The Valleys — Fire Circle

It was still late afternoon, going on early evening, and preparations were well underway for the last big fire circle gathering of summer before the wind, snow, and ice of winter returned.

This evening there was much to celebrate.

Tenzing and Asha’s coupling ceremony was due to take place. There was also the not-so-insignificant fact that the entire planet had not been taken over by huge vegetation-destroying, marauding insects with a serious attitude problem after all.

Planetary heroes or not, there was still firewood to be taken up to the fire circle, and Jaak, Tag, and Dieter were lending their paws to the work.

As it was, they did have Tenzing’s handcart, so it didn’t take too many loads to empty the beds of the pick-ups that had arrived with their firewood.

Judging by the pile of wood, tonight’s fire was going to be an especially good one.

Soon the wood had been laid ready in the fire pit. A good supply was stacked up nearby to ensure the fire kept going all night.

So the three boys set off for the hot and cold springs a little further up the Hot Lake trail.

By the time they got there, they were all starting to feel hot and dusty, and Dieter was panting like a steam engine, his long pink tongue jiggling back and forth as little bursts of hot breath came out of his mouth.

The hot and cold springs were so named because there was one cold spring that formed a pond, and a nearby hot spring that came out from a mound of steaming rocks and fed into a smaller pool.

Jaak had hardly needed to ask the question.

As soon as they came in sight of the springs, Tag was already peeling off his clothes.

As usual, he ran stark naked up onto a rock by the cold spring and launched himself off without any hesitation in his now legendary trademark star jump.

There was no one else around, so Jaak and Dieter soon peeled off their t-shirts and shorts and joined Tag in the refreshingly cool spring.

After they had washed all the dust and wood chips off, they were feeling much more refreshed, so they headed over to the hot spring pool to warm up.

The hot spring pool was small and only suitable for sitting in, but of course that hardly mattered — sitting was the perfect thing to do in a hot pool.

They had been sitting there for a little while when they heard a familiar voice from behind the rocks.

Sure enough, Ounce and Chewie appeared from behind the rocks — had they been there for a while watching?

Jaak wasn’t sure how this was going to go — one never quite knew with Ounce and Chewie.

Again Jaak and Tag exchanged glances — Chewie? Capable of original thought? This ought to be interesting.

Ounce gave Chewie a bit of a shove towards them.

For anyone that knew Chewie, this one sentence ranked right up there with any major speech given by any of the most famous people in history. Also, for probably the first time in recorded history, Ounce repeated something that Chewie said.

Jaak was a little lost for words, but he managed to stammer out an acknowledgement of something he had never expected to hear in a million years.

Tag was always the most generous of spirit from among the three friends.

Whoa! — For Jaak, that might have been a step just a teeny bit far and a little too fast, but it was too late.

There was a moment of slightly awkward silence.

Then, in an astonishing display of independent thought, Chewie shrugged and started taking off his own t-shirt and shorts.

He was soon followed — probably again for the first time ever — by Ounce.

It would be fair to say that Jaak and Tag would never become friends with Ounce and Chewie.

But for now, it seemed that with everyone literally stripped bare, old animosities could be put aside — at least for the moment — alongside the haphazard piles of shirts, shorts, and undies littered around the hot spring.

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Evening Dusk — Lighting of the Fire

The sun had already slipped down below the ridges, sending a slight chill down the valley.

It was time for the boys to make their way back down to the fire circle for the lighting of the fire.

Tonight it seemed as if almost the entire population of the valleys had turned out.

The fire was to be lit at dusk, and it was considered a high honour to be given the lighting of the fire. It was a simple ceremony, but one eagerly anticipated by those gathered.

Tsomo stood high on a rock so everyone could see and hear him.

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd.

The three friends looked at each other in astonishment and grinned, as an even louder cheer rose from the crowd.

They were each given a flaming torch, and they took up their positions evenly spaced around the awaiting fire.

The boys then stepped forward and, in unison, placed their torches against the dry brush tinder under the set wood. The crowd cheered again as the fire quickly caught, and dancing flames soon began to warm all those present against the evening chill.

The three boys looked at each other, grinned, and reached into their pockets to take out their cyan stones.

They were glowing brightly.

They held the stones out in their paws, and they began to revolve slowly in their palms. Soon the stones started to move from one boy to the next, forming the now-familiar pattern of triangular blue light.

Faster and faster, the stones moved until they became a blur.

The now-roaring fire in the centre of the fire circle changed. It went from yellow and orange flames to flames of brilliant blue.

The crowd watched on, transfixed as they marvelled at the phenomenon before them.

Then the stones slowed. The flames returned to their normal colour, and one by one the stones came back to the paws of the three boys.

Another cheer rose from the crowd.

Off to one side of the fire circle, wrapped in his faded red scarf, Grandpa Snow watched the three boys.

He nodded knowingly to himself and took a sip of sweet campfire tea from his favourite battered metal cup.

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The Coupling

It was now time for Tenzing and Asha’s coupling ceremony. In keeping with the way most things in the valleys were done, the ceremony was simple.

Tenzing and Asha both came forward from the crowd. They were dressed in brightly coloured striped linen clothing, and they each had a cream silk scarf draped around their necks. Each also held a small bunch of wild summer flowers.

Asha and Tenzing exchanged their silk scarves by placing them around the neck of the other. They then exchanged their bunches of flowers.

A loud cheer and applause rang out from the crowd. There was now only one announcement left to be made, and one that was eagerly anticipated by all.

The feast was magnificent.

Even Dieter had his mouth so full that it was quite some time later before he was able to declare it the best end-of-summer feast ever!

The valley’s musicians played, people ate and talked, and then they ate some more and talked some more.

Jaak, Tag, and Dieter were sitting together when Altai came up to them and sat down beside them.

Dieter rolled onto his back, his leg in a paroxysm of joy, pink tongue lolling deliriously to one side, and his tail thumping out a rhythmic beat on the ground.

They all sat together for quite a while, watching the flames of the fire and listening to the music, too stuffed full to do anything much else.

Previous: Episode 49 – Crater

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End of Part Three

The End.

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