Chap­ter 13: In this chap­ter, Par­vana and her sis­ter Noo­ria engage in a heart­felt con­ver­sa­tion about Nooria’s upcom­ing wed­ding and her plans to relo­cate to Mazar-e-Sharif, a city where girls are still able to attend school and expe­ri­ence more free­dom under the restric­tive rule of the Tal­iban. Par­vana is ini­tial­ly tak­en aback by Nooria’s deci­sion, par­tic­u­lar­ly because she feels Noo­ria bare­ly knows her intend­ed groom, a child­hood neigh­bor. Noo­ria, how­ev­er, express­es her intense desire to escape the con­fines of Kab­ul, where she has been restrict­ed by the oppres­sive social norms that pre­vent her from pur­su­ing her edu­ca­tion or work­ing. She is frus­trat­ed by the dai­ly respon­si­bil­i­ties she faces, such as car­ing for her younger sib­lings, and views this mar­riage as her only oppor­tu­ni­ty to find a new life with greater pos­si­bil­i­ties. The prospect of a life filled with inde­pen­dence, edu­ca­tion, and oppor­tu­ni­ty excites Noo­ria, despite the dif­fi­cult path she must take.

As the fam­i­ly begins to dis­cuss the prepa­ra­tions for the wed­ding and their plans to trav­el to Mazar, Par­vana becomes increas­ing­ly anx­ious and upset. She fears that, in their absence, her father may return from prison and face the chal­lenges of rein­te­grat­ing into a fam­i­ly that is not present to sup­port him. Parvana’s con­cerns are com­pound­ed by her deep emo­tion­al attach­ment to her father and the uncer­tain­ty about his con­di­tion, giv­en the abuse he like­ly endured while impris­oned. Although she fer­vent­ly protests the idea of being left behind, her moth­er reas­sures her, explain­ing that Mrs. Weera will stay in Kab­ul to look after Par­vana. She also assures her that Mrs. Weera will keep their father informed about their where­abouts. Despite this expla­na­tion, Par­vana remains dis­heart­ened and frus­trat­ed by the sit­u­a­tion, her feel­ings man­i­fest­ing through her anger and a sense of help­less­ness. The thought of being exclud­ed from the family’s jour­ney and the fear of her father’s poten­tial return in such a vul­ner­a­ble state weigh heav­i­ly on her heart.

As the days pass and the family’s depar­ture approach­es, Parvana’s emo­tions fluc­tu­ate between relief and sor­row. While part of her feels a sense of com­fort know­ing she will remain in her home, the thought of miss­ing the wed­ding and being left behind in a city filled with uncer­tain­ty leaves her unset­tled. The weeks that fol­low are filled with a strange mix of lone­li­ness and inde­pen­dence. Par­vana takes advan­tage of the time alone to focus on her stud­ies, enjoy­ing the qui­et moments to read and learn with Mrs. Weera’s sup­port. Mrs. Weera’s pres­ence is a steady source of com­fort for Par­vana, offer­ing her a sense of sta­bil­i­ty amid the chaos. How­ev­er, despite the time for reflec­tion and growth, Par­vana can­not shake the sense of long­ing for the com­pan­ion­ship of her fam­i­ly. The absence of the famil­iar fam­i­ly dynam­ics, the dai­ly exchanges, and the warmth of shared expe­ri­ences leave Par­vana feel­ing more iso­lat­ed than she antic­i­pat­ed. While she embraces the free­dom to focus on her stud­ies, she also learns how much her family’s pres­ence means to her, and the emo­tion­al gap they leave behind is a painful reminder of how much she has lost.

While Par­vana is sell­ing items in the mar­ket, she encoun­ters a sud­den rain­storm, forc­ing her to seek shel­ter in a bombed-out build­ing that serves as a haunt­ing reminder of Kabul’s dev­as­ta­tion. The build­ing, once a struc­ture of pur­pose and com­mu­ni­ty, now stands as a des­o­late ruin, filled with rem­nants of destruc­tion from the ongo­ing con­flict. As she waits out the storm, Par­vana is left with noth­ing but her own thoughts and the oppres­sive silence of the war-torn city. The dark­ness of the build­ing mir­rors the emo­tion­al state Par­vana feels, as she is once again remind­ed of the harsh real­i­ties of life in Kab­ul. As she drifts off to sleep, a woman’s cry pierces the silence, pulling Par­vana from her rest. The sound of the cry­ing woman fills the air with ten­sion and uncer­tain­ty, leav­ing read­ers with a lin­ger­ing sense of sus­pense. Who is this woman, and what has led her to this point of despair? This encounter deep­ens the mys­tery sur­round­ing Parvana’s world, leav­ing read­ers to won­der about the lives of those around her and the sto­ries of strug­gle and sur­vival that remain untold. It is a chill­ing reminder of the ongo­ing suf­fer­ing faced by so many in Kab­ul, where the qui­et moments are often bro­ken by the sounds of pain and loss.