accompanied by a wink, as if to say: Not much to say, everything is known to us. “Why did you want to meet, Michal?” The guide turned his face to her with a serious look on his face.
“I’ve lost my memory. Now the memory of a woman named Lynn is planted in me. I’m in Eilat without food or money and unable to return to my family.” She looked at Joe and began to smile at the sight of his face. “What am I doing in Eilat? Why am I here?”
Raz’el paused for a moment. He looked around the group, stared at Raul, then Dave, and back to Michal. “You have a mission. Perhaps your life’s mission. Joe and the girls are unrelated. We had to hide you for a while.”
“What?” Michal whispered, staring at him in tears.
“Again. Like years ago...” He bit his lip and went silent for a moment, then said in a firm voice, “Let it go. You’ll be fine. You’ll have food. You’ll get a job. You’ll find shelter. You’ll find within yourself the challenge for which you were sent. I have appointed you some supervisors. They’ll keep you from harm and make sure you’re focused on the mission. And don’t forget, Michal... you signed off on all of these challenges. This is the step up you have requested. You have my guarantee. It will be fine. Dave and Raul have their own missions. Let them be.”
She looked at him and said nothing. As always, his smile and his words reassured her. But this time, a little spark of doubt awoke in her. The spark was immediately extinguished. Raz’el was always right. She recalled the last time she had been in the Crystal Circle, about thirteen years earlier. She then stood before an important decision in her life – whether or not to get married - and was perplexed. “This is a crucial decision in life,” she’d said back then. “In this life,” the guide corrected, “and even out there, you can always pick another husband.” She remembered how Joe stood up then, before they decided to marry, and came to sit beside her.
“You forget, my beauty,” said Joe, and the smile on his face broadened so that his two dimples deepened further, “that we decided I would challenge you by hardening your path in this world. It will be challenging for you to make independent decisions, you know. You have the ability to overcome it. You wanted to prove to us and especially to yourself -”
“And then I’ll challenge you to fight your need to constantly control your environment... so that you will have to let go of controlling us in order to discover others... the real person inside us,” Michal recalled.
“So, you see? But for that to happen, we must cooperate and so -”
“We decided we would marry,” they both said at the same time and smiled. They embraced. Raz’el then explained that facing the difficulties of her life in the shadow of her strict and depressed parents, who also admirably withstood the challenge of loss, was a success. Therefore, it was time to step up for the next challenge: Joe. Michal shook off the memory as the guide began speaking again .
He addressed all of the members of the Circle with a ceremonious tone, reserved for goodbyes: “Now remember, look carefully into the eyes of the group. We don’t know when the next meeting will occur. Not that time holds any meaning, but now, carve in your heart’s memory, each of you, deep within your soul the love and sacrifice that each member of the Crystal Circle is willing to give for the sake of anyone else in the group. Remember that love is the glue. And now let us repeat the rules of the Crystal Circle...”
Michal said, “Yes, yes, remember now, forget later. And... no real time has even passed. Can we run along now?” The guide rolled with laughter. He threw his head back so that his slightly silvery hair glistened in the light of the hall, or was it the moonlight? It was hard to tell. He rolled up his golden cloak off his shoulder and put both hands on her shoulders. She felt a tingling along her
“I’ve lost my memory. Now the memory of a woman named Lynn is planted in me. I’m in Eilat without food or money and unable to return to my family.” She looked at Joe and began to smile at the sight of his face. “What am I doing in Eilat? Why am I here?”
Raz’el paused for a moment. He looked around the group, stared at Raul, then Dave, and back to Michal. “You have a mission. Perhaps your life’s mission. Joe and the girls are unrelated. We had to hide you for a while.”
“What?” Michal whispered, staring at him in tears.
“Again. Like years ago...” He bit his lip and went silent for a moment, then said in a firm voice, “Let it go. You’ll be fine. You’ll have food. You’ll get a job. You’ll find shelter. You’ll find within yourself the challenge for which you were sent. I have appointed you some supervisors. They’ll keep you from harm and make sure you’re focused on the mission. And don’t forget, Michal... you signed off on all of these challenges. This is the step up you have requested. You have my guarantee. It will be fine. Dave and Raul have their own missions. Let them be.”
She looked at him and said nothing. As always, his smile and his words reassured her. But this time, a little spark of doubt awoke in her. The spark was immediately extinguished. Raz’el was always right. She recalled the last time she had been in the Crystal Circle, about thirteen years earlier. She then stood before an important decision in her life – whether or not to get married - and was perplexed. “This is a crucial decision in life,” she’d said back then. “In this life,” the guide corrected, “and even out there, you can always pick another husband.” She remembered how Joe stood up then, before they decided to marry, and came to sit beside her.
“You forget, my beauty,” said Joe, and the smile on his face broadened so that his two dimples deepened further, “that we decided I would challenge you by hardening your path in this world. It will be challenging for you to make independent decisions, you know. You have the ability to overcome it. You wanted to prove to us and especially to yourself -”
“And then I’ll challenge you to fight your need to constantly control your environment... so that you will have to let go of controlling us in order to discover others... the real person inside us,” Michal recalled.
“So, you see? But for that to happen, we must cooperate and so -”
“We decided we would marry,” they both said at the same time and smiled. They embraced. Raz’el then explained that facing the difficulties of her life in the shadow of her strict and depressed parents, who also admirably withstood the challenge of loss, was a success. Therefore, it was time to step up for the next challenge: Joe. Michal shook off the memory as the guide began speaking again .
He addressed all of the members of the Circle with a ceremonious tone, reserved for goodbyes: “Now remember, look carefully into the eyes of the group. We don’t know when the next meeting will occur. Not that time holds any meaning, but now, carve in your heart’s memory, each of you, deep within your soul the love and sacrifice that each member of the Crystal Circle is willing to give for the sake of anyone else in the group. Remember that love is the glue. And now let us repeat the rules of the Crystal Circle...”
Michal said, “Yes, yes, remember now, forget later. And... no real time has even passed. Can we run along now?” The guide rolled with laughter. He threw his head back so that his slightly silvery hair glistened in the light of the hall, or was it the moonlight? It was hard to tell. He rolled up his golden cloak off his shoulder and put both hands on her shoulders. She felt a tingling along her
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