And it is now time for the
celebrating to begin, so let us be off."
And with that we both rose and took our plates into the kitchen that was
connected to the dining hall on the opposite side as the hallway and
deposited our plates to be cleaned later (for even the leaders of a
society must do their fair share of the work). Then we walked back
through the dining hall, down the hallway, and out the door.
Outside we found that the people had already began to assemble on the
road in front of their communities and were preparing for the festival
by chattering with one another as loudly as one would think possible. A
hush began to fall upon them like a descending fog when we came out,
though, and within a few moments it had died down to a ghostly silence,
for all that could be heard was the wind's constant blowing. Ramma took
the head of the procession of Munams that had formed on the road, and I
took the place next to him. With a sort of quiet anticipation of the
joys to come, there was little movement, and what little there was, was
hushed by a sense of subdued excitement. Then, with a somber gait, Ramma
began the parade down the road, in the opposite direction as we had come
from, that being northwest, and all followed him as he did.
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