But Why Can't We Be Friends?

Prologue: Chazaq

Deeagah Berezin, or Dee, a soon to be mother, gasped and pushed with all her might. She was alone in her house, too poor to go to a hospital, having a baby. She knew it would be a boy.  Deeagah Berezin, or Dee, a soon to be a mother, gasped and pushed with all her might. She was alone in her house, too poor to go to a hospital, having a baby. She knew it would be a boy. She couldn't imagine a girl coming out of her, and she had already named her son. Chazaq, meaning strong. She knew her little boy would be strong, and she had wanted him to have a powerful name that reflected the image she knew he was going to be. Chazaq Berezin. Dee liked the sound of that. She smiled, but quickly grimaced in pain as Chazaq slid further down in her stomach.

The next morning, Dee fell asleep, her newborn boy in her arms, just as she had predicted it. Darling Chazaq. Dee woke up suddenly, and looked down at Chazaq, as if to make sure he was still there. He had fallen asleep also, his mouth turned up in a quiet smile in Dee's arms. "I love you Chazaq," she whispered, and fell back asleep.

Seven years later:

Woo! Woo! Woo!

Chazaq jumped up and grabbed his mother who had come down the stairs at the sound of the siren.

"Ima, it's a siren! We've got to get to the shelter!"

"Yes Chazaq! Run! You only have a minute until the bomb goes off!"

"Yes Ima! Hurry up!"

Hand in hand, the mother and son raced down to the community shelter. People streamed in through all of the entrances. A child wailed along with the sirens, leading to more creased, fearful faces.

Chazaq tugged on his mother's hand. "Ima! Will it be ok? Will there actually be a bomb?"

"Yes, Chazaq. This time, I believe there will be. Remember my rules?"

"Yes, Ima. Echad: Stay in the shelter till the all clear siren. Shtayim: After the siren, run as fast as you can back home and grab the bag with our papers then come back here. Shalosh: Whatever I do, save myself. Do not worry about you, Ima."

As usual, Chazaq's small face wrinkled in confusion at the third rule. "But how do I not worry about you Ima? You'll always be right here when I get back, right?"

"Someday, Chazaq, someday I do not know, I will not be there for you. And when that day comes, you will have to pay strict attention to rule number three. Do you understand?"

"Yes Ima," Chazaq chorused.

Ima bent down to give her son a hug. "Alright now, you remember what we do next."

Chazaq nodded eagerly. "We sing the shema."

Ima nodded. "Good job. Ready... Set... sh'ma yisrael Adonai eloheinu Adonai echad. Baruch shem kevod malchuto l'olam vaed."

Ima hugged Chazaq tightly. "I love you, my strong little boy," she whispered softly into his hair. At the same time, Chazaq turned around and gripped his mother's hands. "I love you Ima," he whispered.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose. A loud blast shook the shelter. Chunks of the wall and ceiling started to cave in. Chazaq screamed along with many other people. His scream was cut short by a chunk of rock that fell onto his head. Chazaq just barely caught his mother's eye as he passed out.

Chazaq woke up dizzy. He heard many people yelling, and he didn't know where he was. His head was pounding and he didn't want to open his eyes. He groaned and rolled over. His eyes popped open. He was surrounded by big chunks of rock and he could see smoke through the holes in the ceiling. The place was pandemonium. People were crying and screaming and clawing at the rocks.

Chazaq tensed. Ima! He needed to find her. Quickly, he sat up, and then put a hand to his head, groaning. Carefully, he got to his feet and started scanning the dusty area. "Ima!" He yelled. "Ima!" He went up to a woman staring into space, her eyes wet. He tugged at her hand. She snapped back into reality and looked down at him. "Have you seen my Ima?" He asked. "She has curly brown hair, almost black, and brown eyes. She's thin and short, like me."

"Sorry," the woman said. "I haven't seen anyone like that. She turned back to the rock she had been staring distractedly at, and Chazaq walked away.

It was almost sundown, and Chazaq still had not found Ima. Most people had cleared out of the broken shelter, but a few were still meandering around. Chazaq worried quietly. Where was she? She wouldn't leave him here all alone. Closing his eyes to escape silent tears, he walked on.

Crash! Down he went. Chazaq landed on his hands and knees trying to get his bearings. He turned around to face what he had tripped over, and-

"Ima!" Ima was lying on the floor, face down. Chazaq shook her and grabbed her hand, ready to turn her over, but something stopped him. Her hands were cold, white, and lifeless. Hastily he turned her over. Ima's eyes were frozen in terror, and a word was on her lips that looked like Chazaq! She was limp and frail looking. Chazaq shook his Ima again, frantic. "Ima!" He yelled. "Ima! Please Ima! No! No! You can't leave me alone like this! Please!" He sobbed into her shoulder, unable to bear that the only person he has ever known, the only one to love him and care for him, was gone. Forever.

The next day, some men found Chazaq, draped across his mother's body, unable to let go. She was gone. He would never see her again. As the men loaded the bodies into the back of their truck, Chazaq howled in misery, tears running down his little face. She was gone. And she was never coming back. Little Chazaq was alone, just what he had been so afraid of. 

Hi, this is Madeline121, and this is my first chapter of my first wattpad story!! I hope you like it, and if you do, please comment and vote! Also feel free to give me some constructive criticism, as    I am an aspiring writer, and I want to please my readers! I can't give you specifics on when the updates are coming just yet, but I promise, I won't leave you hanging for too long😀. Oh, and some stuff on the words in Hebrew, 

-Ima means mom  

-echad, shtayim, and shalosh mean one, two, and three

-the shema is an ancient prayer that every Jew in the word knows. Shema means hear, and the direct translation of the prayer is 'hear oh Israel, The lord is our God, our God is one. Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever.'  The prayer is said during services, when a person wakes up or goes to bed, or when one believes he/she is going to die. 

A word on Chazaq, he lives in a city called Tel-Aviv, in Israel, and he and his mother a very poor. The events in this story are a fictional take on real events going on right now, so I hope that all of you readers support Israel. Peace for all! 

Shalom until next time!