The day Omar received the keys to his new house was a day he had anticipated for years. The house wasn't large, but it was charmingly old; a 1920s style, narrow corridors, a wooden staircase that creaked with every step, and windows overlooking a quiet street in an ancient part of the city.
From the very first moment, he felt something strange... as if the house possessed a soul.
Chapter One: The Room That Doesn't Always Appear
Omar spent the first week arranging his simple furniture, yet he felt there was a corner in the house calling to him, a part he hadn't yet explored. One night, as he wandered between the rooms, he noticed something he hadn't seen before: a narrow wooden door at the end of the corridor. It hadn't been there previously... or so he thought.
He opened the door slowly.
The room was small, its walls a pale grey, with no windows, furnished with an old rug and a wooden table holding an unlit candle.
As he stepped in... the candle lit itself.
The scent changed. The air became heavier... as if someone or something had just woken up.
On the table, he found a single piece of paper written in old script:
"Tell me your wish..."
Omar thought it was a prank by the previous owner, but he scoffed and said to himself:
"My wish? I wish for many things... but none ever come true."
He laughed... then sat on the floor, hesitant, but finally spoke in a low voice:
"I wish to fall in love... with a beautiful woman... one who truly loves me."
The candle flame wavered... then went out.
In that instant... the paper vanished.
Omar left the room feeling a mix of fear and curiosity, but he didn't expect his wish to begin manifesting in less than 24 hours.
Chapter Two: The Appearance of Laila
The next day, while he was at the café near his house, a girl appeared whom he could never forget:
Laila.
Her beauty was not ordinary... it was enchanting in a way that stirred unease. Her features were serene yet profound, her hair cascaded as if the wind dared not approach it, and her eyes... it was as if they knew him from before.
She approached him without hesitation.
"You're Omar... right?"
"Yes... do we know each other?"
She smiled briefly and said:
"Let's just say... destiny does."
Omar wasn't the type to be quickly drawn, but he felt something pulling him towards her with a force greater than logic. They talked for hours, losing all sense of time. When he returned home, the first question that came to mind was:
Did the room do this?
But he dismissed the thought... because he was happy. Happy in a way he had long forgotten.
Chapter Three: The Unbelievable Love
Days passed, and their relationship became like a dream.
Laila knew what he liked and disliked, she knew when to talk and when to be silent, she knew how to calm him and how to ignite his passions.
She was perfect... more perfect than she should be.
One quiet evening, he asked her:
"You never talk about your family... or your home... or your job."
She lowered her gaze and said:
"Some things... shouldn't be told."
He didn't understand... but he loved her more.
He would wake up in the morning to find a message from her, even though he hadn't given her his phone number. Sometimes he would find her standing at his doorstep, though he had never told her his address... not once.
Strangely, none of this scared him enough.
Chapter Four: The House Reveals Its Secret
Three months passed before Omar decided to confront the truth.
He returned to the mysterious room. He found the door open, and the candle lit... without anyone having entered.
On the table, a new paper appeared:
"Love that comes from wishes... does not last."
His heart trembled.
He heard footsteps behind him... and Laila was standing at the room's entrance.
"Laila... did you bring me here before?"
She looked at him with eyes that held an inhuman sorrow.
"I... I was a wish, Omar."
She approached him, and a tear slid down her eye, though she had never cried before.
"You asked for someone to truly love you... and I was the response to that wish.
But the house... the house doesn't always complete its wishes."
His body shivered.
"What do you mean?"
"It means... my time is up."
And in that moment... she began to fade.
Her body became a light mist... then she vanished completely.
Omar fell to the floor... weeping as if his soul had been ripped from his chest.
Chapter Five: The House Without Wishes
After Laila's disappearance, Omar tried to enter the room repeatedly, but it never reappeared.
The corridor became normal.
The candle was gone.
And even the trace of the door was no longer there.
It was as if what happened... never happened.
But Omar carried the complete truth in his heart.
He couldn't hate the house... nor could he bring himself to leave it.
All that remained of Laila... was the void.
Chapter Six: A Return in Dreams
Months passed, and Omar never saw Laila's face... until one day.
He was exhausted and fell asleep on the sofa.
In the middle of the dream... she appeared.
Standing a few steps away... wearing the same dress she wore on their first meeting.
"Laila...?"
She smiled:
"Dreams... are the only door left.
When the house canceled the wishes... all the bonds were severed...
But there is a bond between you and me... deeper than a wish."
He moved closer to her, but when he tried to touch her... his hand passed through her as if she were made of light.
"Will I see you again?"
"A few times... when your heart truly needs me.
But the truth, Omar...
Is that you must love truly outside of the house...
Outside of wishes."
She gave a short smile... then vanished like a wisp of smoke.
Final Chapter: A Love That Transcends Reality
Omar woke up with a tear on his cheek, but for the first time... he didn't feel broken.
He knew that what he had lived was not imagination, nor an illusion... it was a different kind of love.
A love made of the soul, not the body.
A love born from a wish... but remaining in his heart as a truth.
Omar no longer searched for the room... because it was no longer there.
But he learned one thing:
Some wishes come to give us a lesson... not to stay.
And every now and then... when the night grows dark...
Laila returns in a brief dream...
She only smiles...
Then disappears before he can say a single word.
But that alone... was enough to make him live.