It was the last day of summer. Already Yael could feel a hint
of cool air rising through the dawn. It had been a hard
summer. Sholmo's father had been sick and the war had kept
their trips short and their hearts heavy. And of course,
Yitzy had driven her crazy throughout the endless
vacation.
She had tried to convince herself that he wasn't
intentionally making her days miserable, but it seemed like
he really knew how to push every button she had. And he
relentlessly pushed them, starting from the moment that he
woke up; he only seemed satisfied once she was pushed
over the edge of her patience. And this seemed to happen more
and more often as the summer days lazily swam into each
other.
They were all hot, cranky and bored. Had other summers been
like this? Yael couldn't remember now. All she knew was that
she had been praying for this summer to end. Each afternoon,
after the children tired of the activities that she had so
painstakingly planned for the day, she would stare at the
clock, begging it to go just a little faster. She yearned for
nightfall. She waited for that moment when she could pull
down the shades, and find refuge from the burning heat of the
sun. She ached for that first moment of quiet each evening
when she could finally pause in her role as Entertainer for
the Day.
And each morning she woke with a languid sense of dread. She
knew Yitzy would spoil everything again. So far, Yitzy had
spoiled every activity she had planned. He would start a
fight as soon as the paints were set up. He would grab
another child's clay when she planned a sculpture project.
He would ruin a trip to the grocery by throwing a tantrum
when it came time to pick out the ices. And he would sabotage
their trips to the park by throwing sand at the other
children.
When had this begun? Yael didn't know. And she realized that
she was afraid of her five-year-old. She felt like she was
walking on eggshells with him, always bracing herself for a
struggle with him. During the year it didn't seem as bad as
this because he was in school most of the day. But now Yael
felt like she couldn't go on for another day.
The other seven children weren't so easy to deal with either,
but at least she felt she could reason with them. They
didn't seem to strive to drive her crazy the way Yitzy did.
For this last day, she had planned a hike in the forest with
the children. Usually she would do this kind of activity with
Shlomo, but he needed to be with his father in the hospital
today. And since it was the last day of summer, Yael thought
that she would be able to handle all of the myriad demands
and stresses for one more day.
She had been waiting for this day for months. Tomorrow the
children would return to school. Their new knapsacks stood
beside their beds, packed to the brim with notebooks and
school supplies. Their outfits hung in the closets, freshly
washed and ironed. And as they all began to walk down the
forest trail, Yael found herself beginning to relax. The
children seemed to calm down amid the soft rustle of the
leaves beneath their feet and the peaceful swaying of the
green branches above them. Even Yitzy seemed to be happy for
once as he collected sticks along the path.
Faige was the one who saw the wounded bird first. She was
walking at the front of the group and as they rounded the
bend, Yael heard her gasp in surprise. It was a baby bird
struggling to get up despite its broken wing. For some
reason, that broken wing pierced Yael's heart. But it was
Yitzy who sprung into action as they all watched in a
spellbound circle.
He cradled the bird in his arms and began to feed it bits of
cracker from his snack bag. He poured water into the cap of
his water bottle and in the softest voice Yael had ever heard
him use, coaxed the baby bird to drink. Yael sat beside him
in silence. A sliver of sunlight slipped through the canopy
of trees and made a circle of light around them. Yael was
shocked to see that there was a stray tear winding its way
down Yitzy's cheek. He wiped it away quickly with his free
hand, but not before Yael noticed it.
She sat there on the last day of summer and saw her son for
the first time. And for just a wisp of a moment, she wished
that the summer would never end.
