Saul was the old-fashioned name his mother gave him.
It’s a king’s name, she used to say. The very first king of Israel, noble and fearless. A bit strung up though. But great, nonetheless.
She used to call him Shaul ha-meleh, her king Saul.
He hated that name, to be honest. But he never told his mom, he didn’t want to upset her. Every time he passed Shaul ha-meleh bus stop, he cringed internally, and then got angry at himself for letting such small stuff get to him.
A future pilot must be calm and cool-headed, he was telling himself. Otherwise it’s not a pilot, just some… frog.
He decided that he wanted to be a pilot when he was just three years old, maybe even younger – the moment he saw the planes in the sky on Independence Day and understood what they were. And that there was a person in there and that person was flying in those wonderful blue skies.
He was training for the army, he was certain he would pass all the tests, and when they ask him he was going to say – air force, of course! King Saul must rule the skies!
He didn’t make the cut. He almost did. He was good. But not good enough for the air force, apparently.
He didn’t really care were they send him. He had almost no recollection of what came next. He was somewhat surprised to find himself serving at the Golan Heights, on what used to be a Syrian military base. He thought to himself- all right then, after the military service I’ll go into civil aviation. I will fly one way or another. I’m Shaul ha- meleh, I’ve got this.
In the engineering troops, the mine clearance department, they trained their soldiers very thoroughly. But he didn’t really care. He was doing everything automatically, without thinking.
And just as mindlessly he stepped on a mine. He made a mistake.
In the hospital, the doctor told him, “Hang in there, son! The prosthetics they make now are simply unbelievable; you might as well sign up for dancing classes! And your most vital organ is intact, you lucky bastard!”
And he just kept thinking, “I have to fly. I need some really good prosthetics. I need real legs.
I’m Shaul ha-meleh, I’ve got this!”
His startup company finished the year with leading results. Biotech is generally a quickly developing field, and the investors love it.
He was complimented for his impeccable business sense. For his perseverance, which in business, equals strength. For his decency, so rare nowadays among the young up-and coming startup businessmen.
“Our king Saul” – he did not know his employees called him that. They loved him.
He’s a bit high-strung, they were saying. Well, that’s totally understandable – anybody would get high-strung sitting in a wheelchair. But what a clever guy, what a genius…
Every Independence Day he would watch the air force parade, sitting in his chair by the window on the top floor, absolutely enchanted. Blue skies with splitting white tracks.
“I’m Shaul ha-meleh. I am going to fly. I’ve got time. Everything is going to be fine”.
Translated by Diana Shnaiderman-Pereira