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When I got home the real feast began. No one said anything bad or hurtful to me - I was their leader of course! The mothers got cooking, the fathers went to go and get logs for the burning fires and the children went and played. I had given my mask back to the priests so it would be kept safe in the temple. The party went from the night into the early hours of the next morning. It was a great feast to be part of and actually be honoured for. In all cases, this really was my feast.
In the morning, I woke up and saw that people were still celebrating in their homes, dancing and singing for joy. I went down into the market forgetting I was the new Shaman and went to buy the usual groceries.
As I entered the market everyone there fell to their feet. I was quite confused - it was a strange greeting. I went to one of the stalls and asked the woman for three melons for my family's breakfast. The woman worked with great speed and she soon had them all ready. I got out two gold coins in my pocket and realised
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that I was one gold coin short.
'I'm sorry, I don't have enough,' I apologized. 'Can I pay you tomorrow?' The woman looked up and thrust the melons into my hands.
'A welcome gift,' she said, smiling. 'You needn't pay for these gracious one.'
'I cannot do that,' I said. 'You need your money.'
'I don't need money when I have a great Shaman,' she bowed. I sighed. I knew she wasn't going to take the money so I thought of something else.
'If you're not going to take money then you may take my blessing.' I placed my hand on the woman's head and then walked away. Soon after, the stalls were beginning to get back to normal. I had people thrusting fruit and vegetables, cakes and sweets into my hands - things I didn't really want but I couldn't refuse and I didn't want to burst out on them. Being a Shaman at such a young age was quite hard to cope with. I constantly thought I was going in the wrong
direction until I wound up at my house. I heard
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