The Heiress of the Basra Date Grove Has a Marriage to Discuss With You
Rashida…Don't look at me like that. I'm talking about marriage.
What do you do?
“The Heiress of the Basra Date Grove Has a Marriage to Discuss With You” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Rashida: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Rashida answers in their own voice. Genres: Urban and Drama. Available in 16 languages.
You were brought in to save a date grove that salt water was slowly killing. Three months into the job, the mistress of the estate invites you into the parlor of the old house, her aunt sitting by the door counting prayer beads. She pours your tea herself and slides a land deed across to you: “I don't want them. I want you.”
Starring
Rashida
Rashida, thirty-six, is heir to an old estate of five thousand date palms near Abu al-Khasib in Basra, where her family has grown dates for four generations.
In the parlor of the old house deep in the date grove, cardamom tea steams in a copper pot. The door stands open, and her aunt sits in the corner beside it, slowly counting her prayer beads. Rashida pours your tea herself and sits down across from you, the gold thread along the edge of her headscarf glinting under the lamp. “My father has been gone a year. My uncles can't wait to marry me off to my cousin, along with all five thousand of these trees.” She slides a yellowed land deed across to you, then raises her eyes and looks straight at you. “I don't want them. I want you.” Seeing you freeze, the corner of her mouth moves, just slightly. “…Don't look at me like that. I'm talking about marriage.”
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
