One More Step - Culture Fiction
By well-wisher
Sun, 26 Jun 2016
- 530 reads
My name is Tobor Vichia, I am 4 years old and I am from the region of Vwor which is in the Southeast of Boslovia, a region known for producing Xiana; the wine made from the fermenting of rose petals and the traditional slubjana or 'Onion dome hat'.
Recently, I celebrated my 4th birthday and had to take part in the 'zwarfege' or customary Vworzian ceremony of the Steps.
In our region, whenever a child gets a year older they climb up to the step upon their hall staircase that represents the new year of their life, then their family sing "The song of the steps" and then they eat the Klabja or "clock cake" (sliced by my mother with vworzian 3-dimensional scissors called Kleptik that are opened to form the shape of a cake segment) a really delicious cake with a picture of a clock face on it, made out of black and white icing, with its hour hand pointing towards their age.
When I was just 1 year old, my mother and father say, they put me down gently upon the first step but when I became 4 years old I had to climb up to the 4th step of our staircase and stand there while my mother, father; my brother Ankru and Auntie Naira all sang the song "Ona mata mia" or "One more step":
"One more step; one more year;
one more birthday full of cheer.
Where life leads no one knows
but step by step we learn and grow".
Recently, I celebrated my 4th birthday and had to take part in the 'zwarfege' or customary Vworzian ceremony of the Steps.
In our region, whenever a child gets a year older they climb up to the step upon their hall staircase that represents the new year of their life, then their family sing "The song of the steps" and then they eat the Klabja or "clock cake" (sliced by my mother with vworzian 3-dimensional scissors called Kleptik that are opened to form the shape of a cake segment) a really delicious cake with a picture of a clock face on it, made out of black and white icing, with its hour hand pointing towards their age.
When I was just 1 year old, my mother and father say, they put me down gently upon the first step but when I became 4 years old I had to climb up to the 4th step of our staircase and stand there while my mother, father; my brother Ankru and Auntie Naira all sang the song "Ona mata mia" or "One more step":
"One more step; one more year;
one more birthday full of cheer.
Where life leads no one knows
but step by step we learn and grow".
But then something bad happened, I recall.
My Aunty Naira started to cry and I started to shout at her becoming angry because she was crying on my birthday.
I had lots of 'Yerma', a word from my language which means 'The feeling of self-importance or arrogance of the young'.
But then my mother rightfully took me into the kitchen and, clapping her hands together angrilly, told me that Auntie Naira was crying because she had lost her own son, Tovil and I had to say sorry to her and I gave her a piece of my clock cake to cheer her up and then she gave me a hug and told me that it was alright.
I blew out my birthday candles after that and I made a wish that I thought the Stremoi (Birthday fairies) might hear. I made a wish for Auntie Naira that she would have another child and be happy and that one day I would sing the song of the steps for him.
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