Radiance 24 - Slow to anger

    The phone rang, and rang.
    Eventually, Asher hung up, slid the phone back into his pocket, and sat down on the bonnet of the rented car (that Rahko had somehow hired for free after sharing some jokes with the owner).
    “She’s not answering,” he told Rahko.
    “Maybe she’s out?”
    “Maybe,” Asher acknowledged. Your mother’s on a long journey, Dad had said, and that Asher would see her again before the end. Odd indeed, as his mother wasn’t exactly into travelling, especially long distances. She had yet to visit him in New York, though she often spoke about it as a plan for ‘next year’ or ‘next springtime’.
    Rahko put a hand on his shoulder, gave him the briefest of hugs. “I’m sure she’s okay,” he said, “Emma can look after herself.”
    Asher smiled, “Yeah, I know. It just seems weird to be here without seeing her.”
    “Well, once we rescue our companions and smash the sitra achra, we’ll come back and take her out for tea,” Rahko said smiling.
    “Sounds great,” said Asher, wanting to believe it would all be so simple. Since the fight with the dybbuk everything seemed to be slipping through his fingers, drifting away like clay dust in the breeze. “So this is where you last saw them?” Asher asked.
    Rahko nodded. They were standing between the falafel place and the scribe’s shop on the streets of Netanya, with only the faintest hint of a sea breeze to alleviate the overwhelming waves of heat and humidity.
    “I guess we follow them,” Asher said, feeling bursts of unease exploding in his stomach.
    “Be ready for anything,” said Rahko, as a ball of spinning ice materialised in his right palm.

Radiance 12 - There was a Prophet among them

    Mercury watched with interest as a single drop of creamy tehina made its slow progress down the side of Ostar’s pita, tracing its inexorable path towards his large, suntanned fingers. Ostar, of course, did not notice, and continued tucking into his falafel with enormous appetite, as if he hadn’t eaten in a week or more. Mercury knew for a fact that this was not the case, as she had so far today observed him eating a banana, 5 dates, 2 burgers, 31 thin-cut french fries, a medium portion of Israeli salad and a handful of peanuts (she hadn’t been able to count them). That it was still only noon was a source of amusement and wonder - even after all these years, she still underestimated his prodigious ability to eat.

Radiance 8 - Blessings of breast and womb

 A bit of a change of pace this chapter, as we catch up with Asher's mother, Emma, living in Netanya, and find out more about the fate of Asher's father. Does this shift of pace work?

    Emma Grunfeld closed her phone and stared through her thick glasses at the full moon hovering over the Mediterranean. It’s always nice to talk to Asher, she thought, even if he doesn’t seem to want to talk to me.
    At just over two minutes this conversation must have been a record, even for them. A brief hello, how are you? I’m good, how are you? I’m fine, how is everything going? Oh you know, they’re going okay, and you?… And why was he still going on about her leaving Netanya? It was getting ridiculous. You can only put down roots so many times, Emma thought, this tree was too old to be replanted.
    To be honest, Emma didn’t really know what it was Asher did with himself all day. There was that blasted job with the astrological hotline but that barely counted as work; it surely didn’t pay the rent. And he was never going to get anywhere with his guitar playing at this rate. It was time to meet a nice Jewish girl, get married, maybe go back to school - become a doctor or a lawyer or a…
    “He won’t you know,” cut in a thin voice, “you know where he’s going just as I did.”
    Emma ignored him and tried to relax.
    “This is what we’ve come to, is it? You’re just going to sit there and pretend I’m not here?”
    “You aren’t here,” Emma replied a little sharply. “You’re dead.”