I watched the ceremony with my hearts beating in my upper half of my body. The Swallowing. There my sister knelt, her head lifted, her eating orifice open to accept the seed. The priestess placed a red gouro on my sister's speaking organ, her gestures graceful, ritualized. With her eyes shining with pride, my sister Swallowed the seed. The assembled cheered by waving their limbs. The Mothers bowed to signal their approval.
In a year, she would carry a sacred tree inside her. She was now an adult, ready to join the Mother Grove for their council meetings.
My sister stood up now, her friends surrounding her, congratulating her by touching her stomach and her eating orifice with their long fingers. Their songs echoed in the Grove.
My hand on my stomach, I dreamed of my own gouro seed germinating and growing. My own birth-right to carry a tree inside me. My own tree. I stared at my sister wistfully. It would take ten more sun-revolutions and moon-revolutions before I entered the Swallowing.
Now I just had to be patient and wait. My time would come. It would come.
YOU ARE READING
The Seed In Me
Science Fiction"And when I'd become a Mother, the ceremony would still be there. But it would be open to all. Strong, weak, big, small, oldest, youngest. To all. "
