• Category: Novels
• Author: Ali Muslim
• Publisher: Fadaat Publishing House
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: First
• Number of Pages: 232
• Size: 14x22 cm

About the book:

It seems I was in a coma? I haven't yet been able to determine what happened to me, nor where I am, nor why I am stuck here in this bare cave. I also couldn't figure out how much time has passed—maybe a day, or two, or more, I don't know? All that remains stuck in my mind is that terrible sound that suddenly pierced the wall of silence around us. A severe cough seized me in fits, consecutive and deep, after which I felt a severe shortness of breath. I almost fainted again. I immediately leaned on my right side, then felt nauseous; my empty intestines almost came out of my mouth. This was accompanied by some pain in various parts of my body. Following that, I felt some relief. It seems the severe coughing helped clear my lungs of the sticky secretions that had accumulated during the coma. Saliva froze in my throat; I lost the ability to swallow it. I took a quick look around me, hoping to find some water here or there, but to no avail. They keep water away from the wounded, perhaps out of habit, or perhaps for another reason whose cause I still don't know.