Abe or The Goldfinch

Chapter 5

Earth-4076361

Abe entered the guest room that was now decorated with peculiar colored fabrics, curiously similar to those of his Palestinian grandmother, and saw Boris lying on the bed.

It was a disconcerting yet reassuring sight, it was good to know that he was finally safe, but he stood out in the room like a penguin in the middle of a rainforest.

He asked -I see you're already settled- Boris responds -Tak... comfortable bed- while he jumped on it, Abe let out a small laugh and said -I was going to make fruit and yogurt cocktail, would you like?-

Before long Boris was sitting in the living room watching television, while Abe was chopping fruit in the kitchen, then his parents showed up and Rebecca asked, -Hello... How is our guest settling in?-

Abe responded - seems to be fine... "comfortable bed" - trying to imitate Boris's accent, which made his parents smile.

Then Rebecca comments - that's good... look, we talked to some friends and we think we can get Boris a temporary visa, due to his age and the situation in the Soviet area and in the meantime he can stay in the guest room-

But Amir quickly adds - but don't get used to it, remember that it will only be until we find another accommodation for him - in a firm but kind tone.

Then both parents look at each other in a battle of glances that Abe pretended not to notice, while he felt his face turn red, he couldn't help but imagine their visual conversation.

His mother saying with her eyes "he's a boy, it's your apartment..." and his father answering "it's about a "bad boy", you are a specialist on the subject."

Abe's pleas were ignored when his father finally gave in and, sighing, began, -Listen, son... now that we have another person in the house, your age... I think it's important to set some boundaries so that we can all...-

But suddenly his parents' cell phones rang at the same time, distracting them, just at that moment Boris shouts from the living room -hey, "just Abe" I think you should see this-

He didn't hesitate for a moment and took the plate ready to take it to the living room, accelerating his pace when he heard his parents say, "Scared?" They called him almost desperately to the kitchen.

When Abe arrived at the room he saw shocking news on television, a mask at a concert that could definitely only mean one thing: "the war between Israel and Palestine started."

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Well, I'm going to be honest, it took me so long to post this because I know I'm going to get in trouble, no one reads my stories, so it would be a huge irony if I suddenly got hate from the world just for this, but I feel like I have to do it.

The conflict fits too well with the points I want to discuss, so I clarify that I do not want to give any political message about this, the historical context simply fits my story and nothing more.

Whether that makes me a good or bad person I don't know, although to be completely honest I doubt anyone will ever read this, so why not?

And if you don't agree with me, well... criticism and comments are accepted.