Chad Gadya

Extra Onion Sensitive

"Hurry up!" Marzipan said. "You don't want to be late for Kuni's big day."

I looked up at my goat. "I'm hurrying. I'm hurrying."

A year had passed since the quest and in that time, a lot had happened. I had just graduated eighth grade a month ago. Next year was high school and I wasn't looking forward to that. I'd heard high school teachers gave you homework on the first day of school and never accepted late work. Kuni and I had shadowed two high school juniors in April and the whole situation left me feeling confused and very lost. Why were there so many classrooms? Why were high schoolers allowed to forgo lockers? No one answered these important questions of mine. Honestly, there were better tour guides in Gehenna.

    I smiled at the thought. Amelia had finally got her first five-star review (also her first review). I had created the Yelp page for her and wrote a three paragraph essay waxing poetics (Kuni helped me with it a lot). With similes like "sweet as apples dipped in honey" and sentences like "To ensure we got home safely, she instigated a revolt" it was quite a hoot. I reread it whenever I wanted a quick laugh.

   Amelia's review wasn't the only thing I'd been typing up. In between essays (can we all agree eighth grade sucks?), I typed up Marzipan's memoir. We were still on the beginning of her life, which had already taken up fifty pages and included a lot of events like the first time she snuck out of the barn and the time she climbed an etrog tree. At this pace, it would take us years to even get to the first time she spoke to me.

    "Are you going to go or stare dreamily at the wall all day?" Marzipan asked, cutting into my thoughts.

     "I'm not staring dreamily at the wall!" I said crossly. "I was studying it and making sure it was structurally sound in case a windstorm knocked a tree down against it."

   Marzipan lifted one leg and licked it delicately. "I mean, you kinda were, but okay. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

    I heard a knock on my door. "Breina, are you ready?" my mother called.

    "Almost!" I said.

     "Okay, we're leaving in five minutes," my mom said.

     Marzipan shot me a look. "Oh don't smirk," I said as I quickly changed into the nice black dress my mom had gotten me for today.

    I ran my brush through my thick brown hair. It had grown longer now and I had fun braiding it when I remembered to actually brush it. "Tell me everything that happens," Marzipan said.

   I nodded. "I'll even bring back a treat for you."

   She flicked her ears. "I thought that was a given."

   I laughed and kissed my goat on her forehead. "I'll see you later."

    "Breina!" My mother said again.

     "Coming!" I called back,

    I slipped on the first shoes I could find and half-ran, half-walked down the stairs. My mother was waiting in the living room and her look of irritation disappeared when she saw me. "I was afraid we'd be late," she said.

     "We'll get there in time," Alexandros assured her.

     They were wearing a spiffy, grey jumpsuit and shiny black shoes. My mom and Alexandros had started dating. At first, it had been kind of weird to see my mother with someone else, but she seemed so happy with them and besides, Alexandros was a pure soul. He took my mother out for icecream dates (which meant I got icecream and just sat a table away trying not to overhear them talk about taxes and whatever else adults spoke of).