Less Than 8 Hours

Hmong way

Mai Yang

          Less Than 8 Hours

      It was a warm windy day after school I had a feeling that something was wrong at home. When I got out of the bus the wind was cold and smelled fresh. I heard the sound of the leaves moving when the wind blowed "pshhhh". In the windows  I saw a lot of my cousin ,family, and friends over moving around or walking like it was christmas day. At that time I started to think what happen?
     
       When I walked in about to opened the door people yelling in a angry voice like the army telling someone to do something. I walked inside went straight to my room closed the door like I  just sneak to a stranger house. After that I changed to my comfortable clothes and then walk to the kitchen it was busy like whole bunch of ants working there. I saw my uncle Toua wife were crying and almost every women gathering around her while she crying and they all  were crying too. That makes me feels like it was raining so hard outside compare to them crying and the rain.
      
      We then get ready for the funeral we prepare foods and all the decoration inside the house. We stay all night cooking and stay up together so that we  not scared. The next morning when I burning the sugar for the nava it was all melted and turning the color white like the cloud into the colors brownish and orangish like the cartoon movie Bee. I was so tired every second when I stirred the sugar my eyes closed. That when I  realized that I need some sleep and plenty of rest. I'm  already really tired but I have to finish whatever i'm doing first.

      After we help them we were  so tired so we go and take a seat. When we site in the chair I  feel like I'm  sleeping in a sofa. When my mom done doing what she suppose to be doing she then take me and my cousin Nathalie home to go get some rest and changed our clothes. When we got home the first things we did was laying on the couch  without taking our shoes off first. Me and my cousin Nathalie fall into a deep deep deep sleep. After my mom have done taking shower she woke me and Nathalie up but I still feel tired I only feel like I have been sleeping for only 2 minutes only.  I went and  took a  shower so it can help me stay awake. The water feel fresh,cold and makes  me feel falling asleep in Hawaii.
      
     After we both took a shower we head back to the funeral home. When we were outside and was about to go back in the car , the breeze was cool like a perfect day and perfect temperature. When we got to the funeral home and  about to go  inside  we can smelled  something  smell really good Nathalie said.

        "What's that smell?  I  feel like I've smelled that from somewhere before?"

          " I answer her back", let go and find out let see what our aunts  they up to?"

          When we got inside they making pho.

           " we got here on time making that eyes context   with Nathalie".

             We both hungry I feel like I can smelled all the things that they put into the pho and I feel like I'm in a pho world .  We have our lunch which is pho,water,and some fresh fruits. After eating  we go and help  out in the kitchen we help serve some water and bread in the table . I learned something new. I learned that I shouldn't  stay up all night listening to those Hmong drumming  and the qeej. I shouldn't be in the kitchen helping melt the sugar for the nava when I'm already really tired because it really dangerous . Next time if we have funeral again I'm gonna have  some rest and plenty of sleep and don't work on dangerous  stuff anymore. Not gonna stay all night anymore help them in the day times only not in the night time anymore.  But that how every Hmong culture do so I think it okay. But people's  need some rest too. We all need some rest!