A Well No One Can Reach

Folktales are highly local, passed from one generation of storytellers to another, shared in the intimacy of bardic circles. At their core, these tales speak of the cultures from which they originate. They symbolize unique realities while their edges often remain dyed in mystery. As conduits of memory, folktales transgress against the fixed forms of history and frequently subvert narrative conventions. They’re miraculous, often complicating the listeners’ learned reactions to fear.

“A Well No One Can Reach” is a folktale relayed by the Saudi Arabian writer Omar Al Jadhee and published in English translation last winter by ArabLit Quarterly. In a land that is parched, there is an infamous well, guarded by jinns and beasts; no one can attempt to draw water from it without losing life or sanity. But the water in the haunted well is the only hope for the survival of a four-year-old child, writhing in thirst and hunger. The child and her family are lost