On Sham al-Nessim Day, Salwa took him and her siblings to ‘the gardens’. They were carrying the snacks that Marika had prepared for the trip - painted eggs and sandwiches. But he wasn’t interested in any of that, and was fascinated instead by the vast spaces of dense green vegetation, so different from the greenery of the flat rural fields, and the twisted paths that crisscrossed and would sometimes lead to bodies of water, thickets, or forests full of different types of trees. The only tree he recognised was the hummingbird tree, since there were no palm trees, camphor, or acacia. But the surroundings suited the boy who had grown up roaming the countryside. Whenever they played hide and seek here and he thought he was lost, he wouldn’t be frightened and rush off to catch up with his frien
