of friends as I sat at a darkened corner table, thoughtfully sipping my tea. They seemed so happy to see one another, I tried to feel their excitement, or to find some joy in their happiness, but, I could not find it within me. Once upon a time it would have come naturally for me, but, I am no longer the girl I used to be.
I listened to their laughter, witnessed their beaming smiles, studied their body language and my mind began drifting back to another place and time.

I was a young girl, the adults around me spoke of the drums of war pounding around us, but, I didn't pay it too much attention, my focus was on playing with my best friend's, Levi, Rachel, Mary and Samuel. We did everything together, laughed, pulled pranks, Levi even once pretended to be blind and earned enough money from sympathetic passersbys to buy all of us a sweet from the local market. And then there was Mary, she could sing so sweet the birds were envious, and Rachel she cared about everyone and everything, she took home every stray animal she found in the alley's of Jerusalem, Levi, he was the renegade, he shook his fist at all authority, knew the world of G-D and could quote it better than most Rabbi's and then there was me, I was the one who loved to laugh and find beauty where it was hard to find.

I was snapped from my thoughts by the jovial laughter of the three friends, and wiped away a stray tear from my eye. I wish the reunion was the five of us instead, but, it was not meant to be...the Ptolemies and Ceasar's saw to that.

I finished my tea and decided I needed fresh air, and a lot less memories.