Celebration
The boys entered Inca just as night came. They could hear all the people of their village
conversing. They could smell the fire burning. As they crossed the tree line they could see all
of their people gathered in the ceremonial circle. All the people cheered as they entered the
camp. When they saw the jaguar though, everyone went silent. Everyone was shocked to see
them carrying the beast. The town elders approached the boys and asked what had happened.
When they told them the story they were truly impressed. They placed the jaguar on the big
table and asked the boys the boys to give them their bags. Dready and his friends had all of the
items on the list. They were told to follow the elders to the stage. The other two boys had
everything but the eagle's feathers and they were told to sit down. Dready and his friends
were told that they had completed their quests and were now men. There would be a
celebration to honor them into manhood. However, there would be an even bigger celebration
this evening because Dready had killed the jaguar. They would clean and eat the big cat then
Dready would be awarded the fur and claws to wear as a symbol of his courage and the skull
would be added to the ceremonial shrine to honor the Gods.
The boys were all then told to collect more firewood for the night while the rest of the
village prepared the feast. They walked out into the woods, collected logs and sticks and
carried them back to the camp. After the third trip Dready got tired and upset. He didn't
understand why they had to do this when they had just gotten home. He just wanted to relax.
So instead he decided to go for a walk out to the pond again. He walked down the path deep
into the forest. He thought about his journey. He thought about the battle against the jaguar.
He knew he had to kill it or it might have attacked him, but he still felt bad about it. He finally
reached the pond and sat atop a large boulder. He sat there for a while just thinking and
looking at the reflection of the moon in the water. He took a deep breath through his nose,
trying to relax when he smelled an intoxicating aroma. He looked around and started sniffing
all of the plants around him. Then he noticed a plant that he had never seen before. It was
almost glowing in the moon light. He walked over to it and immediately smelled that wonderful
smell again. He decided he wanted to bring this plant back with him and ask the elders what it
was, so he pulled out his hatchet and chopped it down. He walked back dragging the plant
behind him when he heard the elders call for the feast. He ran back as fast as he could for he
did not want to be late. He broke through the tree line, threw the plant on the stack of
firewood and took a seat with his family. The elders congratulated the boys for becoming men
today and they named Dready a prodigy warrior. They gave thanks to the Gods and told
everyone to eat. Then thick smoke began to pour from the fire.
The younger men of the tribe were responsible for loading the wood onto the fire. They
had loaded Dready's plant atop the flames. This made Dready chuckle because no one knew it
was his fault and the younger kids were getting yelled at. Everyone was coughing and choking.
The smoke was so thick it made it difficult to breathe. Everyone began to get very angry. Then
for some reason Dready heard others begin chuckling. Then, before he knew it the entire
village was laughing hysterically. Even the town elders joined in on the laughter. Everyone was
having a great time and they began to feast. This was the best food Dready had ever eaten.
The only thing new on the table was the jaguar, but it all tasted so good. He ate until he was
extremely full, then he decided to go sit with his friends. Some villagers started playing music,
so all of the women in the village started dancing. Dready saw Dabooty dancing right in front of
him. She was a girl he had liked for many years. She never showed him much attention, but
tonight when he looked at her she smiled. The celebration went on for hours and Dready could
barely keep his eyes open so he went to sleep in his chair.
Now it was normal for some people to fall asleep after a feast, but this time was
different. When Dready woke up in the morning he saw that the whole village had slept
outside that night. They all started waking up one by one. Then the elders woke up and began
to shout. The people were forbidden to sleep on the ground at night, but everyone had. The
elders were very upset, but the people argued that Dready had killed the jaguar so there was
no danger. The elders did not agree with this logic though, they knew there were other beasts
in the jungle. One of the elders then began walking around looking at all of the villagers with a
very serious face. He began looking into the sky and at the ground. It appeared that he was
looking for something. He then ran over to a young boy, grabbed him by the neck and began
yelling at him. He asked what they had thrown on the fire that night. The boy said it was a
plant that was on top of the stack of wood. The elder then began yelling at the young men,
demanding them to explain themselves. Dready finally stood up and admitted that it was his
fault. He told them about the trip he had taken through the woods to the pond that night. He
told them about the glowing plant and its incredible smell. The old man's anger slowly
subsided and he began to look more interested than angry. He told Dready to show him where
he had found this plant.
The elders and all the other men in the village followed Dready into the forest. When
they reached the pond, Dready showed them the boulder where he had found the plant. He
looked around, but could not see another like it. The elders became angry and told Dready that
where there is one plant, there are more. So, they widened their search. They walked all
around the pond. Dready then began describing what the plant looked like and the men
decided to split up the search to cover more ground. After a few moments men began
returning to the group saying they had found one here or found one there, but none were the
right plant. Then a man yelled loudly and began running over to Dready and the elders. He said
that he had found some plants just over the hill. They all climbed up over the hill and that's
when Dready saw the plants, tucked away in a small valley behind the pond. There were
thousands of them, three men tall, as far as the eye could see. Dready told them that this was
the plant from last night.
They walked through the valley and everyone was amazed by the wonderful smell. They
then began examining each plant. The elders pointed out that they bear some sort of bud.
They took a bite of it, but it did not taste good. The elders told all of the men in the village to
cut down as many of the plants as they could and bring them back to the village. The men
worked all day carrying bushels of plants back. Then at the end of the day the elders called a
town meeting and announced that they would be having another feast. They built a huge fire
and prepared tons of food. Then, the elders told the young men of the village to begin loading
the plants onto the fire. A thick cloud of smoke engulfed the camp. Everyone began coughing
and choking, then laughing. That was all Dready could remember of that night.