"Look, I'm fine," former hostage Sasha Troufanov said to his mother upon being reunited with her after he left Gaza. "Here, I'm fine," he repeated to his grandmother, his partner and his sister. Cut. The camera documenting these precious moments zooms out. Maybe someone remembered that privacy comes first.
And my imagination continues to film: "Look, I'm fine, on my legs. On both of them. You must have heard that I was shot, on both of them, but I'm fine. Here, I'm walking. And smiling."
"But I'm fine, really. Touch my back, it's intact. My stomach too. It's clear I've lost weight. They put me on a starvation diet. Is there food? Look, Mom, I'm fine, 100%, 1,000 % except for my legs, not a single bone is broken. And what's in my heart and on my internal hard drive, no one will see."
Right now, Netflix's senior scriptwriters are sitting at their keyboards, searching for a happy ending to the Hamas Holocaust. For 500 days now, they have been writing, rewriting, and updating the reality series that refuses to end.
"So hug me, Mom. A big, deep hug. Like when I was a child. Like when I was a baby. Give me a pinch, Mom, so I can be sure it's not a dream. If you're OK like I'm OK, everything will be OK – except for everything that's not."
'Look, I'm fine' is coming out of hell with a song in your heart. 'Look, I'm fine' is believing
Sasha Troufanov, who returned from captivity, said none of these lines. Excitement and joy glued his tongue to his cheek. But on Saturday, at his first meeting with his family, he became my hero. Perhaps unwillingly. "Look, I'm fine" is a slogan that sticks in the ear, it's oxygen to the lungs, it's the essence of Israeli existence. "Look, I'm fine" is coming out of hell with a song in your heart. "Look, I'm fine" is believing.
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Right now, Netflix's senior scriptwriters are sitting at their keyboards, searching for a happy ending to the Hamas holocaust. For 500 days now, they have been writing, rewriting and updating the reality series that refuses to end. The final scene will only be written after the last hostage returns. Who would have thought it would take more than a year? On one hand, you have to strike while the iron is hot. On the other hand, it is precisely what is burned into the internal hard drive and the heart that hurts.
Then, from the tunnels of Gaza, Sasha emerges and says a short, routine sentence. “Look, I’m fine.” Three words that are the mother of all shattered hopes. If he’s fine, we’ll be fine too and everything will be fine – except for everything that’s not.