Will The Baby Cry?

Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Memoriam, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Photo prompt: © Roger Bultot

 

“Be there in a moment, Aaron,” Miriam herded her family toward the synagogue across the street.

“Mom!” Ben protested. She drags him outta’ bed, then stays outside herself?

“It’s urgent,” Miriam apologized, eyes already on her phone.

Seven-year-old Jacob glanced at his dad. “Will the baby cry?”

“You screamed like a stuck pig at your Bris,” Ben offered.

Jacob froze. “I’ll stay with Mom.”

“Ben!” their dad scolded.

Staccato bangs echoed. Loud screams.

“The baby?!” Jacob clung to his father’s hand.

“Down! All of you!” Aaron shoved Jacob behind a car and raced to the synagogue. “Shots fired! Call 911!”

 

 

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

 

40 thoughts on “Will The Baby Cry?”

    • It is very sad, yes.
      Hate and terror have no place in a humane society, yet there are still those who allow it. All the more relevant on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, where the atrocities of hate are forever etched into the fabric of history.

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    • Alas, Linda, the associations of pain and sorrow in places of worship is too close to home for too many these days. May we once look back at these times and say “it doesn’t happen any more.”
      Thanks for the comment, my friend.
      Na’ama

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    • Thanks, Iain. I wish it was only fiction, though sadly this is part of what is reality to too many, and cannot be accepted, in my view, no matter what God or in what way one worships or prays or lives. May such hate be rendered extinct in the near future.

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    • Thanks, David. Alas, yes, this is all too relevant today, when places of worship and celebration can become places of terror and destruction driven by hate and violence. I am gratified if even some of the reality and the abrupt disruption of life was communicated in this brief piece. May it not be reality any more, for anyone, anywhere. Thanks for reading and commenting! Na’ama

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    • I don’t know what God can or cannot do or chooses to do or not do, for I have no concept of understanding many of what’s purported to be God’s will or God’s work or lessons or what not. However, I do understand what PEOPLE can or cannot do, what they choose to do or not do, and that is plenty enough for me to understand … and to aspire to do what I may be able to, in whatever small measure I can at any given time and any interaction I am able to, to put to rights the small bits of the world I might be privy to or able to influence. Perhaps that is all any one of us can do?
      Thanks for the comment, Keith! Off now to reading yours!

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  10. Well written, my friend. The rush of the preparation to leave the house, the suddenness of the attack, I could feel the fluster, the fear. That these things are true to life is heartbreaking.

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  11. So many terror attacks, one after another, it makes fiction writing very difficult when heart and head are heavy with grief, anger and sorrow, which is true, I believe, for most of us FFers this week. Excellent story, sad and true.

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  12. I never read other stories, until mine is up. However, clearly we both saw this picture and had very similar reactions. Such a dark, dark time that things like this are happening! Your story touches on the real lives that are fractured. Nice job, Na’ama!

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    • I never read other people’s stories until I post mine, either! 🙂 I like to go about it in whatever way my muse calls, without other ‘input’ — not that it is wrong if anyone wants to read others’ work first. It is just how I do it. Fun that it is how you write your responses to the challenges, too!
      And … yes, it seems quite a few people saw something in the photo that was fed by recent news of hate and murder of innocents in places of worship. How sad! I hope that one day soon this will no longer be the association!
      Thanks again, Dawn….
      Na’ama

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      • Sadly, it’s become hard to imagine a time when these things WON’T be happening! I’m a dreamer, but even I feel deeply saddened that this has become all too common. Anti-semitism (any directed hate) is so personal to me and my family, and this kind of attack lands in a very painful way. Headed back to Israel on Monday; praying for peace. xo

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      • Hi Dawn, I’m just back from 3 weeks in Israel, where I combined work and teaching with attending to family stuff. And, yes, I know it is possible to lose hope for times when violence and hate won’t hold power. And still … I see in children the possibility of tolerance and change, and in each of us the responsibility to be the best role model we can for them. I’m eternally optimistic that we can do better–because children can, and so much we!
        Safe travels and may there be peace,
        Na’ama

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    • Thank you, Brenda. Yes, sadly these are realities for all too many, though I still hold hope that we’ll evolve beyond violence and that brutality will become a thing of the past, as humans realize we are all connected, we are all the same, and we all deserve dignity, respect, and care.
      In the meanwhile, I guess we can each do our best to elevate the conversation and to not follow a path of violence or brutality, nor accept it in others.
      Na’ama

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    • Hi Tim,
      I’m so glad you liked it – somber as the topic was – and thank you for commenting! If you’d like to see more posts (I post quite regularly — daily, almost), I’d be delighted if you’d “Follow” my blog. Alternately, you can click on my name at the header of any page and it’ll take you to the homepage with a scroll-down of recent blogs. There are also archive links by month at the bottom of the page … So, there are a bunch of them … and another coming today! 😉
      THANK YOU again for the feedback!
      Na’ama

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