A Fish Out of Water: Chapter 12

 Chapter 12: The Festival

As per his usual morning routine, Keoni crawled out of bed and toddled across the hallway to use the potty, and when he was done with that, Malie got him his cereal for breakfast and placed him in his high chair so he could eat it. Leimomi was seated across the table from Keoni's high chair, reading a book, and Hokulani was next to her, also eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast. By the time both Hokulani and Keoni were done eating, Malie had gone into the bathroom to brush her teeth and take a shower, so Hokulani got up and let Keoni out of his high chair. Then she picked up Keoni's empty bowl from the tray of his high chair and her empty bowl from the table and took them to the kitchen sink to wash them.

Leimomi closed her book and knelt down on the floor facing Keoni. "Now, my little minnow, it is important that you learn to get along with family, friends and neighbors, and in order to do that, you will need to learn to use good manners. Let's start with the basics: saying 'please' and 'thank you.' For example, let's say your mother cooked a nice fish for dinner. If you want some, you need to ask 'may I have some fish, please?' Can you say that?"

"May I hav a fishie pweaze?" Keoni repeated, imagining himself splashing around in the ocean as he played with a pet fish.

"Well, that's not quite what I said, but you seem to be getting the hang of using good manners, at least," Leimomi commented. "I think that's enough of a lesson for now."

Meanwhile, Keoni was feeling a bit miffed that his grandmother had expected him to ask her for a pet fish politely, but she hadn't given him a pet fish when he did ask her for one politely. What was the point of using good manners if it didn't get him what he wanted?

Anyway, there was no time to dwell on that now. Leimomi was determined to pass some knowledge on to her grandson this morning, and she was ready to move on to the next lesson: flash cards.

While Leimomi was going over flash cards with Keoni, Hokulani left the house just as Kapena was on his way back in. Kapena immediately walked over to the kitchen/dining room to watch his mother and son do flash cards together. When Kapena was satisfied that everything in his household seemed to be going well, he left through the back door.

When Leimomi was done teaching Keoni flashcards, she carried her grandson into the bathroom and gave him a bath. Then Keoni finished his bath, and Leimomi picked up her reluctant grandson out of the water, got him dressed for the day ahead, and told him another story about the history of their ancestors.

Malie came into the house for a moment to check on Keoni, and when she saw that he was happily chatting and joking with Leimomi, Malie went back outside. A few minutes later, after she finished whatever she'd been doing, she came back inside and joined the conversation.

After chatting with Keoni and Malie for a little while, Leimomi needed the bathroom all to herself for a few minutes, so Malie and Keoni went out in the hallway. Malie picked the toddler up and pretended like she was about to toss him into the air! Then she swung him onto her back, as if they were flying through the sky together.

While Keoni and Malie were horsing around, Leimomi came out of the bathroom and began to set the dining room table for dinner. Malie eventually got tired of the roughhousing game she was playing with her toddler, and she gently set him down on the floor. Then she knelt down in front of him and began giving him another lesson on the importance of a heartfelt apology when relationships become strained.

However, the lesson didn't last long this time around. Keoni just wasn't in a listening and learning mood. He figured he'd already been through enough lessons today, and he thought that his family ought to be sorry for trying to make him learn even more stuff. Malie figured she'd try the lesson again later when Keoni was feeling more calm and understanding. Keoni toddled off to his room in a huff and complained to Beach Bear about how unfair his family was being. Beach Bear was always a great listener.

However, a few minutes later, Keoni heard his grandmother's voice calling out "Oh dear, I almost forgot the festival was today! Come on, everyone, it's starting already!"

Keoni left his room, and together with the rest of his family, he walked across the beach until he reached a street, and then he carefully crossed the street and arrived at a great big flight of stairs. The stairs wouldn't have seemed quite so big for an adult, but for a toddler, it was like looking up at the slope of a mountain. Undaunted, Keoni darted up the stairs as quickly as he could, and when he reached the top, he surveyed the scene that unfolded before him: Ohan'ali Town Square, which was usually empty, had a blazing bonfire at the center of it and was decorated with palm fronds. Keoni could hear music coming from two small speakers at the other side of the town square. People were gathering around the bonfire. Grandma Leimomi was already there, happily conversing with some of the neighbors. A strange smell wafted from a pile of fronds over to one side of the town square.

Keoni went to investigate more closely. Some of the people who were gathered around the bonfire would take little pieces of fire and swing them around, dancing with them -- or, at least, they tried to.

Off to the side of the bonfire, someone was making pretty music with some kind of stringed thing that Keoni had never seen before.

Keoni saw Kapena dancing by the fire, and he toddled over to his father. "Daddy," he asked, "why is dis 'festivoo' happening?"

"Ohan'ali Town holds this festival to celebrate our culture, our food, our music, and our traditions," Kapena explained. "This is who we are, as a community and as a family. This is who you are, Keoni. Some of our people have forgotten who they are, and they want to abandon our traditions for new ways." As he spoke, Kapena cast a dirty look in the direction of Hokulani, who was waiting with Malie near the strange-smelling pile of fronds. "My son," Kapena went on, returning his attention to the toddler next to him, "you must never forget who you are."

Keoni didn't understand all this philosophical stuff his father was talking about. He needed to use the potty, and there weren't any toddler-sized bathroom facilities around Ohan'ali Town Square. Keoni left the celebration, toddled down the beach back to his family's house, used the potty, and then toddled back to the festival at the town square. Keoni's tummy was telling him it was time for supper, and he figured there might be something good to eat at the party.

However, no sooner had Keoni arrived back at the festival and grabbed himself some of that stuff that had been cooking under the fronds when he heard Kapena's voice from among the crowd. "Hokulani, if you want to be a big-shot Del Sol Valley actress, you really need to get better at faking happiness and excitement. Clearly you'd rather not be here. Take Keoni back home before his curfew, and make sure you get him something to eat. Leave the celebration to those of our people who actually appreciate our ways."

"You don't have to tell me to ditch this provincial little hoedown twice," Hokulani retorted. "It's not as if I have anything better to do here than just watch all by myself while you and my sister get all lovey-dovey together." She went over to Keoni and picked the toddler up. "Come on, kiddo, let's blow this place."

Hokulani carried Keoni back to the family home and put him down onto the floor. Keoni sat down on the dining room floor and began to ate the food that he had found at the festival. It had a soft texture, but not in a mushy way, and Keoni thought it smelled really weird, but he was too hungry to be a particularly fussy eater at that moment.

Then, Keoni's dinner was suddenly interrupted when a pair of ghostly strangers entered his family's house! "WHAAAAAA?!?" Keoni exclaimed in surprise and fear.

"Do not be afraid, child," one of the ghostly people said. "We are elemental spirits of these islands. We have been summoned by Leimomi the Mystic to ensure that your family is honoring your island home and its culture properly."

"And if you do not honor your home and its culture properly," the other spirit added in a threatening tone, "then you should fear us." She let out a wicked cackle.

Big tears welled up in Keoni's eyes, and he started to cry uncontrollably.

Malie, who had just come back from the festival, heard her son crying, rushed over to him and wrapped him in her arms. "It's all right, Keoni. The spirits are here to help us become our best selves by following the traditions of our ancestors. You'll understand when you're older."

Malie slowly pulled away from the hug and smiled at Keoni. "Come on. It's well past your bedtime." She picked the toddler up, carried him into the bedroom, helped him put on his pajamas, and tucked him into bed. As he drifted off to sleep, Keoni was a little bit worried that he might have nightmares about the mean ghosts, but luckily he was so tired from everything else he'd done that evening that he slept soundly through the night.