Fabrication: Shikri - Day 4

『Author’s Note: A little conversion table for the measurement units that’ll be appearing in this chapter, and potentially in future ones:

1 Palm= 2.9 in. (7.4cm)

1 Span = 3 Palms

1 Ell = 2 Spans (3.75ft / 114cm)

1 Mil = 2000 Ells 』

Day 4

Mondays… it’s such a horrible day of the week that they apparently had an entire philosophical genre of it that flourished in the 2030s called Montagismus which just studied Mondays and why they sucked. Personally, I think that’s an awesome philosophy, I have no idea why it died out. Anyways, today is Monday.

Usually, we have to go to school by now. But today, it was the day before The Festival Kayitz: A three-day long festival where we celebrate half the year’s passing with Yahweh’s protection. It was also one of two times when the people who would ascend to Yahweh’s realm: heaven, would be chosen.

As students, we were all supposed to help the town prepare for this festival, doing some of the more menial jobs like painting the fences, decorating the streets, and stuff like that. I was on fence painting duty with Khea and a bunch of other students from my class.

We all gathered in the town square. There was a line of fences waiting for us to paint. We swiftly got ready to paint, each of us holding a bucket filled with off-white (which is a weird way to say ‘just’ white) paint on our left hand, and a brush on our right (except for Mary. She was left-handed so she had the brush on her left).

Crouching under the scorching sun, we slowly yet steadily got to work. Even though this was probably child labor, it was Yahweh’s words so who am I to dare defy his commands?

Luckily, because Eden is a desert, the paints dried quickly, allowing us to continue our jobs in decorating and painting at a fairly steady pace.

Day 4 (Noon)

After suffering in the heat all morning, we got a bit of a break as lunchtime arrived. There were a couple of kind ladies volunteering in the community kitchen today, so everyone who was working on helping organize the festival got lunch for free–including us, the students. It was shawarma wraps, which are sort of like Middle Eastern burritos, except way better in my opinion.

Khea and I sat at a picnic table nearby, enjoying our lunch in peace. Well, the place was crowded with townsfolk so it wasn’t all that peaceful. It was very loud in fact, but you get the point.

“My back’s killing me from all that fence painting. I just wish we can just stay in the library all day again like last year.” Khea complained, taking the smallest bite of shawarma.

“Well, I much prefer this year’s work to last year's. I will not survive one more day filled with logistics and name-checking. Seriously, why can’t they leave those kinds of works to the accountants at DMA?”

(The DMA or “Department of Moral Accounting” is an agency that works for the production of the Ethicalibrator and other products and services that help us become more moral and follow the ways of Yahweh, created by Yahweh. Apparently, the Ethicalibrator was designed by Yahweh himself, which doesn’t make much sense since I don’t think Yahweh is a computer engineer, but who am I to judge the almighty, omniscient being high above?)

“You know how the DMA is, they were so slow and inefficient that the organizers would rather have children do those tasks. Plus, I’m pretty sure we’re more qualified to do the calculations than them. Half of the old folks there don’t even know how to use a calculator for starters.”

“You’re the one who likes those kinds of mind-numbing calculations. Do you know how much the rest of us suffered back then?”

“Yeah whatever. Anyways, I’m finished with mine, hurry up!”

While we were talking, Khea had already finished off her shawarma while I wasn’t even halfway through. She eats quickly. It was a bad habit of hers–since it would often lead to her getting indigestion–but I couldn’t say anything because I am probably the slowest eater in this town. I usually enjoy chitchatting or doing other random tasks while eating and that usually makes me spend half an hour eating even a single sandwich.

By the time I finished eating, lunchtime was already over and we were late for work. Well, I was late. Khea left ten minutes earlier, abandoning me to eat my shawarma alone in shame.

We continued painting the fences ‘til the afternoon when the sun started to set. The continual up-and-down strokes from painting the fence exhausted all my energy and my back was starting to ache. We finished when it was dinnertime, but the sun still hadn’t fully set, painting the sky in an orangey-purpley hue as it was lying low. The paint on the fences absorbed the sun’s light, becoming tinted in a clementine orange color. It wasn’t surprising that the sun was still up though. It was almost solstice after all. The longest day of the year.

Day 4 (Afternoon)

With our hard work accomplished, Jasmine, Khea, Lindsey, Mary, and I all got some downtime before our curfew. (which was mandatory by the way. It was illegal to be outside after 11.)

We walked around the town square, seeing what other people were up to. Most people were finished with their preparation for the festival. But, some were still working, especially the bigger projects. For example, this year’s festival was centered around Lunar New Year, and they were building a 30 ell long red dragon. The detail on it; the scales, the wings with their leather-like, translucent texture, and the glossy, intimidating golden eyes. They were all immaculately handcrafted. There were other things too. Like a street filled with booths of various foods and activities, a small amusement park for children and adults alike to play in, and a stage where they’ll be performing various shows and plays.

“Esther, did you see that?” Jasmine asked, tugging me on the shoulder in a hurried manner.

“Huh? Whadis’it?”

“Look! They’re testing the fireworks for the festival!”

The sky lit up with scintillating sparks from the fireworks. A faint booming sound echoed in the air. The gold and crimson display of flickering lights consumed the tenebrous night sky. We all gazed up, without a word. Just staring. Staring at what was displayed before our eyes. Even though it was just a small test sample of rockets, the explosion mesmerized all of us.

Before we knew it, our curfew was almost up and we bid each other goodbyes as we all headed home.

My parents were already ready for bed, my mom drying her hair, and dad clipping his toenails on the couch. I also quickly got ready, washing myself in the shower, drying myself off while simultaneously brushing my teeth, and then getting into my PJs before turning off the lights. My bedroom became dark, only lit up by the moonlight seeping through the blinds, and the gemstone I had on my neck.

It felt heavier than yesterday.