Evening was approaching.
Safsan had spent most of the day at the cinema, and surprisingly, the place had been busy.
Customer after customer had come through the doors.
By the time the last people left, Safsan was tired.
He closed the cinema sometime between afternoon and evening.
The lights went off.
The doors were locked.
And finally, he began walking home.
The streets had become quieter.
Then he saw someone familiar.
Saad.
Safsan knew him.
Saad was the kind of person who disguised aggression as a joke.
He would test people while smiling.
A shove.
A threatening gesture.
A challenge disguised as laughter.
He wanted to know if he was stronger than you.
And if he discovered that he was...
he would bully you.
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But if he couldn't prove that he was stronger, he had another way.
He would create a situation.
Something small.
Something indirect.
Just enough to make you uncomfortable.
Just enough to make you afraid of him.
All while smiling.
All while calling you a friend.
Safsan wanted nothing to do with him.
But Saad had already noticed him.
"Safsan!"
Saad walked toward him with a smile.
"Hey, my friend."
Safsan looked at him.
Saad reached out his hand.
It looked like an ordinary greeting.
But hidden inside that greeting was a strike.
A small test.
A question without words.
Are you stronger than me?
Safsan saw it.
He didn't move.
He simply looked at Saad.
His eyes were calm.
Still.
Watching.
Like a secretary bird standing beside a snake...
letting it move freely without ever losing sight of it.
Saad's smile remained.
But something in his expression changed.
Safsan knew what he was doing.
And Saad knew that Safsan knew.
For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.
Then Safsan looked away.
Not because he was afraid.
Because he simply didn't care.
Saad slowly lowered his hand.
"See you around, my friend."
Safsan said nothing.
Saad walked away.
His steps became faster.
He glanced back once.
Safsan was still standing there.
Watching.
Saad turned away again.
Uncomfortable.
Safsan continued walking.
The city slowly disappeared behind him.
The roads became quieter.
The air became colder.
And eventually, he reached a place that people from an older time had called...
**Tulluu Diimtuu.**
**The Red Mountain.**
It was the highest peak of the magnificent Bale Mountains.
And the second-highest point in the entire country.
The mountain rose above the land like something that had been there long before anyone remembered its name.
Its slopes were harsh.
Its air was thin.
Its paths were dangerous.
And tonight, the mountain seemed even more unforgiving.
Safsan looked upward.
He didn't know why he had come here.
Perhaps he simply needed to get away.
Perhaps he needed somewhere quiet.
Or perhaps...
something inside him had brought him here before he understood why.
Tulluu Diimtuu was more than a mountain.
It was a test.
Because changing yourself deeply...
breaking old habits...
leaving behind the person you have always been...
could feel exactly like climbing a mountain during a storm.
One wrong step could be fatal.
Every step demanded courage.
Every step demanded that you continue even when turning back felt easier.
But those who reached the summit...
could see the world differently.
Clearly.
Safsan began walking.
Higher.
And higher.
Until he saw a small fire in the distance.
Someone was sitting beside it.
An old woman.
Her hands were filled with wrinkles, each one like a path carved by a long life.
Safsan stopped.
The woman slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes were deep.
Quiet.
Wise.
She looked directly at him.
Safsan didn't know who she was.
But somehow...
he felt as though she had been expecting him.
The old woman looked toward the dying fire.
Then back at Safsan.
Her name was...
**Safuu.**