The Golem And The Jinni

The Encounter:

And then, down one of the streets, a strange light appeared, seeming to float in midair.  She paused, alarmed.  The light was coming her way.  It grew closer, and she saw that it was not a light, but a face, and the face belonged to a man.  He was tall, taller than she, and bareheaded.  His dark hair was cropped close to his skull.  His face--and his hands as well, she saw now--shone with that warm light, like a lamp shaded with gauze.
     She watched him come nearer, unable to take her eyes away.  She saw him glance at her, and then look again.  Then he too stopped.  At that distance, she could not feel his curiosity, but his expression made it plain.  What, he was thinking, is she?
     The shock of it rooted her to the spot.  Only the Rabbi had ever been able to see her as something different.
     She knew she should turn and run.  Get away from this man, who by seeing her, truly seeing her, already knew too much.   But she couldn't.  The rest of the world had fallen away.  She had to know who he was.  What he was.
     And so, as the man started his cautions approach, the Golem stood her ground, and waited.

 The Golem and the Jinni is about two non-human entities trying to make a life for themselves amongst humans.  Beautifully written, it takes you down the streets of New York at the dawn of the 20th century and down the Bedouin desert roads a millennium before, showing how these two individuals' fates are interwoven and their struggles to become free from their destinies.

A definite recommend!