From the book: "...At Luna's birthday party, a missile struck the building. The bodies of the attendees scattered like a red cloud. Luna became a seagull flying in a dream, approaching Haidar's head wherever he went, singing a sweet song to him to calm his jealousy, so he would rest his head on the shoulder of illusion. All of Damascus became flocks of seagulls, from which Haidar al-Ayesh flees and pursues. He takes off his white shirt to signal to them as a surrendered, defeated army would. He hears her call in the traffic lights, the cypress trees, and the voices of the prickly pear sellers on the road to Al-Hamah and Qudsaya. Now, friends speak of the war that carves its paths into Haidar al-Ayesh's life. He no longer enjoys moving between rooms and apartments. He still works as a screenwriter and has rented a small room, paying the rent regularly. He might have returned the shirts and shoes he stole, or 'borrowed' as he says, but he carries a long list of prostitutes' addresses and frequents them. When asked about his newfound obsession, he replied: 'It is no longer worthwhile to love, to adore, for you might suddenly lose them in the war, and your setback would be terrible. That's why I discovered what prostitutes offer you: they give you the body and don't ask for your heart, without you being obliged to love. In truth, neither love nor hate; in war, you are a chemically neutral being. You neither love nor hate, you just breathe, and only temporarily!'"

• Category: Stories/Novels
• Author: Moussa Rahoum Abbas
• Publisher: Fadaat Publishing
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: First
• Number of Pages: 124
• Size: 14x20 cm