When you live within the babble of other people, it is harder to hear the voices of the people inside you
Late at night, when Yannai is snoring gently, Eliyahu walks to the cave entrance, grasps the rock, and hoists himself up. He looks back down; it’s like staring into a black hole — nothing to see, but doing so gives the sensation of falling, plunging into nothingness. He closes his eyes and wills away the sudden dizziness.
With his injured leg, Yannai is trapped inside, unable to heave himself up without Eliyahu’s helping hand. Eliyahu shivers in the night air. He could just walk away, here and now, and leave him. Leave the man and his questions. Leave the man who has invaded his life, his tranquility. He will go and find somewhere else to live, another cave, another stream, somewhere even more concealed.
What are you, a murderer? A demon? Some dark nameless creature that somehow survived Noach’s deluge and snakes up now, to hurt a poor man who seeks help?
Come, come. The man will find a way out eventually. He will stack Eliyahu’s pots one on top of the other, and he will unify his will until it fills his body and then he will climb out.
This one’s in print. Some of our best stories live in the magazine — subscribe to get Mishpacha every week.
