Rissani

Rissani appears on David’s return journey from Tafal’aalt as both a possible stop and a glimpse of the fossil trade that sustains the surrounding settlements. Anouar offers to spend an hour there so David can buy fossils, but David declines, intent on getting back to his wife; when they reach the area, they drive on without stopping.

A Stop Considered and Refused

After a brief stop in Alnif, Anouar tells David that Abdellah instructed him to drive straight back to Azna. He adds that they could visit Rissani for an hour if David wants to buy fossils. David refuses and asks to be taken directly to his wife. The choice makes Rissani a possible detour from the return journey, but not one David wishes to take.

Roadside Fossil Trade

As they pass Rissani, they see fossil sellers emerging from hovels clustered beside the road. Some wave imitation Psychopyge trilobites and Comura trilobites, embellished with car-repair resin. Anouar laughs at the counterfeits, calling the sellers fraudsters and condemning them as a disgrace to the nation. The scene places Rissani within a roadside trade where fossils are both marketable objects and targets of deception.

Place in the Return Journey

The drive past Rissani belongs to David’s return after his encounter with Abdellah. David has brought a large sum of money, but it remains unused and has become irrelevant to the outcome he sought. Against that background, his refusal to stop for fossils marks a shift in what matters to him: he wants to get home, not shop. Rissani’s brief appearance thus connects the region’s fossil economy to the journey’s movement away from bargaining and toward return.