Recap: Aliza is still upset that her mother can’t attend her dance performance. Her mother tells the kids that she’s taking them on a special trip to a beautiful place with cabins. They travel there and then she receives an emergency phone call. She has to go, but she says she’ll be back as soon as she can.
That night, I tossed and turned on the hard cabin bed. I heard owl hoots and strange night creatures outside. I couldn’t sleep. I put on my robe and slippers and headed downstairs.
Dovid was up, learning in the living room.
“You okay?” he asked, looking up from his gemara.
“No!”
“What’s wrong?”
How could I explain it? I felt bad about all my angry feelings towards Mommy. I just wanted her to be with us more. What if something happened to her and I never saw her again? I’d never forgive myself.
“Hey, Lizzie. She’ll be back tomorrow morning, im yirtzeh Hashem.”
I nodded. “Do you ever feel bad about saying stuff or thinking stuff that’s wrong?”
“Sure. I’m human.”
“You seem to be able to handle Mommy going away so much better than me. I’m the big complainer.”
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re human.”
I took a drink of water and plodded back upstairs. Somehow, just saying it to Dovid helped me feel better.
…
The next morning, I woke to Zevi jumping on my bed and telling me to get up.
“What time is it?” I mumbled.
I opened one eye. It was still dark outside. My clock said 5:45 a.m.
“Zevi, it’s way too early to get up.”
“I want to see the fishermen.”
Unfortunately, Carol had told him fishermen get up early to catch fish in the lake.
“Come on, Lizzie, please. I want to see the fishermen.”
“Ask Dovid.”
“He went to shul.”
“Carol can go with you.” I closed my eyes again.
“No! I want you.” Zevi started bawling.
Zevi was probably missing Mommy like me, I thought. He needs some attention.
“Okay, okay,” I said. “Let me get dressed. Shoo. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Zevi was standing by the door. The only sound was insects humming outside. The sky was still black. I slid on a sweater, and I handed Zevi his sweatshirt.
He held my hand as we headed down the path to the lake. I yawned and tried to feel awake.
A few morning rays, like a performer peeking from behind a thick curtain, peeked through the darkness.
It was good that Dovid had taken us this way before, so I knew the way to the lake.
“Look!” Dovid pointed excitedly ahead where a fisherman was in fact casting his rod into the still water of the lake.
“We have to stay quiet,” I whispered.
“It might scare the fish,” Zevi whispered back.
There was a second fisherman bent over his rod a short distance away. It looked like he was placing a worm on the hook.
“Will they catch fish?” Zevi whispered.
We approached closer.
I heard one man say to the other, “Trout are bitin’ this morning. I caught six.”
“I got a pike here,” the other man said.
The only other sound was the lapping of the water against the shore.
Suddenly the first fisherman’s rod bent, and he carefully reeled in a large fish.
“Zevi, look,” I said. “He caught a fish.”
I waited for his excited squeal.
The only sound was the lapping of the water and the fisherman grunting as he cast his rod back into the lake.
“Zevi?” I turned around.
“Zevi, where are you?”
My heart squeezed against my chest. Where did he go?
“Zevi,” I was yelling now. I ran over to the fishermen.
“Did you see a little boy with a navy sweatshirt and brown pants.
They both grunted. “No, haven’t seen him.”
Had he run back to the house?
I raced back to the cabin. Carol was in the kitchen.
“Did Zevi come back here?”
She looked surprised. “Back from where?”
“I took him early this morning to see fishermen fishing, and when I turned around—”
I ran around the cabin calling his name.
Carol followed me.
Dovid strolled in and I burst into tears. “I can’t find Zevi.”
Dovid made me explain calmly and then he said, “I have an idea. Come on.”
In the meantime, Carol called the police.
What a nightmare this trip was turning into. If only we’d never come at all.
I started davening for help. Please, Hashem, help me find my brother.
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).
