RAISING SPARKS by Ariel Kahn

Author:Ariel Kahn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bluemoose Books Ltd
Published: 2018-04-26T07:11:52+00:00

Chapter 10: Strange Fire

Malka led Avner through the woodland to the abandoned building site. As they approached the clearing, she felt a twinge, the same cramps in her stomach she’d felt the night before. Was it her period? It was very early.

‘I’m sorry, I’m not feeling so great. Maybe it was something I ate. I’d like to go back and just sleep it off. Maybe we can do this another time?’

Avner turned to her in the clearing. He was breathing fast.

‘On the contrary. I think what you are suffering from is a kind of spiritual sea-sickness. I saw it in your face this morning, after the meditation class. You’ve swum away from the shore of your familiar self for the first time, and are tossing about in the deep water of true knowledge. I know what that’s like, believe me. Hey, would you look at that! What a find!’

She wanted to stop him, to disagree, but he had already ducked inside the cave, and she had no choice but to crawl in after him. There was barely space for the two of them. She tried to see it through his eyes. One of the supports had fallen since she’d last been, and rainwater had dripped through as a result, creating a muddy pool in one corner. The books were still dry, luckily. She hoped he didn’t think she had stolen them.

‘I like your library.’ When he turned to her, she could see pale bristles on his chin. If he had a beard, it would already be touched with white. Like her father’s. He was older than he looked.

‘This is perfect,’ he said. He moved the volumes of the Zohar carefully to one side, further out of reach of the water. ‘Which of these have you read?’

‘All of them.’ It was the truth.

He gave a low whistle. Her father had never looked this proud of her.

Looking steadily into her eyes, Avner slipped the red bracelet off her wrist, then removed his own. He had not touched her since her initiation, and it felt different this time, more lingering. Avner touched her as if he meant it, as if she was grown up, an equal. He stood, so she did too, and their heads almost touched in the narrow space. He placed the two bands on the floor, slightly overlapping one another.

‘You are a trainee no more. It’s time to step forward and fulfil your destiny. Come, let us draw down the moon.’ Taking her hand, he knelt on the floor, holding her gaze, bringing her slowly down with him. He was making her nervous. She tried not to laugh.

‘Malka, remember what we were saying about the two trees the other day? Let me tell you a secret. They also correspond to the two women created to be Adam’s partners in Eden.’

‘Two women? I thought there was only Eve.’

‘That’s because the rabbis demonised the first one, Lilith.’

Malka started. That was the name of the club from last night. Could it be a coincidence?

‘Why do they have such a problem with her? Simple.

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