Jaredite Stories

Selma was born to a single mother, Elva, and was conceived from a ruthless rape by one of the king’s guards. Because Elva felt so embarrassed and ashamed, she hid herself from her family and friends. Her parents looked and looked for her, but never found her.

Elva finally gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She was scared and alone, no one to help her. She had seen her mother give birth before, so she somewhat knew what she needed to do, but felt very nervous as she took a knife to cut the cord that gave her daughter needed nutrients.

Elva loved her beautiful daughter, but knew she could not take care of a small infant and raise her properly. She wrapped her daughter in an old cloth she previously found, put her in a small woven basket, and in the middle of a dark night she went into the city and put her at the door of someone she knew would be marvelous parents for her little girl. Elva knew that the mother was still nursing a two-year old child, so was hopeful that this mother would be able to feed, nourish, and raise her little girl.

After dropping off the baby, Elva quietly left the city and traveled to another place far away, somewhere where no one would know her and her past life.

Outside the door, the little infant girl began to cry. The crying woke up the 12-year old daughter, Alona. She recognized the cry as that of a brand new baby and arose from her bed mat to search where the crying was coming from. She went to the door and discovered the baby. She picked up the baby, held her close and tried to calm her. The mother, Nadie, heard noise and came out of her bed chamber to see who was crying. She found Alona struggling to comfort the baby, but the baby continued to cry. Nadie lovingly took the baby and tried nursing her. By this time, everyone in the house, except for the two-year old, was awake and came to see the new baby.

The little baby quickly latched on and began to suck; she was so hungry. Nadie sang to the baby as she nursed her. The baby calmed and after feeling satisfied, went to sleep.

Alona asked her mother where the baby came from; Nadie did not know but told her that they would search for her mother in the morning. Everyone went back to bed; the baby stayed with Nadie.

After the sun came up, and the family woke up, the family was excitedly ogling the baby. The five siblings were fighting over who would hold the baby. After all, she was only about 1-2 days old and so cute! Nadie’s husband, Joshua, immediately fell in love with the little girl. He desired to keep her, and had a feeling they would keep her, but knew they needed to locate the mother.

After the morning meal, Joshua and Alona went to family and friends looking for the baby’s mother. They went to the market place and to the city leaders. No one knew of any woman who was pregnant.

Later that day, a young man about 20 years old, arrived at their home and informed Joshua and Nadie about a young girl, a good friend of his, who suddenly disappeared about 7-8 months previous. Her disappearance upset him because he really cared for the girl. He said the girl’s name was Elva. Her parents did not know what happened to her. Joshua and Nadie attempted to talk to the parents, but apparently they left the city about 5 months earlier and no one knew where they went. He told Joshua that if he found Elva, to tell her that he loved her and was concerned about her.

Over the next several weeks, Joshua and Nadie expanded their search to surrounding communities. Still, no word of a missing girl or where her parents could be. Many of their friends and family helped them search, especially those who travelled to other cities.

After about 5 months of searching, Joshua went with what his heart told him all along, that this baby was theirs to raise. They named the little girl Selma.

Selma was quite a precocious little girl. She won over everyone’s hearts that she came in contact with. She almost always smiled, even as a baby, and did not cry often. She loved to sing, and in fact, began singing before she started talking. She charmed others as she communicated by singing. Nadie knew that Selma would become a sensational singer and would be involved in productions that included singing.

Because Selma loved to sing, when she was six years old, Joshua and Nadie hired one of the best voice teachers in their city to give her singing lessons. Piers, the teacher, knew immediately that Selma was highly gifted and felt delighted to help her improve her gift.

Selma loved her voice lessons. She practiced daily; no one had to remind her. Her siblings, at times, would tire of listening to her, but understood her gift. They all had their own gifts and talents that they were also developing.

About a year after taking voice lessons, Piers concluded that Selma was ready to sing in one of the performances held in the city. Selma was ecstatic! She had already sung in the marketplace and enjoyed singing for an audience. Joshua was skeptical at first, but Selma looked at him with her pleading, big brown eyes and all Joshua could do was to laugh and give his permission.

The evening arrived for Selma’s performance. She had diligently practiced the three songs she was to perform and was ready and excited. Piers walked with Selma to the middle of the stage and introduced her to the crowd, then walked to the side of the stage and waited.

Selma began to sing, the crowd hushed, and became mesmerized by her clear, sweet, angelic voice. After she finished her first song, the crowd immediately stood on their feet, clapped, and cheered for her. After a few minutes of cheering, the crowd settled back down and waited for Selma’s next song. Again, after the song, the crowd stood on their feet and cheered for her. Selma sang one more song, disappointing the crowd as they wanted her to sing more songs.

Word quickly spread to nearby cities and communities of the Selma and her beautiful voice. Entertainment produces wanted to her to come to their cities to perform. Joshua and Nadie were very careful of how often Selma performed, especially while she was still a young girl.

(To be continued….)