I lie on the sofa in her room telling stories from the front, and watch her comb her hair in the big mirror. I creep up on her behind her and put my arms around her. She struggles in my arms, half seri-ously and half joking.

"You wild man!" she laughs.

Suddenly I feel ashamed of myself. I realize that I couldn’t do it with her, and want to leave.

"What? You are going already?" she asks with a disappointed look. Obviously she wanted to spend the evening with me.

"I have to get back this evening," I lie.

"Why do they never give you a reasonable amount of leave?"

"Aren’t there enough young men around here?" I ask, laughing.

"There really aren’t very many," she admits. "There are some here who work in the offices. But it is no fun with them."

"May a hero from the front kiss you?" I ask.

"No."

"What a pity," I say. "Shalom."

Back on the street I think hard. I could go and see Shifra’s girl-friend. But she lives at the other end of town. If I have to take her home afterwards, I won’t get any sleep at all tonight.

"Hello, how are you doing?" a seductive voice asks me.

"Wow, hello!" I reply with enthusiasm. It is Yucki. I don’t know her real name. She was only in the battalion for a few days, and we all called her that. She’ll be OK. I am pleased not to have to walk far. "You must have been sent from heaven," I declare as convincingly as possible.

"You liar!" she replies, smiling.

"No, really. Only this evening I was thinking about you."

"Tell the truth!"

"I am telling the truth. Come on, let’s go."

She hesitates. "I already have a date with a handsome man."

"Who is that?"

"An officer from Jaffa."

"That is all?" I ask. "Forget about it." I put my arm around her waist.

"So where shall we go?"

"Anywhere" I reply with an innocent expression. "How about the movies?"

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