Dov teaching Freyja how to be gentle, fourth chapter extract
Freyja stood beside Dov before the bathroom’s broad counter-top, watching her companion’s reflection in the wide mirror set within the ornate cabinet. Dov finished preparing their toothbrushes, and offered one to Freyja.
‘Practice your cleaning lesson with Krista,’ Dov said. ‘Or you can copy me.’
Freyja nodded and began brushing her back teeth. Dov smiled, stroked her hair, and retuned his attention to the mirror to begin his own cleaning.
Freyja’s gaze darted between her reflection and Dov’s as she matched his movements. Freyja’s toothbrush changed sides, and the handle bowed as her grip tightened to mimic Dov’s visible pressure. A bristle cluster ploughed into Freyja’s gum and she winced with a muffled yelp. Freyja’s attention snapped back to her reflection, clutching the handle with both hands to keep the bristles away from her gums. Seconds of undistracted scrubbing passed. Freyja glanced back at Dov as he bent down to the sink. Freyja followed him, and they dispatched their toothpaste troth.
‘Almost done.’ Dov filled an old mug with tap water, drew a mouthful from the mug before offering it to Freyja. The companions rinsed out their mouths together, then Dov straightened and turned to Freyja. ‘Open your mouth, please.’
Freyja obeyed, tilting her head back as Dov stooped down. Dov cupped Freyja’s cheeks, leaning her head from side to side. His thumps guided her mouth closed and he smiled.
‘Trying to learn from me while practising Krista’s lesson?’ Dov’s hands drifted onto Freyja’s shoulders. ‘You are very clever. Please be careful with your strength, avoid hurting yourself.’
Freyja’s gaze fell to her boots. ‘Sorry, Dov.’
‘Mistakes are normal.’ Dov caressed her shoulders. ‘That could be our next lesson.’
Freyja looked up at Dov as his eyes swept across the vanity’s shelves. Dov retrieved a tri-blade razor from a plastic pack with Hebrew inscriptions, and a shaving foam canister labelled in English and Hebrew. Dov turned the items in his hands, then glanced at his reflection and shrugged.
‘There is problem?’ Freyja asked.
‘Not the best plan,’ Dov mumbled.
Freyja turned as the bathroom door creaked open. Krista stepped inside dressed in red glossy pyjamas, clutching a giant teddy bear to her chest.
‘Shalom and good morning,’ Krista cheered. ‘Sleep well?’
‘Yes,’ Freyja replied as Krista stood beside her. ‘Much rest.’
‘Mazel tov.’ Krista sat her bear on the countertop, facing her friends. ‘Karen asked for breakfast requests.’
‘I usually skip it.’ Dov placed his possessions beside the sink. ‘But if Freyja is hungry, we will have the same as you. With tea.’
‘I not hungry, thank you,’ Freyja said.
‘Okay, I’ll pass the message on.’ Krista retrieved her mobile from her pants’ pocket.
Freyja tilted her head and traced her fingers along Krista’s sleeve.
‘You like satin, Freyja?’ Krista asked, typing on her phone.
‘Soft and pretty,’ Freyja replied.
‘Maybe we can find some satin for you later.’ Krista glanced up from her screen, pointing to the sink. ‘What’s happening here?’
‘A lesson on being gentle.’ Dov began to fill the sink with warm water. ‘Freyja’s going to shave me.’
‘Wow.’ Krista rested her phone on her teddy’s lap. ‘All of you?’
Dov plucked a flannel from the shelf and plunged it into the sink with the razor. ‘Just my face, Krista.’
‘With razor?’ Freyja asked. ‘Razor, sharp?’
‘Very.’ Dov wrung out the flannel and soaked his stubble. ‘A little strength behind the razor will remove whiskers. Too much strength will also remove skin.’
‘No, please.’ Freyja’s hands whipped behind her back as a shudder swept through her. ‘I not hurt Dov.’
Dov turned to her and sighed, shaking the foam can. ‘Relax, Freyja. I will help–’
‘Better idea,’ Krista interrupted. ‘Dov kneels, Freyja holds my hands, I shave Dov, and no one is hurt. Is that okay, Freyja?’
‘Yes.’ Freyja replied as Dov knelt to the girls’ height. ‘Thank you, Krista.’
Dov filled his cupped hand with a large ball of shaving foam. ‘Good thinking, Krista. But don’t get too adventurous.’
Krista gave her friends a wide smile and scooped up some foam. ‘Any plans for today?’
‘The library and dictionaries,’ Dov said. ‘Freyja asked about dreams when we woke up. I want to give her a proper description, and teach her how to find the meanings and use of different words. So they don’t bother or hurt her.’
‘Interesting pillow talk.’ Krista drew a troth smiley-face on Dov’s left cheek, then smothered her art with thick foam. ‘Pol and Karen retrieved some furniture from storage yesterday afternoon. It’s next to the entrance stairs. Can you, sweet Dov, carry that to my room?’
Dov gave a slight nod as Krista began lathering his right cheek. ‘Freyja is moving in with you?’
‘Dah,’ Krista said. ‘We’re roomies.’
Freyja’s gaze darted between her friends. ‘I sleep in Krista’s room, not Dov’s room?’
Dov smiled and stroked Freyja’s arm. ‘Young girls often share bedrooms with other girls, not with men.’
‘Unless it’s a special occasion with nice wine.’ Krista gave Dov’s nose a white streak. ‘Dov might need a more thorough stubble hunt first.’
Dov suppressed his groan. ‘Freyja, you are welcome to visit my room, at any time for any reason. But staying in Krista’s room will be good for you.’
‘I’ll make your stay fun,’ Krista said. ‘Teach you lots great girl things.’
‘Will Dov have good rest alone?’ Freyja asked. ‘Will bad memories come to Dov, or me?’
Krista stroked Freyja with the back of her hand. ‘My teddy and I can guard you from nightmares. You will be okay with us. Dov is a tough Mister Commando; he will be okay too.’
‘What is your bear’s name?’ Dov asked.
Krista glanced at him then her teddy. ‘Gur.’
‘Sounds a guard dog; strong and protective.’ Dov patted Freyja’s shoulder. ‘No need for you to worry.’
Freyja glanced at her boots, then offered her friends a faint smile with a nod. ‘I stay in Krista’s room.’
‘Wunderbar!’ Krista cheered. ‘More good news. No school for me this week. Plenty of time to help my new housemates.’
‘Oh, joy,’ Dov muttered.
‘Quiet now.’ Krista plastered thick foam over Dov’s lips and chin. ‘Freyja, cover his neck and I’ll prepare the razor.’
Freyja collected the remaining shaving foam from Dov’s hand, and rubbed the soft paste over Dov’s throat. ‘Is okay, Dov?’
‘You’re fine,’ Dov whispered through the foam mound. ‘This will be a good memory.’
‘How’s the customer?’ Krista stepped in front of Dov with a gleaming razor in her cleaned hand. ‘Dov, hold the flannel below your neck. Freyja, hold my hand very carefully, no pressure on my fingers, and enjoy the show.’
An extract from a short story experiment, might get blended into a later chapter (Spoilers within)
Dov awoke as a light form shunted against his bedframe. He reached over to his writing desk and switched on the soft reading lamp. His gaze drifted down to discover a young blonde girl in an oversized Army shirt huddled beside his mattress. A faint whimper escaped from the girl as a shudder swept through her lithe figure. Dov climbed out from his covers, adjusting his t-shirt and track pants, and slipped onto the hardwood floor by the girl’s right side. He glanced at her arm as dark streaks creeped down her sleeve and the bandages beneath, then he tapped the gauze hem above her elbow.
‘Ah!’ The girl snapped upright, turning to face him. ‘I’m sorry, Dov. I tried not to wake you.’
‘Relax, Krista, I sleep light after a rough day,’ Dov replied. ‘Now, I’ve only been here a week, but is conducting midnight raids to pinch a new housemate’s top an Israeli tradition, or just for Karen’s villa?’
‘My shirt itched, and I was thirsty.’ Krista retrieved a dark glass bottle from her shadow. ‘I couldn’t go back to bed. Scared of waking Freyja, and sleeping.’
Dov tilted his head. ‘Karen asked me to teach Freyja all I know, although we haven’t covered snoring or being a grumpy roommate. Are bad dreams the issue?’
‘Dreams, mistakes, and pain.’ Krista sipped from her bottle. ‘They never leave.’
‘Only real anaesthetic can quieten your wound.’ Dov clasped Krista’s left hand, turning her bottle into the light. ‘Even vintage wine won’t help your arm.’
‘It can make me sleep without dreams,’ Krista replied. ‘I’ll wake up tomorrow, Freyja will think I’m okay, and no one will know how badly I screwed up.’
Dov sighed and released Krista’s hand. ‘That’s not an original plan or an effective one. Trust me.’
‘You didn’t have the right vintage,’ Krista said between sips.
‘Perhaps,’ Dov said. ‘Anyway, which of your mistakes warrants this?’
‘I scared you, which frightened Freyja,’ Krista replied. ‘That caused all my other mistakes, and the dream.’
‘How can a fourteen-year-old girl spook a veteran Commando?’ Dov asked.
‘Easy, even Freyja can do it.’ Krista gulped down a mouthful of her wine and shuddered. ‘When I found you two on the villa sundeck and I screamed, you heard someone else. Maybe from Afghanistan. Then the afternoon fell apart.’
‘I only heard you,’ Dov said. ‘The sundeck, clumsy turns in the stairwell, your flayed shoulder and ruined turtleneck, are my fault.’
Krista grunted. ‘You’re a hopeless liar.’
‘True,’ Dov said. ‘But why did you scream? There were a dozen-odd rockets in the air. Be’er Sheva’s Iron Dome knocked down the close ones. You were ten metres behind us, so you had a clear view of…Oh…That’s it.’
Krista whimpered as her shiver returned.
Dov continued, ‘You saw two new friends exposed to rocket salvos fired by the thugs who killed your brother.’
‘I should have realised you and Freyja were safe.’ Krista sniffed. ‘But I freaked out like a stupid child. Now everyone’s laughing at me, at all the harm I caused.’
Dov cupped his hand around Krista’s undamaged shoulder. ‘Anyone who laughs at you for today has no desire to continue breathing.’
Krista shook her head. ‘In the dream there is a mercenary in front of me. One of Karen’s. When I recognise their face, they change to another fighter. This happened again and again. All the fighters are smiling, laughing. I woke up when I remembered they’re dead.’
‘Was your brother among them?’ Dov asked as Krista took another sip of wine.
‘Not tonight.’ Krista wiped a stray tear from her nose. ‘Do you think Gur couldn’t look at me? Was he embarrassed by–?’
‘A devoted little sister who protects her friends before herself? No brother is that foolish.’ Dov gave Krista’s shoulder a light squeeze. ‘No warrior either. I think the fighters in your dream were cheering. They were proud. You handled the day’s chaos like a trooper.’
Krista glanced up at him. ‘Why couldn’t I see Gur?’
Dov shrugged. ‘He was an IDF soldier, not one of Karen’s mercenaries. Maybe his memory is hidden elsewhere, safe from harm. But I doubt he has any reason to be upset.’
‘Trying to cheer me up?’ Krista asked with a slight smile.
Dov copied her smile. ‘I’m hopeless at that too?’
Krista smirked as she slouched against Dov’s side, resting her wounded shoulder on his chest. ‘You’re pathetic.’
‘Yeah,’ Dov sighed. ‘So why not talk to your parents about the dream. Their room’s just another two doors down the hall.’
Krista swallowed a mouthful of wine. ‘Their little girl died with Gur.’
^Decided to add the short story’s opening for more context.
The only scene, so far, with Karen and Polanski talking
Karen tested the lock of final stairwell door on the first floor’s hallway, completing her security checks, and turned to a nearby bathroom. Polanski emerged from the doorway adjusting her old tracksuit, flicked off the bathroom lights, and strode towards Karen. The women greeted each other with a brief hug, then Karen motioned to the hall’s far end. A soft light within Krista’s room illuminated the darkened passageway.
‘I guess Freyja’s a night-owl,’ Polanski said as the pair set off. ‘Or Krista’s demanding more bedtime reading from Dov.’
‘Dov was right about her,’ Karen said. ‘I watched Freyja read her dictionary like a favourite novel.’
‘Yet how much did she understand,’ Polanski said. ‘Was that a show to impress Dov?’
‘Freyja would not lie, especially not to Dov.’ Karen placed a hand on Polanski’s back. ‘Dov is not one to lie, either. Though he did say an interesting half-truth.’
‘Your question on the stairs?’ Polanski asked. ‘Was that a test?’
‘If it was, he passed,’ Karen replied. ‘Curious Dov didn’t mention if Freyja’s attachment was reciprocated.’
‘Dov’s actions answer that question,’ Polanski said. ‘But this is new for him. Maybe there’s some uncertainty.’
‘Freyja’s new for everyone,’ Karen said. ‘What do you think about this?’
‘Like Dov, I’m still in shock.’ Polanski shrugged. ‘I thought the technology for Freyja was at least ten years away.’
‘Lander is a very clever doctor,’ Karen said.
‘Among other things.’ Polanski sighed. ‘Well done with keeping this a secret.’
‘You don’t approve?’ Karen caressed Polanski’s back. ‘You think this was a mistake?’
‘I understand the motives, maybe better than Dov.’ Polanski smirked. ‘And nothing about Freyja was a mistake, not even her exceptional assets.’
‘No complaints from Dov, so what harm was done?’ Karen asked with a faint smile.
‘Such chutzpah,’ Polanski replied. ‘We’re lucky Dov has considerable patience.’
‘One of many talents he will need.’ Karen motioned for silence, crept up to Krista’s room, and peered around the open doorframe.
Dov was seated in Krista’s reading chair placed beside the head of Freyja’s bed, with the hardback edition of illustrated Germanic tales open in his lap. Dov’s left hand marked his progress in a story while his right hand clasped the forearm of a sleeping Freyja, who’s own hand mimicked his hold. Dov looked up as the women tiptoed into the bedroom, then glanced over his shoulder to Krista’s bed.
‘A familiar touch, with a calming voice,’ Polanski whispered as she crouched beside Dov’s chair. ‘No surprise both girls are asleep with the lights on.’
‘I thought of leaving after Freyja dosed off,’ Dov whispered. ‘But she didn’t let go. I can’t risk waking her.’
‘So don’t.’ Karen navigated around the piles of language books and dictionaries clustered before the new draws, extracted a blanket from the wardrobe with practiced stealth, and gestured for Polanski to clear Dov’s lap. ‘Krista won’t complain about an extra roommate for tonight.’
‘I’m sure you have slept in less comfortable places.’ Polanski retrieved and closed Dov’s book, and ruffled his hair as she rose to her feet. ‘With far less pleasant company.’
Karen draped the blanket over Dov, tucking in the sides as if making a bed, then placed a light kiss on Dov’s cheek as Polanski switched off the bedroom lights. ‘Good night, dear Dov. Try not to snore.’
More will follow…I really need to get scribbling again…
This is just the latest one: