As the sun came down and cast fewer and fewer rays upon the village, the inhabitants did not go to sleep as they usually did, but instead, they all gathered around an extremely large campfire.
It was a time of celebration and joy, and the sound of chatter was present everywhere.
The village had laid long, wooden tables, and on the tables, various food items were presented, ranging from stewed meats, sweets, soups, and roasted vegetables.
At some time during the night, the crowd quieted down, and they all sat down in lines, with the oldest members of the village sitting on the line nearest to the fire, while children sat on the furthest line.
Then, an elderly man, whose wrinkles had reduced his eyes to mere slits, stood up and faced the villagers.
"From the soil, we have arisen, and to the soil, we shall return."
The man's crackly voice reached the ears of the village folk, who all nodded and kept their attention on him.
"Now, at the eve of spring, and the end of the dead season, the harvests of life, as granted to us by Narth, shall similarly arise from the soil."
"I know you can't wait to eat what you have worked so hard to prepare."
"However."
"We have to give back to the gods, and in the process, accept our own mortality."
Near the campfire, a deep pit was dug up.
Suddenly, the elder grabbed a small part of every food item presented on the tables and threw it into the pit.
Afterward, the elder pushed some dirt into the pit, and the food was effectively buried.
"To the soil, it has returned."
While the people respected the ceremonies and traditions, it seemed they were growing impatient to eat, to the elder's notice.
Therefore, he clapped his hands exactly once and said, "Let us celebrate the beginning of Addaru, together, and in harmony."
*Clapping*
The village folk cheered and shouted in joy, as they stood back up and returned to their anarchical state.
People produced melodic harmonies through primal flutes, whereas others danced energetically.
A few hours passed this way, in which each member of the village had stuffed themselves full of food, and danced, and played.
Anku had remained with his parents and friends, though his little body, adjusted to sleeping very early, soon couldn't keep up with the adults, and he was getting very sleepy.
*Yawn*
Babyl noticed his yawning and turned around.
Then, he brought his son into a strong hug and said, "It's time for you to sleep, my light, let us go."
Anku weakly nodded, and laid his head on his father's shoulder, almost caving into sleep.
Babyl giggled and walked back to the hut.
He put down Anku on the bed, and whispered, "I've kept the furnace on to heat up the home, sleep well, my light."
Anku nodded with his eyes closed, but his consciousness drifted away uncontrollably, and he began snoring loudly.
Babyl laughed and left to go back to the celebrations.
_______
-An hour later-
Anku groggily woke up, bothered by the burning sensation in his bladder.
He had drunk too much juice, and eaten too much, so he now needed to relieve himself.
As he moved around the warm hut, he noticed the burning red furnace and the bronze hammer next to it.
'I wonder...how heavy is the hammer?' Anku's eyes glowed, as he recalled the time he tried to lift the sword.
Maybe he was stronger now?
Once focused on this specific thought, the child forgot everything else and walked in slow, determined steps towards the furnace.
He looked at the glowing bronze hammer, and his small hands gripped the thick handle of the forging tool.
Then...
"Ughhh...." Anku soon found out that there was no way he could lift off the hammer.
In an attempt to lift it off, his elbows tried to use the anvil next to him as a support, but he had forgotten one thing.
Weirdly, Anku's nostrils detected the smell of burnt flesh, and in a short delay, he paranoically looked down at his elbow, and...
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" His nerve signals had finally reacted, and great pain overtook any other thought in his brain.
"WHY?!" Anku couldn't even describe the pain, as tears slid down his face like a bucket, and no matter what he did, he could not relieve this great pain.
However, every single movement of his only made it worse, and this kind of pain was too great for a child to bear, as he felt himself lose consciousness.
"Babyl, did you see how good the sweets were this year? I also liked the lamb stew," Siria came in, laughing and conversing about meaningless and mundane matters to her husband.
However, as her eyes scanned the room, and she saw Anku laying down on the ground, while his elbow had turned into a bloody, red, and purple patch, she paused in great shock.
Realization hit her, and she ran with the greatest speed she could muster towards her son.
He was unconscious, and when she brought her finger to his nostrils, she detected only weak and irregular breathing.
"ANKU...!"
Hearing the screams and the running, Babyl also went in, and when he saw the gory sight, he also reacted similarly to Siria.
His eyes looked around, and he noticed blood on the anvil.
At that moment, he understood, and great guilt overcame him, as he looked at the state his son was in.
"BABYL..." Siria was in tears and shambles.
Her sanity had immediately collapsed from the sight of her child this way and looking at the burns, fury, and hatred towards her husband emerged.
"YOU DON'T LEAVE A CHILD ALONE NEXT TO A FURNACE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, while she still examined her child's breathing.
Babyl could say nothing in his defense and was shaking profusely.
...
Siria breathed heavily as she looked at the burns her son sustained.
His breathing was stabilizing, but there was no way she could leave the wound like that.
She stood up, with her limp son in her arms, and said to her husband, "Let's go to Enheduanna's, she'll know how to treat him..."
"B-but, she wasn't at the feast, do you think she's still awake?!" Babyl didn't know what to say at all.
Siria gave her husband no heed and immediately left the hut, making sure she didn't cause any more friction to Anku's burn.
'MY LIGHT CAN'T DIE, MY LIGHT CAN'T DIE, MY LIGHT CAN'T DIE!!!' Her thoughts were a mess, and she was not ready, NO, she was never ready for a pillar of her life to break.
'Did I cause the death of my one child?!' Babyl felt his heart beating so strongly it would come out of his chest.
He gripped his chest and breathed deeply.
He didn't know what to do.