To Lie in the Grave

Is there a reason the gas masks have been issued now?

My kids are distracted. I sidle up to the woman — girl, really, in charge. “Is there a reason the gas masks have been issued now?” She shrugs. “No reason.”

Of course. There doesn’t have to be a reason. Every day, life in Israel teeters on the edge.

Anxious to prevent fear or worry, I get my kids to talk and talk and talk, the whole long walk home. We discuss war and sirens and why we wear gas masks and I answer some questions I’d expected and some never dreamed of.

“Does the queen of England have a gas mask?”