?"
  "I sure am," Elizabeth answered in her soft voice.
  "And then we'll soon be home!" Sarah exclaimed afterwhich her friends and she burst into a psalm of praise to Jehovah for letting them return Home.
                                                           -To be continued-
P.S. If anybody has any ideas, corrections, comment, etc. please let me know.
                                                                                                                     Yesenia