So It Seemed

Hadassa is nearly everything she ever wished herself to be, but on the day she agrees to host a non-frum couple, she discovers that it only seemed so. “She opened the door and froze, feeling the same anticipation she used to feel before seeing the face of her new-born baby for the very first time.” “She had happened to be passing by this particular spot, the corner of the Zurich Lake, when her attention was caught by heaps of white feathers on the deep, nearly black water. That’s what swans looked like from like afar. . . And it was at this moment, sitting on a parapet with a book of Tehillim open in her lap, that Miri had caught her.” “Who’s moving in, Mum?” Shmuli asked. “Later,” she whispered. She didn’t know their name, did she? “She tried to imagine Caroline as one of them, with long, sleek hair glistening in the sun. She also tried to picture Caroline sitting on the stone stairs that came straight into the river near the shopping center. That’s where those banking people spent their lunch breaks . . . “ “Synthetic duster in hand, Hadassa was quick with her movements and thoughts when the duster touched another polished surface. It was her piano.” “The only empty seat was at the piano, and there she sat down, carrying her crying bundle, pressing it to the heart. Her right hand free, she slowly opened the lid and stroked the keys.” .