Recap: Daniel enjoyed the Friday night dinner at Yisroel Meir’s house. Yisroel walked him towards his apartment on campus, but they were headed off by a pro-Hamas protest that blocked their way. Yisroel Meir started pulled out the Palestinian flags. Then a man wearing a red keffiyeh lunged towards them.
We raced away.
I glanced behind.
The man was chasing us and shaking his fist at us.
My heart pounded.
We ran and ran.
I was afraid to look behind me.
The fierce look in that man’s eyes was imprinted in my brain. I didn’t think I’d ever forget that look. It was like a wild bear in the forest chasing us.
I was gasping for breath, but I kept running. I ran faster than I ever ran in my life. Yisroel Meir was ahead.
“Keep running,” he yelled.
Would that man catch up to us? What would he do to us?
Yisroel Meir turned a corner, and I followed him. We were past the campus now. He headed into a dark wooded area.
I’m not a fan of dark or woods, but I kept running.
I strained to hear if there was someone following us. The moon was a faint crescent in the sky. Everything was very still. All I heard were buzzing insects.
Yisroel Meir ran on, deeper into the woods, and I followed close behind.
We were very far from the campus now. Trees surrounded us. The branches formed a thick curtain that blocked out any light. We were in the middle of the woods.
Yisroel Meir slowed down.
I bent over coughing. I tried to catch my breath.
“I think we lost him,” Yisroel Meir said. He walked around in a circle, looking. “I don’t see him, baruch Hashem!”
The man chasing us had disappeared.
“Do you know where we are?” I asked.
Just as a sliver of moonlight sifted through the tree branches.
I plopped on the ground breathing heavily.
“I’m not sure, but I think I can figure out how to get back. Sorry for getting you into this.”
I took a deep breath. Thankfully, my breathing was back to normal.
“I have to go back,” I said. “My father will be worried.”
“Yes, let me try to figure out where we are.”
Just then, a branch cracked nearby.
I gasped.
Yisroel Meir put his hand to his lips.
My heart thumped like it was going to explode out of my chest.
Had Ahmed followed us into the woods?
Yisroel Meir motioned me to follow him behind some bushes.
We sat there. Sweat beaded my forehead.
Another branch cracked.
I was shaking.
“Clank!”
“Was that a gun?” I stammered.
“I don’t know,” Yisroel Meir whispered.
It wasn’t safe to run away if there was a gun!
Yisroel Meir was mumbling something.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying psalms, prayers to ask Hashem to save us. You can say a prayer in English.”
I whispered a silent prayer. Please save us.
“Ahhhh!” A loud scream pierced the air.
My heart jumped. “Could it be a wild animal?”
”Ahlan!”
It sounded like Arabic. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“Ahlan! Anyone here?”
We both stayed perfectly still.
“Ahlan? I need help. Please.”
Yisroel Meir peeked around the tree trunk.
I pulled him back. “No, it’s a trap.”
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of an historical fiction novel, Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishing, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishing, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers, 2020), Denver Dreams (a novel, Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022), and Alaskan Gold ( 2023-2024).
