The steampunk drama continues with Rivkah Raven’s mixed media midrashim! Download the chapters Vayishlach and Vayeshev to follow Cora’s journey.
Not familiar with Steampunk Torah? Start from the beginning by clicking here.
Chapter 32: Vayishlach (And He Sent)
Cora had not been aware of her surroundings for – who knew how long? Time did not pass here as it did beyond the barrier, but as a human soul in a human body, a certain type of inherent time always existed. The need to eat, the need to sleep, the space during which actions took place, one breath to another – time in the Lost Kingdom was of an internal nature, rather than being marked by external changes of season or aging. Yet in the catacomb, she was in a space that was truly timeless. It had become just her and the manuscript she was reading- the book of her life. She did not feel hunger; she hung in a space between waking and sleeping that was trance-like. She was no longer aware of Cora, of the being that she was – she had almost become the ink on the page. The reading of her life had become more consuming to her, more immediate, than her life itself.
Chapter 33: Vayeshev (And He Dwelt)
“My name. Is Raven.” Cora stopped reading, and wiped her eyes. She reached up and rubbed her throat; it was suddenly swollen-feeling, tight, aching. Tears had come with no warning. “Raven,” she said it aloud, her voice oddly muffled in the catacomb beneath the Lost Kingdom. She straightened, then giggled as she lifted the hem of her petticoat and wiped her nose- how often had she scolded Jac for not carrying a handkerchief, for wiping her nose on her garments? Her eyes wandered back to the large book. She was reading something now that was definitely not her life – never had been. What was it, and where was it happening? This woman, who was called Mari in the book – why did she name herself Raven? Why did it awaken such a painful ache in Cora’s heart? was Zimri doing, alive and in that room full of books? Somehow, Jac was involved. Cora shivered, suddenly cold in the silent cavern below the Lost Kingdom. She stood, bracing herself with one hand against the sandy, hard-packed dirt walls as she felt a wave of dizziness. She stamped her feet, flexed her knees a few times and felt the painful tingling of life coming back.