Fiona's December Ceremony

The Ceremony of the Twelve, at last! Fiona had been waited long and hard for this day. All those volunteer hours spent at the House of the Old, hoping, anticipating for this hour. She was certain that the Elders would assign her to be Caretaker of the Old. As she filed into the Auditorium with her family and new baby brother, Bruno, she caught the eyes of her friend Jonas. The two smiled at each other. She had guessed pretty much what all of her friends' assignments are going to be, but strangely enough, she couldn't come up with one for the boy with pale eyes.

They took their seats right in the front of the stage, and Fiona, as number Eighteen, had the space beside Jonas, who was Nineteen.

The Chief Elder started her initial speech, and before Fiona knew it, the assignments had begun. Asher, her other good friend, received the job as Assistant Director of Recreation. His wide grin told her he was more than content. All through this, she sat silently and waited, heart pounding like a hammer.

As Eighteen was called, Fiona marched up to the stage, hands sweaty but pulsing with excitement. She listened proudly as the Chief Elder listed all the virtues she had displayed through her years, and read a speech written especially for her. Fiona breathed a sigh of satisfaction when the assignment of a Caretaker of the Old was announced.

"Fiona, thank you for your childhood." The audience applauded and she returned to the seats with a slight skip to her steps.

Beside her, Jonas prepared to walk up, but the voice of the Chief Elder stopped him cold in his tracks.

"Number Twenty!"

Jonas stopped, and the colors drained from his face, replaced by panic and confusion in his eyes. Fiona felt the same thing happen to her. The spectators were silent in a stunned manner. The Chief Elder had made a mistake! She thought. She skipped Jonas!

But if the Chief Elder was aware of it, it did not show. As all the other assignments were distributed, everyone was uneasy, until finally, the Chief Elder apologized and called number Nineteen. She explained that she had not made a mistake but Jonas had been "selected" as the next Receiver of Memory.

The audience drew in a breath. The Receiver was the head of the Elders, one with the highest honors. Jonas' virtues were listed, and the Chief Elder told him that his training would include pain.

Then audience started to chant: "Jonas, Jonas, Jonas…" The community was accepting Fiona's friend as their succeeding Receiver. But even as she chanted along, she worried. What kind of pain would Jonas have to endure? She hoped that it would not have a hard impact on their friendship, but Fiona had no idea what the future will hold for her and her friends.