“Oh, that smell is wonderful. Pure sugar is escaping in all that steam. I can't remember the last time I had natural sugar.” Nina hovered next to the small appliance and breathed in the bit of hot vapor that escaped.
“I probably overloaded the damn thing, but I didn't want to wait for two cycles. You should see my family's garden room. You think the rehydrated version smells good, wait until you smell apples fresh off the Tree.”
“Thank you for rescuing me today, Hess. This one moment of spontaneity has proven to be more than I can handle. This experience will teach me to stay in the lab where I belong.”
“No, no, no. I work on the Tree too, but I live on the surface. Besides, everything worth a damn in life is spontaneous. Don't worry. We have time to reacquaint you with humanity. It will be great, you'll see.” I removed the rehydrated snacks from the small appliance and laid them on plastic sheets.
The basic menu I selected for the trip consisted of bottled waters and a few sub sandwiches. Now I wish I had ordered more snacks. My friend's food order would have been canceled, but the items might already be loaded on the ship. A quick text to provisioning let me add the previously canceled food to my order.
Both travelers were dead tired. Hess, the taller of the two, took the end of the narrow couch by the exit door, and Nina took the reclining seat and propped herself up against the outside wall with a travel magazine and a cookie. The cabin was quiet and smelled like hot sugar. It wasn't long before they both fell asleep.
TRADITIONS
My grandparents arrived an hour early to help set up the house for guests. My mother rearranged the living room so people could walk around and mingle while waiting to congratulate the guests of honor. Jason didn't stay out of her view and got stuck moving furniture to and from the same spots while she made up her mind.
I sat at the dining table, assembling traditional parting gifts. In the past, the host family would provide the mourning guests with a ration of water and a tin of flatbread and dried fruits wrapped in plain paper for their journey home. In turn, the guests would bring small quantities of similar staples to the family of the departing.
My grandmother chose round silver tins of chocolate candies and little white square cakes. My task was to finish tying the tins with a burlap cord and adding the parting message card.
Our water that others may not thirst, our bread that others may not hunger, our lives that others may survive. Live well, Constance and Edgar Moon.
Guests began to arrive just after voting closed for the evening. The ballot tally took almost an hour. Local news claimed this measure had the highest participation rate of the last three years. The vote was roughly seventy to thirty in favor of removing the Reds from their unlawful encampments. The vote was for death, the ceremony tomorrow night was for death. Even the little square sugary cakes were for death.
Hess called to say he had arrived in the city and would be bringing someone with him. This news seemed to delight my mother. It was the only thing that had swayed her dark mood in days.
Beryl's friend Mercy from work was busy opening fruit juice and chilled water bottles. She and Beryl would serve as hostesses for the evening. They would wander the crowd in traditional black satin dresses and keep everyone's glasses full. A sign of prosperity and wealth for a family was how big the glasses were. Our drinks are the typical eight-ounce size, but the presentation is still lovely.
Now that the sun was down, we could walk outside in the barren streets and greet the darkness without protective gear. My father set up a few tables and chairs under the porch for overflow guests. The neighbor and his new bride came over to help my father carry the chairs up from the basement and pay their respects to the family.
“There you are, the sun is down let's go melt shit on the sidewalk, anything you want, just name it, and I'll melt it.” Jason was overly cheerful about the situation. I couldn't help but smile at him and shake my head a little.
“Isn't that a bit childish, besides I'm expected to help with all this somehow.” I pouted, sticking out my lower lip and hyper batting my eyelashes.
“Nah, you can sneak out with me. No one will care as long as we come back for the exchange. Tomorrow at the event, you'll be stuck inside all night, so take this opportunity to melt useless shit on the sidewalk with me.”
“There is something very wrong with you, but that does sound like more fun than being packed in here with all these people. I can barely see my grandparents.”
“See no harm done, now do we have some soft metals or plastics. Wait, I've got some vintage crayons in my pack. Come with me. You are under my spell.” Jason made his best attempt at a spooky voice. I rolled my eyes and took Jason's hand. He pulled me out the front door with a dramatic swish of his evil villain air cape.
My grandmother waved briefly at me before turning her attention to the next well-wisher kneeling by her side. She looked regal in her eggplant-colored dress next to my grandfather in his dark gray suit. They sat slightly above their flock of adoring fans.
It was a strange sensation to cling to Jason's bare-skinned palm and run with the night air in just my clothes. I touch people all the time while I'm in my day suit, but this was new. A distinction between everything that existed before and everything right now sprang to life
