The Extra (33 page)

So I was right, she tells herself, when I told them all that I knew I could have a child but didn't want to. I was right, and the proof now pours through my body. Ima, Honi, where are you now and what time is it? Has Ima returned to Jerusalem, or is she still afraid to be alone and clinging to her son? And suddenly an uncontrollable weeping rises from deep within her. It cannot be that the mother who gave birth to me thinks I am lost. And the little old man sees the tears and trembling shoulders of the first harpist, half a century his junior, and he seems overcome with compassion, for he stands up, and with small, delicate steps, like those with which her father would amuse his wife at night, he floats to her and gently bows.

Haifa-Givatayim, 2012–2014

A. B. Y
EHOSHUA
is the author of numerous novels, including
Mr. Mani
,
Journey to the End of the Millennium
, and
A Woman in Jerusalem
. His work has been translated into twenty-eight languages and adapted for film and opera. He has received the Israel Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Prix Médicis Étranger, among many other awards and prizes. He lives in Tel Aviv.