Upside Down

The Beginning

It was a bright morning, after the night of the blue moon. It had been two whole months since the rebels visited our village. Indeed it was time to celebrate.
I woke up to the sound of drums, the men of our land were gathering around a fire place. The women and girls were in the backyards preparing the feast.

After taking my bath outside my mother's hut, I headed to mine and dressed in my best garments. I remember how innocent I was. The only man I dressed to impress was my father. He was my best friend and the leader of our clan. Thereafter, I went to join the older girls. I was not only baffled, but also disgusted. The sight of girls brought up, to reproduce, cook, and the cycle continues.
It's true, I was only four years old yet I knew how demeaning our tradition was. However, I steal loved our newly independent culture of South Sudan.
I left the girls to continue living their teenage fantasies, and watched as the women swiftly made their way to the different pots. The smell was to die for. I remember insisting on tasting the food, but my great aunt chased me away. I hopped to the fire place and greeted my father. I then sat next to one of my good friends Deng. Deng was born on the same day as me and that brought us close. He had big dreams of expensive taste.
He wanted to be like his father, the late Chief Luke who passed at war two years ago. So, there we were, at the fire place, when the older girls walked into the circle like it was some runway. And as the story is supposed to be, the older boys stared in awe. My elder sisters, Tot and Tut were two dim-witted people I must say. They both had a massive crush on one of the most handsome boys in the clan. He had hazelnut eyes and a well defined jawline and don't forget his tall masculine structure. Tot and Tut fought for him all day long. It was just sad. They watched the boys dance and it was amazing. I loved to see the boys dance and I wished to join but the fact that I was a girl disabled me to.

So I looked on and of course participated in the women dance. All had gone well, it was dark and the sparks of fire illuminated the moonlight. The stars were sparkling in the dark blue sky. It was amazing.

We continued into the night, and sent ancient alarms to neighbouring villages to come and join in. They carried along some palm wine and millet beer. The elders both men and women drank their sorrows away. And people got a little tipsy if you know what I mean, but it was the right time and place to do so.