A Room of Their Own by Rakefet Yarden (best summer reads of all time .TXT) 📕

the same memory in me too? Will you two just wake up already?’ Then my mom apologized to us. Can you believe it?”

Dani sounded astonished. She’d gone out of her way to protect me, her sister, and herself. That alone was worth all of the stress of the last few days.

“Are we still meeting at the ranch on Thursday? My parents also want to come. Tal will join, too, and she’ll make a whole lotta noise, knowing her, so I hope that the meeting won’t be too embarrassing. Is that okay with you?” Dani was worried for me, as usual.

A pleasant evening breeze at a ranch sprawling with green pastures, a rare form of generous nature this close to the city. A few animals and a few kids, teenagers and adults. Patients and volunteers. You can’t tell them apart, nor is anyone trying to do so. This wasn’t my first time there that week, but it was the first time that I saw Dani there. She came to meet me with Ronnie, a big grin on her face. She wore dark riding pants, a helmet and a long-sleeved shirt with the ranch’s logo on it. She had a badge with her name and the word “Staff” above it. She seemed as though she’d been there forever.

“Yes, Shiri,” she said with a soft and confident voice to the girl who’d just asked if she could take Evelyn out to the grounds. “I’ll come help you with her in a minute. She’s a little tense today.”

Dani

I went over for a minute to help Shiri with Evelyn, and left Rotem with Ronnie. From afar I could see that Dad, Mom, and Tal had already arrived and joined them, as well as another woman whom I didn’t know. What’s going on? I started to feel my heart pounding and my muscles tensing up.

“So, where’s the surprise you told me about?” I asked Mom. She gestured to Tal, who then took off her backpack, took out a package wrapped in colorful paper and gave it to Dad, who then gave it to me in a ceremonial manner, a smile of pride and relief on his face.

I carefully peeled off the wrapping paper and pulled out a sign on which was written “Secrets of the Heart.”

Mom then said, “The name was decided by me, Dad, and Tal, and the family therapy through animals was planned by Ronnie, Rotem, and Re’ut from the Department of Social Work. We realized that it was time to change departments. We’ve transferred research grants from the family fund for prevention of myocardial infarction. The rest awaits you, the ranch employees, to carry everything out.” She gave me a tight hug. “Now you can do what you love, and what you’re best at,” she whispered in my ear.

Rotem’s eyes glistened. She’d become a real crybaby recently. My eyes did, too, and I’m pretty sure I saw a few tears welling up in Billy and Robbie’s eyes as well.

“We also have a little something for you.” Ronnie smiled and handed me a horseshoe-shaped keychain with a single key on it. “Can we go to the room? They’re waiting for us for the staff meeting.”

My face was already bright red. “All these presents . . . This is too much. You’d think it was my birthday.”

 

Give Me a Reason to Believe that the Sadness Has an End

The ranch’s therapy room − spacious and filled with soft colors. Long wooden shelves of natural pine all along the cream-colored walls. An array of miniature animals, fairies, people, children, and fences, all organized in tidy rows. Two sand boxes − one dry and the other wet − were on the laminated floor. A few beanbags in pistachio and peach colors spread around. The room was entirely quiet and joyful.

Tomer held a screwdriver in his hand. “Show me where you want the sign,” he said.

Dani took the screwdriver from him and started to hang up the sign, a bright, decisive smile on her face. She took a few steps back. “A little to the left and down a bit,” Aviv told her. “Hand me another screw, please,” Dani said.

“So you even know how to use a screwdriver,” Tomer said, looking impressed. Aviv handed her a few festive glasses and a bottle of wine for her to place on the meeting room’s table. Liora was cutting up vegetables and slicing bread, and Shahar was making coffee for everyone while talking about a recent training session. They looked like a family of smiling dolphins enveloping Dani with affection.

Ronnie tapped on a glass full of sparkling wine. “Attention, everyone! We’re starting. We have a lot of guests today. We’d like to thank our donors, who have joined us here for the handing out of grants through the ‘Secrets of the Heart’ program − Arieh, Dalia, and Tal Freedman, Dani’s family, as well as ours. Their donation will enable affordable treatment for survivors of incest. We also have Rotem here today, a friend of the family’s, and Re’ut, the Head of the Department for Field Studies at Tel Aviv University. The students among you already know her. We will be working closely with Re’ut this year on a pilot program that will be expanded, and she’s going to explain all about it in a minute. But first of all, let’s hear from our donors.”

Ronnie smiled at Tal, who cleared her throat before speaking. “We wanted to thank you . . .” Tal stopped for a moment, then continued in a trembling voice. “Thank you for the unique work that you do here, and for the amazing place you’ve built for everyone . . .” Her eyes filled with tears, and she put her hands together and bowed her head down slightly. Dani smiled at her from across the room, and their Mom put her hand on her shoulder.

A Butterfly with Transparent Wings

So everyone was there. Mom, Dad, Tal, Rotem, Ronnie, and everyone in the ranch who had befriended me.