Shifra held the piece of metal in her palm. Should she press a button? Would something happen? Maybe nothing would… Shifra’s pointer finger hovered over the purple button. With a swift jab, Shifra pressed.

At once the world was clouded in purple. Shifra felt herself zipping through time, faster and faster. She closed her eyes. What was happening? What…?

With a sudden thump Shifra felt ground beneath her. Jarred from her fall and her breath coming out in short gasps, Shifra sat on the ground for a moment longer before opening her eyes. She squinted, the bright sun blinding her. Where was she?

For one thing, there was sand surrounding her. And it was hot, very hot. Was she in a desert? It was so quiet. No birds chirping, nothing. The sound of silence was ringing in her ears. I may as well get up and see where I am, she said to herself.

After walking around for a minute, Shifra noticed a girl walking in her direction. The girl was dressed in some sort of old fashioned dress. She was wearing dusty sandals and was holding a small straw basket.

“Hi!” the girl said cheerfully. “I’m Efrat. Who are you?”

“Uh, I’m Shifra,” Shifra replied.

Efrat looked like a nice girl. She had jet black hair pulled into a long braid that was going down her back and a light sprinkling of freckles across her nose. And- oh! Efrat had a deep gash running across her arm. Shifra winced and looked away.

Efrat noticed Shifra’s reaction. “Oh, this?” she said, motioning to her arm, “well, what can I do? That’s life.”

Shifra didn’t understand Efrat’s strange statement. Getting sores and scrapes was a part of life, but…

“Where are you from?” Efrat asked. Without waiting for an answer she said- “you’re so lucky that you share a name with such an important person.”

“Who?” Shifra wanted to know. And then, remembering the most important thing, asked “where am I?”

Efrat stared at Shifra. “What do you mean? We’re in Goshen!”

Shifra stared back, her thoughts racing. Goshen? She was in Goshen? In Egypt?!?

To be continued…