Chapter 23: THE CAVE
God's Little Drop of Water
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One evening, while Ima and Abba were preparing dinner, Taliya and her brothers were watching Little House on the Prairie and discussing the visit from their aunt, Ima’s sister, and the lovely puppets she had brought for them all the way from the States.
Taliya decided she wanted to put on a puppet show for Yair and Yaron, to entertain them until dinner was ready.
The puppets, however, had been placed high up on the bookshelf, where they could be displayed proudly.
Taliya was confident that she could retrieve them. She placed a chair in front of the bookcase, stepped up onto it, and then up onto one of the shelves.
The puppets, however, were still out of reach.
Taliya grabbed onto the next shelf, and climbed higher.
The puppets, however, remained beyond her grasp.
She climbed one shelf higher and was nearly there, ready to grab them.
But the bookshelf was not secure. It tipped forward under Taliya’s weight, tipping further and further forward, falling, until the entire shelf collapsed on top of Taliya, covering her beneath an avalanche of books and coming to rest on top of her.
Yaroni and Yair stood watching from the doorway. The great ruckus brought Ima and Abba running into the room. They lifted the bookcase upright and dug through the books, until they reached Taliya at last.
“Tali! Tali!” they cried, trying to wake her.
Taliya opened her eyes and sat up.
“What happened?” Taliya surveyed the mess of scattered books and suspected she knew.
“I knew we should have attached the bookcase to the wall!” Ima shouted. She was frightened and very cross with Abba.
“I didn’t know she was going to climb it,” said Abba.
Ima returned her attention to Taliya, and began insisting they take her to the emergency room.
Upon hearing mention of the hospital, Yair withdrew his inhaler from his pocket and administered a hefty dose.
Abba asked Taliya if she were alright.
Taliya insisted she was.
Abba suggested they wait on the trip to the emergency room.
But Ima was still cross, and she brought a lamp close to Taliya’s face, shining the light in her eyes, checking her pupils for dilation, which she declared that as a teacher she was required to know was a sign of head trauma, because she worked with children every day and was therefore qualified to say. During dinner, and every few minutes for the duration of the evening, Ima snapped her fingers in front of Taliya’s face, saying, “Don’t fall asleep!”
Taliya wondered if she would be allowed to sleep ever again.
By the time everyone was ready to go to bed, Ima and Abba were convinced that Taliya was alright.
But when they tucked her in and kissed her goodnight, Ima lingered longer than was normal, and Taliya suspected Ima was looking into her eyes, searching for signs that she’d been injured by the fall from the bookshelf.
Once Ima turned out the light and went to bed, Taliya waited a few minutes before beginning her nightly patrol. She then crept quietly out of bed, checked the front door and each of the windows, confirming each was locked and secure. She also checked the gas valve coming out of the wall near the floor, making certain it was not leaking. She then went into Yair and Yaron’s bedroom and stood beside Yair’s bed, watching his chest rise and fall, making certain that he was breathing normally and that the inhaler was in its place on his bedside table.
Satisfied, Taliya then went to bed.
♦♦♦
The red-and-brown soil of the high desert stretched as far as Taliya could see. She ran around cactus and boulders, and leaped over small bushes, running, running for her life, trying to get to the cave.
When she was safely there, she made her way along the wall and into the deeper caverns, away from the light. There were many places in the cave where she could hide. And hide she must.
She sat down behind a large rock and tried to remain quiet while she caught her breath.
She waited a long time, many hours, wondering if night had fallen. At night, it would be safer.
After a time, Taliya heard voices. Voices she recognized. Other members of the tribe. There was the sound of rocks striking one another, and soon crackling as a fire was kindled.
Taliya emerged from her hiding place and joined the others close to the fire. The cave had grown damp and cold, and the fire was warm and comforting.
One of the men produced a flute. He put it to his lips and played it quietly, distracting everyone in the cave with its sweet melody, soothing them, until it was safe.
♦♦♦
Taliya awakened to find daylight creeping in through her bedroom window. She was in her bed, curled into a ball, close to the wall. Her blankets and pillow were on the floor.
She dressed quickly and then stood staring out of the window. Across the street was a large field where no buildings had yet been constructed. It was raw land. It called to Taliya. It beckoned her. The dirt. The shrubs. The rocks. The trees.
She wanted to go to it. She quickly emptied her backpack, making space for the items she would need to go and live there, to go and live on that untrespassed earth. She put an apple in her bag, for food. And her alarm clock, so she could wake up before the sunrise. She wanted to see the sun come up.
Ima entered. She immediately gathered Taliya’s pillow and blankets from the floor and shook them off before placing them neatly on the bed. Ima saw the alarm clock and the apple Taliya was packing into her backpack.
“Going someplace?” Ima asked.
Taliya nodded, still gazing out the window. “Out there.” She pointed. “To the hills. To my real home. Where the tall white tents are.”
“Tents?” Ima asked. “Don’t be ridiculous. Your home is here. Okay? With me and with Abba and your brothers. Okay?”
Taliya nodded, still gazing out the window.
♦♦♦
Taliya joined Abba in the kitchen. She dropped heavily onto her stool on the small side of the L-shaped counter. She exhaled loudly, exhausted.
“Boker tov,” said Abba. Good morning.
“Boker tov.”
“Hakol besedder?” Abba asked. Was everything alright?
“Ken, Abba. I’m just tired.”
“Tired? You’ve been asleep all night. Why are you tired?” Abba smiled, amused, as he always was, and continued preparing sandwiches, as he always did.
“From running in my dream.”
“Running where?”
“To the cave.”
“Cave?”
“Yes. We were in a tall white tent, that was pointed at the top. But then bad people came. So we ran to the cave, to hide. It’s safer there.”
Abba left the kitchen for a moment and returned carrying a book. He set it on the table and flipped through it, pointing at last to a photo.
“Like this?” he asked.
“Ken!” Taliya cried. “Where is this?”
“It’s in America,” said Abba. “What is now New Mexico, where American Indians once lived.”
“And what’s this?” Taliya asked. She pointed to one of the tall, pointed tents.
“Those are called teepees.”
“Teepees.” Taliya savored the word. She scanned the photographs, which she’d never seen before, and listened to the word teepees, a word she’d never learned. Yet she’d seen all of it in her dream. She didn’t know how. But she had.
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