Bright of Sun

"Knock on the door."

"You knock - you're older than me."

"I'm older than you so obey me."

"No! Just because you're older doesn't mean you always tell me what to do!"

"I, I... oh you!"

"Did you see all those markings in the yard?"

"Yeah, they're creepy."

"Is that why you don't want to knock? You're afraid!"

"I'm not afraid!"

"Come on, knock - the young one will arrive soon."

Their bickering was suddenly interrupted by a voice from inside the dwelling on whose porch they were standing. "Who gives their greeting?"

"Dreamer! Kitoyo and Nesta give their greeting," answered the older of the two.

"I receive your greeting." Dreamer appeared in the doorway.

"Dreamer, you must come! Teacher has sent us - the young one is coming."

"At once!" Dreamer replied. "Kitoyo, you must call on Deliverer. Nesta, call on Healer."

Nesta and Kitoyo nodded in agreement and the three scattered, each to carry out their appointed task.

Such was the start of this day. The morning air had a calmness to it, the calm of a new day that had not yet fully awakened. The sky had a pale tinge of colour, not yet fully roused from its slumber.

Dreamer ran across his yard, covered with strange markings on the ground, to his neighbours dwelling. He arrived on the porch of the dwelling that was the residence of Teacher, Nesta and Kitoyo. He raised his fist to knock on the doorframe and hesitated. Teacher was inside and needed his assistance immediately. Was there really time for protocol? He decided to at last go through the motion. He knocked and announced himself. "Dreamer gives greeting!"

He heard Teacher's voice cry out incoherently from inside. He entered the dwelling through the open doorframe. He found Teacher sitting on the floor, holding her enlarged tummy and breathing rapidly. He knelt beside her, put his hand on her shoulder, and spoke to her in a soothing tone. "I have sent Nesta and Kitoyo to fetch Deliverer and Healer. They will be here soon."

Teacher nodded. Her face contorted with pain and she cried out again. Dreamer noticed her face was drenched with perspiration. "I will get some water." He returned a moment later with a small bucket of water and a cloth. Even without being in physical contact with her, he could feel her body heat radiating. He used the cloth to dab water on her face. His action appeared to soothe her. Thus he comforted her and waited for aid to arrive.

Deliverer was the first to arrive, with Kitoyo trailing behind her. Deliverer completely dispensed with custom as she entered the dwelling without announcing herself first. It was the privilege of her station as called for under the circumstances.

Deliverer approached Teacher and considered asking Dreamer for his help in lifting Teacher off the floor and onto the nearby bed. She quickly discarded that thought, deciding it would take too long and be too uncomfortable for Teacher. She put her hands on Teacher's stomach and felt around. Apparently she found something of concern, for a frown appeared on her face. Teacher was not too happy with her reaction. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It is sideways," answered Deliverer. Deliverer continued her examination of Teacher. Teacher grimaced as the examination was not at all comfortable. "The young one's hand has entered the passageway first," she explained, attempting to soothe Teacher by distracting her. "I will push the arm back in and turn the young one so that it can come out head first."

Nesta arrived at this moment with Healer. Healer exchanged glances with Deliverer and Deliverer nodded back - the everything is under control signal.

Deliverer reached in and delicately pushed in the tiny hand that had begun to come forth. This step was necessary - otherwise its body could get stuck in the passageway. She felt the little hand yield and began to turn the body cautiously.

Teacher felt discomforted with the incommodious movements that were going on inside her body.

...

"Come on little one," Deliverer murmured, "Come into this world."

Soon the young one emerged, head first. Its cries filled the air when at last its egress from the womb was complete. Its cries filled the air, and smiles decorated the faces of all present.

Healer stepped in to have a look at the young one, to make sure it was healthy, but Teacher indicated that she wanted to hold it. Tears flowed down her face, but she smiled in relief as she held her young one for the first time. Such a tiny thing it was! So small, so light, so vulnerable, yet it had seemed so large and heavy and dominating while she carried it inside her. This little one, she felt like she knew it so intimately, yet it remained such a mystery. Its gender, its calling, its life story - all these were yet to be disclosed as the little one grew up and found her own life. "Storyteller would have been so proud," she told the young one. A murmur of consent echoed from the others.

The sun was now shining in full glory as the day fully awakened. "You are Bright of Sun," Teacher told her young one. "You have my greeting."

"Teacher, what are you saying?" asked a startled Mentor. "You already give the one her name? That is not our way."

For a moment, Teacher looked confused. Then she shuddered as if she were shaking off her doubts. Her breathing became steady. She had been slumped over in her weakness and pain; now she drew herself up so that she was sitting up straight. She looked directly into Mentor's eyes and replied, "I do not mock our customs. What you say is true, it is not our way. But I do know her name and give it to her."

"You predict this one's gender? Are you able to see the future then?"

"No, Mentor, I do not see the future. I do not know how I know this, but my instinct tells me what this one's gender will be."

Mentor glanced at Healer with a questionning look. "Perhaps Teacher is stressed or ill following her ordeal. She does not sound like one who is ill or fatigued. In fact, her demeanor has changed and she appears unusually strong and vibrant following the delivery she has just given. Nevertheless, her claims are quite outrageous. Teacher, you mock our ways. Perhaps you would mock our traditional celebration this evening?"

"Please, understand me, I have no wish to mock any of our traditions. Let us have our celebration this evening; let us celebrate the arrival of this new one, as is our tradition."

The morning sun now had awakened and was rising. At least that is how it appeared to the people of the village. Of course, these people had no knowledge of astronomy, of physics, of other so called advanced civilizations. To them, the sun was something that came up in the morning and went down at night; it provided light, it provided heat. They did not know that the sun, the great glow, was merely one of many in the sky; they did not connect the great big glow of the day to the many, tiny dots of light they saw at night.