“Mehdi’s Gone” is part of Zahra’s Paradise, a story set in the aftermath of Iran’s 2009 elections that First Second Books is publishing online in Farsi, Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch. First Second will publish the entire story as a book in 2011. New installments appear each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at www.zahrasparadise.com. This excerpt appears in PEN America 12: Correspondences.

Copyright © 2010 by Amir and Khalil.  All rights reserved.