In the lush green regions of Afghanistan, there was a village named Daqi. Like many other villages, it seemed ordinary — but its people kept a secret from the rest of the world.

  That secret lived inside a small, silent alley. An alley called The Alley of Tulips.

  No one dared to enter it. Not travelers from nearby villages, nor the villagers themselves — except those who lived within it. The footsteps in that alley were soft, hesitant, fearful… not of the people, but of the flowers. Beautiful tulips bloomed in every corner, but something about them stirred unease.

  No one knew the exact reason for the fear, but many legends were whispered.

  Some said the tulips were cursed — a curse from witches who had lived in the village long ago.

  Others believed a cunning man once gifted the tulips to the father of the most beautiful girl in the village. The scent of the flowers drove the father mad, and he gave his daughter to that man. She withered in sorrow, and before her death, she cursed the entire village. The next day, tulips bloomed, and every man who smelled them slowly fell ill… until death claimed them all.

  Another tale said the flowers had grown beneath the feet of the Devil himself one dreadful night. The following day, people fought over the tulips, shedding blood in the alley — and with their blood, the tulips became even more beautiful.

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  But among all the dark tales, there was one story, softer and more romantic — almost forgotten.

  It spoke of a young man who fell deeply in love with a girl from that alley. His heart was full of warmth, and his love was pure. One day, while riding his donkey through the village, he saw her — the girl promised to a proud, powerful man much older than her. She didn’t love the man, but she had no choice.

  Yet something changed that day.

  As she glanced at an old chenar tree, her eyes met the young man’s. Her heart skipped in a way it never had before. Their lives became entwined in a secret, burning love.

  But it was not to last.

  After many struggles, the scroll of their love was torn apart — cut by the sharp blade of the girl's father and the prideful man she was promised to. One day, the young lover, wounded and bleeding from their hands, took his final steps down the alley. His blood soaked into the ground.

  Days later, the girl, the night before her forced wedding, ended her life.

  They say her spirit flew into the arms of her first and only love.

  Years passed. The alley remained silent.

  One spring day, a boy named Raghib sat at the edge of the alley with his friends. They talked about how kids from other alleys avoided them — terrified of the curse of the tulips.

  But Raghib had heard something else.

  His grandmother once told him: "Those flowers bloomed from a fire of love, not from any curse."

  And if he could prove that… maybe the kids from the other alleys would play with them again — especially Rudabeh, the girl with dark eyes and a quiet smile, who sometimes glanced at him when she passed by.

  So Raghib, along with two of the braver kids, made a decision:

  They would uncover the secret of the Alley of Tulips.