Chapter 2b

“Finally,” I said with a big sigh.

When Arates gave me her explanation of why all of this was happening to
me, I didn’t like it one bit. It sounded to me like everyone was putting all of
their hopes on the red poppies that grew on Cliff Deos. She said that the
village didn’t choose me; the poppies did. I knew that people were crazy
about the red poppies here, but I didn’t think that they were actually making
people crazy.

Being chosen was supposedly some great honor bestowed on an individual

every year. The person becomes what is called a Seeder and are given the
golden seeds of the red poppies to be spread throughout the barren world to
sustain its beauty or something like that.

I honestly had a hard time believing everything that I was hearing. So why
did everyone else accept it without questioning it?

“So, what happens next?” I asked.

It was obvious that I didn’t believe one word of what Arates was telling me,
but I at least wanted to know what was going to happen to me. Even if I
didn’t believe, everyone else surely did. They all stared at me like I was
throwing dirt all over their beliefs. I was from Matza Pira, too. Just because I
didn’t share all the beliefs that they did doesn’t mean that they could look
down on me.

“Next, we prepare you for your journey, young Rabbit.”

“’We’?”

“Yes, everyone in Matza Pira is here to help you. We are all depending on
you to carry out your task,” Arates said, turning to face the villagers who
were gathered all around the bond fire.
Chapter 2b

“What’s the bond fire for?”

“It’s a part of the ritual. Don’t you know anything about any of our
traditions, my child?”

“Sorry, but I missed the lesson about the red poppies.”

“Then you shall witness firsthand what you missed in many of my stories.”

“Okay, I’m ready,” I said, taking a deep breath in case something crazy was
about to happen to me. I hoped they weren’t about to feed me anything
disgusting.

Arates nodded to a few villagers standing close to the fire.

They approached, and when they stepped out of a pocket of darkness hidden
by the logs that fed the bon fire, I saw that they were carrying something. It
took all three of them to carry a black cauldron where steam was slowly
drifting from it.

I squinted and said, “What is that?”

“Boiled poppies,” Thies said all to glad to answer my question. He rubbed

his hands together when the three men carrying the cauldron shuffled past
him.

As the three men set the cauldron down on the ground, they made grunts of
effort and took a few steps back.

“O…kay. So what happens next?”

Chapter 2b

“The ritual begins,” Arates said.

“What ritual?”

“This one,” Arates said as a woman handed her a large gourd and dipped it
into the stewing cauldron.

“I don’t have to drink that, do I?”

“Of course not, my child.”

I sighed, relived, but I knew that if I wasn’t about to drink that, something
much worse was about to happen to me.

“Then what is this for?” I asked, staring into the large pot. Inside was so
dark that I couldn’t see the bottom. The mixture swirled, and the steam took
hold of my face until I pulled it away.

“This is for your purification.”

“My purification? Why would I need to be purified?”

“Enough questions, young Rabbit. Let us begin.”

Everyone in the village came up to me, and I noticed that they all were
carrying a gourd in their hands, even the little children. One by one, they
began dipping their gourds into the batch of boiled poppies and until it filled
up.
Chapter 2b

Then they formed a single line and positioned their gourds. I held my hands
up tentatively to protect myself. Were they about to do what I thought they
were about to do?

One after another they started splashing the hot contents of their gourds on
me. I was right. The first splash hit me on the shoulder, but I was pretty
sure that the person who threw it was aiming for my face. I screamed for
them to stop, but that just made them take their turns faster.

I wanted to run away, but I knew that it wasn’t an option. The elders stood
on both sides of me. Where was I going to go? If I ran, I knew that I could
never come back. I had a mother and father who still lived here. I’m sure
that they would become pariahs if I did anything that made them look bad.

I closed my eyes and waited for the ritual to end. Maybe it would be easier
that way, not knowing who was throwing boiling poppies at me, but it didn’t
make it any easier to bear. It still hurt, having boiling liquid tossed on me
with no breaks in between. The liquid never got any cooler, and I knew that
they would continue until there was none left.

Someone splashed the liquid in my face, and a little of it got in my mouth. It

was bitter, and I knew it wasn’t a taste I’d be able to get out of my mouth. It
even burned the tip of my tongue. I wouldn’t be able to taste anything for a
few days. For some reason, I didn’t think that it would matter whether or not
I could taste anything.

After a few moments of nothing happening to me, I opened my eyes, one at

a time, and saw them all staring at me. The bonfire behind them was still
raging like a malicious animal, making their shadows dance even though
they were all standing still. It made them look like they were plotting against
me. Fingertips curled, arms twisted, legs wriggled. Were these really the
same people that I’d known my entire life or had they been replaced by
someone else?

“And now for the next step of your purification,” Arates finally said, sending
me out of my own thoughts.
Chapter 2b

I looked sideways at Arates. “Which is?”

“This,” she said, pointing with her whole hand at a woman who approached
me.

I gasped when I saw her carrying a large black bowl with both hands.

“You are to drink this poppy juice,” the woman said as she came to a stop in
front of me.

Remembering the taste of the boiling poppies that had accidently gotten into
my mouth, I shook my head violently.

“No,” I said. “No, you can’t do that to me.”

“Be at ease, my child,” Thies said, resting a hand against my back. “There is
nothing to fear.”

“No,” I said again. I pushed my way past the two elders and started to run,
but there was another man standing behind me that I didn’t notice. When I
collided into him, he grabbed me by the arm, and with one hand, he lifted
me off my feet and carried me back to where everyone was waiting. I didn’t
even manage to get very far before I was captured.

“Be careful with her, you brute!” Thies said. “We are all counting on her.”

The large man that had captured me didn’t say anything, but he did nod as
he gave a low grunt. He set me down on the ground, and I sat there dripping
in a puddle that was still hot. I could feel the heat coming from my body,
and my short hair was completely drenched.
Chapter 2b

I just sat there staring at the ground. I didn’t dare look up, but I did see the
woman’s long shadow as it got closer to me. She knelt in front of me and
put the bowl to my lips, but I refused to part them, and the liquid just ran
into my lips before returning to the bowl. I was intent on making this as
difficult for them as possible.

The woman glanced above my head at someone, probably the man who set
me down, and said something that I couldn’t hear. I imagine she was telling
him that I wouldn’t drink the juice.

I felt a sturdy hand on my jaw, the dirty fingers prying my lips open. Then
my head was made to tilt backward, the woman put the bowl to my lips
again, and she poured the warm liquid inside my mouth. I didn’t have a
choice but to swallow.

My mouth closed—again, not my doing—and I just sat there, tears slipping

past my eyelids, but I didn’t care if they all saw me sitting there, crying.

Arates put her hand on my shoulder, and said, “Now is not the time for
lament. It’s a time for celebration.”

“For you, maybe.”

“Come on, young Rabbit, we have one last ritual for you to complete.”

I stood up, coughing, probably choking on poppy juice which was surprisingly
sweet, but that still didn’t mean that I wanted to be forced to drink it. By
then, the boiled poppies that had been dumped on me were cooling off, and
it felt as sticky as honey. It was starting to make moving my arms and legs
hard.

The powerful man that had lifted me and manipulated my jaw before yanked
me to my feet. It made his hands sticky, and he had to wipe them on his
Chapter 2b

worn clothing before he could get the residue off his fingers. It served him
right.

“What now?” I asked. I hadn’t been able to get much sleep before I was
dragged out of bed, and it was beginning to show. I yawned, but I didn’t
dare rub my eyes the way I always did when I was sleepy.

My eyes focused, and I saw that the villagers had something in their hands
again. It was relief that they weren’t carrying gourds or bowls full of poppy
juice. Everyone had armfuls of something that looked like little red balls.

“Now you are to be covered in poppy petals,” Thies said.

“You mean like yesterday?”

“Yes. It is to symbolize your transformation into a red poppy. For what

reason did you think that we were doing all of this?”

“To torture me.”

Thies gave a great big laugh, throwing his head back. “Do not be silly,” he
said, guiding me with a gentle push forward. “This is the last of the awful
things that you must endure. After that, it will be nothing but pure bliss for
you.”

“I doubt it,” I said under my breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” I said with a smile that made me feel slimier than the sticky stuff
that I was covered in.
Chapter 2b

I took small steps forward, and a large circle formed around me. It took a
while for me to spot my mother and father, but by the time I located them,
the final part of this transformation ritual, as Thies called it, had begun.

I felt something hit me in the back of my head, but whatever it was didn’t fall
on the ground. I put my hand to the back of my head, and I felt what I knew
was a petal get stuck in my hair. After the next petals bombarded me
without stopping, I finally stopped trying to figure out who threw what and
just stood there.

Watching the petals take flight in mid-air looked unreal. Like a swarm of
bees, the petals drifted like humming birds and made their way to my body,
almost like the sticky stuff was attracting them. The wind picked up speed,
and the balled up petals opened themselves up and swirled around me
before landing.

“Now what?” I asked, almost completely covered in petals.

“We wait,” Arates answered.

“For what?”

Before I got an answer, a light in the corner of my eye caught my attention,

and when I looked, I saw the sun climbing out of the depths of the eastern
sky, staining the sky in a lighter shade of blue.

“For the sun,” Arates said, directing all of our gazes skyward to get us to
watch the rising sun.

My body felt hot, and when I looked down to see what was happening, I saw
the petals all respond to the light. They opened themselves up more,
stretching until they were lying flat against my body.
Chapter 2b

As the sun slowly took its place higher in the sky, the petals started to fade,
losing their color until they took on a chalky white color. I felt them harden
and get heavy like fired clay fresh out of the kiln, then they fell off me all at
once, taking with them the sticky substance underneath.

Once again, I was red.

Everyone looked a little relieved.

“What’s next?” I asked Thies and Arates.

“Now you must bathe in Priya Lake,” they said in unison, the sun on their
backs.