The pale yellow hills. The wormwood and the desert lavender. The sun glare.
In the first part, the kids Yossi and Matt were trying to find a unique bird. They had found her next to a construction site but then Yossi lost Matt. In the second part, Yossi is worried for Matt but he fails to go back and find him. The morning after he is waiting for his auntie to pick him up for the weekend and while waiting, he vomits. In the third part, Yossi spends a hazy afternoon with auntie and meets an old friend. In the fourth part the old man claims he knows Yossi but disappears after auntie’s inquiry and later grampa is warning auntie from the Germans. In the fifth part the old man enters auntie’s house and Yossi is hiding in the closet. In the sixth part Yossi gets out to find the house is a mess and the old man is about to kill everybody. In the seventh part Yossi escapes to the dunes and recalls Matt.
Matt was missing. The last he saw of him was on the road, next to the thin Sycamore tree on which the extraordinary bird was sitting. He remembered he had heard Matt’s warning against going in the house but neglected it.
Yossi started to weep. He was weeping for the life he’d lost. For everyone he’d lost. He didn’t know how long will he have to stay in the desert. He didn’t see a living soul for over a day. He was weak and exhausted. And like so he fell asleep.
And the night has fallen.
“Yossi…” he heard his mother’s voice and felt her caressing him. “Yossi…” he heard her again. “What an awful dream I had” he thought. “Yossi…” she said and he felt her caressing him over and over. “Yossi, wake up. You have to wake up.” When he opened his eyes he saw the blue skies. The sun was already climbing up. The weather was warm. He still felt his mother caressing him.
The next thing he felt was a burn. A deep awful burn in his lower belly, in his little tummy. He jumped on his feet and a giant black scorpion fell down from it. He screamed and ran away but stopped soon after. He remembered he was told running or walking was bad in the case of a sting. The indications they got in school were to sit down and send someone to call for a physician immediately. Obviously, he could call no one. He was at least an hour away from any possible help, that is if the old men and his murderers weren’t waiting for him on the dunes’ outskirts. His heart was pounding harder than ever. He took a deep breath but it aggravated the pain. He focused on his breath and inhaled slowly.
His heart was pounding hard. It was beyond the pain and fear, it was the venom that had started to work. Yossi realized he couldn’t do a thing. No one is coming for him and he can’t go anywhere. He sat down and watched the sun rising up.
“Why didn’t you come for me?” he heard Matt in his head
“I wanted to, Matt… I was going to…” he whispered his answer to the wind
“Did you hear the tweet of the strange bird?”
“No Matt, I didn’t have the chance. You have no idea what had happened to me…”
“Oh, I don’t?” said Matt and laughed “you should have helped me while you could but you didn’t and I was not surprised at all... It wasn’t the first time… ”
“Ah, this is what the old man said…” Yossi whispered and started to cry “but I wanted to, Matt! I wanted to… I am so sorry! I am so sorry!” He was crying and sobbing. He sobbed slowly to keep the pain from aggravating further. every motion ached him. He laid his little body on the sand.
“I’m sorry, Matt. Do you know the old man? Did you send him to me? I would have came for you. I loved auntie so much.”
“You are going to die, Yossi.” Matt answered
“I know, Matt. I know.”
“The sands will remain here long after you’re gone. Take a good look at them because death won’t bring any solace. Your aunt is dead and so is your grandfather and you won’t be able to do a thing to help your parents.”
Endless dunes. Sands. Hills that go up and down like waves that rise and fall in the sea. Yossi was laying on the sand with his tearful eyes barely opened. He saw the sun glare reflected back from the hills that seemed sharp as a mirror. The wind blew grains of sand in the air. The clouds ran above, shaped like big piles of fur, their shades playing on the sandy ocean. The short flora was moving in accordance.
He was cold and then he was warm again. He was shaded and then the sun came back to caress him. He was struck by all the beauty. The air was pure and sweet. He smelled the wormwood and the desert lavender. He allowed himself a deep breath, ignoring the pain. Inhaled and slowly exhaled.
His eyes closed down.
