Having crossed the road, he slowed down his pace and stopped by the big dumpster at the entrance. He wondered whether the trees inside the station would eventually grow as tall as the trees outside it. Then he looked at the people in the station. He decided he wouldn’t move from his spot until he counted ten wearing a green shirt. He stood there for nearly an hour. After spotting the eighth person in a green shirt, he noticed his mother passing by. She was holding her bags, moving swiftly, and bumped into the cleaner with the orange vest who was pushing a big metal cart. A collection of computer keyboards and umbrellas scattered across the floor. Prudence bent down, tried to gather the loot while swarms of people surrounded her from every direction. Alvin entered the station and ran toward her.

Flies and Porcupines

SINCE THE DAY YOU ENLISTED, Yonatan, I’ve been trying to catch time. Literally catch it. I reach out with both hands, wait for a few moments to pass between my fingers, and quickly close my fists, trying to grab as many chunks of it as I can. At first I didn’t catch anything, because catching time is truly tricky. After all, flies are a lot clumsier and I’ve never managed to catch a single one.

I remember the day I told you about it. It was a Friday. You came home exhausted after two weeks of guard duty. We were all sitting at the table, and Mom and Dad wouldn’t even look at their plates until you finished wolfing down two whole servings. After dinner we sat in the living room and you started telling us stories. About how Itai spent his entire shift talking on the phone, and about Rozner the commander, and how you and Roee played tricks on him all day. And you went on and on about how nothing happened on that base, truly nothing, and that it was even safer than it was here at home, up north.