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Nabi´s side of the story
Nabi (Pari and Abdullah´s uncle) describes the first years of working for Mrs. Wahdati and Mr. Wahdati. Nabi starts to get feelings for Nila (Mrs. Wahdati), but he keeps them to himself. -
Parwana and Masomaa
Parwana and her twin sister Masomaa grow up, Parwana finds herself in love with Saboor (Abdullah and Pari´s father). Masomaa is the prettiest of them, and after a while she becomes friends with Saboor. After a while Saboors wife (Abdullah and Pari´s mom dies giving birth to Pari). Saboor intends to marry Masomaa, and Parwana gets jealous. When Masomaa tell the news sitting in a tree with Parwana, she falls down. This ends with Parwana marrying Saboor, becoming Pari and Abdullah´s stepmother. -
Nabi takes Nila to his home town (Shadbagh) where Pari and Abdullah lives
Nila and Nabi visits their family, but suddenly Nila feels sad. Nabi realizes that Nila is unable to carry children. He comes up with the idea of Pari. He asks his brother-in-law, and after a while he agrees, knowing he will get well paid. -
Leaving home
Pari and his father is leaving home, and Abdullah refuses them to leave without him. The bond between Pari and Abdullah is strong and touching. They start the journey through the desert, and a feather floats through the air, they snatch it. Pari keeps a collection of rare feathers. Pari and Abdullah talk about living together when they grow up, and Abdullah gives his promise to Pari. Going to sleep they ask their father to tell a story, but tonight he refuses. -
Pari comes to live with Mrs. and Mr. Wahdati in Kabul
Pari is four years old, eventually she forgets about her old family. Nila (her new mother) spends much time with her, and they create a mother-daughter relationship. -
The story
Abdullah and his little sister Pari, is told a story by their father. He begins the story, telling about Baba Ayub whom have to give up his youngest child Qais to a div (evil monster). Baba Ayub feel guilty for not trying to fight the div, and he decides to find Qais, after a while he finds the div´s fortress and sees Qais. Outside in a beautiful garden, Qais is playing happily with other children. He realizes that Qais will have a better life here, than he ever will in the village at home. -
The goodbye
They enter Kabul, where they meet their uncle Nabi. He drives them to Nila and Suleiman from the Wahdati house. They take them around in Kabul, while their father proceeds his work. Suddenly Abdullah begins to cry, and Mrs. Wahdati (Nila) tells him to stop and says that "it" is for the best.
A few months later Abdullah and his father is home in the village, without Pari. Abdullah takes Pari´s feather and adds it to the collection. Abdullah decides one day he will leave his home and find Pari. -
Mr. Wahdati´s stroke
When Mr. Wahdati gets sick, it becomes difficult for Nila to take care of Mr. Wahdati. She tells Nabi (working for them, as well as he is Pari´s uncle) that she and Pari will leave for Paris. -
Nabi takes care of Mr. Wahdati
After Nila and Pari leaves, he decides to stay, and take care of Mr. Wahdati. In the 1980´s Afghanistan plunges into war, they continue to live in the house in Kabul, even when Taliban engulf Kabul in 2000. After a while Mr. Wahdati dies, and he leaves Nabi the property. In 2002 Nabi meet Mr. Markos, who is a surgeon from Greece, and helps sick Afghan children. Nabi begins to tell Mr. Markos about his life, asking him humbly for two favors, one of them is to find his niece, Pari. -
Pari´s life in Paris
Pari lives with her mom, who has many relationships in Paris. Pari does often think about her father and about Afghanistan, while her mother is more absent and often in the hospital. -
Nila´s interview in Parallaxe (poetry magazine)
Nila is living with Pari in Paris, and she is interviewed. In the interview she explains her choices in life, she tells about her childhood, her daughter and about her marriage. She reveals things she have never told anyone before. -
Pari´s adult life
When Pari grows up, she moves out, and in 1975 her mother dies, by suicide. After this, she finds the interview, and she decides to investigate her heritage in Kabul. Before leaving, she meets Eric, her future husband, they decide to go to Afghanistan together. They never manage to go, because Pari gets pregnant three times, and eventually Eric has a heart attack, and a few years later he dies. -
Adel in Shadbagh
This is a new story, taking place in the New Shadbagh (the village where Abdullah, Pari and Nabi lived). We get to know Adel, who is a young boy living with his Baba jan (father). Here, we see the differences between rich and poor, and the relationship between father and son. -
Idris and Timur
We get to know two boys, who grew up in Afghanistan, who left when the war came, and went to the United States (California). Later they return to Kabul to reconnect with their heritage. It turns out that they have a connection to Mr. Wahdati (they arrive at his house) and a man named Abdullah in California. -
Markos
We get to know Markos, he is working in Kabul as doctor, helping children, and he lives in Nabi´s house (Mr. Wahdati´s). We also get to know about his childhood, and learn about the most important people in his life, Thalia and his mother Odelia. We understand why he chose to become a plastic surgeon, travelling the world to help children in war. -
Pari (Abdullah´s sister) and Markos
Pari´s children, Isabelle, Albert and Alain has grown up and created their own families. One day Pari receives a call from Markos Varvaris. He informs her about Nabi, whom Pari thinks of as the cook in her old home, and Markos reveals that he was actually her uncle. Markos reads her the letter, telling about Nabi´s situation and about her real family, a story that Nabi once had told Markos. -
Abdullah and the daughter Pari
Firstly, we get to know Pari, who is Abdullah´s daughter. They live in the United States. Abdullah would always say how much he missed his siter - Pari (whom his daughter was named after). Pari was a an only child, therefore, while she was young, she would imagine having Pari (his father´s sister) as a best friend. She would also write Pari letters. -
Pari and Abdullah´s meeting
Pari (Abdullah´s daughter) reunites with Pari (Abdullah´s sister), who traveled to the US. They catch up, talking about Pari´s three children and their life. Abdullah and Pari meets after 58 years, but Abdullah has at the moment a deteriorating mental state and he cannot remember Pari. Abdullah´s state gets worse, living in a nursing home. Pari tells her father she is going to visit Paris, he smiles. Pari finds an old package labeled "To my sister Pari", containing a note and a yellow feather.