Page 67 - DivineSparkRising II-TheMirrorofSilenceFinal

Nicholas Boothman
Chapter 7: Tangier
1. Arrival
The ferry slid into Tangier at dawn, the horizon
the color of copper and milk. Henry watched as the
city materialized through mist — minarets like
raised fingers, the old kasbah rising from the fog
like a prayer half-remembered.
He had never seen a city that seemed to breathe.
Carolina joined him on deck, her scarf pulled
high against the wind. “It looks awake,” she said.
“It looks like it never slept,” he answered.
The ship’s engines cut. For a moment, the air
was absolutely still — the kind of stillness that
doesn’t ask for silence but demands it.
From somewhere in the old port, a call to prayer
broke the dawn. But halfway through the verse, the
muezzin’s microphone glitched. The sound folded
in on itself and became a hum that settled deep in
Henry’s chest.
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