Ezrae & The Rat Pack: “All About the Girls!”

Shelomith was a 13 year old Israelite girl, with long and curly dark hair, that was almost always found in a braid; and enchanting, Light Brown eyes. Ezrae thought she was the single most beautiful thing on the face of the earth, and he had pined after her in secret, ever since he was 5 years old.

Shelomith was the daughter of Dibri and his wife Chaya, Israelite slaves from The Tribe of Dan. Out of these seven children, Shelomith probably lived the most normal, and unremarkable life. Both of her parents were still alive, and happy together. In addition, she was best friends with Reyna & Divora; who were also walking and talking with her, while Ezrae longed after her from afar.

They were an Egyptian Peasant girl, who was trying to become a Holy Priestess of Set (Reyna); and an Israelite Slave Girl, who was obsessed with her friend; respectively. (Divora)

Divora was the daughter of a Cousin of Aaron and Moses, named Josephus; and his wife, Leah. However, when Reyna was 6, her parents were both tragically killed in a raid from Egyptian Outlaws; whom had been banished from Egypt by the Pharaoh; and she became an orphan.

In addition, she was raised by the Israelite community, but stayed mostly with Moses, who was known to collect "Strays," as he called them. She spent all of her time with Reyna and Shelomith, since she didn't have much of a home life; and unbeknownst to almost everyone, Divora was madly in love with Reyna.

When Reyna was granted the appointment of Priestess-In-Training, Divora jumped like a ravenous animal to become her handmaiden, and refused to take "No," for an answer.

She valued her friendship with, and love for Reyna so much, that she would not let anyone harm her; and would cater to her every need. She made a blood oath that day, to the Elders of the Temple of Set, and swore her fealty to Reyna.

In addition, Divora was known to be a little rowdy, and a brawler; always ready to start a fight. It was also rumored that she had a little bit of a sticky finger problem; almost not being able to help herself around shiny things.

However, she also had a GIANT heart of gold, and took her duty as handmaiden & best friend to Reyna VERY seriously.

Reyna was an Egyptian teenager who was 15 years old, and the oldest of the Rat Pack. Typically in Ancient Egypt, you had to be a noble, in order to enter into training for Priesthood.

However, Her father was a traveling merchant, by the name of Khufu; and he spent much of his time traveling across Egypt to sell his wares, sending the money back to his family.

In addition, Reyna's mother was named Maisha, and she worked at the palace of the Pharaoh, as the Royal Seamstress; making, altering, and mending all of the clothing for the royalty, and their servants.Because of this, The Pharaoh had a lot of respect and acknowledgement for this simple, but talented, peasant.

As such, when she approached him on behalf of her daughter Reyna, with a large amount of gold, and a request of priestesshood; The Pharoah had no qualms or hesitation in saying "Yes, Of Course."

And so, Reyna began her training as a Priestess to Set when she was just 13, as is customary. She spends all of her free time, when she isn't training or studying, with Divora and Shelomith.

These 7 children had all grown up together, as a strange blended little family; due to their connections to Moses, the Pharaoh, and each other.

Despite their many differences, the purity of humanity showed in their eyes, and they loved and celebrated one another, and their many similarities and differences.

*Poke Poke Poke*

"Earth to Ezrae! ARE YOU ALIVE IN THERE, HEMAR!?"

*Poke* *Poke* *Poke* *Poke*

Amon tapped on Ezrae's forehead repeatedly trying to get his eyes to un-gloss, and get him to come back to reality.

Ezrae popped back to himself, and swatted Amon's hand away from his face. "Hey knock it off. I was just… ugh, never mind." He glanced back over at Shelomith real quick, as she, Reyna, and Divora disappeared around a corner. He sighed heavily, and then turned back to his friends.

"C'mon, Ezrae… they haven't talked to us for like six months, now! You've gotta let her go, man..." Caleb said sadly, as he placed his hand on Ezrae's shoulder.

"Besides, there's plenty of other Bachura in The Nile!" He nudged Ezrae with his elbow, and the two of them chuckled together.

"Yeah, but none of those Bachura are quite as beautiful as she is. I just wish I knew why she stopped talking to us. Reyna and Divora, I can understand… Reyna got serious about her training as a priestess, and Divora spends every waking moment caring for Reyna… but Shelomith…" Ezrae trails off and sighs, shaking his head.

Taza stepped forward, this time;

"Hey, guys… Let's go to City Square! I heard there was some kind of wizard there, who can make frozen flavored water, and I wanna try it. They call it "Ice Cream,' but I've heard some of the other kids call it 'Sweet Snow.'

Mom gave me some copper pieces, and it should be enough for us all to get one, if you guys want!"

Taza wraps his arm around Ezrae's shoulder, and squeezed him in a half hug. "C'mon buddy, we're having a good day; let's keep it rollin'!" He grins and nudges Ezrae, who grins back, chuckling.

"So what the heck is this stuff? Sweet Ice? How does that work? Do they put fruit in the water, or something? And do they do the magic right in front of you? Can they freeze people???"

When Ezrae was interested in, and curious about something, he would tend to ask a series of poignant questions, in order to learn as much as he could about it. "How much does it cost? Who's the wizard? Where does it come from? Is it really magic? My mom used to say Magic was Blasphe—"

"Slow. Down." Amon cut Ezrae off and chuckled as he poked him in the nose. "You're insane when you're interested in something, you know that, kid?"

The boys all laughed together and chatted absentmindedly, as they made their way to City Square to get some, as it was known, "Sweet Snow."