In the chap­ter “By the Riv­er Thames, 2018,” we fol­low Zaleekhah, who enjoys work­ing late at the Cen­tre for Ecol­o­gy and Hydrol­o­gy. As she ana­lyzes sam­ples under a micro­scope, she con­tem­plates the threat of cholera, an ill­ness still preva­lent in devel­op­ing regions due to envi­ron­men­tal degra­da­tion and pol­lu­tion. She reflects on glob­al water scarci­ty, par­tic­u­lar­ly the vul­ner­a­ble con­di­tions of the Tigris Riv­er, which flows through the Fer­tile Cres­cent, a region that is dimin­ish­ing rapid­ly.

Zaleekhah also grap­ples with her Uncle’s dis­con­nec­tion from his home­land, con­trast­ing his detach­ment with the instinc­tu­al behav­ior of salmon that return to their birth­places. A phone call from her friend Helen reveals excit­ing news about a donor for a fam­i­ly mem­ber’s trans­plant, which prompts Zaleekhah to express her sup­port and will­ing­ness to trav­el to Istan­bul for the pro­ce­dure.

The nar­ra­tive shifts to Zaleekhah prepar­ing din­ner for her friend Nen. She orders Lebanese food and cre­ates a charm­ing atmos­phere with impro­vised din­ing arrange­ments. As they eat, Zaleekhah shares insights about her research regard­ing the Tigris Riv­er, dis­cussing how upstream dam con­struc­tions exac­er­bate water short­ages down­stream, reflect­ing on human impact on the envi­ron­ment.

Nen lis­tens atten­tive­ly as she nar­rates ancient Mesopotami­an tales, includ­ing the cre­ation sto­ry of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from the tears of the god­dess Tia­mat. Zaleekhah, over­whelmed by emo­tions, acknowl­edges her strug­gles with sad­ness, con­trast­ing her feel­ings with the illu­sion of hap­py peo­ple around her.

Their con­ver­sa­tion leads to a deep­er con­nec­tion, cul­mi­nat­ing in Zaleekhah kiss­ing Nen. As they share inti­ma­cy, Zaleekhah reflects on her own inse­cu­ri­ties but is met with Nen’s encour­age­ment to see her own beau­ty. A sense of cama­raderie and affec­tion blos­soms between them.

The chap­ter clos­es with an explo­ration of Zaleekhah’s trau­mat­ic past—the flood that claimed her par­ents’ lives dur­ing a fam­i­ly trip to the Mid­dle East. Nen gen­tly probes Zaleekhah’s mem­o­ries, reveal­ing the last­ing impact of that event on her psy­che. The two women cul­ti­vate a bond that promis­es heal­ing and under­stand­ing amid their shared vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties, high­light­ing themes of envi­ron­men­tal con­cern, per­son­al trau­ma, and the quest for con­nec­tion in the face of loss.