Post by Elixir on Feb 29, 2008 0:35:15 GMT -5
It was around 10 PM when Sara got back to the school with the golem in tow and had to confront the difficult problem of what exactly to do with her new creature. Being that the golem was six feet tall, had a bear's body, a ferocious lion's head, and large bat-like wings she could hardly take him up to her room and introduce him to Leah as their new roommate. She also could not stash him the room that had been assigned to her. She had thought she could just order him to stand in a corner of the maze or in a courtyard for the night but soon realized that would not work for two reasons. Firstly, nobody would know who he was and seeing him would be enough to terrify her schoolmates possibly causing them to attack him. Secondly, he was not behaving much like a golem.
In Jewish tradition a golem is a mindless creature. It obeys the commands of its maker unconditionally and does nothing else. Yet on the way back to the school from the woods the golem had not seemed mindless and emotionless. When an owl hooted in the distance he cringed and dropped to all fours, with a plaintiff, frightened look on his face. He whimpered at a rustling in the trees. He acted like a scared child. When she got too far ahead of him on the path he cried and she had to go back for him. Then he clung to her tightly, until she yelped out in pain. So by the time they got back to the school it was pretty clear that she couldn't just leave him out in a courtyard overnight. Had she tried to do so he probably would have bawled his eyes out. Like it or nor she was tethered to her new furry friend.
Thus, Sara had decided to find him a place to stay, when another unexpected complication threw a wrench into her plans. The golem started making a low pitched growling sound. The sound did not come from his mouth but from his stomach. His stomach was unmistakenly rumbling. Hearing his stomach rumble reminded her that she was hungry too. Yet it also perplexed her. A golem is a man of dust and as such is not a real person like you and me. Indeed, in her mind she had a hard time thinking of him as "he" instead thinking of him as "it." Not being a real person a golem does not need to eat. It never gets hungry. Yet here was her golem having a rumbling stomach and giving her an expectant look that clearly meant "feed me." Alright, she would try to feed it. She had one major problem though. What would a golem eat?
It was with that problem on her mind that she entered the kitchen with the golem close on her heels. As she looked around she could see a few scraps of mac and cheese and a couple hot dogs sitting on a couple of dirty dishes that somehow had been overlooked after clean up from the dinner she had missed while out in the woods. Hesitantly she picked up one of the hot dogs and held it out to the golem. He looked down at it, then to her face, then back at it, and to her face again, but made no move to take it. Sara stood there confused, wondering whether this meant that golems did not eat hot dogs.
"Think about this logically" she said under her breath. "It's a lion, well really a bear with a lion's head. It's going to be a carnivore....right?" she said, asking nobody in particular. She thought for a bit longer. "Perhaps," she said to herself, "it's just afraid." With that she took a small bite of hot dog to show the golem it was edible, and then held out the rest. He still did not take it. So she tentatively stepped closer towards him until she was practically right in front of him and held the hot dog out right under his nose. With that the golem leaned forward and bit it right out of her hand, causing her to jerk backwards for fear of losing a finger.
After the golem finished off the first hot dog in one bite he looked at her again and cried. She then gave him the other hot dog, which he gobbled up just as quickly. When that was gone she scrapped the left over mac and cheese together and gave him that. Then she opened the refrigerator and looked to see what else she could feed him. She did not find much. So she opened the freezer and there was the answer. It would probably get her in trouble with Ms. Frost but she was probably already in a world of trouble for making the golem in the first place. What she had found were three frozen chickens. To feed a giant golem she would need to cook at least two of them. So she took out two of the chickens, cranked the oven up as high as it would go, got a couple pans, and put the chickens in.
Once the chickens were in, she found a bucket under the sink, rinsed it out, and then filled it with water and gave it the golem. He lapped the water up quickly so she had to refill the bucket. Then he began to cry as his stomach continued to rumble. Yet there was little else she could feed him. The chickens would take a good hour to cook. Thus, she needed to find a way to distract him.
"What have I done?" she thought to herself. I've made a monster and now it's going to eat me," she thought as she began to panic. As her fears grew larger and larger she started to breathe heavily and then hyperventilate, her fear agitating the golem who began to cry harder and shiver. Realizing that she was upsetting him, she tried to pull herself together. She needed a happy golem if she was going to surive this, she thought. So to calm the golem down and keep him occupied while the chickens cooked she sang a little Yiddish lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was a small child.
She sang softly: "Shlof mayn kind, mayn treyst mayn shaner. Shlof-zhe zunenyu. Shlof, mayn lebn, mayn kadish eyner." As the golem started to calm slightly she reached her arm out and put it around him she continued. "Shlof-zhe lyu, lyu, lyu" gently rocking him with each lyu. Then she sang it again, "Shlof, mayn lebn, mayn kadish eyner. Shlof-zhe lyu, lyu, lyu," before beginning the next verse. "Bay dayn vigl zitst dayn mame, Zingt a lid un veynt. Du vest amol farshteyn mistame, Vos si hot gemeynt." Then she finished the lullaby with the refrain of "Shlof, mayn lebn, mayn kadish eyner. Shlof-zhe lyu, lyu, lyu. Shlof-zhe lyu, lyu, lyu." Amazingly it worked as they both lay on the floor with thegolem docile, not quite asleep in her arms. To maintain this calm she then went through every lullaby she knew and then repeated them until the chickens were finally ready.
Once the chickens were finished she took them out of the oven, did her best to cut them up, took a few slices for herself, and then gave the rest to the golem who devoured them. Once the golem had eaten the chicken she gave him another bucket of water and decided it was time to find a place for him to sleep for the night. Before leading him from the kitchen she scrounged around until she fould a pencil and paper and left a note for Ms. Frost:
Dear Ms. Frost,
This is Sara. I don't really know where to begin so I'll just come out and say it. I was upset and scared so I went into the woods to be alone and while out there I made a sculpture of a big creature to protect me...a golem. In Jewish tradition they are dust men who follow their creator's instructions and protect the community. Well, I didn't really expect it to be anything more than a sculpture although I guess I secretly hoped it would be. Well, I got really upset and I wound up crying on the sculpture and it came alive. It was hungry so I had to feed it. I gave it some chicken. It seems like a little child who thinks I'm it's mother and it cries if I try to leave. I'm going to have to stay with it for the night. So I'm taking it to the stables so we can sleep. It's 6 feet tall, has a lion's head, a bear's body, and large bat-like wings. It won't hurt anybody. It's terrifed of owls and rustles in the tree. I swear, it's like a big baby. Anway, we're in the stable.
- Sara
Once the message was finished she used a magnet to tack it the refrigerator then started to leave, gesturing to the golem to follow. He followed her readily and they left the kitchen heading for the stable where they would spend the night.
In Jewish tradition a golem is a mindless creature. It obeys the commands of its maker unconditionally and does nothing else. Yet on the way back to the school from the woods the golem had not seemed mindless and emotionless. When an owl hooted in the distance he cringed and dropped to all fours, with a plaintiff, frightened look on his face. He whimpered at a rustling in the trees. He acted like a scared child. When she got too far ahead of him on the path he cried and she had to go back for him. Then he clung to her tightly, until she yelped out in pain. So by the time they got back to the school it was pretty clear that she couldn't just leave him out in a courtyard overnight. Had she tried to do so he probably would have bawled his eyes out. Like it or nor she was tethered to her new furry friend.
Thus, Sara had decided to find him a place to stay, when another unexpected complication threw a wrench into her plans. The golem started making a low pitched growling sound. The sound did not come from his mouth but from his stomach. His stomach was unmistakenly rumbling. Hearing his stomach rumble reminded her that she was hungry too. Yet it also perplexed her. A golem is a man of dust and as such is not a real person like you and me. Indeed, in her mind she had a hard time thinking of him as "he" instead thinking of him as "it." Not being a real person a golem does not need to eat. It never gets hungry. Yet here was her golem having a rumbling stomach and giving her an expectant look that clearly meant "feed me." Alright, she would try to feed it. She had one major problem though. What would a golem eat?
It was with that problem on her mind that she entered the kitchen with the golem close on her heels. As she looked around she could see a few scraps of mac and cheese and a couple hot dogs sitting on a couple of dirty dishes that somehow had been overlooked after clean up from the dinner she had missed while out in the woods. Hesitantly she picked up one of the hot dogs and held it out to the golem. He looked down at it, then to her face, then back at it, and to her face again, but made no move to take it. Sara stood there confused, wondering whether this meant that golems did not eat hot dogs.
"Think about this logically" she said under her breath. "It's a lion, well really a bear with a lion's head. It's going to be a carnivore....right?" she said, asking nobody in particular. She thought for a bit longer. "Perhaps," she said to herself, "it's just afraid." With that she took a small bite of hot dog to show the golem it was edible, and then held out the rest. He still did not take it. So she tentatively stepped closer towards him until she was practically right in front of him and held the hot dog out right under his nose. With that the golem leaned forward and bit it right out of her hand, causing her to jerk backwards for fear of losing a finger.
After the golem finished off the first hot dog in one bite he looked at her again and cried. She then gave him the other hot dog, which he gobbled up just as quickly. When that was gone she scrapped the left over mac and cheese together and gave him that. Then she opened the refrigerator and looked to see what else she could feed him. She did not find much. So she opened the freezer and there was the answer. It would probably get her in trouble with Ms. Frost but she was probably already in a world of trouble for making the golem in the first place. What she had found were three frozen chickens. To feed a giant golem she would need to cook at least two of them. So she took out two of the chickens, cranked the oven up as high as it would go, got a couple pans, and put the chickens in.
Once the chickens were in, she found a bucket under the sink, rinsed it out, and then filled it with water and gave it the golem. He lapped the water up quickly so she had to refill the bucket. Then he began to cry as his stomach continued to rumble. Yet there was little else she could feed him. The chickens would take a good hour to cook. Thus, she needed to find a way to distract him.
"What have I done?" she thought to herself. I've made a monster and now it's going to eat me," she thought as she began to panic. As her fears grew larger and larger she started to breathe heavily and then hyperventilate, her fear agitating the golem who began to cry harder and shiver. Realizing that she was upsetting him, she tried to pull herself together. She needed a happy golem if she was going to surive this, she thought. So to calm the golem down and keep him occupied while the chickens cooked she sang a little Yiddish lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was a small child.
She sang softly: "Shlof mayn kind, mayn treyst mayn shaner. Shlof-zhe zunenyu. Shlof, mayn lebn, mayn kadish eyner." As the golem started to calm slightly she reached her arm out and put it around him she continued. "Shlof-zhe lyu, lyu, lyu" gently rocking him with each lyu. Then she sang it again, "Shlof, mayn lebn, mayn kadish eyner. Shlof-zhe lyu, lyu, lyu," before beginning the next verse. "Bay dayn vigl zitst dayn mame, Zingt a lid un veynt. Du vest amol farshteyn mistame, Vos si hot gemeynt." Then she finished the lullaby with the refrain of "Shlof, mayn lebn, mayn kadish eyner. Shlof-zhe lyu, lyu, lyu. Shlof-zhe lyu, lyu, lyu." Amazingly it worked as they both lay on the floor with thegolem docile, not quite asleep in her arms. To maintain this calm she then went through every lullaby she knew and then repeated them until the chickens were finally ready.
Once the chickens were finished she took them out of the oven, did her best to cut them up, took a few slices for herself, and then gave the rest to the golem who devoured them. Once the golem had eaten the chicken she gave him another bucket of water and decided it was time to find a place for him to sleep for the night. Before leading him from the kitchen she scrounged around until she fould a pencil and paper and left a note for Ms. Frost:
Dear Ms. Frost,
This is Sara. I don't really know where to begin so I'll just come out and say it. I was upset and scared so I went into the woods to be alone and while out there I made a sculpture of a big creature to protect me...a golem. In Jewish tradition they are dust men who follow their creator's instructions and protect the community. Well, I didn't really expect it to be anything more than a sculpture although I guess I secretly hoped it would be. Well, I got really upset and I wound up crying on the sculpture and it came alive. It was hungry so I had to feed it. I gave it some chicken. It seems like a little child who thinks I'm it's mother and it cries if I try to leave. I'm going to have to stay with it for the night. So I'm taking it to the stables so we can sleep. It's 6 feet tall, has a lion's head, a bear's body, and large bat-like wings. It won't hurt anybody. It's terrifed of owls and rustles in the tree. I swear, it's like a big baby. Anway, we're in the stable.
- Sara
Once the message was finished she used a magnet to tack it the refrigerator then started to leave, gesturing to the golem to follow. He followed her readily and they left the kitchen heading for the stable where they would spend the night.
