The man with the scar looked at the little boy’s father
who shook his head, not wanting the man to tell Yoel. The man
sat down next to the boy and his father.
My name is Eliyahu, and my scar doesn’t matter. What matters
is that I was very brave when I got it and you are going to have
to be brave as well.
Yoel felt the train slowing down and he heard people shouting
outside the carriage. The voices sounded like they belonged to
men, and they weren’t very calming. He couldn’t understand
what they were saying, he thought it must’ve been different
language.
Pa, where are we? And what are they shouting about
outside?, Yoel asked his father.
Saul had spoken to Eliyahu, who knew what was going on and
where they were going, while Yoel had been asleep. He
couldn’t tell his little son the truth. He would be frightened to
death. Saul knew that he had to make something up.
Yoel, do you remember what the man with the scar
told you?
Yes papa, he said I had to be as brave as he had been when he
got the scar.
That’s right, my smart little boy. The second you go
outside this train, a competition starts. The competition about
who’s the bravest person in the world… The shouting men
made all the trains passengers line up next to the train. They
wore brown uniforms and red and white armbands with a
black sign that he hadn’t seen before
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