Read Online A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee's Guide to Saving the World by Rachel Cantor - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rachel Cantor
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distances, but Leonard didnât think Marco knew he was speaking with the future. And for some reason, this Isaac guy was concerned that Marco not share that secret; for some reason, he thought the secret would be dangerous in the wrong hands.
The phone bleated.
I tell you, yes, is a mystery, Isaac said.
Who are you, Leonard said, and why me?
Who am I? I am Isaac, son of the RaBaD. Rabbi Abraham ben David of Posquières, mebbe you know him?
I donât know any rabbis.
Of course not. I am known by some as Isaac the Blind. That is because Iâm blind.
I get it. Please stop imitating my grandfatherâitâs very upsetting.
Your attention is all over the place, this is understandable, but I need you to listen. This is how I do that. Besides, I have to choose some way to talk. You like Marcoâs accent? English but Italianate? I work very hard on this translation.
You knew my grandfather, is that how you imitate him?
I knew your grandfather well: he was my pupil in Narbonne. At that time he was known as Azriel.
Was that in the Old Country? Leonard asked. I only knew him as Bertie.
Azriel was a good man, very smart, and powerful, but not always so wise.
Hey! Donât you say anything bad about my grandfather!
You understand nothing, boychik, but you have the potential to understand much. This is why I choose you. This, and I have no choice.
Choose me for what?
To talk with Marco, for just one example.
Why me? Why did I have to talk to Marco? Why didnât you do it?
Think, boychik! What do you offer Marco?
I donât know.
Think!
I was his friend.
Yes!
I was his friend.
And what do friends do?
They, uh, talk.
And what did you do?
Uh, I listened.
Exactly!
You couldnât do that?
I have talk with so many people, I appeal to their spiritual nature. Rumi, to take just one example of which I am proud. I became Shams, his great friend; I convince him to share his secrets through poetry no one understand, except those who understand. But I couldnât be Marcoâs friend, could I? He doesnât have a spiritual nature. The best I can do with Marco is a little still, small voice, a little Rustichello â¦
You were Rusty?
I do a little ibbur. You know what this is?
Metempsychosis: your soul enters a living person so it can perfect itself â¦
Isaac snorted.
â¦Â or help a person perfect his.
This is what I do.
Leonard thought about this a moment.
So this Marco, Isaac continued, he is a good but shallow egg, thinking only about fame and material things of the world. But you, Leonard, you can be his friend. There are other reasons, of course; this you will understand later, mebbe.
I need you to go now.
I call you back, Isaac said.
I wonât pick up. I know when youâre calling.
I find other ways. This is your destiny, Lenny, you have no choice.
Leonard hung up. Only his grandfather called him Lenny, only his grandfather could call him that.
A test
When the phone bleated the next night, Leonard ignored it. The complaints had stopped, and just as well, for Leonard was in turmoil. The White Room, usually so comforting, now made him angry. He didnât like being confused, he didnât want to be in silenceâhe didnât like it! It had to be that some rabbi who knew his grandfather also knew whoever was pretending to be Marco, a thirteenth-century explorer, and somehow this person had maneuvered him, Leonard, into saying things to the fake Marco so that he, Leonard, would feel later like heâd contributed to the writings of a dead man, while he was still alive, as if that were possible, but why?
But no! Leonard suddenly understood! It was a test!Only a parastatal corporation like Neetsa Pizza had the resources with which to construct such an elaborate Scenario! They had his Life Portfolio, probably theyâd recovered sound reels of Grandfatherâs voice from the neighborhood webcam, but why? To see whether Leonard followed NP
The phone bleated.
I tell you, yes, is a mystery, Isaac said.
Who are you, Leonard said, and why me?
Who am I? I am Isaac, son of the RaBaD. Rabbi Abraham ben David of Posquières, mebbe you know him?
I donât know any rabbis.
Of course not. I am known by some as Isaac the Blind. That is because Iâm blind.
I get it. Please stop imitating my grandfatherâitâs very upsetting.
Your attention is all over the place, this is understandable, but I need you to listen. This is how I do that. Besides, I have to choose some way to talk. You like Marcoâs accent? English but Italianate? I work very hard on this translation.
You knew my grandfather, is that how you imitate him?
I knew your grandfather well: he was my pupil in Narbonne. At that time he was known as Azriel.
Was that in the Old Country? Leonard asked. I only knew him as Bertie.
Azriel was a good man, very smart, and powerful, but not always so wise.
Hey! Donât you say anything bad about my grandfather!
You understand nothing, boychik, but you have the potential to understand much. This is why I choose you. This, and I have no choice.
Choose me for what?
To talk with Marco, for just one example.
Why me? Why did I have to talk to Marco? Why didnât you do it?
Think, boychik! What do you offer Marco?
I donât know.
Think!
I was his friend.
Yes!
I was his friend.
And what do friends do?
They, uh, talk.
And what did you do?
Uh, I listened.
Exactly!
You couldnât do that?
I have talk with so many people, I appeal to their spiritual nature. Rumi, to take just one example of which I am proud. I became Shams, his great friend; I convince him to share his secrets through poetry no one understand, except those who understand. But I couldnât be Marcoâs friend, could I? He doesnât have a spiritual nature. The best I can do with Marco is a little still, small voice, a little Rustichello â¦
You were Rusty?
I do a little ibbur. You know what this is?
Metempsychosis: your soul enters a living person so it can perfect itself â¦
Isaac snorted.
â¦Â or help a person perfect his.
This is what I do.
Leonard thought about this a moment.
So this Marco, Isaac continued, he is a good but shallow egg, thinking only about fame and material things of the world. But you, Leonard, you can be his friend. There are other reasons, of course; this you will understand later, mebbe.
I need you to go now.
I call you back, Isaac said.
I wonât pick up. I know when youâre calling.
I find other ways. This is your destiny, Lenny, you have no choice.
Leonard hung up. Only his grandfather called him Lenny, only his grandfather could call him that.
A test
When the phone bleated the next night, Leonard ignored it. The complaints had stopped, and just as well, for Leonard was in turmoil. The White Room, usually so comforting, now made him angry. He didnât like being confused, he didnât want to be in silenceâhe didnât like it! It had to be that some rabbi who knew his grandfather also knew whoever was pretending to be Marco, a thirteenth-century explorer, and somehow this person had maneuvered him, Leonard, into saying things to the fake Marco so that he, Leonard, would feel later like heâd contributed to the writings of a dead man, while he was still alive, as if that were possible, but why?
But no! Leonard suddenly understood! It was a test!Only a parastatal corporation like Neetsa Pizza had the resources with which to construct such an elaborate Scenario! They had his Life Portfolio, probably theyâd recovered sound reels of Grandfatherâs voice from the neighborhood webcam, but why? To see whether Leonard followed NP
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