Stranger Spirits

Promises Made [Chapter One Part Three]

All throughout the rest of our work day people would come in and out of our store but most of the conversations that occurred were the same.

How do you feel about the Winter Solstice Ceremony?

Are you going to participate now that you're eighteen years of age?

Who do you think the Gods will select?

We closed shop and retreated to the back of our home. I assisted mother with preparing the food while Jacob bathed. Once he was through we swapped tasks and I began to prepare myself for dinner.

"Oh goodness!" Mother gave us both a loud kiss on the cheek. "I've raised such handsome young men! If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you both we going to court some young women."

"Mother!" My cheeks turned into a light shade of crimson.

"Yeah!" Jacob cackled as he pinched my cheek. "Why haven't you brought anyone home yet?"

"Because!" I slapped his hand away from my face. "Because I haven't found anyone that's peeked my interest."

"I'm so touched!" Jacob clasped his chest in an exaggerated manner. Cheeks still tinged red I cracked a smile as mother giggled.

"Oh goodness! You both look spiffy!" He cackled as he came inside the living room. "Is it the Winter Solstice already?" Mother passed him a bowl of her famous goat stew.

"Now before we eat we need to go over the rules." Mother huffed.

"We know! We know!" Jacob groaned while I snuck in a bite.

"I don't care if you know, you'll hear it again." She began to braid her hair back. A sure-fire sign that she was getting serious. "When you go to sleep tonight the Winter Solstice Ceremony will begin. Instead of dreaming your soul will be transcended into the spirit realm. In there, your body will take the form of an animal."

"Once you're in the realm you just do what feels natural. The Gods will watch over us and find a citizen to anoint as our next hero before the night ends." Father added.

"The most important thing you need to know, above all else," Mother paused to calm down. "Is that you will only have until sunrise to come back home."

Her eyes grew a little darker as she said this. "Your father and I will immediately put ourselves to sleep once we get to the spirit realm because we have seen it before. Since you have not been there yet, I cannot tell you to put your spirit immediately to sleep. The other realm is beautiful and it is definitely something you should experience...but I don't want you to lose yourselves."

Mother's hands curled into tight fists above the table and it subsequently made me even more nervous than I already was. "If you stay in the spirit world once the sun rises, then your soul will be stuck there. Your body in the physical world will lay limp and you will slowly deteriorate."

The tone for the night totally changed as tears began to roll down our mother's cheeks. Father rushed to her side, rubbing her shoulders he tried assuring her saying that it will be alright. "That won't happen again to our family." He softly cooed to her.

Jacob uncurled her fist and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze while I went to her other side and wiped away her tears. "I'm so sorry, today is supposed to be an exciting day!" She tried laughing off her worries to no avail.

"We'll be careful, mother. We know what will happen If we stay there during daybreak."

"Yeah, we won't get stuck there."

"Thank you." She straightened herself out. "Now dig in! I am not going to have my men go to the town meeting on an empty stomach!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Smiling in unison we returned to our seats and began to dig in.

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Hey everyone! I couldn't help but post a little earlier this week! Don't worry, I'm still gonna post on Sunday! ;-)

A little background for this story is that I actually started working on this story about seven years ago when I was a freshman in high school. This story and its core themes/concepts were inspired by my own personal life and the choices that I had to make.

In many ways, I would say that this story is a bit of a slow-cooker. I take my time with character development to make it seem more believable. My goal is always to make the story feel as realistic as possible even if it's fantasy or Sci-fi. I can tell you that we will start kicking up the plot in this Sunday's update! ;-)

So for now, sit back and relax as I tell you more of Vaughn and the world that he's in.

-Ryan Richetti

P.S. If you wanna comment and follow this story that's cool!