3 A Night to Remember

"Hǎi, I'll need you to do the ritual dance for the New Year festival. I have important matters that need to be addressed." Uncle Ron told me while he was half asleep.

Every year during the New Year Festival, Uncle Ron would put on a costume of an old deity that used to watch over these lands and would do an old ceremonial sword dance in hopes the new year would bring many fruitful harvests and good luck.

"Again? You've been saying that for the last six years."

"Agh, just do it. You know the dance, I've seen you do it before and it's quite graceful."

"Wow, thanks Uncle Ro—."

"It's still rough but graceful nonetheless. Only if you rehearsed it more it would be perfect."

"Never mind."

"Huh? Say again? I'm getting old, my boy, speak clearly."

"Never mind Uncle Ron. I'll do the ceremonial dance, don't worry about it. I'll get ready for the festival that's coming in the next five days."

"That's good, very good…" Uncle Ron got up from the temple steps and began heading inside the temple to mediate. "You know what to do my boy, same as usual."

"Got it Uncle Ron." For the past few years, Uncle Ron has been getting really old. When he took me in, his health wasn't as bad as it is now. It's starting to make me worry.

***

Five days have passed and it was the day of the festival.

People are drinking and talking. Stalls are open selling food with a delectable aroma. Everyone is dressed for the occasion with the proper attire of colorful robes and the women were, as usual, stunning for the evening.

This year there are even pretty lights and decorative lanterns. Everything is going smoothly.

Slowly, in the center of town, a sudden silence began to take over the festival and a banging drum began reaching an aggressive rising crescendo.

The large crowd that would usually roam around made way and began circling the center of town to create an empty stage. I put on the costume of the old deity and slowly walked towards the center.

The costume is adorned with white soft wrappings for the arms and legs, and a bold red robe that is lined with intricate designs of silver and golden color. The attire is then finished off with a long black martial artist belt where the excess hangs in front and a mask resembling the ancient god.

The moment has arrived to begin the sword dance ceremony and an uneasy nervousness crawls from the back of my spine.

First the right foot, breathe. Then the left foot, breathe out, and repeat.

I twirl to the ground while swinging the sword sheathed in a parry-like motion. Every motion, twist, and rotation, the sword makes a clean, dry, and satisfying clack. Soon as I land, I move my hands and arms in wave-like motion to slowly grab again the handle.

Gradually I rose myself back up and unsheathed the decorative sword. I grasped the handle with both hands with my left being positioned lower than my right and set the sword in a mid to low stance. This is the initial position of the sword dance.

The first movement.

Before every swing I breathe in and once the sword is in motion I breathe out. The beginning of the first movement is done by wide slashing arcs as I rotate my waist and pivot with alternating footwork.

The second movement.

The sword is spun fluidly in wave-like motion around my body. Each twirl must match as close to the rhythm of my breath, and my body has to follow the rotation the blade is heading.

The third movement.

This is the final movement of the sword dance. It is a combination of the first and second movement containing wide arc slashes, fast rotations, and flowing twirls that gradually builds up into a fast rising spinning cut.

I begin the final movement by utilizing the first movement in a straight line but on the fifth step I sink low quickly to not lose momentum. I follow through hastily with a few more wide arc swings lower on the ground than before and I strike with an upwards slash while constantly rotating my body similar to the second movement.

This allows me to then perform three complete rising spins. Coming back down, I perform three more spinning cuts and I landed onto the ground accordingly.

The banging sound of the drums slowly diminished and all that was left was silence.

My feet, leg, arms, and areas throughout my body are now tired. I am breathing so heavily that wearing this mask is nearly suffocating. My hands are sweating profusely and it's becoming a difficult challenge to even properly grip the sword.

Suddenly, a single clap came to surface causing a huge roar of applause and excitement to emerge from the crowd. It seems I have done a good job for my performance. After the event, Ming showed up to congratulate me.

"Man, Hǎi, I never get tired of seeing you perform that sword dance, it's crazy! You just go whoosh and swish with that sword!"

"Huff, huff, I'm glad you enjoyed it as usual." I breathe in deep and quickly let it out. "But I can't always do this, this is too exhausting."

"I can tell." Ming put his arm around my shoulder. "As usual, I suspect you don't have a date for the dancing festival, hm?"

After a few moments, I finally catched my breath. "Yep, as usual. You?"

"Same boat as you, all alone. Wanna play some cards to pass the time until the festival is over? The dancing event takes up the entire evening and I know for sure we're not getting a last minute date anywhere."

"Why not. I definitely need the breather anyways. I'll head back quickly to the temple and grab the cards from my room."

"And I'll go fetch us some food while you're at it. I can tell this game is going to be a long one. You're quite the underhanded player you know."

"It's not being underhanded, Ming. It's called being strategic and cunning. Don't act like you haven't cheated too, you cheeky bastard."

"Ahh, yeah whatever." Ming was slightly frustrated but in a joyous manner. "We'll meet up in half an hour, until then, get those cards Hǎi!" He left so fast I could no longer distinguish him from the bustling crowd.

I returned back to the temple and removed the costume that was now drenched in sweat and dirt. Yet I kept the ceremonial sword and tied around my waist just to entertain myself that it looked cool being carried around.

I soon noticed Uncle Ron sleeping against a pillar of the main building. I grabbed a blanket from my room and placed it on him so he wouldn't get too cold. Right before I went to go find the cards, Uncle Ron began to whisper softly.

"Hǎi..."

"Yes, Uncle Ron?"

"You've grown up well Hǎi, you've grown up well." Uncle Ron told me those very words as he began to open his eyes that were filled with parental love and affection. "I'm sorry I couldn't provide you with everything in the world, you know if I could I would. You just came at the temple doorstep out of nowhere." I tried looking for your parents but I couldn't find anything. I really did try Hǎi, I really did." Uncle Ron's voice was cracking and trembling. It was almost as if he could burst into tears any moment.

"Uncle..." I hugged Uncle Ron. "If it weren't for you I would not be here today. You've done your best." Even though Uncle Ron can be rough, deep down with moments like these truly remind me he is such a soft person on the inside.

"That's good to hear Hǎi, you're such a nice kid." Uncle Ron laid his head momentarily on my shoulder and slowly got up with my assistance. "I'll head down to the village for a little while. I'll ask around just to see how well you performed."

"I think you may like it this year. The applause was way louder than last time." I smirked.

"Kek, now c'mon boy. I'll be the one to judge." Uncle Ron smirked as well and went down to the village.

Finally, after some time, I found the deck of playing cards.

I hope Ming won't banter at me too hard for being a little late. Even though he may look like a flirt, he's still the same round and chubby kid I met all those years ago.

Suddenly, I heard a crash far away. It sounded like it landed near the village. I was concerned and by the time I opened the temple gates that lead a view over the town, all I could see was fire and a ginormous crater near the edge where the village was supposed to be.

"Uncle Ron, Ming…" Were the only words I could say to myself.