Last Day Day (Culture fiction)

Yesterday was Quasam or Last Day Day.
Its a day that we Shohannah celebrate every year.
Its also called "the day of false alarm" because it remembers a day when the prophet Hamarathi made a prediction that the world would end but it didn't.
Instead, however, as he woke on the "day after the world had not ended" the wise Hamarathi noticed how happy his followers were to still be alive.
"That must be why God sent me the false prediction", he said to his followers, "Because when we think we are going to meet with death but we don't it makes us so overjoyed and it makes us value the blessing of our lives even more greatly".
And so on Last Day Day, all Shohannah prepare for "the day of no tommorrow" so that they can feel the shamash-annah or "relief of still being alive".
Ofcourse it can be very confusing and sometimes scary for children. The first Quasam I remember was when I was five and I thought the world really was going to end.
"Are we all going to die Momi?", I asked my mother, sadly.
My mother smiled.
"Don't be frightened", she said, "Its all a game. We'll all be here tommorrow and if we're not well, then atleast we'll be in Li-bakh- hammah, "The arms of paradise" ".
I wasn't so frightened then and then, the next day, when I awoke and saw li-shourrin, "The resurgent sun" I did feel a great relief and then we all ate the feast of lak-mal-shin, "The survivors feast" at which we traditionally eat kalsami or 'soaked bread', a loaf of bread that has been saturated in a hot spicy sauce with a dish of spicy meatballs and I felt very happy that nothing had changed; that I was still enjoying life with my parents and my brother and sister.
I realized much later, as we say "li - fal-shara-hapkali", "The end does not come quickly". Things did change and I saw my parents and other relatives grow old and die but it happened over many years not on one apocalyptic day and, afterwards, I didn't feel the same relief of being a survivor.
But I still believe in li-hazran, the day when, after we have acclimatized to our heaven, we are reunited with our ancestors and share in a feast of heavenly food.
That will be a good day too, I think.