The rift opened, dragging me with it. And that was the end.

But perhaps I should start a little further back in time.

***

I was pretty miffed at Moses. Oh sure, he led us out of Egypt and all that. And before that, he was the instrument through which God unleashed the plagues. One for each of the gods worshipped by those pagans. Still, he did not need to lord it over us. Sheesh.

To be fair, he was pretty humble. I mean, anybody else would have been haughty as all get out. I know I would have been. “Watch out, bub. God works through me. That’s right.”

Yeah. I would not have been humble. Which was my problem. I thought Moses was a bit wimpy. Especially for being such a powerful instrument. So since he was being a bit too wimpy in my eyes, I decided that it was time for a coup. Time to take matters into my own hands.

So I challenged Moses. Well me and my cousins challenged him. Big mistake. After all, Moses talks to God. I was doomed. Me and all my cousins. The thing was, I did not go to the censer showdown. I do not know whether I got cold feet or I was having second thoughts. Probably second thoughts. So I stayed in my tent. And when Moses called me and my cousins out, we stood there defiant. I certainly did not feel defiant. But my cousins, Korah and Abiram, were there too, so I stood with them. Not so bright. I, Dathan, got dragged down into the earth. Alive.

Yeah. Not so bright. But we all make mistakes. At least I did not get consumed by the fire from the censers. Rather, fire from God that went through the censers. Still, I do not know which is better. Consumed by fire or swallowed by the earth. I guess it does not matter now. I made my choices and I died by them.

By the way, you already know the rest of the story. (Even if you never read Numbers.)

The rift opened, dragging me with it. And that was the end.