Starfall (FJ)

The Ceremony

                  Zïâ stared at herself in the mirror. Hannah came into the room and smiled, "Still surprised you can look nice?" she joked. Hans's mother had given her a dress made of green cloth, made of cotton. Cotton. Barely anyone could afford that. And Zïâ got it free. It had a fake flower at her waist on the yellow sash. Hannah carefully braided Zïâ's hair, and then slipped small white flowers into the braid, all the way down at random points. Then, she put a rose right above Zïâ's ear. Kissing Zïâ's forehead, she said, "Now act civilized. Be polite. Congratulate the other Gifted. And don't pick your nose."

                   "Oh, ha ha. That's disgusting."

                    "What, being polite?"

                      "No, picking my nose. That's disgusting."

                   "It was a joke. Now why are you all tense? This is for fun."

                     "I thought you told me to act civilized."

                     "You don't have to climb a tree or get dirty or wet to have fun."

                 Zïâ walked in between Moçi and Hannah, carrying three baskets of pastries. Moçi carried two baskets of cakes, and Hannah was carrying four baskets of bread and six more baskets of pastries, with Zïâ acting as a guide, because  Hannah couldn't see over the baskets. They set the baskets down on the long table, next to pots of stews and soups, baskets of cheese and fruit, pitchers of milk, water, and alcohol. Moçi and Zïâ made faces. They hated the smell of alcohol. Hannah just sniffed angrily. She didn't approve of drinking.

              "Zïâ!" Zïâ turned around, and saw Hans and his other friend, Ian walking to her. Hans waved. Zïâ forced a smile. She and Ian did not get along. 

                        "Hi, Hans. Hi.....Ian."

                       "Whatever," said Ian, looking bored. Hans looked slightly uncomfortable, looking at the ground. Zïâ noticed that Hans was wearing his best clothes, extremely worn pants that had been painstakingly creased, and an old, slightly small cotton shirt. But it was cotton, which was still better worn out than brand new wool. Or deerskin. Nobody liked deerskin clothes. He never wore his best clothes to the Ceremony. He was never really happy about the Ceremony, after all.

                         "You know if you want to hang around with her....I'm just going to go. I don't get why you even bother with her." Ian said. Hans was quiet for a while.

                               "You didn't have to say that in front of her." He was still looking at the dirt. He hadn't looked up since he had waved at her. Zïâ wished he would look up. She felt like he was embarassed by her. Ian rolled his eyes and walked away.

                                 "Thanks for sticking up for me......for once." Zïâ didn't mean to say that. It just slipped out. Zïâ covered her mouth. Hans looked up, hurt.

                                      "Why are you so tense, Zïâ?" he asked, the hurt leaving his voice when he saw how angry Zïâ looked with herself. She shook her head.

                                    "I don't know...," she paused awkwardly, fishing for something to say," Thank your mother for me. This dress is wonderful! I can't believe it. Cotton!" Hans smiled.

                                             "You like it? I chose it for you. It matches your eyes and hair. Speaking of hair, I didn't know you could braid."  

                                                 "I can't. Hannah did it." Hans laughed.

                                             "I can't believe you can't braid.  I can braid, for crying out loud." Zïâ frowned.

                                           "It's too hard." 

                                         "Don't lie to me. I know you didn't even try to learn."

                                               "I'm afraid of messing up."

                                              "Of course, you'll mess up. That's part of learning."

                                              "That's why I don't want to learn. It's embarassing to mess up. That's probably why I'm upset, too. I don't want to mess up in front of everyone."

                                  Hans smiled quizzically," Mess up at what? Smiling? Walking? Because that's all you have to do, you know."

                                       "I know. I don't want to mess up on something so simple."

                                    "You can still smile. Try smiling." She tried. It came out crooked. And nervous.

                                        Just then, a bunch of people came up to her and started going off about how happy they were for her, she is very talented, and good luck this year. Hans quietly slipped away. Attention made him nervous, even if it wasn't directed at him.

                                    Finally, they stopped yakking Zïâ's ears off, when the call for the banquet to begin came. Zïâ didn't feel like eating. She didn't know why, but she felt like going by the river. It didn't feel like actual wanting. It felt like something she had never felt before. She could only call it Magic.