The morning was different from every other morning.
The voices of my siblings filled the house, their usual commotion with books and bags, but I stayed curled up in my bed, wrapped in the blanket as if it were a fortress shielding me from the world.
Noura was the first to come closer, shaking me gently:
— "Get up, Nariman… we'll be late."
I ignored her, buried my face in the pillow, so the others pressed on with more persistence. Noor yanked the blanket off me harshly, while Noura laughed as she tried to pull me by the arm. As for Elias, the youngest and most stubborn, he filled a cup of water and suddenly splashed it on me.
I gasped loudly, jumped out of bed in anger, and the quarrel began. I shoved Noura away, splashed water at Noor, while Elias screamed with laughter as if it were a game. But the anger was blazing inside me — I wasn't in the mood for laughing, nor for school.
After a few minutes of chaos, I left them all, returned to bed, and shut my eyes stubbornly. They fell silent for a moment, then Elias's angry voice rang out as he ran toward the door, shouting:
— "I'll tell Dad! I'll tell him you don't want to go!"
I didn't care. I pulled the blanket over my head again. Minutes later, I heard my father's voice echoing through the house, firm and clear:
— "She won't be going to school."
My siblings stood stunned at the door. They whispered among themselves, then caught the smirk curling under my blanket — a mocking smile, a victory over them.
Noura rose in anger, threw her bag to the ground, and shouted:
— "It's not fair! Why are we forced to go to school every day, and she isn't? I won't go either!"
Suddenly, my father grabbed the belt and rushed toward Noura, his voice stern:
— "Enough!"
Everyone panicked. My siblings scrambled, grabbing their bags and running out of the house. Father stopped at the door, looked at his fleeing children, sighed slowly, then shut the door behind them in silence.
The rest of the day passed with Nariman helping her mother around the house — washing dishes and tidying the rooms — while her siblings were busy with their own affairs.
She noticed her father preparing to leave the house, carrying some small tools and putting on his coat. Suddenly, he turned toward her, his eyes glinting with a faint smile:
— "Do you want to come with me?"
Nariman raised an eyebrow, hesitant:
— "Where to?"
He smiled lightly and replied:
— "Beyond the mountain."
Her brow arched higher in surprise, and after a brief pause she said:
— "Alright."
They left the house, walking along the dirt roads around them, sunlight streaming between the trees and distant mountains. A long time passed, and Nariman panted with exhaustion, her steps heavy as she looked at her father with tired eyes:
— "When will we get there? I'm tired… I can't walk any farther."
Her father smiled calmly, his voice filled with reassurance:
— "We're already there."
Suddenly, he stopped in front of the towering mountain. He raised his hand and gestured toward the ground at the mountain's base. The earth trembled slightly around them, and the rocky barrier began to shift slowly, revealing a sight beyond imagination: a lush, green place, filled with trees of every kind, thick grass carpeting the ground, and at its center stood a house still under construction, as if in the process of completion.
Nariman's eyes widened in astonishment, staring at the place speechlessly. Then she quickly turned to her father, her voice brimming with awe just like his:
— "What is this place? It's… so beautiful!"
Adam, her father, walked slowly into the grove of trees, his steps steady and calm. He approached one of the fruit trees and picked a ripe orange, while Nariman followed him with wide eyes, watching every move he made.
Adam extended the orange toward her, and she stared at it for a moment before lifting her eyes to him and asking:
— "Whose place is this?"
Adam turned to his daughter, then looked again at the vast land before them, his eyes gleaming with serenity and calm. He replied softly:
— "This place belongs to us."
Then he smiled faintly as the wind swept around them.
Nariman gazed at the scenery, then asked her father:
— "Who planted all of this? Is it only for us, or for your siblings too? And why is this place hidden?"
Her father looked at her in surprise, then said:
— "First things first… what do you think about giving this place a name instead of just calling it this place?"
Nariman's face lit up with excitement as she said eagerly:
— "Great! Let's call it Nazaria!"
Adam turned toward her at once, shocked, and shouted:
— "Where did you get that name from?!"
Nariman faltered and replied:
— "I don't know… it just came to me."
Then her father asked firmly:
— "Did you touch my books on the top shelf?"
Nariman quickly shook her head and said:
— "I didn't touch a single book."
Her father kept staring at her, unable to believe what she was saying, silent for a moment.
Then Adam sat down on the grass and gestured around him:
— "This place was built by our ancestors for us, the gifted, to hide in when necessary."
Nariman sat beside him, listening intently, as her father continued:
— "The last person to care for this place was my father."
Nariman's eyes widened in surprise:
— "Grandfather knows you have powers?"
Adam smiled and said:
— "Yes, he knows. He took care of this place, thinking perhaps one of his children would inherit the powers."
Nariman cut in quickly:
— "And do all my uncles have powers too?"
Adam shook his head firmly:
— "No. None of them have powers but me. Only my father and mother know."
Nariman fell silent, staring at her father for a moment before asking:
— "Who are we hiding from? And why don't we stop them?"
Her father looked at her seriously, lowering his voice:
— "We are hiding from the world. If they discovered us and caught us, they would run horrifying experiments on us until we died."
Nariman shivered at his words, then declared with determination:
— "Then I'll stop them!"
Her father looked at her silently, without any expression, then said:
— "For how long?"
Nariman blinked, startled:
— "Huh?"
He continued with a steady tone:
— "For how long will you keep stopping them?"
Nariman stared at her father, uneasy, lost in thought, before finally catching her breath.
Adam stood, gazing at her with seriousness, and said:
— "Let's go back home. And remember… never mention the name Nazaria. It is a secret."
Nariman sprang to her feet and asked impulsively:
— "Who is Nazaria?"
Her father kept walking in silence, ignoring her, which only made Nariman more frustrated. Pushing her irritation to the limit, she used her power and slammed the mountain shut in the blink of an eye.
Adam froze, his eyes widening in shock. He whirled toward her, seizing her hand tightly and shouting:
— "Didn't I warn you not to use your power?!!"
Nariman stared at him in fear and stammered:
— "But… but you just used your power a moment ago…"
Her father's voice grew stern as he replied:
— "My power is small — no one can sense it from this distance. But you are different, do you understand?!! Your power is vast; they can feel it from miles away!"
Nariman nodded quickly. Her father released her hand and said:
— "We must go back at once. We cannot let anyone discover this place."