Superbook: A New Traveler (Under Editing)

Chapter Six: In Prison

With startled screams, each of the six kids tumbled into an Egyptian prison (much like the one in Superbook: Joseph and Pharaoh's Dream). It was anything, but a smooth or graceful landing. They each flopped onto the sandy ground, smashing knees, landing on their heads, and scraping elbows. First came Chris, Joy and Ellie, and then finally Mateo, Shira, and Henry. They toppled onto the dry sand with multiple thumps and a chorus of astonished cries.
Once they recovered from their unexpected time travel ride and the shock of being dropped from the time travel tunnel, Mateo took in his and his friends' surroundings and was immediately annoyed at where he and his friends had all crashed landed in.
"Okay... Prison." Mateo eyed the prison warily, gazing at the Egyptian prison for any sign of any other prisoners in the prison room. "That's new."
"Um... Do most of your trips involved you all being in prison or something of like this?" Shira asked Chris and Joy with wary curiosity.
"You could say that," admitted Joy uneasily, clearly remembering what happened in her and her friends' past trips.
Shira gave her a doubtful look before she gotten up and started looking around the prison, trying to find a way to escape from the prison with her friends. But as she continued looking around, Shira saw that the prison room only has a barred door and was guarded by a pair of Egyptian guards. Shira let out a weary sigh and continued searching for another way out. But she suddenly smelled a rotten smell that reminded her of rotten garlic. When she saw the source of it, she stiffened and looked ready to fight for her friends.
"Ugh, what an odor," complained Mateo, not sensing the tension in the air. "It smells like rotten figs in the back of an overheated car seat."
The question was soon answered by a tall and bluff, dark-skinned prisoner with a ripped white sheep shirt and a short skirt on him. The prisoner stared down at Henry menacingly with a smirk. "Hi."
Mateo shrank back from the prisoner with an uneasy smile. "Hi. Okay, I think it's time to go." At that, he ran towards the doorway and was sent flying backwards from crashing into the barred door on contact.
Just as the prisoner was about to intimidate them even more, Shira jumped in front of them and looked ready to protect her friends. She leveled an even stare on him.
"Tom, you are not bothering my new helpers, are you?" The kids spun around to look at another male prisoner as the two guards let him into the room.
"No Joseph, I have not." Tom stepped back from them, especially from Shira's wary glare.
A young man had stepped into the room with a warm smile. He has messy and wavy dark reddish-brown hair with a beard that has clearly been uncared for a while. His cheeks appeared hollow than would be normal, and his green eyes, to their surprise, do not hold the haunted character of someone who has dwelled in a jail for years. Rather, his eyes are calm, caring, intelligent, and honest. He does not seem to be afraid of Tom nor the guards, if he did, it is hidden very well. He was wearing a white tunic with a braided belt tied around his waist and has a pair of worn sandals.
"I should think so." Joseph gave the six of them a warm smile, calming them down from their unexpected encounter with Tom. Joseph glanced at the two curious and cautious guards. "Guards, could you place these six under my care?"
At that, the guards led the six kids out of the room and one of the guards helped Mateo get up on his feet. Joseph smiled slightly at the sight of the six kids, recognizing them as compassionate and empathetic kids with brave hearts.
Joseph soon led the six of them outside the they each got to work on cleaning white cloths. The six of them had each told their names to Joseph.
"It's amazing, Joseph," remarked Ellie. "You're a prisoner here and yet you run the prison?"
"How did that happened?" Henry asked Joseph curiously.
Joseph gave them a sad and weary smile. "That'll be a long story." The kids soon worked alongside Joseph. "When I was younger, I had the most incredible dreams and I have been granted the ability to interpret dreams. But I didn't realize of how angry and jealous my older brothers were of my skills. All of their anger and jealousy was soon shown by taking their frustration out on me by dropping me into a hole when I wanted to show them the coat that was made for me. They soon sold me into Egyptian slavery soon after they dropped into the hole. My parents and my little brother, Benjamin, probably thinks I'm dead by now from my brothers." A single tear ran down from his face, which he struggled to hide from the six kids. He looked very heartbroken and yet determined of what to do next for his future. "After I was sold into slavery, I worked as a servant to one of the lords of Egypt. But I was blamed for something I didn't do and I was soon sent to prison."
Ellie soon stepped forward, her eyes wide with both horror and kind sympathy. "I'm so sorry you went through that Joseph."
Joseph smiled warmly at Ellie. "Thanks Ellie." He soon let out a soft sigh. "Despite what happened, I always wondered what type of men that my brothers had grew up into."
Shira stole a knowing glance with an empathetic, but saddened Henry. When they were growing up together, Shira had noticed Henry was left behind from his older brothers and took notice of their first signs of jealousy towards him. That's when Shira came along and became best friends with him.
Talk about ironic.