What's she Worth to You?

Naomi

N A V A
L Ö B E L
SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2005
YAVNE, ISRAEL
A G E T E N

***

My heart pounds against my chest as I watch the window. Where is she? Where could she be? I glance at the clock mounted on the wall of our room, tapping my foot against the floor.

"Come on, Naomi, where are you?" I whisper aloud to myself, returning my gaze back to the window. I hear the click of the second hand making its way around the clock, my stomach twisting tighter with each second going by.

I hear a rustle in the bushes and look down with a start, my dark hair falling over my eyes for a moment. I push it away and my shoulders fall, my heart maintaining a regular beat again.

The moon light bounces off her face as she looks up, grinning from ear to ear.

"Naomi, get back up here!" I yell at her in a whisper and she shakes her head, rolling her eyes at me but agreeing to come back up. I throw the rope over the window sill and she grabs onto it, making her way back up into the room. She jumps back into the room gracefully, landing without making a sound.

We both know better by now.

"Geez, why were you out there for so long!" She shakes her head with a smile and falls onto the bed, the springs squeaking just slightly. I shush her quietly and she nods her head, understanding.

If he knew we were up he'd kill us.

"You should have seen it Nava," she breathes out.
"I got past the windmill this time." My jaw drops open slightly and I quietly run over to the bed, sitting next to her.

"What did you see?" I ask, matching her smile with one of my own and she sits up.

"You'll never guess," she pauses. Each second she keeps me waiting I feel the weight of captivity this house presses on me full time.

"Tell me, tell me!" I say, slightly bouncing on the bed from excitement.

The springs squeak again.

"Fine, okay, just shh," she laughs quietly, taking both my hands. She stays silent for a moment, making sure her surprise is a big one. Then, finally, she says,
"Flowers." I gasp, my heart filling with envy.

"No," I breathe out, to which she chuckles excitedly and nods her head.

"Yes! They were everywhere! Nava, they were so beautiful, they were like the ones in our book." She leans over and pulls it out from its hiding spot under the bed. She lays it on the bedspread, face up and we both read the title out loud.

"One hundred beautiful things to see before you die." We laugh quietly, opening up to our favorite page.

It depicts a large city, people walking with happy smiles on their faces.

"So many people to chose from," she starts.
"Maybe we wouldn't be stuck with the same old broken family." I look up from the page and give her a sad look.

"One day, you and me are going to see every single thing on the pages of this book." She smiles, her eyes lighting back up.