Ethereal

The Luau

You and Spencer arrive at the luau and step out of the uber. Once you're out of the car you walk towards a lit path behind some tall palm trees. You can hear the music and chatter and smell the food being made.

"It smells great." Says Spencer. You look up at him.

"I agree. I can't wait to pig out later." You say and he laughs. You two keep walking until you see the hula dancers swaying in their grass skirts on a small wooden stage. People are spinning batons that are on fire and dancing to the music. The small park is lit by tiki torches and lights that are strung overhead. As you admire the scene a woman walks up to you and Spencer.

"Aloha! Welcome to our luau celebrating the autumn equinox. Please, take a lei and enjoy the festivities." She says. She places a string interwoven flowers around your neck and you smile. She does the same for Spencer and walks back towards the crowd of people.

"What should we do first?" You ask.

"I'm not sure. Are you hungry?" He says.

"Not especially. Should we watch the hula dancers?" You ask.

"Definitely." He says. You walk to the seats that are set up in front of the stage and take a seat. You watch as they sway their hips and move their hands to the music. They move so smoothly and freely.

"Hula dancing used to be a religious dance that was performed in front of the king and other citizens to promote fertility, honor the gods, and praise the chiefs." Says Spencer. He keeps his eyes locked on the dancing as he speaks to you.

"Wow." You ask. "Did the dances mean something?"

"Yeah, and they still do. Every hula dance tells a story. They dramatize them by moving their hips and limbs to tell it."

You continue to watch them dance until they eventually stop and take a bow. You and Spencer applaud them with the rest of the crowd as they walk off the stage and smile. You stand up from your seats and look around. There's a man playing the ukulele singing in Hawaiian. You smile and walk towards him.

"I used to play the ukulele." You say to Spencer. He looks down at you.

"Really?" He asks.

"Yeah. In middle and some of high school."

Spencer turns and looks around. His eye is caught by a small stand selling custom ukuleles. He walks over and catches the attention of the very old man sitting there.

"Excuse me, can I borrow one of these?" He asks. You walk over to him and watch as the man stares at him confused. Soon after a younger woman walks over.

"I'm sorry, he doesn't speak much English." She says. She turns to speak to him.

"That's ok, I didn't know." Says Spencer. He looks back at the man. He then starts speaking Hawaiian, pointing to one of the ukuleles. You aren't surprised but the woman and man are. Spencer's pretty good at picking up on languages. The man smiles and responds. He picks up one of the beautifully crafted ukuleles and hands it to him. Once he has it you two walk to a table that's a little secluded from the rest of the crowd. You sit down under the warm lights, surrounded by beautiful hibiscus flowers. He hands you the ukulele and you smile widely as you take it from him.

"Play me something." He says. You position it in your arms and strum at the strings. You try and think of a song to play.

"Any requests?" You ask. "Don't be surprised if I can't play it, I'm a little rusty."

He looks down and and takes a second to think. Soon he looks up trying to hide a small grin.

"Play our song." He says. You try and remember chords as you smile down at the ukulele. After a few seconds you think you've got it down and start to play the strings.