A stagnant line, clinking milk bottles and morning gossip murmur. The delivery truck arrives late.

“The price has gone up!”

The murmur rises; no complaint, only frustration. With the decade-long war, people are used to this.

The old man puts down his empty bottle and walks away, never to return.

Mehdi spent many long hours of his childhood standing in queues for groceries and other necessary items during the Iran-Iraq war.