The Eslimi Garden

Once we leave the inspection booth, the crowd separates me from Afagh. She falls behind, and I move forward with the flow of people. As soon as I step onto the turquoise carpet of the first stair leading downward, I break into tears without meaning to. I stare, stunned, at the building’s walls and doors. It’s as if the tile designs in this building were taken from the garden I saw in my dream—the same garden behind the church that saved me from the robed man.