PastramiBY ETGAR KERETThe air-raid siren catches us on the highway, driving to Grandpa Yonatans place, a few kilometres north of Tel Aviv. My wife, hira, pulls over to the side of the road and we get out of the car, leaving the !adminton rackets and feathered !all on the !ack seat. "ev holds my hand and says, #$addy, %m a little nervous.& 'es seven, and seven is the age when its not considered cool to talk a!out fear, so the word #nervous& is used instead. (ollowing 'ome (ront )ommand instructions, hira liesdown on the side of the road. % tell "ev that he has to lie down, too. *ut he keeps standing there, his small, sweaty hand clutching mine.#"ie down already,& hira says, raising her voice to !e heard over the !laring siren.#'owd you like to play a game of +astrami andwich,& % ask "ev.#-hats that,& he asks, not letting go of my hand.#Mommy and % are slices of !read,& % e.plain, #and youre a slice of pastrami, and we have to make a pastrami sandwich as fast as we can. "ets go. (irst, you lie downon Mommy,& % say, and "ev lies down on hiras !ack and hugs her as hard as he can. % lie on top of them, pressing against the damp earth with my hands so as not to crush them.#This feels good,& "ev says and smiles.#*eing the pastrami is the !est,& hira says under him.#+astrami/& % yell.#+astrami/& my wife yells.#+astrami/& "ev yells, his voice shaky, either from e.citement or fear.#$addy,& "ev says, #look, there are ants crawling on Mommy.+astrami with ants/& % yell.#+astrami with ants/& my wife yells.#Yech/& "ev yells.And then we hear the !oom. "oud, !ut far away. -e stay lying one on top of the other, without moving, for a long time. My arms are starting to hurt from carrying my weight. (rom the corner of my eye, % can see other drivers whove !een lying on the highway get up and !rush the dirt off their clothes. % stand up, too.#"ie down,& "ev tells me, #lie down, $addy. Youre ruining the sandwich.&% lie down for another minute, and say, #0.1., games over. -e won.*ut its nice,& "ev says. #"ets stay like this a little more.&-e stay like that a few seconds longer. Mommy on the !ottom, $addy on the top, and in the middle, "ev and a few red ants. -hen we finally get up, "ev asks where the rocket is. % point in the direction the e.plosion came from. #%t sounded like it e.ploded not far from our house,& % say.#0of,& "ev says, disappointed, #now "ahav will pro!a!ly find a piece again. Yesterday, he came to school with a piece of iron from the last rocket, and it had thesym!ol of the company on it and the name in Ara!ic. -hy did it have to e.plode so far away,*etter far away than close !y,& hira says as she wipes sand and ants off her pants.#The !est would !e if it was far enough away so nothing happens to us, !ut close enough so % could pick up some pieces,& "ev sums up.#The !est would !e !adminton on Grandpas lawn,& % say, and open the door to the !ack seat of the car.#$addy,& "ev says as %m !uckling him in, #promise that if theres another siren, you and Mommy will play +astrami with me again.% promise,& % say, #and if it gets !oring, %ll teach you how to play Grilled )heese.Great/& "ev says, and a second later, he adds more seriously, #!ut what if there arent any more sirens ever,% think therell !e at least one or two more,& % reassure him.#And if not,& his mom adds from the front seat, #we can play it without the sirens, too.&Translated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverston.Etgar Kerets short story collection Suddenly a Knock at the Door was !ublished earlier this year. His story "reative #riting a!!eared in the maga$ine.