The Porter and the Three Ladies: A Tale from the 1001 Nights

A porter is hired for one evening's work and finds himself inside a house where everyone is hiding something. Three women. Two black hounds that used to be people. Three one-eyed strangers who arrive separately but share the exact same secret. And a single house rule — ask no questions — that almost nobody at the table can actually manage to keep.

By the time the night is over, the wrong question has been asked, the wrong door has been opened, and even the Caliph himself, listening from the shadows, can't stay quiet any longer.

A tale from The Thousand and One Nights, retold plainly — for readers seven to ninety, and for anyone who has ever been handed one simple rule and broken it anyway.