That night, Rebin looked up at the stars. He didn't see cold, distant points of light anymore. He saw a people who, despite every attempt to pull them apart, were perpetually in motion toward each other—coming together, wave after wave, flock after flock, until the mountain itself felt like home.
Azad smiled, his face a map of deep-etched wrinkles. "Listen closely, Rebin. Have you heard the saying, 'Hatin Ref Bi Ref Kurdish' ?" Hatin Ref Bi Ref Kurdish
He gestured toward the distant lights of a neighboring village. "In the darkest winters, when the snow blocked the passes, we did not survive alone. One family would break the trail, then another would follow, then another. We didn't move as lonely stars; we moved as a constellation. Ref bi ref —flock by flock." That night, Rebin looked up at the stars
The boy shook his head. "The Kurds come flock by flock? What does that mean? Like sheep?" Azad smiled, his face a map of deep-etched wrinkles