It is the eighth day of the week, the seventh week of the month, the seventh month of the year. New Year's Eve. Today's New Year's celebration in town looks to be the largest ever held, after all, this was the turning of an Era. Twice before in history has this occurred, and today would be the third.
Today was a day of harvest. Normally, we would wait an extra day for the event to end and sell them the next day; that's what we did in past years. But today we were actually going to the event. As such, mother wanted to stock up on a few more Franks, I don't think she realises how much money I actually have from cutting trees.
So, we woke up early, skipped breakfast and harvested our crops. This way, we can get it into town and sell it quickly before all the normal stalls close and the festival stalls open. We managed to get into town early and sell off all of our product, earning a decent sum of Franks. We then went shopping for long-lasting supplies that would last till the next month, when we would harvest and sell again. With our month's supply secured, we travelled home. My mother pulling the cart since it's much lighter now.
"Hey Mum, have you ever been to one of these New Year's festivals before?"
"Huh? Oh yeah sure, a few here and there. That was before you came along, though. Taking care of you all by myself, I didn't get any days off."
She gave me a warm smile to show me that it wasn't something that bothered her, or maybe to show that she didn't regret missing out. I'm not quite sure, either way, it was a reassuring smile.
"I am looking forward to this year's one, though. We're lucky to be alive at the turn of an Era. I heard from Noah that they're bringing in fireworks from the city."
"What's that?"
"I saw them a few times when I was younger in the imperial city. It's a thing that soars into the sky and explodes with colour. You'll see, they're magical."
"Oohh? What else did they have in the city?"
"Lots of things. The Empire is far more advanced than the Viltin States. Vilta only recently developed telegrams."
"Telegrams?"
"Mmhm, it's a way for people to communicate over a long distance almost instantly. They had them in the city because of how big it was. You had to go to a postal office to send a message, but I bet everyone has one now."
It was kind of nice watching her reminisce like this. She didn't talk about the Imperial City much, if at all. I would like to see it one day. Living there might prove a challenge, if they have advanced technology there, I might be a bit too much of a farm boy to be able to do any work. But I would like to at least visit one day.
We returned home and had our breakfast. It was small but enough to hold us over for a few hours as we planned to buy plenty of food at the markets in town. I mentioned that since the food will be far cheaper than normal, it would be an amazing opportunity to try out foods I've never had before, without wasting too much money if it turns out I don't like them. Mother added to that idea by talking about how the food stalls have some really nice cooked food that she might try a few for inspiration for new dishes to learn to cook at home.
After we ate, we decided to both bathe, put on freshly washed clothes, gather some things and head out. I brought a coin pouch with a decent sum of Franks, looping it around my waist, and I tucked it into the front of my pants to avoid it being stolen. Mother decided to bring along her small hand basket in case she wanted to buy some things to bring home. No doubt, she would at least stock up on some wine.
We travelled back into town just as the normal market stalls were closing and the festival stalls were being set up. Since we were a bit early before the official celebration, mother decided to head off somewhere and left me to do as I pleased. After wandering down the market street, I realised there was nothing to do yet. No vendors were selling anything, and everyone was just preparing. As I reached the end of the street and arrived at the town hall, I noticed a distinct figure atop a ladder, and the exact same figure at the bottom, holding it. It was Jakub and Lucas, the twins from work.
"Bonjour"
I called out to them as I approached. I couldn't tell the two apart, and they liked it that way. They dressed the same and kept their hair the same. They enjoyed confusing people and playing tricks. The one at the bottom of the ladder waved to me casually, and I pointed at him as I approached.
"Jakub?"
"Comment l'avez-vous su ?" [How did you find out?]
"C'était une supposition" [It was just a guess]
"Pouvez-vous nous aider un peu?" [Can you help us a little?] Lucas called out from atop the ladder. He was trying to attach some decorations to the wall of the hall. The main road had fabric streaming between the street lanterns of various colours, the same here.
"Comment puis-je aider ?" [How can I help?]
They had me climb up the ladder halfway so Jakub could hand me some decorations, and then I could pass that up to Lucas. That way, he wouldn't have to climb up and down over and over to reach. We managed to finish decorating the hall quite quickly. The two twins thanked me and each shook my hand vigorously while they did.
"Laissez-nous vous donner quelque chose en retour." [Let us give you something in return.]
"Oui, nous insistons. En guise de remerciement pour votre aide." [Yes, we insist. Thank you for your help.]
"Non, c'est très bien. Ce n'est pas nécessaire." [No, that's fine. It's not necessary.]
Before I could even finish my sentence, they had dragged me away down the street. I was meant to be exploring the place with my mother, but this is what was happening now. I wonder where she went. Just as I had the thought, I looked through a storefront. While the stalls were closed, the shops remained open during the setup. I saw her in one of the stores, talking to the village doctor as he was handed a vial.
The twins dragged me into the bakery. In fact, their parents owned the bakery. They explained to their father, who was behind the counter, that I helped them with the decorations as so they wanted to give me something in return for my help. Their father said I could pick one item for free. I looked through, carefully weighing my options, of course I had the thought to pick out whatever cost the most, but what they had was mostly different types of bread and simple pastries, all quite close in value.
Just then, a smell hit me, something freshly cooked in the back. I looked up and saw the twins' mother come out with a wooden plate with some steaming hot bread items on it.
"Qu'est-ce que c'est ?" [What's that?]
"Croissant" The mother replied with a smile as she started to put them in the display shelves.
The smell was intriguing, sweet and buttery, but also that pleasant fresh bread. I asked to have one of the freshly made croissants. It was hot to the touch, only slightly, and it was cooling fast. I bit into it, and the buttery taste was amazing. There was a satisfying crunch, but it didn't feel dry in the mouth. The bread was slightly hollow but still had a good amount of density. I enjoyed every little bit.
Suddenly, I realised the twins were staring at me, watching me with glee as I ate my first ever croissant. You could tell they were trying to hold in a laugh.
"Je n'ai jamais vu quelqu'un apprécier un croissant à ce point." [I've never seen anyone enjoy a croissant so much.]
The two chuckled, and I found myself smiling alongside them.
I ended up hanging out in the bakery with the twins for a bit while the main festival was being set up. It felt a little awkward as I was mainly just sitting in on their conversation after a short time. They spoke about the war and the mandatory conscription. I had heard about it, of course, at the age of twenty, any able-bodied man or woman must join the military. I knew the mandatory service time for women was much shorter than for men, but that's all I knew.
"Qu'en pensez-vous Shinya? Devrions-nous nous porter volontaires?" [What do you think, Shinya? Should we volunteer?]
"Huh?" I wasn't really paying attention, and I definitely didn't expect them to ask me anything about this subject, considering my father.
"Si nous nous portons volontaires tôt, notre service obligatoire sera plus court." [If we volunteer early, our compulsory service will be shorter.]
"Je pense que le délai passe de cinq à trois ans." [I think the period should be reduced from five to three years.]
I had heard about this. If you joined the army before your mandatory age, your service was shorter. However, with how the war has been going, it's likely to make little difference for when they could return. If the mandatory conscription were only five years, like they say, then where are all the fighting-age adults?
"C'est à vous de choisir. Mais je pense que cela ne fait que retarder l'inévitable." [The choice is yours. But I think that only delays the inevitable.]
The twins look at each other, probably not expecting something like that to come out of my mouth. It surprised me a little as well. Brushing their concern off now was easier than explaining myself to them. In truth, the anticipation of waiting would feel torturous; I would rather get it over and done with. Not that I have any intention to go to war, if I did, I would never survive.
With that, I stood up, thanked the twins for the food and left. The festival was now in full swing. The villagers were gathering in the streets, and some stalls smelled of cooked meats. I looked around, no sign of my mother. I went back to where I saw her last. She was talking to the doctor, right? What for? As I looked for the doctor's shop, I spotted her standing in that small bookstore, casually chatting with the old man. I watched them share a laugh and decided it was best not to disturb them. She can come and find me when she's done. Besides, the smell of cooked meat was making my stomach growl.
I went to a stall and bought a wooden skewer with meat on it that was freshly cooked. I think it might have been pork imported from a neighbouring town. I've had chicken and beef before, and this was totally different. Just as I was marvelling at the taste with my first bite, there was a tap on my shoulder. I pulled the meat skewer away from my mouth as I turned around. Before I knew it, my mother had leaned forward and bitten on the meat skewer in my hand. She looked up at me with eyes that said 'I'm not sorry' in the most cheeky way possible. She pulled off the meat chunk she bit into and ate it, humming pleasantly at the taste. I bit off two of the chunks of pork at once, and then as I chewed, I held out the skewer, which had two pieces remaining. She smiled and took it. This was normal; we shared everything as evenly as we could, we couldn't afford not to normally.
The two of us enjoyed the festival, and we visited food stalls and tried various new things. Whenever one of us didn't like something, the other usually ate it. We split as much as we can to save money. After all, if we were sampling so much, even only eating half of everything, after a while, we would be stuffed.
There were meats that were cooked in strange and unique ways, some were honey-glazed, others cooked with wine. Mother even let me try some, and it was actually quite nice, even though the smell of wine itself I find repulsive. As the day started to slip into night, the lamplighters came out and pushed through the crows to light up the night.
We kept going from stall to stall, eager to try new foods. I spotted my friends Louis, Stéphane, and Pierre. Though before I could even finish waving to them, my mother dragged me to the next stall by the hem of my shirt.
We went from the start of the market street and were slowly making our way to the end. After each stall, we would go across the road to another, gradually making our way closer to the town hall in a zigzag pattern. The sun had set completely, and the starry sky twinkled softly overhead. At night, if one was not actively paying attention, it was incredibly easy to lose track of time, as there was no way to track time. Where in the day the sun moved across the sky, at night, there was no such method available. And so the night went on.
By the time we reached the last stall, at least half of the crowd had dispersed from the street, and we followed. Only a few went home; the rest got ready for the new Era to begin. We bought some mutton from the last food stall and walked past the town hall. Just behind it was a large open field where many people were sitting around waiting for the fireworks.
The two of us decided to sit against the rear wall of the town hall, looking out eastward towards the field. At the far end in the dim light, you could see some lanterns moving around those responsible for the fireworks.
"So what happens now?"
"You'll see, just don't get scared when they go bang, it can be quite loud."
After a moment, in the distance, a bright light appeared. It shot up into the sky. I covered my ears as I watched it ascend. With a bang, it burst in the sky with a plethora of colour, briefly leaving multicoloured streaks in the sky that quickly vanished. As I watched, another went off, and another. In sequence, one after another. I lowered my hands from my head as I stared up at the dazzling light show. Enamoured and enthralled by it.
"It really is like magic"
I mumbled out. My mother looked at me and, seeing my awestruck face, she couldn't help but laugh a little. I heard her laugh, but didn't care. I couldn't take my eyes away from the lights in the sky. Some sparkled, some streaked, some burst into patterns and shapes, and the colours of them changed with each burst.
After a while, there was a silence. Then, a light near the ground, the brightest one yet. It shot up into the sky and climbed high, higher, higher than any of the others. With a thunderous boom, it exploded, streaking out a star in the night sky brighter than any other and more magnificent. As it exploded, the crowd below let out a monstrous cheer.
"Well, that's it." Sara said as she stood up.
I looked up at her, slightly confused.
"That's the end of the year. Let's go home." She held out her hand.
I took her hand, and she aided in lifting me to my feet. Before letting go, she pulled me into a sudden hug.
"Happy New Year," she said softly into my ear. I smiled and said it back to her.
The two of us walked back through the market road as the vendors were starting to close down. Mother suddenly rushed ahead as soon as she spotted Noah, who was holding up two bottles of wine. I watched as she took them and thanked him for holding onto them until the festival was over. As I approached, she held one out to me.
"Want one?" She quickly retracted the bottle and placed both into the hand basket. "Just kidding, you're too young to drink, maybe next year on your birthday."
"Pass, it smells awful, you know."
"But it tastes so gooooood."
She was in high spirits considering the time. I was also getting tired, letting out a yawn here and there.
We walked back home in the dark, only lit by starlight. After we passed the graveyard, we walked close to each other, but after a minute of walking, we could see a bit better and as such, increased our pace. The path here was clear, so the faint starlight was enough to see your feet. If I knew we were walking home in this kind of dark, I would have brought a lantern.
When we got home, I lit a few candles so we could navigate. Leaving one on the table, mother took one and went straight to her bedroom with a yawn, a stretch, and a half, muttering "We'll have some more of those black mushrooms tomorrow, goodnight". She left the basket on the table. I think her wine is in here as well. She must be tired if she just left this here to deal with in the morning.
Curious what else she got, I opened the basket to have a peek inside. Aside from the two in bottles were various small sacks; the smell coming from them was strong once you got your nose close, perhaps spices or herbs for cooking? Then I noticed a small glass vial, picking it up, the liquid inside was black. Is this medicine? Putting it back, I figured it was best not to tamper with it, and so I went to bed.