After they gathered their belongings in the inner hall haphazardly, the benefactor left, leaving them to get acquainted with their new home, which was covered with mats made of palm fronds. A light bulb hung from the ceiling, its flicker extinguished by the intensifying blows of the rain-laden wind outside.

The moment they were plunged into darkness, the ceiling began to bleed streams of rain flowing through numerous holes. They initially tried to move the bundles of clothes to another room, but they kept circling between the three rooms to no avail. The violent rainstorms had turned the house into a real pool of water. The dark-skinned woman raised her hand upwards and said, "May God destroy your house, Bush, just as you destroyed ours."

Younis threw himself down, sitting cross-legged amidst the collected water, and began to laugh hysterically. The two boys contented themselves with sitting on the wet bundles of clothes, suffering from drowsiness. Amina looked at the disaster that had scattered them to the winds, and without uttering a word, she went out in her drenched clothes to the muddy courtyard.

Under the downpour, she saw them jumping with joy: Omar with his auburn-blond hair and childish laugh, and Ahmed with his black hair and calm gaze. She breathed deeply as if inhaling their scent, and smiled.

There, in the other place, and in front of the puzzle's gate, the fifth lock was opened...

• Category: Novels
• Author: Amer Al-Aithawi
• Publisher: Fadaat Publishing
• Year of Publication: 2025
• Edition: First
• Number of Pages: 248
• Language: Arabic