The Ceremony (A Short Story)

The Ceremony (Full Short Story)

It was a cold day in Ziva’s community and she had just learned the day before that she had to conduct the biggest ceremony of the year later. The ceremony that she had to lead was a celebration of the colder months. “How will I ever get through this ceremony? It’s just too much.” Ziva thought to herself.

Ziva had just woken up that morning in her cave that she lived alone in. Sometimes she felt lonely but she had to be alone to get any work done. This also meant that she wouldn’t be finding a mate anytime soon and she wasn’t going to be having children either. With many things on her mind, Ziva got up and found a warm fur dress lying on the cave’s floor. She picked it up and got dressed.

After Ziva was dressed, she went outside and breathed in slowly and deeply. “Another day, the same work.” she whispered to herself. She was getting hungry and she remembered that she had some meat that a couple that lived in the village had given her as an offering to help them find their spiritual guide. Being the communities’ spiritual leader, she usually got gifts like this as payment. She wasn’t complaining but sometimes she wished that she could be a normal person in the community. Ziva thought about this while she ate some meat that was cold but satisfied her hunger.

After she finished eating, Ziva had to do the morning spiritual ritual that she did everyday to connect everybody to the spirits and the Heavens. She went back outside of the cave. Ziva sat on a cover that she had to cover herself up with when she slept that was also made of a buffalo skin. She crossed her legs on the cover and started praying. She always had to offer something to the spirits as well, even if the offering was small. Today she offered a white flower that she saw nicely sitting next to her. Ziva saw this as a sign and picked the flower and then placed it in front of herself and she finished the ceremony and she decided to go back inside to her cave and she started to practice what she would say.

Ziva finished practicing what she would say and do and then she went into town to get ready for the ceremony. “Good morning Ziva. How are you this morning?” Her friend Cabara asked. “Honestly, not so good.” Ziva said, looking saddened. “What’s wrong?” Cabara put an arm on Ziva’s shoulder. “It’s this ceremony I have to lead later. It’s a lot and this is the first time I’m doing anything this big. This is one of my first years as the spiritual leader and I don’t want to mess things up for us or the community. If I do something wrong, I could upset a higher power,” Ziva gestured her hand to the sky. “or I could be potentially killed if I mess things up.” She said, finishing her sentence. “That does sound tough, but I know you and I know how brave and strong you are and you will give the greatest performance of your life.” Cabara encouraged Ziva. “You really think so?” Ziva asked. “ I know so.” Cabara leaned in to give Ziva a hug. “You’re the best friend anyone could ever ask for, you know that?” Ziva asked. “I didn’t know but I guess I do now. I’ll see you at the ceremony soon, okay?” Cabara started to get up. “Okay.” Ziva said smiling. The girls said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Ziva got to the area where the ceremony would be held. There were many furs on the ground for people to sit on. Ziva remembered everything that she would say and do and she practiced in her head. People started to show up and Ziva believed and hoped that she would be ready. She cleared her throat as the ceremony began. “We are here today, to celebrate the coming of colder days and nights. We are here to offer many gifts to the spirits.” When Ziva said this, everyone who attended laid their offerings on the ground and began to pray and Ziva began to speak again. “Oh spirits of this world, please take these offerings in exchange for you to protect us and keep us from any great danger. Keep us from famine and keep us from any droughts.” Ziva said. “Thank you for everything that you help us with, each and every day.” 

When Ziva finished speaking she instructed everyone to stand up and everybody followed this order and they already knew what to do next. Everybody started to hum quietly to themselves in harmony. Slowly their humming became louder and you could hear the whole community humming from miles away. They did this as a way to thank the spirits themselves and to pray. 

This went on for a few minutes. When everyone was finished people went back to their caves to celebrate with the people they lived with then the next day they would have a bigger celebration. 

Ziva didn’t have anyone to celebrate with so she went back to her cave in the woods and celebrated with herself but she didn’t have anything to do. She went outside of her cave and went to a nearby river and she dipped her legs in it and she sat there thinking about what a wonderful job she had done during the ceremony and then she just watched her reflection ripple in the waves on the river and felt calm and at peace with the world.