Hamid's World (or Storks Flying Home)

For a moment I was afraid, I shivered. Not from the cold of the night nor the desolation of the place. I was afraid the end of Hamid's tale embodied in his words would determine the end of the tale I wanted to recreate. I was afraid that the outcome that would open doors for him would close them from me. With a painful effort, as if to take back his memories, with the dark, irrevocable knowledge of his confessing, telling everything, he opened his mouth. "No, no, Hamid," I said. "No, I don't want anything else, let it stay here ... I learned it now!" Hamid's tale is more than a tale of growing up, coming of age, facing life's losses. Following the story of Hamid's young life, we are invited look with fresh eyes to the larger, timeless, human - maybe Socratic - questions: 'How does life gain value? How should we live?'