Eager Beaver

Chapter Thirty-Six - The Magic Light Ceremony

Zach stood in front of the Beaver colony with a serious somber expression on his face as we all scrambled to get back in 'riverbanks' formation. He was about to start talking, when his head darted over to the group of parents now starting to pay attention to the ceremony and a smile crawled up his lips. I looked over to see what Zach was looking at and saw a woman with very light blonde hair wearing a black uniform with bright strips of white on the cuffs of her button up t-shirt and black pants. Her hair was tied in a neat ponytail and her tired eyes were a familiar sparkling bottle green. Her weary lips perked up into an affectionate smile and she gave an enthusiastic wave to Zach, while he gave a little wave back.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise as I put together that the lady in the uniform must have been his Mom. In all the time I had known Zach and Laurie, I had never seen either of their parents before. It was a little weird finally seeing her in person after I'd heard so much about her. I had in my head that both Zach's parents would be like those typical grumpy grown-ups who had no time for their children like you always saw in kids movies - but she actually looked kind. Just totally exhausted. I remembered that Laurie had told me she was a paramedic. Had she come straight from work? I wondered why she'd come to this meeting after all the event's she missed. Laurie wasn't getting a new tail like us white tails, and Zach was just here cause he was Keeo.

As I glanced back over at Zach however, I found my answer. Where before he'd been all jittery, at the sight of his Mom the cub scout's nerves seemed to melt away and his chest inflated a bit. He looked confident - mature even. He cleared his throat before he began, speaking in a loud clear voice.

"Revontulet!" Zach bellowed dramatically like an apocalyptic preacher. The unfamiliar word caught everyone's attention, the last few murmurs of idle chatter from the beavers instantly ceasing. Even Nate looked a little surprised - narrowing his eyebrows in envy to see the younger cub the center of attention.

The parents shuffled closer towards our river formation to hear what was going on, every eye on Zach. Meanwhile, Taylor began to walk around the back of us, handing out different colored glow sticks to all the brown and blue tailed Beavers. He didn't give one to me Liam, Charlie. I was confused and a little envious. We were the ones graduating! Why couldn't we have glow sticks?

"Revontulet." Zach repeated. "The Finnish word for the Northern Lights." Zach was getting into it now, his new found confidence giving him an infectious momentum helping him tell his story. "It means fox fires." He said, lowering his voice to a reverent yet still excitable hush. The beavers were all completely silent as they listened, their astonished eyes open wide and their little faces delighted yet respectful. "The firefox is said to have black fur during the day, but it sparkles at night!"

I was enraptured too, my worries and embarrassment about Nate disappearing from my mind as Zach kept going. I had never heard the story before, and judging by the way Zach had them all completely engrossed, I don't think the others had either. "Revontulet." I mouthed to myself in a small whisper, wanting to remember the strange mystical word. It felt powerful. Like a magic spell.

"When the firefox runs through the cold woods brushing up against the frozen grass and leaves, the arctic fire begins to spark and ignite the sky." Zach brought up his hands and arms to represent a big burning fire, his face lit up with a genuinely stirring kaleidoscopic mix of varied emotions. "Whooosh!" He boomed. "It's lightning without thunder, the sky painted in shades of reds and greens."

Zach suddenly jumped up into the air and then knelt down low. His face was suddenly all serious and sinister again. For a moment, he wasn't a boy anymore - his face was a portal to some eldritch ancient joyous ritual, beams of color conjured across the cold arctic sky. He looked at Liam, Charlie and me and nodded to each one of us in turn. "When you look into the Northern Lights you must be careful." He warned. "The glow spreads deep inside you, the more red the light the more powerful the firefox will be." He was talking loudly enough for everyone to hear, but it still felt like the warning was meant just for the three of us.