Surviving the Andersen Brothers

Vacation: Accidental Bump-In on the Last Day

The wind blew through the alleyways making my hair dance as Walter, Vincent, and I explored the shops and carts on market day. Today’s weather was perfect for market, not a cloud in the sky and the breeze made the warm Greek day tolerable.

            Today was it; our last day in Greece on this beautiful island of Kythnos. The village was all abuzz with the coming festival tonight.

            As we wound through the alleyways, I gazed at the shops and carts, shopping at my leisure. Maybe I could get a present for Terra while we were here.

            “Okay,” Walter said, coming to an abrupt stop. “My curiosity can no longer be contained.”

            I gave Vincent a look at Walter’s choice of words. Vincent just shrugged.

            “What curiosity?” I questioned?

            “Over that.” Walter pointed to the object. “They’re everywhere!”

            The object Walter appeared to be pointing at was cube in shape, made of thin paper and wood, with a small circular hole at the top with some wire reaching toward the middle, holding something up.

            “They’re for the festival tonight, I think,” Vincent said.

            That’s when I remembered Lilly mentioning something about the festival when we first arrived. She said it was some sort of lantern festival.

            “They’re lanterns,” I added. “Floating ones, either in the air and/or the water.”

            Walter nodded. “But what is the festival for?”

            That was a question neither Vincent nor I had the answer to. The three of us just stared at one of the lanterns, thinking about asking someone….

            “It’s a Wish Festival… or Hope, however y’all want to say it,” a familiar female voice answered from behind.

            I knew the voice without even having to look. I turned to see that I was not imaging it this time.

            Rebecca stood not five feet from us, a brown, woven basket hanging from her arm and a cotton, white sundress covering her dark, sun-kissed skin. If it wasn’t for her Southern accent, she could almost belong here among the dark skinned people of Greece. Her dark hair fell in waves passed her shoulders and her blue eyes watched Walter with untold words.

            I watched Walter, too, curious to see how he responded to Rebecca’s presence.

            The muscles in his face relaxed and the dull set of his eyes were ignited with some excitement. Even his posture changed. He seemed more at ease.

            “A Hope Festival?” Walter questioned.

            Rebecca nodded, stepping closer to our small group. “You make a wish when you release the lantern. The hope comes in as you watch it float away. Hope your wish comes true.”

            Walter just stared at Rebecca for a moment, nodding at her words.

            “Why do they celebrate it?” I questioned.

            Rebecca shrugged. “The men here went to go fight in some battle and the women wanted them to come home safely. It probably had something to do with a prayer to some Greek god,” she explained.