“The Garage” – Part 3
Ziyad ignored the greeting, as he had done since the accident, not lifting his eyes from the
:car. Armar repeated his playful tease with a grin
“!I know you missed me… but you just won’t admit it”
Ziyad was holding a screwdriver, working on the car in the garage. As Armar came
closer, Ziyad cast him a stern look not out of real anger, but in keeping with his
: naturally reserved demeanor. Armar, ever playful, raised his hands
“.Alright… I’ll be quiet and give you some space”
While Ziyad focused on the car, Armar lingered, talking about his latest news, boasting in
his usual teasing way about his popularity with girls, hoping for some reaction from
.Ziyad. Yet he knew deep down that Ziyad was no longer the same as he had been
Armar’s mind drifted back to that fateful day: the accident, the shock, the long hours in
the hospital, and the terrifying silence of Ziyad afterward. The day Ziyad lost his entire
family, and Armar himself had narrowly survived alongside them, only to watch Ziyad
remain alive, silent, refusing food and sleep, until the hospital had no choice but to give
him sedatives just to make him rest, his health teetering on the brink of collapse.
،But Armar had not given up. He was not merely a friend he was like an older brother
accompanying Ziyad since their days in the orphanage, where they had faced bullying
together. Ziyad had always stood by him, protective and inspiring, and so they had
become inseparable brothers. Armar continued to visit, understanding that the traum of
losing his family had been profound, and that the dream Ziyad had built of a small family
.had vanished in an instant
Even after Ziyad married, Armar remained part of his life, involved in every detail as
though he were one of his guardians. Through persistent support, Ziyad gradually
returned to himself, began eating, drinking, and sleeping but something had changed
within him: he no longer cried, no longer shouted, a quiet stillness settling deep inside, as
if his tears had frozen in his soul. Armar tried many times to coax him to speak, yet Ziyad
.would only listen or perhaps Armar never truly understood what ran through his mind
.The conversation finally began when Armar brought up the car, talking about racing
That was when Ziyad spoke: he said he would abandon the world of racing, that he
wanted to sell it or get rid of it, that he never wanted to see it again. Armar felt an
overwhelming joy just to hear Ziyad speak, but also sorrow, knowing Ziyad was turning
away from a world in which he had achieved remarkable feats. He respected his friend’s
wish and did not argue. Yet, with every attempt to give the car to someone else, it always
.returned to the garage, as if it were bound to its place or to its true owner
Even when Armar sought to uncover the reason, everyone who had taken the car spoke
of an eerie sense of dread, describing it as a “curse.” Armar had dismissed it as mere
superstition… until the day Ziyad left the hospital, when everything began to take on a
.different meaning
...To be continued
✒️🖤 ANNA ALKATI ✒️ 🖤
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