Services

Saturday morning Marc woke up and went to shul. He’s been skipping it lately. Not thrilled with the congregation. But he walked in and all was well.  All the usuals were there.  In some ways when Ringling Brothers closed the circus, they moved it to his congregation.  Actually, they were there long before the circus closed.  Alana sat in the women’s section in her black skirt.

Marc was deep into his siddur.  He was thinking about the last few weeks.  They were not great.  The battles with Anat were getting to him. But he knew he had to keep people safe from her wrath.

The Torah reading completed. Marc got the third aliyah and made the appropriate donation.  Services concluded. He went downstairs to hear kiddish and quickly departed. Alana hung around.

He went home, ate and went to the park with his Star Wars and Incredible Hulk comics and Foreign Affairs.

Kids were running through the sprinkler. All was well.  Then he heard screams.  He figured a kid fell off the slidin’ pond.  He didn’t even take his eyes away from his book. The screams got louder and were from multiple voices.

He looked around. Much to his dismay, he saw flying raisins, apricots, and prunes.  Why? He muttered to himself.  He knew Anat would strike again. But why attack innocent people enjoying a quiet Saturday afternoon.

Marc put his books in his Yankees tote bag and made a mad dash from his table.  He saw his nemesis out of the corner of his eye.  He reached back and pomegranates started to fly and take out the dried fruit.  At first, Anat didn’t notice him. She just seemed bewildered when the raisins missed the targets. Then a huge piece of barely coated in honey slapped her right in the face.

She went nuts.  She saw Marc and charged after him.  Marc was on his own. Alana was nowhere to be found. But he wasn’t worried. The two volleyed back and forth with their weapons. Then Marc jumped over a bench and kicked her in the stomach. She went down. He unloaded honey all over her.  He refused to let up. He was screaming at her. He said he understood if she went after him, Alana and Jennifer. But why couldn’t she leave everyone else alone?  She laid on the ground in deafening silence.