This Is Not a Post Promoting War

War kills. People die in wars. Innocent people, on both sides. There is damage to infrastructure and property. Houses and schools are destroyed. Diplomacy is obviously the preferred way to settle conflicts, but sometimes there is no alternative.

Today, Israel is at war, and the United States is fighting at our side. This is a war of choice, a war we needed to start because the danger of inaction was too great. It is an unavoidable war, one that is causing great distress to Israelis and Iranians alike, but still, it is a war that must be fought.

I’ve always said, half-jokingly, that Israel lives in a very bad neighborhood. Enemies on all sides: Hamas, Hezbollah, and even the Houthis in Yemen. There is one bad actor directing all of these terrorist groups, and that is Iran. Iran has been calling for Israel’s destruction, and for America’s as well. We needed to take these cries of hatred for what they were, nothing less than an existential danger.

Iran’s nuclear program was not being developed for peaceful reasons. It became clear long ago that the country’s leaders had been lying about their true intentions. Enriching uranium to such high levels is only necessary for the production of nuclear weapons. Similarly, Iranian ballistic missiles were only intended to be fired at Israeli cities. These plans to develop weapons of mass destruction had to be stopped.

It should be clear that there is no hatred in Israel toward the Iranian people. Decades ago, there were strong trade ties and friendships between Tel Aviv and Tehran. In recent months, Iranians took to the streets to protest against the terrorist regime that has caused them immense suffering. The Iranian people deserve better lives. This war is not targeting them.

The world was quick to shout “Free Palestine” when Israel responded in force to the murderous assault by Hamas on its citizens, but why isn’t the world crying out to “Free Iran” from its murderous leaders?

The international media was quick to headline the loss of lives in an Iranian school, yet barely mentions the loss of lives in an Israeli synagogue and bomb shelter.

Innocent civilians should not lose their lives on either side. There should be no need to resort to military action, but sometimes there is no alternative.

We hope and pray that this war ends as soon as possible. That we will have better lives, and that the Iranian people will have better lives as well.

In the meantime, whenever there is an alert of incoming missiles, we will run to our shelters and safe rooms to protect our loved ones, because in the end, that is the most important thing.

 

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

Zeeva Bukai’s ‘Anatomy of Exile’ Wins National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction

Congratulations to author Zeeva Bukai whose novel The Anatomy of Exile has won the 75th National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction. The awards are “giv­en to Eng­lish-lan­guage books of Jew­ish inter­est… which rep­re­sent the best of Jew­ish lit­er­a­ture and authors and their con­tri­bu­tions,” the Jewish Book Council said in its announcement.

Listed as one of the Awards’ notable winners, the novel The Anatomy of Exile was published by Delphinium Books in January 2025.

My review of the book noted that its “storytelling is rich with details and the author skillfully brings the characters to life with sentimentally charged dialogues.” I wrote that “readers will be captivated by this intimate journey of an Israeli family into their self-imposed exile, and by the struggles of [its protagonist] to keep her daughter safe, her marriage intact, and to find the way to bring her family back to the country she knows as home.”

The award comes just days before the release of Bukai’s second novel, The World Between (Delphinium Books, February 24, 2026). While markedly different in setting and structure, it is similarly ambitious in scope. The novel tells the story of a once-renowned actress of the Yiddish stage who arrives in Tel Aviv, only to find herself confined to a hospice in Jaffa. It is unclear to the woman, and to readers, how she came to be there. Only by peeling back layers of memory, Holocaust survival, Siberian gulags, marriage, friendship, and long-buried trauma, do we see the full beauty of the author’s powerful and moving prose.

Bukai is certainly deserving of the National Jewish Book Award and as a reader, I look forward to her future works of fiction.

Zeeva Bukai was born in Israel and raised in New York City. Her stories have been published in Carve Magazine, Pithead Chapel, the Lilith anthology Frankly Feminist: Stories by Jewish Women, December Magazine, Image Journal, Jewishfiction.net, Women’s Quarterly Journal, and the Jewish Quarterly. She is the Assistant Director of Academic Support at SUNY Empire State University and lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

"Quills in the Dark" Nominated for the Pushcart Prize

I am excited to share that my short story "Quills in the Dark," published by The Loch Raven on April 20, 2025, has been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize.

The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Small presses are allowed to submit up to six works that they have published.

Previously, my story "Jerusalem Marathon" was nominated for the Pushcart Prizen by The San Antonio Review.

Read the story "Quills in the Dark".

‘Jerusalem Marathon’ will be published by GenZ Publishing

I am excited to share my news! My new book ‘Jerusalem Marathon’ will be published by GenZ Publishing. The book is a collection of 25 short stories. These are stories of cappuccinos and porcupines, Gaza war traumas and Iranian missiles. Stories of love and death, of sandcastles and shtetls. Stories of Tel Aviv parking and Jerusalem races. You’ll soon have a chance to read them all in the new book!

Farewell to Net-Bet

The last time I addressed everyone in this conference room when I launched my new book, I started by asking, “How many of you have been to Bulgaria?” and “How many of you have gone on relocation?”

This time I’m starting with the question, “How many of you have retired?”

Well, for me it’s the first time as well.

When I joined Net-Bet in 2016, our website was available in 14 languages, and our launch in New Jersey seemed to be just weeks away. There was also talk about launching a new website. One day.

Jackpots rolled over and jackpots were won. Licenses were achieved but also markets closed. Languages were discontinued and scratchcards and casino games were introduced. And a new website finally became a reality. It’s truly been a rollercoaster of ups and downs.

During the past 9 years I wrote and edited, coded and uploaded, managed the frustrations of working with Management and Dashboard, and introduced the XTM translation platform before closing it down when we had fewer languages. And finally, I learned how to work with Lokalise. The ‘Content Guide to Working with Lokalise’ that I wrote is available on Confluence.

At Net-Bet and in TheLotter Group, I have worked alongside very talented people, learning from them and working together as we moved forward on varied projects. I won’t begin naming names, I'll only thank those who are sitting here in the room..

Today I’m leaving the Content Team, part of the Marketing Division. I thank my team for their help, support, and companionship as we worked on new and ever-changing challenges, successfully maintaining, improving, and advancing our many websites.

My hope is that the contributions I made to the team will serve as a sound launching pad for their future endeavors. I am confident that they are capable enough to handle anything and everything that will come their way.

Finally, going back to how I started this talk – this is the first time I’m retiring, so what exactly will I be doing with all my free time? I will be devoting more time to my family, that’s for sure, and even my dog will appreciate my being around the house more. I’m looking forward to volunteering, to finding ways to help improve Israeli society. I’ll have more time for writing and for learning new things. There will be plenty of ways for my wife and me to enjoy the next chapter of our lives.

I thank Net-Bet and its management for giving me the opportunity to be part of the rollercoaster world of online lottery. I wish you all huge success in the years to come.

It's Official! I Retired!

My Story Arrives in the Mail, 3 Years Later

In the Fall of 2022, my story "The Table at the Back of the Coffee Shop" was published by New Plains Review, a student-run literary journal at the University of Central Oklahoma. The journal was published as a paperback and is available for purchase at Amazon. Yesterday I received in the mail a contributor's copy of the journal.

No, the journal did not get lost in the mail - the postmark indicated it was mailed in August 2025.

It's always great to see one of my stories in print, even if it arrives three years after being published.

You can read the full story here: 

"The Table at the Back of the Coffee Shop" - short story

Qesher Book Club: Rakiya - Stories of Bulgaria

I spoke to the Qesher Book Club about my book Rakiya - Stories of Bulgaria. Qesher features books with Jewish themes, both fiction and history, so the first thing I said to my audience was "You’re probably wondering why a collection of short stories set in Bulgaria would be featured on the Qesher Book Club. I’m hoping that by the end of this evening, you will not only understand why, but you’ll also learn about the fascinating story of Bulgarian Jewry during the Holocaust."

In the talk I told about growing up in Sioux City, making Aliyah, founding Kibbutz Yahel, setting up a home on Moshav Neve Ilan, starting a career in marketing online poker, a job that took me to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, to Macau, and finally to a two-year relocation contract in Sofia.

I spoke about my books and short stories, and how my experiences on a kibbutz led to The Virtual Kibbutz and how our life in Bulgaria resulted in my writing Valley of Thracians, The Burgas Affair, and Rakiya - Stories of Bulgaria.

I gave details of my research into the subject of Bulgarian Jewry during World War, and how that fascinating period of history compelled me to write my short story "Forgiveness".

The online talk was attended by 89 people from all over - there was even someone joining in from Bulgaria. After my talk ended, there was time set for questions.

Surprisingly, many of the questions related to my growing up in Sioux City! How did my childhood there influence my writing? How did my parents end up living in Sioux City in the first place? Did I know that was where Dear Abby came from? (And Ann Landers).

I think everyone enjoyed themselves - I certainly did!

Review of 'Happy New Years' by Maya Arad

Maya Arad is a leading author of Israeli fiction, but she doesn’t live in Israel. Arad, who grew up in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, has been living in California for the last twenty years. The Hebrew Teacher, her collection of three novellas−the first of her books to be translated into English−won the National Jewish Book Award for Hebrew Fiction in Translation in January 2025. Now readers have the opportunity to read one of her novels in English.

Happy New Years by Maya Arad, translated by Jessica Cohen (New Vessel Press, August 5, 2025) is the story of Leah, as told in yearly Rosh Hashana letters sent to her classmates from a teacher’s college in Israel. Instead of just bearing good wishes for the upcoming Jewish New Year, each letter tells the story of Leash’s life during the previous 12 months, in exhaustive detail.

The annual mail starts with a recap of the episodes mentioned in the letter dated the year before, to remind both recipients and the novel’s readers of their importance in Leah’s life. An update on these milestones in Leah’s life follows, and then there is her news. Leah informs her friends of developments in her love life, stories of her children growing up, and accounts of her career changes.

Her best friend, Mira, is the recipient of postscripts with further insights into Leah’s true feelings about where her life has taken her, complete with apologies and confessions. “To you I can write what is truly in my heart, with no masks and guises,” Leah notes.

“I came to America on an educational mission, to teach Jewish children who, one day, may themselves make Aliyah,” Leah writes in her 1970 message. “I am living in the United States for now, and who knows what the future will bring?” Two years later, Leah mentions that she and her husband are considering Aliyah. “The circumstances are finally ripe for making a significant change in our lives.” Yet her Aliyah plans fall through. “I’ve built a life for myself here that I’m unwilling and unable to walk away from,” she writes in 1986.

The yearly Rosh Hashana messages recount Leah’s ups and downs, and one can see how she matures through the years. This epistolary novel succeeds in telling her story, and readers are compelled to turn the pages to learn whether she will find true love or successfully handle the challenges she faces.

Still, there are parts of what Leah writes in the narrative that will frustrate readers. Detailed reports of what it was like to fly in an airplane for the first time, an explanation of why Chicago is called ‘the Windy City’, how daily life in America is easier because of dishwashers, and the advantages of working with a computer–these elements show the passage of time but not things anyone would naturally include in a Rosh Hashana letter.

Still, this is a minor observation as the overall format of the novel succeeds in telling a story of a woman’s life; her struggles, loves, and growth; the friendships she makes and the friendships she loses; and how one can still be an Israeli even while keeping a permanent residency overseas.

Leah ends each mail with a message marking her unwavering optimism about the Jewish New Year. “May it be a year full of dreams!” she writes. “May it be a wonderful year, a magical year, a year of change and growth!” Readers will share Leah’s positive outlook on life with eager anticipation of her next Happy New Year letter.

 

Maya Arad is the author of twelve books of Hebrew fiction, as well as studies in literary criticism and linguistics. Born in Israel in 1971, she received a PhD in linguistics from University College London and for the past twenty years has lived in California where she is writer in residence at Stanford University’s Taube Center for Jewish Studies.

Upcoming Event - "Rakiya" at the Qesher Book Club

On Tuesday, September 9, I will speak about Rakiya - Stories of Bulgaria on the Qesher Book Club. This is a free event, taking place on Zoom at USA 12:00 pm PT / 3:00 pm ET / UK 8:00 pm / France 9:00 pm / Israel 10:00 pm. The talk will last approximately 60 minutes and include a chance to ask questions.

 Read more and register here for free. 

"A Case of Mistaken Identity" - Short Story

Key to the defense was locating the tall, gaunt man sporting a maroon Basque-style beret who had allegedly been in the convenience store at the time of the robbery. That man was said to have witnessed the three teenagers hassling the cashier just after ten pm, forcing him to hand over the few bills in the register, threatening to return and cause havoc to the place if he called the police, before escaping down the windswept street.

If the tall man could be located, he could identify the teenagers, who hadn’t bothered to wear masks or disguise themselves and should therefore be easy to identify. The cashier couldn’t give the police any clues as to where they had come from, and where they were going, their pockets full of his evening’s hard-earned revenues.

But the man with the beret had seen everything. At least, according to Philip, who had been loitering outside when the teenagers robbed the store.

Philip, who planned to purchase a pack of cigarettes, claimed the man had been standing at the back when the teenagers rushed in. The man came down the aisle but did nothing to stop the teenagers or protect the cashier, Philip said. The cashier had raised his hands in defense even before the youths announced their intention to rob the establishment. But, as Philip tried to explain, the tall man could certainly pick out the boys in a lineup.

That’s what Philip told the police officers who arrived at the scene twenty minutes later, but they didn’t believe him.

Read the rest of the story on Written Tales Magazine.

We’re Tired

If you are asking how we’re doing during this challenging time, that’s the short answer.

Here’s the long answer.

We’re tired of being woken up by the blaring wail of sirens at midnight, or at three in the morning, or at both hours.

We’re tired of running to our reinforced saferooms and our public shelters, sitting on the floor uncomfortably as we all stare at our mobile phones for the latest information about where the missiles struck.

We’re tired of hearing the boom of ballistic missiles overhead as they are blown up by our anti-ballistic rockets.

We’re tired of returning to our beds, unable to fall back asleep as we fearfully await the next missile attack.

We’re tired of turning on the television news to scenes of the night’s destructive toll – people injured and killed, buildings bombed, cars burnt, craters and piles of debris everywhere, homes lost, lives interrupted.

We’re tired of being unable to go to work, unable to send our children to school and to kindergarten, unable to go shopping even for the most essential things without worrying whether the next missile attack will catch us somewhere where there is no nearby shelter.

We’re tired of seeing our airport closed and international airlines canceling all their flights to Israel.

We’re tired of canceling our weekend plans and our summer vacations.

We’re tired of watching the bombing of Iran, even if it means we’re taking out their nuclear sites and military facilities, because we know it will result in further missile strikes against us.

We’re tired of the world dismissing our need to confront an Evil that seeks to destroy us while it lies blatantly about enriching uranium for peaceful research.

We’re tired of hearing that America bombed Iran because this is Israel’s war, when it is the war of the entire civilized world against this Evil.

We’re tired of seeing Iranian citizens fleeing Tehran, unable to overturn their theocratic repressive regime.

We’re tired of all this, and more.

We’re tired that we still have 50 hostages held by terrorists in Gaza, and whose freedom is not a priority of our government.

We’re tired that our prime minister refuses to take responsibility for what happened on October 7, 2023, in the greatest tragedy to befall the Jewish People since the Holocaust.

We’re tired that our soldiers are fighting every day in Gaza, and we’re tired of seeing their young faces on the news, the latest casualties of a seemingly endless war.

We’re tired of the entire world shouting cries of ‘genocide’ as we do our best to avoid civilian casualties.

We’re tired of fighting terrorists who dig tunnels under hospitals, hide their weapons in schools, take cover behind civilians and steal the aid provided by humanitarian organizations.

We’re tired of how Gazans are suffering.

We’re tired of our inability to throw out our corrupt, right-wing, extremist government.

We’re tired of the government giving limitless funding to the ultra-Orthodox and letting their young men avoid compulsory army service.

We’re tired of our right-wing government moving endlessly to curb media freedom and overturn our judicial system.

We’re tired of our government allowing the establishment of more and more settlements across the West Bank.

We’re tired of what we’re doing to the Palestinians.

We’re tired of regarding our Arab citizens as second-class.

We’re tired that the most corrupt prime minister we’ve ever had is about to get credit for finally confronting the Iranian nuclear threat.

We’re tired that the most corrupt prime minister we’ve ever had is allowing extremists to do anything they want, just so he can remain in power.

We’re tired that the most corrupt prime minister we’ve ever had is prolonging the trial that is meant to hold him accountable for his corruption.

We’re tired of inflation, of the lack of affordable housing, of the traffic jams on the highways, and the crowded national parks.

We’re tired of all this, and more.

Yet, despite being tired, we love Israel. We love its religious importance, its amazing history, and its colorful traditions. We love its high-tech, its stunning nature, its beaches, and its nightlife. We love its youth and its hope and promise for the future.

We’re tired, but we will continue to fight for our country because this is home.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

"Jerusalem Marathon" posted by JUDITH MAGAZINE

They gathered near the Knesset. High school girls in modest skirts, color-matched with running tights, yeshiva students sporting brand-name running shoes. Soldiers in uniform and start-up employees before the start of their workday. Individuals, friends, youngsters, and athletic adults, the experienced and those here for the first time, everyone wearing the same lime green dry-wear shirt. All waited for the announcement that would kick off the race.

The sky was blue and promising, the early morning air crisp and refreshing. A perfect day for the Jerusalem Marathon. The main event, 42.2 kilometers long, would take the runners through downtown Jerusalem and north all the way to Mt. Scopus. The race circuit snaked through the Old City’s Jaffa Gate and along the narrow alleyways of the Armenian Quarter. Out Zion Gate, around Mt. Zion, up a steep hill to the old train station, and through the German Colony. South to the Arnona neighborhood, back towards the city center, and down the home stretch to the finish line at Sacher Park.

Read the rest of the story on JUDITH MAGAZINE.

Israel at War with Iran

Israel lives in a hostile neighborhood and we do what we need to do to protect ourselves. I am not a supporter of our government, but let's put politics aside for the moment. And yes we want the war in Gaza to end immediately and all the hostages to come home, but right now we are focused on this.

Iran's nuclear program and its growing arsenal of ballistic missiles is an existential threat. It has lied to the world about uranium enrichment and whether it's conducting tests on nuclear weaponry. It has openly stated that it seeks Israel's destruction. Iran is the enemy not only of Israel, but of the United States as well.

We are under attack. Drones with explosives are heading our way at this very moment, and we can expect missiles to follow. We could not let this situation continue. We will protect ourselves even if we are doing this on our own.

Thank you to everyone who supports us in this mission - because you are supporting our very existence. We are strong, we will make it through this, but your continued support will help us through this difficult time.

Photo by Aaron Ovadia on Unsplash

"Last Will and Testament" - short story

We are writing to you on behalf of our client, the Estate of Kevin Gladstone, who passed away on March 2, 2023. Please accept our condolences during this difficult time.

 A smile crossed Martin Gladstone’s face. The day had come. Kevin Gladstone, his uncle. The man was filthy rich. Or rather, had been filthy rich. No condolences were necessary. For Martin, this mail was the bearer of excellent news.

 A meeting with a probate lawyer acting on behalf of the estate has been scheduled in our offices. Your presence is requested as you may be named as a beneficiary or have a legitimate interest in the estate.

 

The estate. The family estate. Martin knew all about estates.

The letter was just a formality. He was familiar with its contents, knew what it would say in advance. He had been waiting for this moment. The Gladstone inheritance would soon be his.

Read the rest of the story at New English Review.

Review of ‘Autocorrect’ by Etgar Keret

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could fix everything that goes wrong in our life? In the title story of ‘Autocorrect’, Etgar Keret’s new collection, Yuvi wakes up on what he hopes will be an ‘extra special day’ - if the Chinese sign a deal with the company where he’s the CEO. His doorbell rings and it’s his father, hoping to travel together to their office. Yuvi says, “I’ll see you there,” but his father never makes it to the office. He is killed in a horrific traffic accident.

Yuvi’s alarm goes off and he wakes to find his father standing outside his door, offering to drive him to the office. In this Groundhog Day scenario, Yuvi has a chance to reverse the bad outcome of the previous day’s tragedy. But will his fortunes be better this time around?

‘Autocorrect’ is one of the 33 short, short stories in Autocorrect by Etgar Keret, translated by Jessica Cohen and Sondra Silverston (Riverhead Books, May 27, 2025). Readers familiar with Keret will be entertained by more examples of his creative imagination, while those meeting him for the first time will encounter his original humorous insights into Israeli culture and modern life, with a touch of science fiction thrown in for good measure.

Time travel, aliens, and alternative realities all make appearances in the stories, while others mirror our lives, showing imaginative reflections of Israel and Israelis. Each of the stories satisfies in its own unique way.

I had previously read many of the book’s stories in the original Hebrew, but translators Cohen and Silverston do an excellent job of showcasing Keret’s humor for English readers. No matter what the language, his stories leave one eager to start the next one. Here are brief descriptions of some of my favorites.

‘A World without Selfie Sticks’ - a life-changing reality show from another world.

'Point of No Return' - the thin line between real life and simulated real life.

'Genesis, Chapter 0' - beyond pain, and boredom, and fear, everything becomes light.

‘For the Woman Who Has Everything’ - for the reader who has read everything, something different.

The stories of Autocorrect are extremely short, but they’ll leave you wanting more. We’re sure to meet the boundless creativity and humor of Etgar Keret again very soon.

Etgar Keret was born in Tel Aviv in 1967. His books have been translated into 37 languages, and he has been published in the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, Le Monde and other periodicals. Keret has written a number of screenplays; “Jellyfish”, his first film as director alongside his wife Shira Geffen, won the Caméra d’Or prize for best first feature at Cannes in 2007. Keret has received the Chevalier Medallion of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2010); the Charles Bronfman Prize (2016); and the Sapir Prize for Literature (2018). His short story collection Fly Away won the 2019 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction.

Jessica Cohen is a British-Israeli-American literary translator who shared the 2017 International Booker Prize with author David Grossman for her translation of A Horse Walks into a Bar.

Sondra Silverston is a native New Yorker who has lived in Israel since 1970. She has trans­lat­ed works of Etgar Keret, Ayelet Gun­dar-Goshen, Zeruya Shalev, and Savy­on Liebrecht. Her trans­la­tion of Amos Oz’s Between Friends won the 2013 Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award for fic­tion.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

"I was enchanted by the stories"

Rakiya - Stories of Bulgaria by Ellis Shuman is a collection of cultural short stories set in Bulgaria. In these short stories we follow such characters as pickpocketing Roma, a WWII veteran, refugees, authors, makers of rakiya, and hunters - all while learning about the rich history of the area.

As someone who knows little about the Bulgarian culture or the history, I was enchanted by the stories. I was also intrigued by the foods, drinks, mountains, and churches. By the time I was finished with the collection, I wondered if a trip to Bulgaria might be in order!

As an author, I was fascinated with how the author weaved these tales into a cohesive whole - and loved how a character from one story would inevitably end up in another. Despite being a series of short stories, it reads far more like a novel, with Bulgaria as the main character. It's a great read.

Review by Teri M. Brown

Sips and Stories: A Journey Through Bulgaria’s Rich Culture

If you've ever been curious about lesser-known corners of the world, this episode of the Online for Authors podcast is your perfect invitation. In an engaging and insightful interview, author Ellis Shuman takes listeners on a journey through his collection of short stories, Rakiya: Stories of Bulgaria—and into the soul of a country often overlooked on the traveler's map.

The full article and the podcast episode are on the Online for Authors website.

"Quills in the Dark" - non-fiction

I sensed it before Max did. A rustling in the bushes. A snap of a twig. A muffled crackling sound. Max lifted his head, assumed his full-alert, ready-to-attack mode, and strained at his leash. A final movement, and then it burst into the open. A porcupine, determined to escape after encountering Max and me in the dark.

It was five in the morning, our forest path lit by the waning moon and a scatter of the night’s last stars. I was leading Max on his pre-dawn walk, necessitated by my having to leave shortly to catch the first train to my job in Tel Aviv. Max had already done his ‘business’ and we were on the return journey, back to the streetlights of civilization leading to my home in our small community outside Jerusalem. And then the porcupine came into view.

With the erect quills on its back, the animal was as tall as Max, a mid-size mixed-breed dog. We see porcupines nearly every morning. Add that to the jackals and wild boars we meet from time to time, a bounty of wildlife in the forested hills near my home rarely seen in daylight. I may be crazy for walking my dog in the pitch-black hours, but these unexpected encounters in nature fascinate me. And they thrill Max as well.

I know to stay clear of porcupines; they can attack when threatened. Several months ago, a man in northern Israel nearly lost his life after being stabbed in his arms and legs with 41 quills. Porcupines are Israel’s largest rodent and use their quills in defense. They don’t actually shoot them, I’ve learned, but it’s best to stay as far away as possible.

There’s another reason the presence of porcupines irks me. I recently planted a small vegetable patch in my backyard, and had already harvested cucumbers, with tomatoes soon to follow. At summer’s end, I was excited to plant my first lettuce seedlings, but overnight, they were eaten down to their tiny stems. Basel and flowers also lost their leaves, and I assumed nocturnal porcupines were the culprits responsible for the damage.

Today’s porcupine ran off into the brush, sending Max into a frenzy of barking as I tightened my grip on his leash. Before I knew it, the creature had vanished into the dense thicket of hillside undergrowth as if it had never been. Max and I continued our walk, with him sniffing for traces of the animal’s scent and occasionally lifting his leg to mark his territory.

More rustling near the path. This time Max saw the porcupine before me. He struggled to break loose from his leash, to run down the creature just as he chases the stray cats on our street. Within seconds, it was gone, following the trail of its partner. Max calmed down, and we headed for home.

Twenty minutes later, I finished my breakfast and filled Max’s water bowl. He had enough food to get through the day, and I patted his head before locking the front door behind me. My wife would care for him until I returned from work, but her walks with the dog would be in bright daylight.

I got into my car and started the motor for the drive to the train station. I adjusted the mirror and began to pull out of my parking spot when a dash of movement caught my eye.

A lone porcupine darted in front of the car, disappearing into the bushes on the far side of the street. Too bad I didn’t have my phone ready to snap a picture of the wayward animal. No worries. Max and I were bound to meet more porcupines on our next pre-dawn walk.

Originally published in The Loch Raven Review.

"Things That Start With Butter" - short story

“Buttermilk.”

“Butterfly.”

“Butternut.”

“Bread and butter!”

“But that’s butter at the end.”

“What if I eat the butter first?”

“How can you eat the butter first on a piece of bread?”

“By licking it off!”

It’s a word game we play, one of the many ways I keep Kira occupied when her mother is gone. I love spending time with my granddaughter. She’s beautiful, and it’s not just me who says that. Kira has a keen mind and is wise beyond her seven years. She’s a lot of fun!

“Buttercup.”

“Butterlicious!”

“Now you’re making words up.”

“Grandma, you do that too, sometimes.”

“I would never…”

“What about that time you tried to convince me that Ant Warp was a place.”

“Antwerp! It’s a city in Belgium.”

“Have you been to Belgium?”

“No.”

“So, how can you know for sure?”

I laugh, push up the blonde bangs from her forehead. Her face is so pretty. Brown eyes and thin lips. Dimples you could die for. She gets them from her mom.

“When’s she coming back?”

I look at my phone. “Soon. She has some errands to run.”

“Oof, always errands. Maybe I’m an errand she should run!”

“You’re not an errand,” I say, stroking her shoulder. “You’re the reason she runs her errands.”

“Do you think she’ll buy me that magical unicorn?”

“It’s not your birthday yet. That’s in two months.”

“Two months is a long time.”

“It’ll be here before you know it.”

“We’ve been here a long time. When can we go home?”

My phone rings, a loud ring. My daughter insisted on a loud ring because I’m hard of hearing. I’m not, I argued, although I knew what she said was true. Partially.

“I’m running late, Mom. There’s traffic, and I didn’t get to the drugstore yet.”

“Kira is getting impatient.”

“Why don’t you play one of those word games with her?”

“That’s what we’ve been doing.”

“Is that Mommy? Let me talk to her!”

I hand Kira my phone, lean back in my chair and smile. My lovely granddaughter. Kira talks with her mother, an exaggerated pleading for her to finish her errands and come back as soon as possible. The conversation ends and Kira returns the phone.

“She said she’ll buy me a Snickers bar.”

“Okay. So, what do you want to play next?”

“I don’t want to play. I want to go home.”

“I know,” I say. I can’t promise her that, or anything, for that matter. I look up at the infusion bag, making sure the drip continues at its slow, steady pace. “As soon as the doctors say you can go home…” I don’t finish the sentence.

“Oof! Always the doctors!”

She looks sour for a minute, eases back on her hospital bed, as if she’s trying to get as far away from her disease as possible, but then her face lights up.

“Butterscotch!” she announces triumphantly, and we both giggle.

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Originally published in Emerge Literary Journal.