في الحكايات القديمة، يقال أن بعض الطرق لا تكشف نفسها إلا لأولئك الذين فقدوا طريقهم.
وأن بعض القلوب لا تستيقظ إلا عندما ينكسر إيقاع العالم لحظة واحدة.
وأن حجراً صغيراً مربوطاً بخيط قديم… قادر على تغيير مصير أمة بأكملها.
لكن الحقيقة هي هذه: كل شيء يبدأ عندما تتقاطع مسارات الناس... حتى لو حدث ذلك في مطار تحت سماء ملبدة بالغيوم، قبل لحظات من رحلة لا أحد يعرف أنها ستكون الأخيرة في هذا العالم—
والخطوة الأولى نحو خطوة مختلفة تماما.
مفترق طرق الحياة
الفصل الأول
بدت السماء فوق المطار وكأنها سحابة طويلة غير مؤكدة - لا تمطر ولا تنقشع.
كان ضوء الصباح خافتًا، ينعكس انعكاسًا خافتًا على السقف الزجاجي الرمادي العريض. اندفع المسافرون عبر المدخل كأمواج هادئة، لا يُسمع إلا همهمة الإعلانات، ونقرات الأمتعة المتحركة، وصوت طقطقة خافت لمذياع صغير تحمله فتاة تُدعى نادا.
كانت نادا تحمل هاتفها في يدها، وسماعة أذن في أذنها، بينما همس الراديو بصوت المراسل الواثق:
"تستمر الأجواء الغائمة فوق العاصمة اليوم... مع توقعات بهطول أمطار خلال الساعات القادمة..."
خفضت الصوت وتمتمت:
رائع... هذا ما كنتُ أحتاجه تمامًا. المزيد من الغيوم. وكأن حياتي لم تعد كافيةً منها.
ثم أضافت بخفة:
"على الأقل إذا هطل المطر، يمكننا أن نقول وداعًا لذلك الفرن الذي يسمونه الحافلة."
رفعت رأسها تبحث في القاعة عن ريم... وأخيرًا رأتها تركض بين المسافرين وكأنها تطاردها أعداء غير مرئيين، وهي تلوح بكتاب بعنف.
"ناادااااا! استمع! استمع!"
شهقت ندا بشكل درامي.
لو كنتُ مكان المطار نفسه، لمنعتك من الدخول. لماذا تركض كالمجنون؟!
وصلت ريم وهي لاهثة، وعيناها تلمعان بإثارة غريبة.
اسمع... عليّ أن أقرأ لك المشهد الجديد! الأمير السادس والبطلة - هما -
قاطعتها نادا على الفور:
لااااا. أرجوك. لقد أعدت قراءة هذه الرواية مليون مرة! لو كانت دراما، لكنتُ الآن ألعب دور الخادمة، والبطلة، والمحظية، والأمير السادس!
ضحكت ريم وضربت بالكتاب على كتف ندى.
"أنت غيور. مرة واحدة فقط. اعترف بذلك."
رفعت نادا يدها مثل الحكم.
"لا، مرفوض. معدتي ستثور إذا ذكرت ذلك الأمير مرة أخرى قبل أن أتناول الطعام."
وكأنها موافقة، هدر معدتها بصوت عال.
حدقت ريم فيها بطريقة مسرحية.
"يا لك من مسكين... ما هذا النوع من المعدة الذي يصرخ هكذا في الأماكن العامة؟"
ضحكت ندى رغم إرهاقها.
"اذهب لشراء أي شيء قبل أن ينفجر شيء بداخلي."
رفعت ريم ذقنها بعظمة ساخرة.
كما يحلو لكِ يا ملكتي الجائعة. احفظي الحقائب... ولا تُشوّهي سمعتي إن تأخرتُ.
أسرعت نحو متجر خارج المطار - كان كل شيء بالداخل باهظ الثمن - تاركة نادا تحدق في السماء الرمادية الثقيلة.
همست:
"غائم... ومن المتوقع هطول أمطار. ستكون رحلة طويلة جدًا."
---
Reem burst out of the terminal like an arrow shot from a bow, her black hair whipping in the wind, her eyes bright with urgency and excitement. She weaved between cars and pedestrians, clutching her small purse as if it held ancient treasure.
Inside the nearby store, she joined the line quickly. While waiting, she noticed an old woman in worn clothes, her hands trembling as she begged for a bite of food. Her weak eyes carried stories of long hunger and longer days.
Reem froze for a moment, a wave of sympathy and shock washing over her. She stepped forward.
Vendor: "I told you! You don't have enough money! I can't give you anything!"
Old woman, in a frail whisper: "Just… one bite…"
The assistant shoved her. "Out! Go somewhere else!"
Reem noticed a tear clinging to the woman's eyelashes.
She stepped forward.
"I'll take four biscuit packs, banana milk, chocolate milk…"
She glanced at the old woman.
"And instant noodles. And a few more things."
Vendor: "Thirty-six won."
Reem handed over the money. "Here. Keep the change."
She rushed to the old woman and gently helped her sit.
The assistant snorted.
"Don't be fooled… she's a scammer."
Reem smiled coldly.
"Excellent. Then let this be a lesson in kindness. Now move."
The vendor laughed.
"You'll regret it!"
Reem: "I regret wasting time talking to you."
She brushed dust off the old woman's shoulder.
"Don't worry… here. Eat. No one will drive you away while I'm here."
The woman devoured the food while Reem sat quietly, listening to her fragile breaths.
Nada called.
Nada: "REEM!! Did you go buy biscuits from another country?!"
Reem laughed. "Calm down, beautiful… I'm coming. Delay the group if they arrive."
Nada: "The plane is leaving soon! We'll miss it!"
Reem: "Your stomach is the only thing that refuses to wait."
She hung up, then glanced at the old woman again—her back bent as if the weight of years pressed upon her. Strands of gray hair slipped from a worn scarf, and her face resembled an old page whose letters had long faded.
But her eyes—
only her eyes—
held a strange glimmer. Not hunger. Not fear. Something older… like wisdom. Or warning.
When she finished eating, the old woman stared at Reem slowly, memorizing every feature.
As Reem stood to leave, the woman lifted a thin, shaking hand and caught her coat.
Reem froze.
The woman reached into an inner pocket with trembling fingers and pulled out something wrapped in dust and time.
A necklace.
A dark black stone, strangely glossy, absorbing light instead of reflecting it. A faint carving—maybe a bird, maybe an ancient symbol—marked its surface. The thread was old and frayed, yet impossibly strong.
She extended it to Reem.
"Take it… my child."
Reem hesitated.
"I can't… I didn't help you to take anything."
But the old woman tightened her grip.
"I said… take it."
Reem softened.
"This must be precious to you, grandmother…"
The woman shook her head, a fragile smile forming.
"No… it is not for you. Not yet."
Reem tried again, gently.
"I only wanted to help… nothing more."
The woman held the necklace firmly, staring deeply.
"Life gives us what we earn… and you have not yet learned patience."
Her voice became softer, like a cold gust of wind:
"You'll need it soon. You will understand… when the sky changes."
A shiver crawled up Reem's spine.
She didn't understand.
But she couldn't refuse.
The old woman placed the necklace in her hand and closed Reem's fingers around it.
Reem turned and ran back toward the airport, glancing behind her one last time.
---
Nada stood near the gate, tapping her foot impatiently.
Nada: "Reem! If there's an award for 'Fastest person to buy biscuits but return after a century,' you'd win it."
Reem, breathless:
"I was gone five minutes!"
Nada raised an eyebrow.
"Five? I watched an entire lifetime pass."
Reem laughed.
"You're so hungry you're seeing time suffer with you."
Nada: "Time is suffering. I'm suffering. The gate is suffering. Open the bag."
Reem: "Here. Before you turn into a wild creature."
Nada searched inside.
"Biscuits… good… Ah! REEM!! Why banana milk? This is a crime against taste!"
Reem shrugged.
"I thought it might make you happy."
Nada stared.
"My mood isn't a fruit cocktail, Reem. We don't mix random flavors into it."
Reem pointed above her.
"There's a cloud above your head saying: 'Do Not Approach.'"
Nada: "My mood and the weather are twins."
Her eyes fell on the necklace in Reem's hand.
Nada: "What's this? It looks like an ancient artifact! Did you rob a museum while I wasn't looking?"
Reem raised it gently.
"The old woman gave it to me. And if I ever steal, I'd rob a bank, not a museum."
Nada leaned closer.
"Which old woman?"
Reem smiled faintly.
"The one arguing with the vendor. She reminded me of my mother… I didn't want her to suffer."
Nada examined the pendant.
"The carving is strange… like a bird… or an animal…"
She squinted.
"Or maybe… a very charismatic cockroach."
Reem burst into laughter.
"A charismatic cockroach! May the universe forgive your metaphors."
Nada: "Don't mock me. Cockroaches survive everything. If they had a novel, they'd be the protagonists."
She lifted the necklace toward the light.
"Looks a bit dinosaur-ish."
Reem: "A dinosaur?"
Nada: "Yes. But… corrupted."
Reem almost doubled over laughing.
"Dinosaurs are extinct—they don't deserve this slander."
Nada: "They're extinct. They won't sue."
Then she placed the necklace around Reem's neck.
Nada: "Perfect. If it starts glowing, I'm running first."
Reem touched it.
"It's warm…"
Nada shrieked playfully.
"Warm?! Any powers it gives you—I want half!"
Reem: "I'll give you half a power: cleaning your room."
Nada collapsed.
"That's not power. That's punishment."
Their laughter mixed with distant thunder. The clouds thickened, and the air crackled with something approaching.
Reem looked up.
"I think the rain is close."
Nada sighed.
"Rain… a flight… a necklace… and my empty brain. Everything is close."
Reem: "Come on. Let's get to the gate before they call boarding."
Nada: "If I run, I'll fall. You run—I scream."
Reem smiled.
"As always."
Nada: "You're the brave heroine… I'm the hungry one."
At that moment, the necklace trembled softly—like a warning that the path ahead would not be ordinary.
---
After eating, Nada noticed the scholarship supervisor approaching with firm steps, the students following behind like a small flock preparing for their first flight.
He addressed them:
"Students, this is a long journey. Keep your passports safe and stay with the group upon arrival. You are traveling to study for your future—not for tourism."
The students nodded as raindrops began tapping on the airport glass.
Nada then noticed Noah staring at Reem's necklace strangely.
She approached him.
"What's wrong? Why are you staring at Reem like that?"
Noah blushed.
"No—it's not what you think… her necklace… it glowed. I swear I saw it."
Nada laughed.
"So what? Are necklaces lamps now?"
Noah: "Not just that. I feel like I've seen it before… in an old book."
Nada rolled her eyes.
"Maybe you need sleep before your brain smokes."
They laughed, but his eyes stayed fixed on the necklace, as though something inside it was calling him.
Nada returned to Reem.
Reem: "Is Noah my future fiancé? He looks lovestruck."
Nada: "Shut up… he said your necklace glowed and he's seen it in a book."
Reem blew on it mockingly.
"This? It's just a rock on a string. The old woman gave it to me."
Nada: "He's obsessed with artifacts. Maybe he thinks you crawled out of a pharaoh's tomb."
Reem shrugged.
The announcement echoed:
"Attention passengers… boarding for flight 3A92 to Beijing has begun. Please proceed to gate 12."
Excitement spread among the students—laughter, chatter… except for Nada, whose face tightened.
Reem: "What's wrong? I'll buy you a sandwich when we land."
Nada: "It's not hunger… I just have a bad feeling. Like something big is coming."
Reem patted her back.
"You'll be fine. We'll land… and you'll thank me later."
But Nada's steps grew heavier. Reem supported her.
"If you're unwell, we can delay the trip. Your health is worth more than a thousand scholarships."
ندى: "لا، لن أتراجع. مجرد توتر."
جلسوا. حدّقت نادا في قطرات المطر التي تتساقط على النافذة، قطرات تتسابق مع بعضها البعض.
"الطقس سيئ... ربما لن ننطلق..."
ريم: "لا تقلق، إنه مجرد مطر."
ملأ صوت القبطان الهادئ المقصورة:
أيها السيدات والسادة، الطقس ممطر ولكنه ضمن الحدود الآمنة للإقلاع. يُرجى ربط أحزمة الأمان.
همست ريم:
"صوته جميل... ربما أقع في حبه قبل أن أراه."
ندى: "أنت مجنون."
ضحكوا. فتحت ريم روايتها "جوهرة الصيد".
نادا: "ما زلت تقرأ هذا؟ ستنتهي منه قبل أن نصل."
ريم: "كيف أتوقف؟ القصة تجذبني أقوى من هذا العالم."
المطر... السحب... الظلام يضغط على النافذة.
ثم-
ومضة من البرق مزقت السماء.
كسر-