Every thirst

Book title: "Hir Ghalila" Author: Mohammed Dheeb Al-Humaidan Publisher: Al-Tanweer Number of pages: 271 Synopsis: In Jeddah, the beautiful city located on the Red Sea coast, distinguished by its diverse population and ethnicity, and in the neighborhood of "Ghalila," where alleys narrow as if they fear the light, and where faces are tired, and figures are bowed like the walls of old houses. In that neighborhood teeming with runaways, the forgotten, and those violating legal residency laws, lived Yusuf, nicknamed "The Cat"... He knew the life of narrow alleys, bore the scars of bitterness, and experienced a life that knew no mercy, but he kept a heart waiting for the thrill of love... He dreamed of being seen as a complete man, not as scattered parts of a man who was never whole. His ugly face, short stature, and dark skin surrounded him in a circle of denial and isolation, and his dreams exhausted him in a love he kept searching for. "I lived in this neighborhood... in a house that whenever I stretched under its roof, I felt it was about to fall. A house devoid of warmth and safety, like most of the houses hidden in the chaos of marginalized neighborhoods. Small houses, mostly one-story, their doors overlooking alleys as if they were rat holes; their inhabitants confined behind them at night, afraid of police, raids, drug dealers, and all forms of life-cutters." "I contemplate the essence of humanity, my humanity specifically. I see happiness far from my reach... I no longer aspire to it; all I now wish for is some reassurance and a bit of comfort." "Nobody values or considers my humanity... that’s what I felt and saw in others' eyes when their gazes met my face. To be ugly, you are between the hammer of mockery and the anvil of rejection, no matter how kind you are or how much you strive to be an acceptable personality in a society like the one I live in, or perhaps in every society."