The Calling

"Dina, what about you; what do you want to do with the rest of your life?"

"I'm not sure; a soldier was all I ever wanted to be. I wanted to defend Israel from her enemies; those people that want to blow us off the face of the earth. But now, my superiors have determined that I am no longer fit for service."

"Dina, maybe there is another way for you to be of service to Israel. Come, let's go inside."

"I'm not asking you to give up your religion; I just want you to be at peace with yourself. Come."

Taking her hand in his, he led her along the path towards the church. As they walked he could feel the tremors emanating from her body to his, faint but still present. He knew his work was not yet done.

They walked up the middle aisle of the small church and sat in a pew near the center of the room. Peter pointed to the domed ceiling and the inscriptions that appeared in each of the eight sides of the dome.

"Those are the eight beatitudes that Jesus preached to the crowds here in this general area.

God, through Moses, gave the Jewish people the Ten Commandments. They were mostly the "do not's" to make oneself a good person. God, through Jesus, gave us these eight beatitudes as "do's" in order to be deserving of an afterlife in heaven."

He then explained the meaning of each and how they each built on the others.

Peter focused on the next-to-last of the panels: "'Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called children of God.' Dina, peace makers not only live peaceful lives, but they also try to bring peace and friendship to others."

They sat in silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts.

Finally Dina stood and extended her hand to Peter. "Come, let's go home; I've got to make supper for us."

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Their meal was a simple affair, eaten mostly in silence; each of them unsure of where their relationship was heading, and each unsure about what to do next. After cleaning up, Peter said that he had some reading to do and called it a night. Dina also wanted to turn in early, but for a different reason entirely.

When he finished his reading, Peter put the book on the nightstand, shut the light, and stared at the ceiling, with visions of Dina filling his mind and his heart. Soon he lost the battle against sleep and his thoughts became dreams.

Dina, on the other hand, spent the time doing something she hadn't done in a very long time: preparing herself to be with a man. She wanted to enter his room dressed in something lacey and entirely feminine, but she discovered that she didn't own anything like that. Deciding against just a plain t-shirt, she left her room dressed only in a pair of panties and a hint of perfume behind her ears.

When she reached his door, she hesitated only for a moment, and then opened the door slowly, hoping not to wake him. Silently she crossed the room, as she had been trained to do; only her instructors never had this in mind. She stood over him, watching as he slept, his breathing shallow and regular. Pulling back the covers, she dropped her panties and crawled into bed next to him.

Whether he felt the bed move or just sensed that he wasn't alone, Peter's eyes sprang open. He would have fallen off the other side of the bed had Dina not slung her arm over his body and caught him.

"Dina, what are you -" was all he could get out of his mouth before she covered it with her lips.

When she broke their embrace she said, "I decided I didn't want to be alone anymore and neither should you."

"Dina, I've never...

"I know; don't worry, I'll teach you.

She turned onto her side, took one of his hands, and placed it upon her left breast. He needed no instruction as he kneaded the solid flesh amazed at its warmth and firmness. He could feel the hardness of her erect nipple trying to push itself through the soft flesh of his palm.

While he was occupied with her breast, Dina reached down and pulled his boxers down over his knees. As Peter slipped his legs out of his shorts, Dina's hand sought him out. She was not surprised to discover that he was already hard and pleasantly surprised that he appeared to be as large if not larger than any of her former lovers.

Not wishing to wait another moment, she threw her leg over his body and, in one sensuous movement captured him inside of her.

"Oh! Dina..." Suddenly he fell into a trance once again, and just for a moment experienced scenes from her torture once again. It ended just as quickly as it began and soon he was experiencing sensations he had never felt before.

"Oh, Dina. I love you."

"And I love you too, Peter. And this is only the beginning."

She grabbed his hands and held them above his head as she rubbed her breasts over his face and offered each of her nipples for him to suckle. Overwhelmed, Peter didn't last too long. Soon he shuddered and erupted inside of her.

They made love three more times that night, each more intensely than the other, until they collapsed into each other's arms. Dina rolled them over until she was on the bottom with Peter safely held in her arms, his head resting on her chest.

Peter woke up with the sun the next morning, still safely in her arms. Feeling nature's call, he began to maneuver himself off of her chest when he stopped short. Her skin was soft and smooth and free of all the scars of the wounds she suffered during her capture.

"Dina, Wake up. Wake up. Your scars; they're gone. Almost all of them are gone."

She got up and looked in the mirror. It was true, all the knife cuts and the cigarette burns were gone. Even the long scar on her cheek was gone. Only the scars of the few wounds she had gotten in the firefight remained.

"Oh Peter, thank you! Thank you, I love you so much. You're such a beautiful person."

"Don't thank me, thank God. I'm just His servant. I only wish I could make you completely whole again by getting rid of those last couple of scars."

"Those scars I can live with. Those are the scars of a warrior, from wounds received in the line of duty."

Epilogue:

After seeing his latest tour group safely through airport security, David headed for home. When he walked through the door he hoped and prayed that he would find that his little girl was returned to him. What he didn't expect was being practically bowled over by Dina as she bear- hugged him off his feet, twirling around until he thought he would be sick.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry for all the worry I caused you. Can you forgive me?"

As his eyes filled with tears, David kissed her forehead and whispered, "Only if you'll forgive me as well." Turning his head to Peter he mouthed the words 'thank you'.

"Dina, why don't you open that bottle of wine and bring some glasses while I talk with your Father."

When she had left the room, Peter turned to David. "A lot has changed here while you were gone."

"I can see that; I can't tell you how much I appreciate all you've done for her."

"David, you have no idea. But I want to spare you the details right now. All I can tell you is that in the last week I have fallen in love with your daughter, and unbelievably she has fallen in love with me. David, what I'm trying to say is that we would like your permission and blessings to get married."

"Are you really sure? You'll be giving up so much."

"Perhaps, but I'll be getting so much more. A beautiful and loving wife and a family who cares for each other, something I no longer have."

"That being the case then, yes! I give you my blessings."

Just then Dina returned with the bottle of wine and three glasses.

David poured the wine and lifting his glass proposed a toast.

"To Peter and Dina: L'chaim! May all your days be filled with love, life, and laughter."

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Over time Peter completed a two-year course of study required to become a licensed tour guide, in addition to studying Hebrew and Arabic, the official languages of Israel. When he could he joined David on his tours. David introduced him as his son-in-law, a Jewish Seminarian; or, in other words, a work in progress.

Peter endeared himself to the tour groups. At each stop, he would jump off the bus and offer everyone a helping hand to exit the bus. No one ever seemed to notice that afterwards David would gather the group around him, giving them information about whatever they were going to see, thus allowing Peter time to lean against the side of the bus in order to recover. By the end of the tour everyone was far happier than when they arrived.

Occasionally, someone would ask who the beautiful, athletic woman was who joined Peter, David, and their bus driver for dinner, and breakfast the following morning.

Peter would always reply, "That beautiful woman is my wife, David's daughter. She knows that I can't stand being apart from her for more than a day or two."

THE END

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