Content Warning: The source text features depictions of political oppression and physical violence, including scenes of torture, mentions of sexual assault, and self-immolation.

The narrator, Pasha, sees that he is wearing blue robes and is in a wheelchair; he is disoriented. In the yard outside, other men in blue robes walk around. Suddenly, Pasha begins to shout and flail around. A nurse, referred to as “Apple Face” because of her round and kind face, comes to him. She sedates him, promising that the sedative will make him feel better.

Chapter 1 opens in the summer of 1973 in Tehran. Best friends Pasha and Ahmed stargaze on Pasha’s roof; this is a common pastime in Tehran. Pasha comments on people’s fear of the dark, and Ahmed laughs, mocking Pasha’s eloquent manner of speech. Pasha, who is 17, thinks about his future: His father wants him to become an engineer, but he wants to study literature or film. Pasha lives with his parents in a middle-class neighborhood where they have a typical Iranian house with a small pool in the front.

Ahmed, who is also 17 and is tall, strong, and slender, met Pasha in school when he rescued Pasha from bullies.