Chapter One – Part 1
The cold stung me, and winter had returned once again this month.
A warm sun.
Fragmented voices escaping from the mouth of the street.
I knew that someone had been annoyed by Tamsa', and so it annoyed me.
He said in a soft voice while placing his coffee beside the chair:
— "I just didn't want to bother you."
— "You were strange yesterday. I asked if you were okay, but you didn't answer."
— "It's okay if you don't want to talk... I just thought you needed to."
He continued, staring into nothingness:
— "Sometimes, silence hurts more than words."
I found nothing to say.
Words fled from my mind like water.
I looked at him, and found him gazing at the coffee as if it were a sea.
I didn't want to talk, but I wanted to say something.
Something small that would extinguish what was burning inside me.
I finally said:
— "Do you think coffee understands us?"
He laughed.
He said:
— "If it did, it would've taken revenge for all we've burdened it with."
I smiled.
That was enough for me, and for the first time in days, I felt some peace.
We sat in silence, watching the street exhale.
Faces were repeating, the same footsteps.
The entire world seemed to be going in circles.
I said to him:
— "Sometimes, I feel like we're living the same day over and over."
He said:
— "The only difference is us... we are the ones who change."
I looked at him and found he resembled me a lot.
Maybe that's why I felt comfortable with him.
And maybe because we didn't try to show anything.
We were just as we were
Chapter One – Part 2
Always, by nature, I was like this. I avoid crowds. I hide behind silence.
But that day, I needed noise.
I needed chaos to drown out what was inside me.
I suggested we go to the fish market.
He hesitated, then agreed.
We left the coffee shop and headed toward the noise.
It was crowded.
People everywhere.
Vendors yelling.
Fish smell filling the air.
We walked side by side, not speaking.
I didn't want to buy anything.
I just wanted to walk.
To feel alive among people.
Suddenly, a familiar voice called:
— "Assem!"
We turned and saw Jaber, the old fisherman, waving.
We walked over.
He said:
— "It's been a while, boys."
— "Come help me with this box."
Without question, we helped.
We lifted the heavy crate of fish onto the cart.
Jaber smiled and said:
— "Still strong, huh?"
— "You don't look like it, but your backs say otherwise."
I smiled faintly.
Assem laughed.
Jaber added:
— "Let's go to the harbor."
We followed him.
Seagulls circled above us.
The air was heavy with salt.
The boats swayed with the tide.
I felt something move inside me.
Something long still, now stirring.
Perhaps it was the memory of the sea.
Or perhaps it was just the smell.
We reached his boat.
It was old, painted blue, with a broken flag on top.
He climbed aboard.
We hesitated.
He called back:
— "Come on!"
Chapter One – Part 3
The boat rocked gently beneath our feet.
I sat on a wooden plank near the edge.
Jaber sat opposite us, lighting a cigarette.
He looked at us and said:
— "You know, when you grow older, the sea becomes your only friend."
I didn't respond.
Assem said:
— "Why?"
Jaber took a deep drag and exhaled slowly.
— "Because it's the only thing that listens without interrupting."
He smiled, revealing yellow teeth.
Assem glanced at me, then back at Jaber.
— "But it also swallows without mercy."
Jaber nodded.
— "That's true... just like life."
We went quiet.
The wind brushed against our faces.
The sky began to darken.
Even the seagulls had disappeared.
Jaber suddenly asked:
— "Do you boys want to sail?"
I looked at him, startled.
Assem said:
— "Now?"
— "Yes. The weather's fine. Just a short ride."
I hesitated.
Assem looked at me, waiting.
I nodded slowly.
Jaber smiled and stood.
He began untying the ropes.
Within minutes, we were moving.
The boat creaked and moaned, but it moved.
The water welcomed us without question.
The shore slowly faded behind.
For the first time in a long time, I felt free.
No buildings.
No noise.
Just the sea.
And the sky.
I looked at Assem.
He was smiling, eyes closed, arms open to the wind.
Jaber stood at the rear, steering with ease.
He belonged to this world.
And maybe, so did we.
Chapter One – Part 4
The boat floated further.
The waves were calm.
We didn't speak.
Each of us was absorbed in his own silence.
I stared at the water.
It reflected nothing but the grayness of the sky.
No birds.
No sound.
Only the sound of the boat gently cutting through the water.
Jaber suddenly said:
— "When I was your age, I used to dream of leaving this place."
— "But now, I can't imagine living anywhere else."
Assem asked:
— "Why didn't you leave?"
He shrugged.
— "I tried. A few times. But something always pulled me back."
— "Maybe it's the sea. Maybe it's the silence."
I understood that.
There are places that don't let go of you, even when you walk away.
Places that carve themselves inside you.
Jaber sat down again, looking exhausted.
The boat slowed.
The engine coughed, then died.
We lo