The day before the party had arrived. The town was bustling with activity as everyone got excited in anticipation of the events for the coming two days. Even those who did not have anything to do with the party directly were preparing their produce and their homes for the occasion. It was a rare happening, occurring once every few decades, and following tradition, the Chief and his family would give everyone the day off as well as the following day to recover from the festivities.
In the next twenty-four hours, entire families would be gathering under one roof to enjoy a large meal in the company of their relatives, and those with closer ties to the Chief would arrange abundant feasts for not only their family, but their staff as well. These people included those in higher up positions such as the toolmaker's family, who were very important in the town for if not for them, Kudu would not be able to farm as effectively nor build as well as they can.
However, this was not the case for Liro's household in the sense that these two days would only see bigger meals on the table, courtesy of the woman of the house and usually nothing else. Liro's mother did however promise something special for him on the day after the party, which Liro was very much looking forward to.
Liro hadn't lived long enough to experience an event like this, and this was his first, so he was definitely the most excited in the family. He would likely live through a few of them if he stayed in the town working as a creaturer, as most of the older neighbours had lived through at least one of these events, and they were quite happy to have the joy which comes with such an occasion once again.
It wasn't all fun and games for Liro recently however, since for the past few weeks, he had been working extra. He figured if he ever was going to leave, he would need to be prepared, and thus he began his journey to gain as much knowledge as he could with what little the town had to offer.
His mother taught him about proper hygiene, and how to repair clothing using materials that could be found in their garden. This would ensure that he would at least have a basic understanding of how to maintain his clothing and how to clean wounds properly should he get any.
The latter worried his mother very much so, however she thought that one of the only ways to protect her only son if he ever truly ventured down the cliff would be by teaching him how to care for himself, so she at least could have less worry if he left.
Liro had no idea about what kind of plants may be outside his town, so he did what he could, and starting learning about all the edible plants and herbs which were dotted around his town. With his mother showing him everything, and word having spread that he was to become a creaturer, this wasn't unusual, and most people minded their own business apart from a few who came up to Liro and his mother to congratulate him on being tasked with the job.
On the morning of the party, Liro and his mother left their home and made a short journey past a few houses to get to his Uncle's house. The man was named Flem, and was a security guard working around the town. He was fairly well-built with a tall yet slightly wide frame, as the guards had to be somewhat strong in the case of an emergency. Nothing much happened in Kudu, however there had been a few fires in the past, most commonly around the warm season.
Flem was one of just eight guards tasked with keeping conflict between families in check, making sure houses weren't burning down, and more general stuff. They also were tasked with the important job of ensuring that nobody tried climbing the town wall. He was however a fairly odd fellow, despite seeming normal from the outside.
In fact, in his spare time he made and sold hats - which Liro found out one day when visiting when he was younger, as he found his uncle's hat room which was filled to the brim with them. When invited to dinner with Liro's family, he declined, stating that he would be staying at the wall, much to the surprise of Liro's mother, who was quite disappointed at his response.
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Liro awoke from his afternoon nap to sound noise of people slowly walking past his wall on the street outside his house. They were talking loudly and joyfully about their schedule for the evening ahead as they walked to their families, and how the planned on spending their day off afterwards.
Liro started to ignore their chatter, and got dressed. He wore a smarter outfit than usual, as his Mother said it would please his father to see him dressed well for their dinner.
He had on him a white collared shirt with frills on the cuffs. For his bottom half he just wore his regular shorts and knee-high socks. After all, nobody would see his bottom half at the dinner table, so it didn't matter much to his Father and Mother what he wore, though for his shirt, his mother asked him to wear the shirt specifically.
Liro sat in his room on the edge of his bed. He waited for his Mother to signal that dinner was ready, and when the bell in his kitchen rang.
His Father already sat waiting for the meal, and as Liro sat down, his Mother walked into the room with the food on a big wooden tray. As soon as the tray was put down, both Liro and his father stared in awe. It had to be the best looking food his mother had made to date.
Their mouths began to water- his father showing some emotion for once.
"This looks incredible, dear." His mother smiled brightly at her achievement. She held her chin up high and sat down with her family, ready to enjoy their meal.
Pots of different foods covered the table entirely. There was a whole fowl in the middle, shining a beautiful and soft brown. The side dishes included a wooden bowl with a large wooden fork and spoon which was filled crunchy, greens of different colours, a pot of steaming golden potatoes, creating a small mirage above them, and strawberry paste in small bowls for dessert.
Liro couldn't wait to start eating, and as soon as he had the go-ahead from his parents, he immediately reached for the strawberry paste. His mom was faster however, and snatched it quickly, throwing Liro a look that had 'really?' written all over it. Liro shrunk down, grinning widely.
"I tried..."
"Trust me, you'll want to save it for last, you don't want your tummy to get upset before you dig into all the food your mother spent a lot of time on, now do you?" She asked, looking into his eyes.
Liro decided to give up on the paste for now, and began eating the food in front of him. His mother watched as her son's eyes lit up like the sun when he tried a forkful of fowl, potato, and greens. She instantly got a rush of proudness by making her son so visibly happy. She had made up her mind. She would teach this young boy how to cook as well as her as another precaution for his adventure, and so that each time he cooked, he would think of her.
For some unknown reason, she was worried that she might forget him, and figured it would be a good reminder of her love for him.