Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 52 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Dov’s former home was rather close to the cemetery, and when they filed out silently, Chevy looked at her sisters. “You’re coming back to me now, like we made up, right?” she asked. “Till we manage to all get together…” With two of the sisters living in Elad, and two in Bnei Brak—but each at different ends of the city—they didn’t often have a chance to get together with each other.

“Sure,” Simi replied, with the responsibility of the oldest sister. “Did you think we’d leave you with that mess after the siyum and everything?”

Chevy shook her head. “Not because of that!” She glanced at her father, standing on the side and talking with two of his sons-in-law. That boy with the heavy American accent was standing with them, too. As Chevy watched, Penina’s husband Zevi gave the boy his phone, despite the large device peeking out from the latter’s pants pocket. The boy took the phone and moved a few steps away.

“I don’t know how much longer my neighbor can watch my kids,” Yael hedged. “I told her it would take some time, because you asked us to come over afterward. But…is this going to take a long time, Chevy?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 51 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

They arrived at Chevy’s home, where the siyum and yahrtzeit seudah would be held. It was actually Dov’s house, but his daughter Chevy was living there for now, until her own apartment would be ready. It was the natural place for them to hold the event.

Dov and Martin had been engaged in conversation about possible study tracks for Martin, and they did not stop talking even as they called for the elevator, or when it stopped in front of the open door of the apartment on the third floor. Dov only fell silent when he saw Chevy and Yael in the entryway.

“Abba, welcome!” Chevy greeted her father. “We’ve been waiting for you.” She glanced beyond his shoulder, as if to make sure that no one—other than the unfamiliar boy trailing her father—had come with him. 

“How are you, girls?” he asked, putting the brimming bag he was carrying into Chevy’s arms. “Here are the bourekas, and cabbage salad, if I’m not mistaken. Come in, Martin. I’m right behind you.” He pointed to the dining room, and made sure that Martin had gone in, before turning to his daughters. “How are you doing?”

“Baruch Hashem.” Chevy leaned against the wall.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 50 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

This time, the conversation between Michoel and Dr. Jerry did not take place in the regular office. The doctor took him out to the lawns, to a quiet corner that Michoel had not known existed until today. The truth was, he didn’t know much about anything that was going on in this place. There was too much that he didn’t know, and he wondered if it would even be right to bring Yosef here. He was not the type who bought every word he was told, even if the principles of the method sounded interesting. He’d always been suspicious.

The doctor sat on a wooden bench, folded his right leg and rested it on his left one. He took out a cigarette from an unfamiliar brand and lit up. “How are you acclimating, Michoel?”

“Thank G-d. But I want to recover and return to my country.”

“Israel.”

“Yes.”

“Is someone waiting for you at home?”

“At home, no. But I have extended family members who are very devoted to me.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 49 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“Get him away from here! Fast! Fast!”

Hinda paused at the beginning of the short hallway. The response was so uncharacteristic of Yosef, and it was certainly not in sync with the brooding and withdrawn state that he had been in these past two days. She glanced behind her, to the entry hall. Dov was just ushering Martin in; the boy had come down for supper and probably also for a conversation about his plans. Yosef had gotten out of bed just then, and come out to the kitchen for a drink.

Dov and Martin turned around together, as if synchronized. Yosef was standing there, his eyes ablaze.

“It’s you, from Michoel’s house in Yerushalayim!” he nearly screamed. “You came here another time already, I know! You came to Haifa to follow me, and now you came again!”

Hinda walked over to her son, not yet sure what she was going to say. But before she could respond, Martin beat her to it.

“You’re right,” he said. “And I’m sorry for scaring you. But I had no intention of following you. It was only because I was looking for a way to speak to your father and mother about Michoel Perl.”

“Who did you want to speak to?” Yosef demanded.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 48 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Dov and Hinda left the room. “He’s talking sensibly,” Dov said. “At least, in my opinion. It’s not an unusual response for someone who experienced a trauma from the death of someone he was close to. Or even relatively close to.”

Hinda nodded. “Right.” She leaned on the wall, and instinctively, Dov offered her the cup of water he was still holding. But once again, the cup remained in his hand, untaken. Hinda slowly walked over to the couch and sat down. She looked at the painting of the swans on the pond that Mali had drawn when she was thirteen, but didn’t really see anything.

“According to the dry criteria, there is not supposed to be a connection between schizophrenia and depression,” she said hollowly. “But I feel like, in this field, everything is connected, and everything is sensitive. He once began falling into a depression, and just about got out of it. And now again…?” She took a deep breath, and this time, she did take the cup of water that Dov was offering.

“First of all, I think that right now you don’t need to panic about this,” her husband said. He kept glancing at the door to the room, which was ajar. “At this point, it’s not depression. It’s normal grief.”

“For someone he knew for two days?”

“We don’t know what this person did for him. Sometimes the shortest encounter can be very deep.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 47 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“Mali!” Chani stood at the open door, gaping at her sister in such shock that Mali started laughing.

“What’s the matter, Chani? Aren’t you going to let me in?”

“Of course I’ll let you in!” Chani moved aside, and Mali stepped into the tiny hallway of the apartment. Immediately, she dashed right over to little Bracha’s cradle.

“I haven’t seen her in so long!” she exclaimed as she picked Bracha up. The baby burst into wails of protest.

“Hey!” Mali pretended to be offended—or perhaps it was genuine. “Are you crying because your aunt picked you up?!”

“If her aunt would come by a little more often, she would recognize her and wouldn’t cry when you pick her up,” Chani said as she patted Mali’s shoulder and took her baby with the other hand. “So, maybe you can clue me in on why we have the privilege of a visit? I don’t think you’ve been here since Bracha was three weeks old.”

“We had a photography project at the National Park,” Mali said, stroking her niece’s cheek. Bracha was now studying her with big eyes. “I decided that if’ I’m so close to Bnei Brak already, why shouldn’t I pop in for a visit?”

“Great!” Chani smiled and walked over to the counter. “So tell me, how are you doing?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 46 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Dr. Jerry Skulholt’s office was designed with clean lines, and was rather empty—in line with Michoel Perl’s taste. The wooden chairs were simple and straight, and actually pretty comfortable. The square desk was perfectly matched to the closet, and together, they blended in with the large window frame that took up most of the western wall. Perl felt a strong urge to examine the room more closely, but he knew that it was not a good idea. He was sitting and waiting for the doctor to come in; in the meantime, out of boredom, he studied the three square, framed pictures on the wall opposite him.

Someone closed the door.  Michoel turned around. “You are Dr. Skulholt?” His arched eyebrows almost knitted together when he saw the man who, in the early days of his stay, had called him “Dad.”

“Yes, I’m Dr. Jerry Skulholt. Pleasure to meet you.” The man smiled and shook Michoel’s hand. Then He turned to the closet, opened the top door, and with slow movements—Perl did not know if it was deliberate or not—he took out a large purple binder. Michoel despised the color.

The man sat down on the other side of the desk. “I’m happy to see that you feel better, so that we can really get to know each other,” he said as he pulled a gold pen out of his pocket.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 45 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

In the morning, Michoel felt much stronger than he had in the past few days. Almost all the products that Rob, the male nurse, had bought him last night bore familiar American hechsherim, and that confirmed his conclusions regarding which country he was in.

The good meal was having the right effect, baruch Hashem. He washed his hands and stood up to daven, happy to see that he was able to remember most of the davening by heart. He felt bad that he hadn’t remembered to put on tefillin for a few days—and that he had no idea where they were. But he would demand from the staff again to get his belongings. And if they were not here—maybe he really had come here following a serious trauma—he would ask them to get ahold of tefillin for him somehow. Maybe from the other guy who kept kosher.

He passed the nurses’ station and went down to the director’s room. The door was locked again, and this time, no knocking or turning the handle got it to open. He studied the door, from the floor to the top of the doorpost, and went back up to the ward. This time he stopped at the nurses’ station.

“Yes, sir?” a dark-skinned nurse asked sweetly.

“I’d like to speak to the people in charge here,” he said. “Where is Skulholt now?”

“Do you mean the director or the CEO?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 44 of a new online serial novel, Outside the Bubble, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Hinda served a late lunch of bread, cheese omelets, and tomato salad that had been left from last night’s supper. Dov and Martin ate in the dining room, and Hinda, feeling that she didn’t have a drop of energy left to converse with Simi and give her explanations, sent Dov to Simi’s room to do the explaining. She could always serve Simi a meal later on. At worst, Simi would just order pizza or falafel; she and her husband certainly seemed to have experience doing that.

After Dov returned to the dining room, she didn’t even remember to ask him what Simi had said. She joined him there, in the chair near the window, and studied the Canadian boy who was digging in as though he hadn’t eaten in a good few hours.

“First of all, I think I need to call Shimon Weisskopf and milk him for more information. You said that he was his regular driver,” she said.

“Yeah. Good idea,” Martin said, his mouth full of food.

“Then maybe we’ll call those people from Mexico. I think they were the last ones to have contact with Michoel.”

“You had contact with him very recently,” Dov interjected. “He spoke to you the day before yesterday, or yesterday, didn’t he?”

“Yes, that’s true. So at least we know he’s alive. But he sounded strange,” she said fretfully. “I think we need to go even further back, to the beginning. Before he disappeared.”