Deep Waters

Noah looked out over the land for what he knew would be the last time in a long time.
The earth was beautiful. The grass was a vibrant green, the sky a darkening blue-gray. The clouds in the sky were fluffy, like you could jump on them.
A man walking by the ark laughed. He didn't even try to be quiet with his judgments. Nobody did anymore. The constant ridicule and mocking from everybody had ceased to bother the family.
"Please." Noah called to the man. "Come aboard. What's the harm?"
"You're crazy." The man told him, and kept walking.
The anguish bubbled up inside Noah and he felt hot tears running down his face.
His son's wife called him, so he composed himself and turned inside to face his family. "It's time." He said, and shut the door to the ark.
Almost as soon as he closed it, there was a deafening sound from outside as waters came from above and below. People were screaming inside and out. Outside, people were crying out for the Lord to save them, for Noah to have mercy and let them in.
Now they didn't think Noah was crazy. Now they wanted his help. Now they wanted the Lord.
Now it was too late.
Noah tried to open the door, but it was sealed closed.
The family listened to the screaming of the drowning. The ark tossed roughly over the waves of the water, tossing the family inside about. They clung to the walls and each other as the people outside tried to cling to the boat.
Outside, mothers were losing hold of their babies to the angry waters. Fathers lost their grip on their sons and daughters and wives. Children were screaming for their mothers as they struggled to stay afloat in the crashing, violent waves. People pounded desperately on the thick walls of the ark, pleading for a second chance, not realizing they'd already been given numerous chances for repentance.
Noah and his family were safely inside, the only danger being bruises and the guilt of not being able to help anybody outside. They had tried.
The screaming stopped within the span of perhaps half an hour, but it seemed like forever.
Finally, the rolling waters calmed, and the family tried to establish a routine. Wake up, eat, feed the animals, eat, sleep, repeat. They prayed, but God didn't speak to them.
It wasn't until after the dove Noah had sent out returned with an olive branch that the Lord spoke to them again. He told them to go out, and to let the animals out, and they did.
The earth was vastly different. What had been called mountains before were small in comparison to the larger ones. The smaller ones didn't even seem like mountains anymore.
From the mountain the ark had landed on, they could see for what seemed like forever. Everything looked and felt dead. It was eerily quiet.
But then an elephant trumpeted, and the silence was broken.
Noah built an altar, and made a great sacrifice. The Lord accepted it.
It was time for a new generation to fill the earth. A generation who would, hopefully, respect and fear the Lord.
A new generation, a new hope, a new world.