Week 3 Story: The Golem

She had no name. This didn't really matter, she got along perfectly fine without one. It was easy enough to tell when the Rabbi was talking to her by the way he spoke. The other people had no trouble talking about her with out a name to use. After all, she was the only golem they had ever met.

She really didn't need a name, but sometimes she thought it might be nice to have one.

The Rabbi might give her one if she asked. He had never been unkind to her, for all that he knew she wasn't a real person. He had created her, all those weeks ago, so she didn't see why he should have a problem with giving her a name. But she couldn't ask for one. She had been created to follow instructions, not have conversations, and she hadn't worked out how to speak at all.

She really didn't mind doing chores for the Rabbi, but she preferred the times when he was gone and the neighborhood children would come by. They didn't seem to mind that she wasn't a real person. They would smile and wave and make faces at her, and, she found, they were always delighted when she waved and made faces back.

One day the children asked her to come outside and play with them. She had never done this before, but they sounded so eager for her to join them that she decided to climb out the window and walk with them through the streets.

When the children said they were cold and asked for a fire, the golem didn't hesitate to build one. She tended the Rabbi's fire every Sabbath, so it was no trouble for her to do the same for her new friends. The children pulled her with them into dancing around the fire, all laughing and singing together.

Seeing how happy the fire had made them, the golem decided to add more fuel and build it up even bigger. But then it did something the Rabbi's fire never had. It spread, burning the houses around it.

The children screamed and ran away. The golem was going to follow them, but she heard a noise from inside of one of the houses that was burning. It sounded like a child screaming.

The golem easily broke down the door to the house. Inside, a small boy was hiding under a table, too terrified of the flames to run away. The golem went and pulled him out from under the table. She had nearly led him out the door when one of her legs gave out and she collapsed.

                                        

Looking down, the golem saw that her leg had caught fire and burned away. It didn't hurt, as she had not been built to feel pain, but the fire was spreading quickly to the rest of her body. Using the last of her strength, she pushed the child out the door, and watched him run away from the blaze her body burned away, leaving nothing but a piece of paper with the name of God written on it.

Author's Note: This story is based on The Rabbi's Bogey-Man. the original story is focused more on the Rabbi, and tells of how he decided to make this golem, and then another one that turned against him and had to be destroyed.

Image Information: Staring Eyes Brown Clay Golem Fx Makeup