Loki gently went to the aquarium, glanced at me briefly, and
then softly turned his head toward the fish.
The fish, one after another, formed a vortex. Even they were
surprised by its depth. The water became clear and bright—too bright.
The sound of warm classical music, soft laughter, friendly
and perhaps romantic murmurs. The smell of perfume and wine. Warm yellow lights
on impeccably set tables. Waiters serving attentively.
But a two-person table in the corner ruined all the
restaurant's perfect calculations. Something there was wrong. No plate, no
food—just a half-full glass of water and a woman sitting sad and anxious,
waiting. Her gaze was fixed on a man in the middle of the hall.
A man with thin legs, a large belly, and medium height.
Thinning, dyed-black, shiny hair, and a shoulder line you could clearly see. He
wore an all-black suit and a pocket watch he kept checking. His glances were
calculated. He performed a different version of himself for every table.
For the woman by the window: a witty man.
For the wealthy old man: an ambitious man.
For the young couple: a man full of emotion.
But none of it was real.
He directed the restaurant photographer to capture the best
moments so that, in the end, he could give a beautiful photo as a gift along
with the bill. Everyone liked him. Everyone called his name. He was never alone
for a second. In his eyes was an appetite for power and repetition. But he
looked happiest when people praised him—and when the employees tried to flatter
their boss.
The woman in the corner sipped her water anxiously, tapping
her foot, never taking her eyes off the man—not so much captivated by his charm
as waiting for an answer. The man tried to hide the anxiety caused by her
presence behind his busy work, avoiding her heavy gaze.
The woman broke her pride and went to him.
"Still don't want to talk about it?"
"You see how busy it is tonight." Man said
"It was just as busy at the beginning, but you never
stopped talking about our future together. Maybe your approval from me was
hard, and you loved hard puzzles. Now that the puzzle is solved with my love
for you, you've become busy again." Woman said
"Here we go again." Man said
"Actually, it's not starting again. It's ending."
"These people are important to you only when you're
being approved." Woman said
"Your jealousy caused all this. You can't stand that so
many people like me." Man said
He winked mischievously at the middle table, where a group
of young girls sat showing off.
The woman put her hand on her belly and said with a lump in
her throat:
"Don't you ever think about what's happening to me?
What's happening to us? You don't know how to deal with this pain alone. You
want everyone to like you, to say you're the best. What others think of you has
become the food of your soul. But you don't realize—as soon as they leave, they
forget you ever existed."
"Finish this. Can't you see I'm busy?" Man said
"You're always busy. Stay busy for everyone, but absent
for us. We're leaving soon." Woman said
"You found somewhere better than the kingdom I built
for you?" Man said
"A small house, where my child and I can feel real
love. I know you don't want this child. You never did. But I'll keep it and
raise it."
"And you stay here with all these empty praises. Try to
keep everyone happy forever, but you'll remain hungry forever. Hungry for real
love. And every moment, you'll beg for our love from others. And the moment you
receive it, you'll just get scared and run away. You'll never understand what
love tastes like. This narcissism will only make you hungrier, and you will
never be full." Woman said
The woman went to her table and picked up her purse. I
understood she was about to leave him. When women leave quietly, it means their
souls left long before. Only their bodies remain—and soon, they go too.
I had to do something. She shouldn't just leave like that.
I ran to the man in the middle of the restaurant and hugged
him tightly. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do, but at that moment,
it made the woman pause for at least a second. Then I burst into tears.
"I can't believe you're a father! You'll be the best
father in the world. Everyone will be proud of you. Congratulations!" Nooshin
said
I started clapping, slowly and steadily. Little by little,
all the guests began clapping and congratulating him. Just then, the pianist
started playing a cheerful song, and several people stood up to dance.
While everyone was celebrating the man, I went to the woman,
took her hand, and said:
"I know you left long before all this. But stay a
moment. Just a moment. Sit and watch. Not for yourself, not for him—but for the
gift inside you. Because I know that after you leave, everything will fall
apart."
The woman sat down without asking a single question.
The man was excited by the praise and congratulations, but
also stunned by how things had unfolded. He fed on others' compliments, but
inside him was an anger born of fear—that someone might get so close he could
no longer play his role.
He glared at me until he grabbed my wrist tightly and, with
a fake smile facing the delighted customers, took me outside the restaurant.
"You'll pay for this. Both of you think you're so
clever, plotting against me, forcing me to stay." Man said
I looked him in the eye and said:
"Get a hold of yourself. You always keep everyone
hungry because a full person doesn't beg you. But this time, the hungry person
in the corner of the restaurant is ready to die without even looking at you.
And you will be miserable."
"If you win her over now, you won't have to play roles
for people for the rest of your life. They are hungry. They will never see you.
But that woman will satisfy you. I know you well, and you know me. So don't ask
any more questions." Nooshin said
The man was more curious than angry now. He seemed to
recognize me, but not fully.
"You don't understand." Man said
"Really, I don't understand a person who spends his
whole life trying to feed everyone—all those people who never for a moment
think about your hunger. Yet you would let the one person willing to sit with
you and feed you from her own soul leave forever?" Nooshin said
Something inside the man seemed to break. Very quietly, he
returned to the restaurant, walked through the crowd, took two drinks from a
waiter's tray, and placed them on a side table. For a moment, he removed his
mask and sat down. He took the woman's hand—not to control, but to hold.
Two plates of food on the table.
When I came to, I had been thrown out of the memory, but the
smell of food was still in my lungs. The aquarium was calm. The fish were no
longer restless—just floating.
I quickly went to the stairs. It was true. The restaurant
picture belonged to Loki. A faint light was still moving inside it, just enough
that you weren't sure if you had really seen it. The candles on the tables
flickered slightly. I was sure they hadn't been lit before.
Now the image was complete. The table by the window was no
longer empty. Everyone seemed to be staring at the camera, except the man in
the corner, who was staring at the woman. Two plates of food on the table.
The light on the stairs began to flicker. Loki immediately
ran toward the third-floor room. But climbing up, his legs seemed to have lost
strength—he kept catching on the stairs but dragged himself up.
I went after him to calm him down a little, but he suddenly
scratched my hand and ran upward.
I wanted to hold him back. What would happen if he didn't go
up? I knew what awaited him in that room, but forgetting had overcome my mind—I
couldn't express it. Loki thought he would confess there, and the house would
forgive him.
No. This house was crueler than that. This house was a
prison.
I went to the third floor.
Loki stood facing the hole—darker than before.
This hole wasn't an ear. It was a mouth. The house didn't
listen. It swallowed.
"Loki, don't confess for no reason. If you have to go,
go. Why tell the house again? It doesn't listen. It swallows." Nooshin
said
Loki turned his head toward me and said:
"When you keep your wound, the house gives you a room,
a voice, a shape. And now, without this pain, I don't know who I am. I don't
know where I want to go." Loki said
"Where you were. Where you came from." Nooshin
said
"You think it's easy? I've experienced things that make
that old life something I no longer know how to live. I can't go back." Loki
said
"Look, look—" I tried to call his name, but the
house had started the forgetting process. I tried not to let the cat notice I
had forgotten his name. I was sure he would be more scared.
"Fixing past mistakes isn't going back. It's returning
to the path." Nooshin said
"I'm scared."
"Maybe the house will forgive me." Loki said
But the house had begun to swallow. Faster than before. As
if the more loyal and close you were to the house, the harsher the punishment.
He became fainter, lighter. The wind hit the window harder.
Cracks as large as the ceiling started moving from above the hole like a
predatory snake. The sound of compressed wooden floorboards—like deep, grinding
teeth—and nails dragged against the walls.
Then suddenly, everything went quiet.
The shadow of a man with a prominent belly, sitting at a
table eating, appeared. And everything went dark.