Why?

Bassem walked down a path away from Sheikh Abdullah's house, heading towards his car. On his way, he looked up at the full moon.

The moon... that silver disc floating in a sea of darkness, swaying between the silence of the sky and the pulse of the earth. It hides secrets known only to poets and dreamers, glowing like a watchful eye keeping an eye on both dreams and history at the same time. Sometimes it looks like a cracked mirror reflecting a mysterious past, and other times it's a quiet companion weaving magic over the night, lighting the path for the lonely, while it remains lost in its eternal solitude.

I love the moon. I'm not shallow. I love it because, in a way, it's like me.

Alone in the dark. It flies above the clouds. But it shines at night.

I had a distant look in my eyes. I didn't realize I had actually reached the car. My eyes widened a bit, and I looked at the moon calmly.

I got in the car and started it. It was a bit old, a 2012 Hyundai Sonata.

I looked at the fuel gauge—it would get me to the nearest station, no problem.

But there was something strange. The car's temperature was always high, I didn't know why.

I grabbed some water and opened the hood to change the coolant. I needed about two bottles of water to fill it up.

I got back in the car, stepped on the gas, and headed for the nearest station, about 50 kilometers away.

I was alone, driving at night, on an old winding road. The air conditioning was weak. If I had a wife, she would have left me because of this AC. It had more cons than pros. I might fix it one day.

I checked the dagger hidden inside the seat cushion. I took it out and placed it in front of me, staring at its imposing shape.

The dagger was bright white, glowing as if it had been taken directly from the moonlight itself. Its edges were sharp, as if it had been cut from a poisonous mirage. On its blade were delicate lines that looked like ancient symbols pulsing with mystery, as though they were telling an untold story. Its handle was carved in a strange way that didn't resemble anything human-made, twisting like intertwined nerves, with a faint light coming from it as if it was alive. When light hit it, it seemed to dance between solid and liquid, as if you were holding a secret that didn't belong to this world.

Beautiful, but also frightening.

As I drove through the deserted road, the night swallowed everything around me, and the headlights barely cut through the darkness. The dagger sat beside me, quietly shining under the moonlight coming through the window. I looked at it for a moment, mesmerized by its strange beauty and the mysterious symbols that seemed to move under my gaze.

Suddenly, I felt a slight sting in my fingers, as if the dagger was emitting some unseen energy. A strange sound, not coming from the radio or the engine, whispered in my ear in a language I didn't understand but felt disturbingly familiar. The steering wheel began to shake, and the car slowed down by itself, even though I hadn't touched the brakes.

I took a deep breath, my hands trembling on the wheel, my eyes fixed on the road in shock. Everything seemed normal again, but my heart was pounding wildly, as if it wanted to escape my chest. The dagger lay on the seat beside me, its weight pressing on my mind, and the dark spot that had spilled from it continued to slowly drip, leaving a strange mark on the soft seat leather.

I tried to convince myself it was just a hallucination, exhaustion from driving or lack of sleep. But the whispering sound that echoed in my ears still lingered in my mind, like a voice trapped inside. I wiped my forehead and found cold sweat covering me, and a strange scent—neither blood nor metal, but something indescribable—was coming from the dagger.

I felt a strong urge to stop the car, so I pulled over to the side of the road, trying to collect my thoughts. I looked at the dagger again, noticing the strange symbols glowing for a moment before fading, as if they were telling me something. I asked myself in a shaky voice, "What is this thing? How...?" But words failed me, and the memory of the scene I had seen earlier began to fade like mist, leaving behind only a heavy feeling of danger.

I reached for the dagger carefully, feeling its warmth seep into my fingertips, as if I were holding something alive. I quickly withdrew my hand, realizing the dagger wasn't just a piece of metal, but something much more complex—something that didn't belong to this world. My heartbeats slowed down, but the feeling of confusion didn't leave me, as if I was standing on the edge of something I couldn't explain, something bigger than me and my understanding.

I started driving again slowly, my hand still shaking, and every light on the road seemed to conspire to take me back to that terrifying scene. The dagger beside me was silent, but its presence was powerful, as if it alone changed something in the air around me. I knew one thing—what had happened wasn't going to pass by easily.

The car suddenly stopped in the middle of the dirt road, stuck in a valley surrounded by towering rocks and complete silence, as if time itself had stopped. The headlights flashed for a moment before going out completely, leaving darkness to crawl into every corner around me. The engine let out a final groan before falling silent, as if it was afraid of the place.

I grabbed the dagger from the seat beside me, its faint glow continuing as if it was beating slowly, like the breath of some unknown creature. A strange feeling crawled inside me, as if I was being watched, even though the place seemed completely abandoned. I looked around through the windshield and saw the valley stretching into silence, the nearby desert casting its harsh shadow under the moonlight.

I decided to leave the car. The air in the valley was cold, but it carried a strange weight, as if the winds themselves held secrets they refused to reveal. The silence here wasn't just the absence of sound; it was the presence of something bigger, something invisible. I opened the door carefully and stepped onto the ground. The sound of my footsteps seemed louder than it should have been, as if the valley itself was whispering them.

I held the dagger in my hand and felt its heat growing steadily. The strange symbols on its blade glowed slowly, as if they were interacting with the air around me. I lifted my eyes toward the desert in front of me, and there, in the distance, I saw a faint glow moving between the sand dunes. It wasn't an ordinary light, but something closer to a white spark spiraling around itself, as if it was dancing to some mysterious call.

I took a step toward the desert, torn between fear and curiosity. The closer I got, the more the dagger's symbols glowed, and the heat in my hand became stronger, as if the blade was pulsating, becoming part of me. I stopped at the edge of the valley, looking at the glowing sands ahead of me, feeling as if I was about to cross a line I couldn't undo.

Then suddenly, I heard a sound behind me. Faint whispers echoed between the valley's rocks, as if the place itself was either warning me or inviting me. I turned around, but there was nothing there except darkness. The silence grew heavier, as if everything around me was waiting for me to make my next move.

I stood at the edge of the valley, holding the dagger, which had become heavy in my hand as if it carried a terrifying secret. The white light in the desert ahead kept flickering, moving strangely as if it remembered something my grandfather had told me once about "Abu Fanous," that deceptive light that lures people to their doom.

But I knew now this wasn't "Abu Fanous." Abu Fanous didn't set the air around you on fire, nor did it send a chill into your soul. The whispers I had heard earlier between the rocks, the silence that seemed to try and communicate with me… none of this was from the stories my grandfather warned me about.

Abu Fanous had always tricked people with its lights, leading them astray, but it was never this heavy with fear. The light in front of me seemed to watch me, waiting for me. It wasn't moving to guide me to some unknown place, but rather, it seemed to be testing my patience and courage, staying in place as if it knew I would come closer.

Then suddenly, I felt a cold breeze hit me, and I heard a distant sound, almost like a laugh or a sigh. I tried to calm my racing breath, telling myself this was just an illusion, that stories couldn't happen this way. But the dagger in my hand pulsed again, as if the light ahead was speaking to it, not to me.

I remembered my grandfather saying, "If you see Abu Fanous, stay where you are, don't follow it no matter how tempting." But now, this light wasn't tempting. It was pulling me in a different way, as if it was imposing something on me that I couldn't ignore. I looked at it again and realized it was something else… something that didn't belong to any story I had ever heard.

I stood in the middle of the valley, everything around me silent, except for the dagger in my hand, which was pulsing faintly like the heart of an unknown creature. The white light in the desert kept shining, watching me silently. A strange feeling took over me—a mixture of fear and mystery. The air grew thicker, as if the whole place was waiting for something from me.

I held the Quran in my heart and began to recite Ayat al-Kursi softly, barely hearing myself at first, but the words held more power than I expected. "Allah, there is no god but Him, the Living, the Sustainer of existence..." My voice trembled, but I didn't stop, as if the words themselves gave me a strength I didn't know I had.

With every verse, I felt something strange shift inside me. The heat of the dagger that had been burning my hand began to fade, gradually replaced by a deep chill, but it wasn't frightening. It was a comforting cold, as if it was putting out a fire inside me that I hadn't noticed. My eyes, which had been filled with worry and fear, slowly turned calm, as if they were as clear as the night sky.

I felt peace flow through my veins, as if the Quran was not only cleansing the space around me but also purifying my soul. The light ahead of me stopped moving, its glow fading slowly, as if it was respecting the power I had invoked. The whispers I had heard in my ears disappeared completely, and the valley returned to its natural silence,The silence wasn't the heavy kind that suffocated you, but a comforting one, like nature itself bowing in respect to the words you spoke.

You finish the verse, standing stronger than you ever felt since this journey began. The dagger in your hand is completely cold, calm, and the engravings on it seem like they've lost their eerie glow. In that moment, you realize you weren't alone in this place, but you were protected. What started as a mystery no longer threatens you; it's now a test, and you've emerged from it with a peace you've never known before.

In a strange way, I found myself in an empty desert, so barren there was nothing in sight. I'd lost my way back some time ago, but I didn't think too much about it. The only thing on my mind was how to survive.

I stood there, lost in thought, filled with questions. Everything happened so fast in a way I couldn't understand.

sigh I sighed deeply, looking up at the sky with its sorrowful moon... with calm eyes.

Why all of this?

Is there some kind of enjoyment in mocking this weak human?

Or is there something deeper that I don't understand?

Anyway, I'm alone in this desert. Damn this place.

You're standing in the middle of the desert, surrounded by a dust storm quickly closing in, swallowing the sky and covering the horizon with thick layers. Time has become foggy, and you can't tell whether it's night or day. You take slow breaths, and despite the fear that fills your heart, you begin to quietly recite the Shahada, "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger."

The words leave you like echoes of ancient things, engraved deep inside you. You feel like you're in another world, standing at the edge of something, between life and death. Your mind drifts to many thoughts, wondering silently: Was my life good? Was I on the right path? Did I have a real purpose?

You drown in these thoughts while the storm gets closer, engulfing everything around you, but you don't move. Your eyes remain calm, but there's something strange in that look. A small smile begins to appear on your face, a strange smile filled with sorrow and bitterness. It's like you realize, in a moment, that maybe you've been searching for something too far away your whole life, but only now have you found it.

The smile slowly widens, carrying a sense of bittersweet contentment. You may have made many mistakes, but now you've reached the place where your fate will be decided, and that fate seems to be inviting you, even if it's at the very end.

At that moment, you hear the sound that's been getting closer to you all this time: the storm. Its fierce winds push you backward, and it swallows everything around you with thick dust. You can't see or hear anything except the sound of the sand crashing together. You feel like you're swallowing something invisible, like the disaster that had been looming ahead is now a reality you can't escape.

And you're still standing there, smiling that strange smile, while the storm completely engulfs you, closing everything off around you, and everything disappears..