_top_ — Yooshfool

The children mimicked him. “Yooshfool! Yooshfool!” they’d chant, throwing pebbles at his back. He’d turn and bow, as if receiving applause.

He found her by touch, wrapped her in his arms, and pulled her up knot by knot. When they reached the top, the crowd stared—not at the girl, but at the fool who had remembered how to see in the dark.

The next morning, no one called him Yooshfool. They simply said, “Yusuf.” And for the first time, he answered without a bow.