Eli was walking around outside and heard the usual sound of police sirens going by. He was kind of curious where they were headed. Everything around looked fine outside. Then he saw someone running from a building. What was going on, he wondered. He looked at his watch and saw that he’s going to be late if he doesn’t leave.
He went to work and tried to focused on the assignment he was working on. Later, he decided to call his friend and have lunch with him. They've been friends ever since high school. They recently graduated from college, and are working. Eli works with computers doing graphic design. His friend Daniel works at a Judaica store, and also is a columnist who writes articles.
They go to the pizza shop and order something and then go sit down.
“Did you see what happened?” Eli asked his friend.
“No, what happened?”
“I think there was a burglary.”
“No, I didn’t hear anything about that.”
“Oh, maybe it was nothing.” Eli said, unsure now.
It was an insignificant thing, but Eli was very curious about it. He liked solving things. He asked someone else about it, but they didn’t hear about it either. He decided to look online, but didn’t find anything. Either it was too small, or it was just a dream, he thought.
-
Dalia and Esther were at the mall looking at clothing. “How do you like your new job” Dalia asked.
“It’s okay.” Esther answered.
“Is it hard?”
“Nah, just takes getting use to.”
“You’ll get use to it.”
“Yea, hopefully.”
Esther is interning as a nurse in a small hospital, while also going to school. Dalia is working on putting together a magazine for the community. She also gives kids in the community piano lessons, and whatever other tutoring they need.
The next day during lunch time, Eli decided to meet Daniel where he works and chat. He drove over there and went inside the store.
They spoke about different things and then Daniel said, “My younger brother ran away.”
“Where do you think he would go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sorry to hear that, why did he go?”
“He has issues.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe Shmueli can help him, he helps many teens.” Eli said.
“First we need to get him back. Daniel said.
-
After work, Eli was driving home and decided to look at that building from yesterday. He parked and walked inside. It was empty and dark like it has been like that for years, which means it wasn‘t a burglary that happened but some other incident.
-
Esther is at work and things are going great. She enjoys being with the patients and helping them. Some of the patients are understandably cranky. She tries her best to help them feel better. There’s never a dull case, for example the woman that came in and claimed to be sick, but nobody can find anything wrong. The doctors are still working one this one. It is either some hidden illness, or just psychological.
Lunch time came and the staff went to meet in the cafeteria. Esther was going to leave and have it somewhere else. But then a co-worker invited her to stay. Fortunately, she had brought some food with her. They sat down and started a conversation. Then the co-worker tells her the situation she is in. Esther found it interesting and sad that this lady was in that mess.
=
The weekend came and Daniel went to someone for Shabbos. While there, he saw someone at the table and wanted to find out about her. He asked someone what her name is. He had a lot on his mind and wasn’t really interested in going out now. But part of him wanted to.
After Shabbos was over, he called his brother’s cell and asked him to come back. His brother refused saying,
“No way, I’m having a great time. I can do whatever I want and nobody is bothering me.”
=
Eli was working on the computer and looking at different things. He was going to go off it, but then he noticed something. An article mentioned that there was an incident that happened at that building. The incident involved young men selling drugs. He also read that something else happened in another place near that one. Someone started a fire in a small building. Fortunately, it was put out before it caused a lot of damage. He wondered if the two incidents were connected.
-
On Sunday, Esther and Dalia went to an aerobics class together. They had a great time exercising, but afterwards are exhausted. As they were leaving, Dalia asked if Esther wants to help write an article for the magazine she‘s making. “Maybe you can write something about your experience at work.”
“Maybe, I'll think about it.” Esther replied. “Speaking of work, this lady who I work with was telling me about the situation she’s in. It’s so sad.”
“That does sound very sad.” Dalia was going to ask what it is but realized that Esther probably doesn’t want to spread someone else’s story.
“Hope everything works out for her.” Dalia said.
“Me too.”
----
The next day, Esther was at work and again her co-workers wanted her to stay for lunch. She sat there giving them a listening ear as they told their dramatic stories. This was getting too much for her. She was not use to so much drama.
As she was driving home, she went to run some errands. After doing a few things, she went home.
---
Daniel was trying to think of what to do to bring his brother home. Fortunately he knows where he is because the young man figures it doesn’t matter if his brother knows, he’s still not coming back. However, he didn’t say exactly where in that place. Daniel called his friend and told him his plan to go to that town. Eli agreed to come with.
Daniel and Eli set out to go to there. They drive for a little while and then arrive there. They search around that town but can’t find where he is. “How are we suppose to find him?“ Eli asked.
“I’m not sure, but lets hope and pray we do.”
“Did you call him?”
“Yes, I spoke to him, he told me the town but he didn’t say where he is staying. Understandably so, he doesn’t want to be bothered. ” They looked for a half an hour and then decided to go home and try again tomorrow. He needs to find out more info about where exactly he is.
---
While at the coffee shop, Esther tells Dalia about how the drama stories at work are effecting her.
“It wouldn’t bother me if I heard it just once. But when I constantly hear about it, it’s like living in a soap opera. Some people might like that, but I don’t.” Esther said.
“That does sound heavy to listen to. Maybe you can tell them how you feel and that it brings you down. ”
“I guess. I feel for them though, because of what they are going through. Maybe they need me to listen.”
“Maybe, but if it’s bringing you down, maybe they should find another listening ear.”
“Yea perhaps.”
Dalia and Esther decide to mention something on a lighter note.
“Hey you know, the concert is coming soon.” Dalia said.
“Yea, It’s going to be excellent. They picked some great performers to sing.”
“Yea”
“How about writing an article in your magazine about it.” Esther said to Dalia.
“Definitely. Speaking of which, I‘ve gathered some articles that others have given to me and will put them hopefully in the first issue.” Dalia said.
“Excellent. By the way, when do expect to have the first issue?”
“I’m not sure, maybe next month.”
“That’s good.’
When Dalia came home, she heard the phone ring.
“Hello”
“Yes, this is Mrs. Light, I was just wondering if you would be interested in going out with someone.”
She told her his name is Daniel and mentioned some other things about him. Dalia said yes to the offer.
--
Eli dreamt that he was walking around outside, and then saw someone suspicious looking. He followed him to see what he is up to. Then the man stop, turned around and said
‘What do you want?!’
The words were stuck in his thought, he didn’t know what to say. - Then he woke up. It was morning and time to go to work. He got ready and left.
---
After work, they try again to find the teen. When they got to the town, there were very few cars on the street. There was one car though that looked like it was following them. The dream Eli had came back to him . After a few minutes though, the car went away and they were relieved. They looked around for the boy, and thought they failed again. Then they saw him. He noticed them and ran into an alley. They parked and ran into the thin alley to find him. They looked around the dark alley while going forward. When they came to the end, Daniel said,
“I’ll go right. You go left.”
“Okay.”
Eli went left, and looked around. He thought he saw someone. He came closer and found that it was not the boy but someone else. He ran towards the other direction to where Daniel is. When he came there, he found Daniel standing with his brother.
“I’m not coming back.” Ari said.
“What is so great about this place?” They ask him.
“I have good friends, and we have fun and do what we want.”
“What do you guys do?” Daniel asked.
He was wary about telling them and just said,
“We do stuff like hanging out etc.”
“Can we meet them?”
“Why.”
“We want to know who they are.”
“I don’t know. They are not into outsiders.”
“How did you meet them.” Eli asked him.
“A friend introduced me.”
“So introduce us.” Daniel said.
“It’s not that easy, you have to be interested in joining them.”
“Why, are they doing something wrong and they don’t want it to get out?” Eli asked.
He was quiet.
“Well, tell us.” Daniel said softly.
Ari turned away and left. Daniel went toward him and said, “This is not a good situation, this could be dangerous.”
“Don’t worry, Ari said, I’m fine.”
“At least tell me where you are staying.”
Ari kept walking.
Daniel kept up with him and said, “I’m not going until you tell me.”
“My friend’s apartment.”
“Where is that.”
Ari walked on. Daniel stopped and looked worriedly at his brother. He walked back to his friend and Eli asked, “Well what happened?”
“He’s staying at his friend’s apartment.” Daniel replied
“Where’s that?’
“Don’t know. We need to find a way to encourage him to come home.
------
Esther chats with her co-workers and nicely tells them how she feels.
“While I want to be someone you can speak to, it sometimes makes me feel overwhelmed. Maybe we can talk about other things.”
“We are glad you told us, we didn’t know.”
“It’s okay, thanks for understanding.” Esther said.
“Sure, no problem.”
They sat around the table and chatted. Esther ate the food she brought from home, while the others ate the cafeteria food.
“By the way, where is Aliza? Esther asked.
“She went to sit on the roof.”
“Thanks.”
Esther went to the roof and saw Aliza sitting on a chair. Esther sat on another chair.
Aliza said that she just needed to get some fresh air.
Esther replied “I hear you. It‘s nice up here.”
“I use to be in their situation.” Aliza said.
Esther thought about what she said to the others and felt that even though it’s hard to listen to their stories, she’s still curious what Aliza’s story is and asked her what happened.
Aliza told her what happened. When she was in high school and the first year of college, she and her friends, like regular co-ed students, hung out and had fun together. But then things got out of hand. One friend betrayed another one. And then one of the friends got into trouble. And the list goes on.
“What changed?” Esther asked.
“I decided to do something about it. At first I concentrated on my college courses, and saw my friends only once in a while. Things improved over time, however I still felt empty, like my life was leading nowhere. Then I became friends with a certain Jewish girl there, and she suggested that I go with her to Israel.”
“Wow that’s nice.”
“Yea it was. I enrolled in Jewish courses there and stayed in the dorm, and sometimes with friends at their places. At first it was challenging and weird because it was so new. But my friends and I went touring to diff places and we had fun. As I learned more, I found that this is what I was looking for." They chatted a little more and then Esther invited her over for Shabbos. Aliza accepted the invitation.
-
On Motzei Shabbos, Daniel and Dalia go out to a restaurant and become acquainted with each other. They were a little bit nervous. But they were also surprisingly comfortable. Their conversation flowed and they had a good time together.
“What do you do?” She asked.
“I work at Shalom Judaica. Plus, I’m a columnist for a certain paper.”
“Very nice. I write also, I’m putting together a magazine for the community. Plus, I give piano lessons.”
“I took piano before. He said. Plus, guitar more recently. It’s been a while since I practiced though.
“Acoustic or electric?” She asked.
“Acoustic.”
“I like that. Do you have any favorite musicians.”
“Yea I like Karduner, Chaim Dovid, Nochi Krohn band, to name a few. “
“Me too.” She said.
---
After work, Esther came home at about 5:30 and relaxed a little while. Then she went outside to walk to the store to buy a few things. After a few blocks, she saw Dalia. They said to each other,
“How are you?”
Then Dalia said, “I was just coming home from tutoring someone. What are you up to?”
“Just going to the store.” Esther replied.
Dalia saw something that looked strange. Her expression showed it and Esther wondered what she was looking at. She turned around but didn’t notice anything.
“What is it?” Esther ask.
“I saw a man looking around and then running. It’s probably nothing.”
They continued chatting as they went to the store.
------
Eli was concentrating on his computer work. After he was done, he got into his car and drove off. He called up his friend, and asks, “how things are going?”
Daniel answered, I’m still trying to think of what to do.”
-
Tonight, Daniel and Dalia, are at a restaurant. They order something and then sit down. After getting more acquainted with each other, he explains that he’s worried about his brother who ran away. She tries to help him.
“Maybe he can talk to Smueli on the phone. Maybe he can help him.” She said.
“My friend also suggested he talk to him. I wanted to bring him back first. But I guess I’m going to have to do this first.”
He tells her about the group his brother is hanging out with and that he’s worried they he might get into trouble. That reminded her of the young man she saw running and she wondered if he was part of this group.
“Why did he run away?” She asked.
“He’s going through a lot.” He answered.
They spoke for a while longer about this and he said,
“I’m sorry to bring this up on our date.”
“It’s okay.” She said.
Then they spoke about other things.
-
Dalia and Esther go to the concert. The place is packed with people. They talk to some friends first and then Esther sees Aliza and goes up to her. She says, “Aliza, I didn’t know you’re coming, it’s nice to see you, how are you?”
“Good BH, you?”
“ Doing good, BH”
“Where are you sitting?” Esther asked.
“In the middle row, I like the middle. Where are you?”
“I guess in the front middle.”
“Cool.”
They start to go inside and find their seats. After sometime, the concert begins.
-----------
Daniel and Eli looked at the article that Eli saw before about the incidents that happened. One of them being some young guys selling drugs, and the other incident being arson on a small building. The arsonist was caught. However, only two of the drug dealers were caught. Police suspect that there are probably more people involved. The article mentioned the place where the two that were arrested are from. Daniel and Eli were alarmed to find out it’s the town where Ari is at.
-
Daniel tries to find out from his brother some information about his friends. He says to his brother,
“Look, I know that you just want to be left alone, but I’m concerned for you.’
“I’m fine.’’ Ari replied.
“Okay, well at least tell me some things your friends are planning to do.”
“ What do you mean?”
“Do they just want to have good fun, or do they want to do something shady?”
“I don’t know, probably just want to have fun. Why?”
“Just curious. Listen, just be careful to not be caught up in anything. Trust me, you don’t want to get into trouble.”
“Don‘t worry.” The teen said.
Daniel calls up his friend Shmueli to ask him for help with bringing his brother back. Shmueli was having dinner with his wife and children. He picks up the phones and listens to Daniel’s story and his concern. Shmueli agreed to help.
-
Esther and Aliza enjoy working together and find an interesting case at work. There was a patient who claimed to be a celebrity. Esther came into the room to check her blood pressure and pulse. Meanwhile, her patient would regale her with stories of her adventures in stardom. Then Aliza walked in to talk to Esther, and she became another listener of the patient.
-
The next night, Ari went to bed and fell asleep. Later, he hears a sound and went to go check what it is. He walks out of his room and looks into his friend’s room. His friend is sound asleep.
He turns away and then sees a different friend standing near a door. He goes to him and is wondering what he is doing here. He walks towards him and the guy shows him a door and opens it. Inside there seems to be a party going on. Ari is hesitant, but then follows the guy inside. The place was satiated with people, music and lights. The teen walked slowly and was bewildered as he looked around and wondered where he is. He continued walking around, and then there was a loud sound that came from somewhere in the room. Everyone just went on partying though. Then, there was a flashing light coming somewhere straight ahead. As it came closer, he noticed that it was a fire. The people in the room became chaotic and screamed as they ran to the door. Ari was also running to the door trying to get out. The fire was coming closer. His heart was racing. Then he finally came to the door and went outside. He ran a block away to be far away from it. Then he slowed down to catch his breath. After a couple minutes, he walked some more. He looks across the street and there he sees his brother standing there on the sidewalk.
Ari woke up sweating.
-------
Shmueli calls Ari and introduces himself as Daniels friend. They talk about things in general like sports etc. - Ari finds him to be generally nice to speak with. Then he asks Ari to tell him what’s bothering him. Ari tells him about his feeling stifled and wanting to break free. Shmueli acknowledges him and tells him he understands. Ari feels a little comforted. Shmeuli tries to encourage him to come back so they can talk in person. Ari thinks about it.
--
Daniel and Dalia go out some more. This time they go to a park and walk around.
"Any progress with your brother?" She asked
"I called Shmueli and he spoke to him."
"That's good."
They continued walking and then found a place sit down. She mentions how many siblings she has what they are up to. And he mentions his number of siblings. They also talk about places they've been to like Israel and London.
=
Eli and Daniel find out about two more guys on the news, that were caught in connection with the dealings. Daniel asked Ari if he knows them. He reluctantly affirmed that they are part of the group. He asked Ari if he ever participated in their activities. He answered that they persuaded him, but he stayed out of it. He only did things like hanging with them at a bar b que or at a party somewhere. Daniel advises his brother to come home while he still can, because if these "friends", the few that are remaining, continue their illegal acts, he could be taken down with them.
Daniel goes to that town with his friend Eli and they encourage Ari to come home. They are successful and bring him back with them.
While back in town, Ari talks with Shmueli at the place that Shmueli works at, which is for teens to help set them back on track. At the place, Ari finds out about the many interesting things they have, like once a week they all go to a pizza store and hang out and smooze. And sometimes have a group kumzits together somewhere. In the mean time, Ari stays by a by a friend’s house. He and his parents try to rebuild their relationship by meeting for lunch somewhere and just talking about things in general. With their genuine care, he slowly reconnects with them and comes home.
Daniel contributes an article to Dalia’s magazine. She also receives one from Esther and another from Aliza, along with articles from others. After putting together the finishing touches, her magazine is complete and the first issue is ready to be published.
Daniel takes Dalia to a restaurant. During dessert, he took out a ring and proposed to her. She accepted.
He went to work and tried to focused on the assignment he was working on. Later, he decided to call his friend and have lunch with him. They've been friends ever since high school. They recently graduated from college, and are working. Eli works with computers doing graphic design. His friend Daniel works at a Judaica store, and also is a columnist who writes articles.
They go to the pizza shop and order something and then go sit down.
“Did you see what happened?” Eli asked his friend.
“No, what happened?”
“I think there was a burglary.”
“No, I didn’t hear anything about that.”
“Oh, maybe it was nothing.” Eli said, unsure now.
It was an insignificant thing, but Eli was very curious about it. He liked solving things. He asked someone else about it, but they didn’t hear about it either. He decided to look online, but didn’t find anything. Either it was too small, or it was just a dream, he thought.
-
Dalia and Esther were at the mall looking at clothing. “How do you like your new job” Dalia asked.
“It’s okay.” Esther answered.
“Is it hard?”
“Nah, just takes getting use to.”
“You’ll get use to it.”
“Yea, hopefully.”
Esther is interning as a nurse in a small hospital, while also going to school. Dalia is working on putting together a magazine for the community. She also gives kids in the community piano lessons, and whatever other tutoring they need.
The next day during lunch time, Eli decided to meet Daniel where he works and chat. He drove over there and went inside the store.
They spoke about different things and then Daniel said, “My younger brother ran away.”
“Where do you think he would go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sorry to hear that, why did he go?”
“He has issues.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe Shmueli can help him, he helps many teens.” Eli said.
“First we need to get him back. Daniel said.
-
After work, Eli was driving home and decided to look at that building from yesterday. He parked and walked inside. It was empty and dark like it has been like that for years, which means it wasn‘t a burglary that happened but some other incident.
-
Esther is at work and things are going great. She enjoys being with the patients and helping them. Some of the patients are understandably cranky. She tries her best to help them feel better. There’s never a dull case, for example the woman that came in and claimed to be sick, but nobody can find anything wrong. The doctors are still working one this one. It is either some hidden illness, or just psychological.
Lunch time came and the staff went to meet in the cafeteria. Esther was going to leave and have it somewhere else. But then a co-worker invited her to stay. Fortunately, she had brought some food with her. They sat down and started a conversation. Then the co-worker tells her the situation she is in. Esther found it interesting and sad that this lady was in that mess.
=
The weekend came and Daniel went to someone for Shabbos. While there, he saw someone at the table and wanted to find out about her. He asked someone what her name is. He had a lot on his mind and wasn’t really interested in going out now. But part of him wanted to.
After Shabbos was over, he called his brother’s cell and asked him to come back. His brother refused saying,
“No way, I’m having a great time. I can do whatever I want and nobody is bothering me.”
=
Eli was working on the computer and looking at different things. He was going to go off it, but then he noticed something. An article mentioned that there was an incident that happened at that building. The incident involved young men selling drugs. He also read that something else happened in another place near that one. Someone started a fire in a small building. Fortunately, it was put out before it caused a lot of damage. He wondered if the two incidents were connected.
-
On Sunday, Esther and Dalia went to an aerobics class together. They had a great time exercising, but afterwards are exhausted. As they were leaving, Dalia asked if Esther wants to help write an article for the magazine she‘s making. “Maybe you can write something about your experience at work.”
“Maybe, I'll think about it.” Esther replied. “Speaking of work, this lady who I work with was telling me about the situation she’s in. It’s so sad.”
“That does sound very sad.” Dalia was going to ask what it is but realized that Esther probably doesn’t want to spread someone else’s story.
“Hope everything works out for her.” Dalia said.
“Me too.”
----
The next day, Esther was at work and again her co-workers wanted her to stay for lunch. She sat there giving them a listening ear as they told their dramatic stories. This was getting too much for her. She was not use to so much drama.
As she was driving home, she went to run some errands. After doing a few things, she went home.
---
Daniel was trying to think of what to do to bring his brother home. Fortunately he knows where he is because the young man figures it doesn’t matter if his brother knows, he’s still not coming back. However, he didn’t say exactly where in that place. Daniel called his friend and told him his plan to go to that town. Eli agreed to come with.
Daniel and Eli set out to go to there. They drive for a little while and then arrive there. They search around that town but can’t find where he is. “How are we suppose to find him?“ Eli asked.
“I’m not sure, but lets hope and pray we do.”
“Did you call him?”
“Yes, I spoke to him, he told me the town but he didn’t say where he is staying. Understandably so, he doesn’t want to be bothered. ” They looked for a half an hour and then decided to go home and try again tomorrow. He needs to find out more info about where exactly he is.
---
While at the coffee shop, Esther tells Dalia about how the drama stories at work are effecting her.
“It wouldn’t bother me if I heard it just once. But when I constantly hear about it, it’s like living in a soap opera. Some people might like that, but I don’t.” Esther said.
“That does sound heavy to listen to. Maybe you can tell them how you feel and that it brings you down. ”
“I guess. I feel for them though, because of what they are going through. Maybe they need me to listen.”
“Maybe, but if it’s bringing you down, maybe they should find another listening ear.”
“Yea perhaps.”
Dalia and Esther decide to mention something on a lighter note.
“Hey you know, the concert is coming soon.” Dalia said.
“Yea, It’s going to be excellent. They picked some great performers to sing.”
“Yea”
“How about writing an article in your magazine about it.” Esther said to Dalia.
“Definitely. Speaking of which, I‘ve gathered some articles that others have given to me and will put them hopefully in the first issue.” Dalia said.
“Excellent. By the way, when do expect to have the first issue?”
“I’m not sure, maybe next month.”
“That’s good.’
When Dalia came home, she heard the phone ring.
“Hello”
“Yes, this is Mrs. Light, I was just wondering if you would be interested in going out with someone.”
She told her his name is Daniel and mentioned some other things about him. Dalia said yes to the offer.
--
Eli dreamt that he was walking around outside, and then saw someone suspicious looking. He followed him to see what he is up to. Then the man stop, turned around and said
‘What do you want?!’
The words were stuck in his thought, he didn’t know what to say. - Then he woke up. It was morning and time to go to work. He got ready and left.
---
After work, they try again to find the teen. When they got to the town, there were very few cars on the street. There was one car though that looked like it was following them. The dream Eli had came back to him . After a few minutes though, the car went away and they were relieved. They looked around for the boy, and thought they failed again. Then they saw him. He noticed them and ran into an alley. They parked and ran into the thin alley to find him. They looked around the dark alley while going forward. When they came to the end, Daniel said,
“I’ll go right. You go left.”
“Okay.”
Eli went left, and looked around. He thought he saw someone. He came closer and found that it was not the boy but someone else. He ran towards the other direction to where Daniel is. When he came there, he found Daniel standing with his brother.
“I’m not coming back.” Ari said.
“What is so great about this place?” They ask him.
“I have good friends, and we have fun and do what we want.”
“What do you guys do?” Daniel asked.
He was wary about telling them and just said,
“We do stuff like hanging out etc.”
“Can we meet them?”
“Why.”
“We want to know who they are.”
“I don’t know. They are not into outsiders.”
“How did you meet them.” Eli asked him.
“A friend introduced me.”
“So introduce us.” Daniel said.
“It’s not that easy, you have to be interested in joining them.”
“Why, are they doing something wrong and they don’t want it to get out?” Eli asked.
He was quiet.
“Well, tell us.” Daniel said softly.
Ari turned away and left. Daniel went toward him and said, “This is not a good situation, this could be dangerous.”
“Don’t worry, Ari said, I’m fine.”
“At least tell me where you are staying.”
Ari kept walking.
Daniel kept up with him and said, “I’m not going until you tell me.”
“My friend’s apartment.”
“Where is that.”
Ari walked on. Daniel stopped and looked worriedly at his brother. He walked back to his friend and Eli asked, “Well what happened?”
“He’s staying at his friend’s apartment.” Daniel replied
“Where’s that?’
“Don’t know. We need to find a way to encourage him to come home.
------
Esther chats with her co-workers and nicely tells them how she feels.
“While I want to be someone you can speak to, it sometimes makes me feel overwhelmed. Maybe we can talk about other things.”
“We are glad you told us, we didn’t know.”
“It’s okay, thanks for understanding.” Esther said.
“Sure, no problem.”
They sat around the table and chatted. Esther ate the food she brought from home, while the others ate the cafeteria food.
“By the way, where is Aliza? Esther asked.
“She went to sit on the roof.”
“Thanks.”
Esther went to the roof and saw Aliza sitting on a chair. Esther sat on another chair.
Aliza said that she just needed to get some fresh air.
Esther replied “I hear you. It‘s nice up here.”
“I use to be in their situation.” Aliza said.
Esther thought about what she said to the others and felt that even though it’s hard to listen to their stories, she’s still curious what Aliza’s story is and asked her what happened.
Aliza told her what happened. When she was in high school and the first year of college, she and her friends, like regular co-ed students, hung out and had fun together. But then things got out of hand. One friend betrayed another one. And then one of the friends got into trouble. And the list goes on.
“What changed?” Esther asked.
“I decided to do something about it. At first I concentrated on my college courses, and saw my friends only once in a while. Things improved over time, however I still felt empty, like my life was leading nowhere. Then I became friends with a certain Jewish girl there, and she suggested that I go with her to Israel.”
“Wow that’s nice.”
“Yea it was. I enrolled in Jewish courses there and stayed in the dorm, and sometimes with friends at their places. At first it was challenging and weird because it was so new. But my friends and I went touring to diff places and we had fun. As I learned more, I found that this is what I was looking for." They chatted a little more and then Esther invited her over for Shabbos. Aliza accepted the invitation.
-
On Motzei Shabbos, Daniel and Dalia go out to a restaurant and become acquainted with each other. They were a little bit nervous. But they were also surprisingly comfortable. Their conversation flowed and they had a good time together.
“What do you do?” She asked.
“I work at Shalom Judaica. Plus, I’m a columnist for a certain paper.”
“Very nice. I write also, I’m putting together a magazine for the community. Plus, I give piano lessons.”
“I took piano before. He said. Plus, guitar more recently. It’s been a while since I practiced though.
“Acoustic or electric?” She asked.
“Acoustic.”
“I like that. Do you have any favorite musicians.”
“Yea I like Karduner, Chaim Dovid, Nochi Krohn band, to name a few. “
“Me too.” She said.
---
After work, Esther came home at about 5:30 and relaxed a little while. Then she went outside to walk to the store to buy a few things. After a few blocks, she saw Dalia. They said to each other,
“How are you?”
Then Dalia said, “I was just coming home from tutoring someone. What are you up to?”
“Just going to the store.” Esther replied.
Dalia saw something that looked strange. Her expression showed it and Esther wondered what she was looking at. She turned around but didn’t notice anything.
“What is it?” Esther ask.
“I saw a man looking around and then running. It’s probably nothing.”
They continued chatting as they went to the store.
------
Eli was concentrating on his computer work. After he was done, he got into his car and drove off. He called up his friend, and asks, “how things are going?”
Daniel answered, I’m still trying to think of what to do.”
-
Tonight, Daniel and Dalia, are at a restaurant. They order something and then sit down. After getting more acquainted with each other, he explains that he’s worried about his brother who ran away. She tries to help him.
“Maybe he can talk to Smueli on the phone. Maybe he can help him.” She said.
“My friend also suggested he talk to him. I wanted to bring him back first. But I guess I’m going to have to do this first.”
He tells her about the group his brother is hanging out with and that he’s worried they he might get into trouble. That reminded her of the young man she saw running and she wondered if he was part of this group.
“Why did he run away?” She asked.
“He’s going through a lot.” He answered.
They spoke for a while longer about this and he said,
“I’m sorry to bring this up on our date.”
“It’s okay.” She said.
Then they spoke about other things.
-
Dalia and Esther go to the concert. The place is packed with people. They talk to some friends first and then Esther sees Aliza and goes up to her. She says, “Aliza, I didn’t know you’re coming, it’s nice to see you, how are you?”
“Good BH, you?”
“ Doing good, BH”
“Where are you sitting?” Esther asked.
“In the middle row, I like the middle. Where are you?”
“I guess in the front middle.”
“Cool.”
They start to go inside and find their seats. After sometime, the concert begins.
-----------
Daniel and Eli looked at the article that Eli saw before about the incidents that happened. One of them being some young guys selling drugs, and the other incident being arson on a small building. The arsonist was caught. However, only two of the drug dealers were caught. Police suspect that there are probably more people involved. The article mentioned the place where the two that were arrested are from. Daniel and Eli were alarmed to find out it’s the town where Ari is at.
-
Daniel tries to find out from his brother some information about his friends. He says to his brother,
“Look, I know that you just want to be left alone, but I’m concerned for you.’
“I’m fine.’’ Ari replied.
“Okay, well at least tell me some things your friends are planning to do.”
“ What do you mean?”
“Do they just want to have good fun, or do they want to do something shady?”
“I don’t know, probably just want to have fun. Why?”
“Just curious. Listen, just be careful to not be caught up in anything. Trust me, you don’t want to get into trouble.”
“Don‘t worry.” The teen said.
Daniel calls up his friend Shmueli to ask him for help with bringing his brother back. Shmueli was having dinner with his wife and children. He picks up the phones and listens to Daniel’s story and his concern. Shmueli agreed to help.
-
Esther and Aliza enjoy working together and find an interesting case at work. There was a patient who claimed to be a celebrity. Esther came into the room to check her blood pressure and pulse. Meanwhile, her patient would regale her with stories of her adventures in stardom. Then Aliza walked in to talk to Esther, and she became another listener of the patient.
-
The next night, Ari went to bed and fell asleep. Later, he hears a sound and went to go check what it is. He walks out of his room and looks into his friend’s room. His friend is sound asleep.
He turns away and then sees a different friend standing near a door. He goes to him and is wondering what he is doing here. He walks towards him and the guy shows him a door and opens it. Inside there seems to be a party going on. Ari is hesitant, but then follows the guy inside. The place was satiated with people, music and lights. The teen walked slowly and was bewildered as he looked around and wondered where he is. He continued walking around, and then there was a loud sound that came from somewhere in the room. Everyone just went on partying though. Then, there was a flashing light coming somewhere straight ahead. As it came closer, he noticed that it was a fire. The people in the room became chaotic and screamed as they ran to the door. Ari was also running to the door trying to get out. The fire was coming closer. His heart was racing. Then he finally came to the door and went outside. He ran a block away to be far away from it. Then he slowed down to catch his breath. After a couple minutes, he walked some more. He looks across the street and there he sees his brother standing there on the sidewalk.
Ari woke up sweating.
-------
Shmueli calls Ari and introduces himself as Daniels friend. They talk about things in general like sports etc. - Ari finds him to be generally nice to speak with. Then he asks Ari to tell him what’s bothering him. Ari tells him about his feeling stifled and wanting to break free. Shmueli acknowledges him and tells him he understands. Ari feels a little comforted. Shmeuli tries to encourage him to come back so they can talk in person. Ari thinks about it.
--
Daniel and Dalia go out some more. This time they go to a park and walk around.
"Any progress with your brother?" She asked
"I called Shmueli and he spoke to him."
"That's good."
They continued walking and then found a place sit down. She mentions how many siblings she has what they are up to. And he mentions his number of siblings. They also talk about places they've been to like Israel and London.
=
Eli and Daniel find out about two more guys on the news, that were caught in connection with the dealings. Daniel asked Ari if he knows them. He reluctantly affirmed that they are part of the group. He asked Ari if he ever participated in their activities. He answered that they persuaded him, but he stayed out of it. He only did things like hanging with them at a bar b que or at a party somewhere. Daniel advises his brother to come home while he still can, because if these "friends", the few that are remaining, continue their illegal acts, he could be taken down with them.
Daniel goes to that town with his friend Eli and they encourage Ari to come home. They are successful and bring him back with them.
While back in town, Ari talks with Shmueli at the place that Shmueli works at, which is for teens to help set them back on track. At the place, Ari finds out about the many interesting things they have, like once a week they all go to a pizza store and hang out and smooze. And sometimes have a group kumzits together somewhere. In the mean time, Ari stays by a by a friend’s house. He and his parents try to rebuild their relationship by meeting for lunch somewhere and just talking about things in general. With their genuine care, he slowly reconnects with them and comes home.
Daniel contributes an article to Dalia’s magazine. She also receives one from Esther and another from Aliza, along with articles from others. After putting together the finishing touches, her magazine is complete and the first issue is ready to be published.
Daniel takes Dalia to a restaurant. During dessert, he took out a ring and proposed to her. She accepted.
very nice story
ReplyDeletethanks
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! That was very fun and interesting! Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteyou're welcome, glad you enjoyed
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