Memories of Waking
There are traditions, and then there are Traditions: the former, the little rituals that develop in a life, personal and unique; the latter, the sort that everybody knows and understands to be important without quite knowing why. Ali had a number of both, but today, her Chrysalis-Day party, is firmly rooted in the former. In the few years she's had this life, she's had to rebuild: her identity, her family, her power and her world. Ritual helped, and with her telescoped sense of time, took on great significance after what would be a ridiculously short while to anyone else.
One ritual is to wear butterflies, symbol of the soul. Although she couldn't wear her traditional and favorite cheongsam this year, she had something sparkly and gold to enjoy that would do admirably. Another tradition for her was chocolate. This shouldn't surprise anyone who's known her for more than a few hours. She wasn't allowed to indulge as she'd like, but a creamy chocolate panna cotta would sate her for the time being. The other traditions were, thankfully, plentifully supplied: friends, love, food, and an excuse to play dress-up.
(Hey, she's only four, people. Give her a break.)
This year she was feeling particularly helpful, in her own manner, so she was ready for her guests with her favorite deck of tarot cards and a set of runes, each tool wrapped in white silk and waiting for her on her desk; appropriate folk music that relies heavily on violins was turned to a comfortable volume to speak over. A few scarves and some big gold hoops in her ears, and she looked "traditionally"* gyspy-ish enough for everyone to figure out what's going on. Whether anyone would want to know what's to come (and whether she'll tell them the truth) remains to be seen...
And if not, there's still plenty of things to make the party fun.
---
*Yes, she knows. No, really, she does. She'll apologize to them later.
One ritual is to wear butterflies, symbol of the soul. Although she couldn't wear her traditional and favorite cheongsam this year, she had something sparkly and gold to enjoy that would do admirably. Another tradition for her was chocolate. This shouldn't surprise anyone who's known her for more than a few hours. She wasn't allowed to indulge as she'd like, but a creamy chocolate panna cotta would sate her for the time being. The other traditions were, thankfully, plentifully supplied: friends, love, food, and an excuse to play dress-up.
(Hey, she's only four, people. Give her a break.)
This year she was feeling particularly helpful, in her own manner, so she was ready for her guests with her favorite deck of tarot cards and a set of runes, each tool wrapped in white silk and waiting for her on her desk; appropriate folk music that relies heavily on violins was turned to a comfortable volume to speak over. A few scarves and some big gold hoops in her ears, and she looked "traditionally"* gyspy-ish enough for everyone to figure out what's going on. Whether anyone would want to know what's to come (and whether she'll tell them the truth) remains to be seen...
And if not, there's still plenty of things to make the party fun.
---
*Yes, she knows. No, really, she does. She'll apologize to them later.