Jakob lives in the ghetto, as WWII rages on and the Germans persecute him and the rest of the Jews. He accidentally hears a report that the Russians have reached a town not terribly far away and spreads the news to his neighbors and friends. When asked how he came by this information, he told them he had a radio (because they wouldn't have believed how he REALLY heard it). He perpetuates his initial lie and becomes a beacon of hope for the ghetto, but to what end? Is he feeding them false hope? Is he actually making it worse? The story calls into question the difference between living and surviving, what the role of hope plays not only in those Jewish ghettos during the Holocaust, but for all those facing impossible circumstances. In the end, I just wanted to hold them- Jakob, Lina, Rosa, Mischa, all of them. I've never hugged a book before, not out of compassion.

Food: a cup of black coffee, half drunk, with a half eaten macaroon. Bitter, sweet, unfinished.