Nar­in and her Grand­ma are filled with antic­i­pa­tion as they pre­pare for an impor­tant jour­ney. Grand­ma busi­ly pre­pares tra­di­tion­al dish­es such as stuffed vine leaves and borek, set­ting the tone for the spe­cial trip ahead. As they sit togeth­er, Nar­in is deeply immersed in her spir­i­tu­al prac­tices, pray­ing for guid­ance and pro­tec­tion from the spir­it Khider and oth­er spir­its, includ­ing Sore-Soran, Mama-Rasan, and Xudāne-Mālē. These benev­o­lent spir­its are said to over­see dif­fer­ent aspects of life, guid­ing and pro­tect­ing peo­ple in their dai­ly lives. Grand­ma shares a sto­ry about Ibrahim, empha­siz­ing the idea that kind­ness can come from unex­pect­ed places. The sto­ry under­scores the impor­tance of show­ing com­pas­sion and tak­ing action when oth­ers are in dis­tress, sug­gest­ing that even the small­est acts of kind­ness can have a pro­found impact in the face of sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenges.

Lat­er, dur­ing their dis­cus­sion, Grand­ma reflects on how sto­ry­telling is dif­fer­ent from the lin­ear pro­gres­sion of time. She teach­es Nar­in that sto­ries often car­ry deep­er truths, tran­scend­ing time and pro­vid­ing valu­able insights that the tick­ing of a clock can­not cap­ture. Grand­ma shares a painful mem­o­ry from her youth, explain­ing how neigh­bors, who once appeared kind and wel­com­ing, har­bored deep-seat­ed prej­u­dices against her fam­i­ly. Despite this dis­crim­i­na­tion, Grand­ma encour­ages Nar­in to remem­ber that beau­ty still exists in the world, even in the face of hard­ship. Grandma’s wis­dom pro­vides a foun­da­tion of strength for Nar­in, teach­ing her the impor­tance of resilience, opti­mism, and the abil­i­ty to find beau­ty in the world around them, no mat­ter the dif­fi­cul­ties they face.

As the evening pro­gress­es, their con­ver­sa­tion shifts to the family’s deep-root­ed con­nec­tion to their ances­tral home in Lal­ish, Iraq. Grand­ma explains the sig­nif­i­cance of the sacred val­ley, which was formed through divine inter­ven­tion, a place of great cul­tur­al and spir­i­tu­al impor­tance for their peo­ple. The sto­ry of Lalish’s cre­ation, through the jour­ney of angels and the leav­en­ing of water, fills Nar­in with a sense of pride. This con­nec­tion to the land and their her­itage is not mere­ly his­tor­i­cal but forms the essence of who they are as a fam­i­ly and a com­mu­ni­ty. Grandma’s words instill in Nar­in a sense of belong­ing, a deep con­nec­tion to her roots, and the impor­tance of car­ry­ing their family’s lega­cy for­ward.

In a moment of reflec­tion, Grand­ma shares the sto­ry of Leila, a rel­a­tive who had to flee their home­land due to the vio­lence and tur­moil of their time. She speaks of Leila’s extra­or­di­nary tal­ents and how these abil­i­ties have been passed down through the gen­er­a­tions, with Nar­in per­haps being the next link in the chain. The men­tion of a “fir­man,” a roy­al decree that led to Leila’s forced migra­tion, brings a somber tone to their con­ver­sa­tion. It serves as a reminder of the ongo­ing suf­fer­ing and dis­place­ment that their peo­ple have endured for gen­er­a­tions. Grandma’s words car­ry the weight of his­to­ry, as they reflect on how past trau­mas con­tin­ue to shape their present real­i­ty, even as they long for a safer, more peace­ful exis­tence.

As night falls and their con­ver­sa­tion winds down, Grand­ma promis­es that she will share even more about their family’s his­to­ry when they arrive in Nin­eveh. She com­pares the jour­ney to a river’s path, explain­ing that some­times, in order to sur­vive, rivers must change course and seek new paths. This pow­er­ful metaphor encap­su­lates the jour­ney they are about to embark on—one that will require them to adapt, learn, and uncov­er the truths of their past. With these pro­found words in mind, Nar­in reflects on the jour­ney ahead, know­ing that it will not only be a phys­i­cal jour­ney but an emo­tion­al and spir­i­tu­al one as well. The chap­ter clos­es with Nar­in ready to face the chal­lenges that lie ahead, under­stand­ing that some­times, the road to under­stand­ing one­self and one’s her­itage is fraught with obsta­cles but also filled with oppor­tu­ni­ties for growth and heal­ing.