Theme Thursday...........FESTIVAL

Opal Nation17


I continued to stand there looking out the window. What would a world be like with no women? Shivers ran up and down my spine. Did I really want to go to Opal Nation? Was Father still alive? Why had he not returned from his last quest to the Opal Nation?

I decided I would get a book and lie on the couch to read it. I walked over to the bookshelves and just grabbed a book, then went to lie on the couch. I am not even sure which book I grabbed because while lying on the couch I went back to thinking about Father and another of his stories. I am not sure why he seemed to tell most of his stories when he had been drinking and was in the library, but when he had told me this story we had been sitting on the back patio.

It was late fall and we were having a cold spell. Ben had wanted Father to have a fire in the built in fire pit for the patio. Father had agreed and so cook had, along with his helper, set it up. Cook had also supplied some hotdogs for Ben and I to cook and then he had also supplied us with the fixings for s'mores. Ben and I cooked the hotdogs for us to eat and we were having a lot of fun trying to not burn them or ourselves. Father surprised us and ate a few hotdogs and actually joined in the fun for a little while until he had a few drinks of his Special Reserve. Then he sat in his chair drinking some more and just staring at the fire. We knew that if he wanted to talk he would, and that we could not force him, so we continued to just have fun.

We had just started to tell some ghost stories when Father looked at us and we knew he was thinking about Opal Nation again. We just sat there in silence looking at the fire still burning, the wood was popping and crackling, you could also hear the flames rising. The flames were also doing their little flame dance and Father stared at them. He finally spoke very softly, so softly we barely heard what he had said.

"Did you know that they have a Festival of the Fire in Opal Nation?"

I answered quickly with a softly spoken, "No, you have never told us anything about that."

Father lapsed into silence for a few minutes and then asked if I remembered what a eeuleef was used for. "Yes, Father, I seem to recall that those are the things that carry the flames to all the villages." Father nodded his head. "Do you remember how I told you that the Kweelee rule the Opal Nation because they control fire?" I answered him with a nod of my own.

Father then went on with his story about the Festival of Fire. He said that they had one every month up on the mountain in the Land of the Fire. Many of the eeuleef carriers would arrive at the mountain. Then the Kweelee's High Priest would have them put the eeuleefs in a circle at the top of the mountain.

The eeuleef carriers would then go to the village just below and they would have a great festival. They would have a large bonfire and then do their native dances around the bonfire. Some would sing songs while others played instruments that made the strangest kind of music. But Father said that after a while he really started to enjoy the music. There would be lots of food served because the carriers would have long trips to take for the next few weeks throughout the Opal Nation. The villagers and the carriers would have a fun time, until they heard the loud dong that the High Priest would make. Then a loud cheer would rise up from them. "Kwaaakweelee krie" Father said that this meant that the Kweelee's High Priest had bestowed a new fire in each of the eeuleef's.

Then each of the carriers would go up the mountain one at a time to be given their eeuleef and he would come back down the mountain to start his quest of fire starting among the Opal Nation. When the last carrier left the villagers would put the large bonfire out and then go back to their homes and the next day would be just normal until the next Festival a month later. Father told us that they had watched quite a few of these Festivals and studied them. Then Father fell asleep in his chair. He had drank too much of his Special Reserve.

I had wanted to ask him some questions about the carriers but with him being asleep, I would now probably never get the chance unless he brought up the subject again. He never did. But the one question I had wanted to ask him was what happened if the flame went out before the carrier got to his destination? Did the carrier get punished and if so how much was he punished? Did anyone ever try to steal the eeuleef from them?

I was laying there on the couch thinking these thoughts and still wondering where Ben was when I fell asleep. I am not sure how long I had been asleep, but the room was dark when I opened my eyes. Something had made me jump and awake quickly. Then I heard it again, a very loud noise....

For those who missed part 16, here is the link. Which also links to parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. For more Theme Thursday's please go here.