By this time, he'd begun to get to know some of the teenagers from the kibbutz - playing football, table tennis now and again. All of this helped him improve his own Hebrew studies, getting to know the language and the people a lot better. A couple of girls in particular he felt really comfortable with, got along real well with them. He'd no idea what would eventually become of this. He started to see one of the girls more regularly - kind of like a secret rendezvous. Most often they'd meet in the late hours of a Friday night in the dark dining room. They'd sit at the back, facing each other, and talk until the early hours of the morning. He didn't mind spending this time with her. She was like a breath of fresh air to him. He'd never met anyone as interesting as her. So much he could learn from her; the way of life on the kibbutz, Israeli culture. And it was all just so interesting to him. How he loved to just hear her talk; the way her mouth and lips formed each word. He could sit for hours and listen to her talk.
He saw the other volunteers less and less outside of work. He began to draw away from them, except for two or three really close friends who had a vague idea about his secret nightlife. They were OK. He could talk to them about her, about how he felt towards her. They'd listen and offer advice, if needed. As his social circle seemed to grow smaller, so his outlook exploded with all kinds of possibilities.

By the end of spring the following year, his visa had run out and he had to leave. But he knew he'd be coming back. Another three week holiday back to England. He didn't enjoy it too much, partly because of the girl he'd left behind (three weeks can seem like a lifetime when you're missing someone) and also because the friends he'd known for so long had all kind of drifted apart. He didn't have too much in common with them now. Each of them had all gone their own seperate ways, nothing much to hold them together. He didn't think that they could understand his reasons for staying on the kibbutz for so long.