The Wedding

“By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride. “

And just like the priest said, Uncle John leans over and kisses Aunt Ellie. Everyone cheers, stands up and claps.

Suddenly I feel something hurt my left leg making me shout “Ouch!” which in turn causes my parents to give me an angry look, “What? She hurt me!” I explain, upset that I’m in trouble because of what my older sister did. “She just kicked my leg for no reason!”

My mom crouches and faces me and my sister, switching her focus on each of us every second, “You two better behave. The worst part is over, so keep it down.”

“But she started it!” I practically shout. My mom gives me another angry look. She stands tall and goes back to staring at the wedding couple that by now have passed the guests that are down the aisle, so I face my sister and tug on her pink dress making her face me. “Why did you hit me?”

“So you would stop making that face. At least pretend you like it.” She turns away from me and looks back at the couple or tries as she has to go on her tippy toes.

Someone says that everyone will be directed to the dining area. That must mean that we will finally get food! I’m hungry. I have been hungry for a while. I know mommy has cookies inside her bag but when I asked for them, she kept saying “Not now” or “Later.” Hopefully, now I can have the cookies.

Before I can ask for them, my dad grabs my hand and starts walking me through the crowd. We go to the garden.

It is sunny outside and really warm. The garden is big and I want to play football. I just need to find a ball. I look around to try to find one but I only see chairs and dangling stuff. I think they are called ornaments.

When we get inside the building I can see a big ballroom. There are so many tables everywhere! People are rushing everywhere and yelling. They are probably excited that they are going to eat. I’m excited too! I’m going to have cookies! My parents reach a round table and help me up. I’m sitting next to my sister and my dad, which sucks because I want mommy since she has the food.

“Mom!” She looks at me waiting, “Can I have cookies?”

“Not now.”

Wait, what?

“Why not? You said I could have them later!”

“Yeah, but now we are going to eat. I don’t want you to eat cookies now. Also, it looks bad if you start eating them here.”

I don’t bother her anymore. I know mommy wouldn’t be happy if I did, but what does she mean by “It would look bad if I ate them here”? It is eating time, she said so! I know how to eat! I promised mommy and dad that I would behave, and I have!

I lean on the table, put my elbow on it and rest my chin on my hand. Everyone is almost sat down and we have three other people on our table. I never saw them before. A man, a woman, and an old lady. The old lady has a weird hat on. It’s purple with a big blue feather on it. The feather looks cool though. I want to touch it.

Mommy introduces us to them and then they continue to talk with our parents about something. I don’t really care.

I look around and turn to dad, “Can I play on your phone?”

“Sorry son, but I need my phone in case I get a call from work.”

“But I would give it back to you if it rang!” I say hopefully. “Sorry Thomas, maybe later.”

I frown and turn back to the table. This time, I look at my sister, “Hey B, can I play on your phone?”

“I’m using it now Thomas.” I see what she is doing, and she is playing Zombie Tsumani. I want to play that! I try asking really nicely, “Pleaseeeee!”

“No. I’m using it.”

“But I want to play that too!”

“Fine. We will do rounds then.” Yay! I wait for her to die and then she passes me the phone. I play and die and give it back to her. We keep doing this until she hands it to me, and I die as soon as I grabbed the phone “That wasn’t fair. I didn’t even get to play!”

“Well, you lost.” And she tries to take the phone from my hands, but I pull it back. It stops soon as we get a warning from our dad and he tells my sister to “set a good example” and let me try again.

Ahhh! I won!

We play a few more rounds but after a while I get bored again, until I remember that I wanted to play football. I grab my dad’s sleeve to catch his attention. When he looks at me, I ask him “Can I play outside?”

“Not now. Food should be almost here.”

“But we have been waiting for so long! Can’t you call me when the food is here?”

“No, because you won’t leave the table. You can go play outside once we are done eating.”

I lean back against the chair and cross my arms. Weddings suck. My parents are having fun talking to everyone and my sister is on her phone, but this is so boring. I roll my head back against the chair and stretch my legs. When I do so I hit something. Looking down on it I see a small golden ball the size of a golf ball on the tablecloth. I lean forward and touch it. It seems to be stuck. I pull on it again and again, harder and harder until it breaks free! I grab the golden ball in front of my face, and I laugh as I see my reflection on it. My face looks weird. It’s all squishy.

“Where did you get that?” My dad asks me as he looks at the ball.

“It was on the floor, next to the table.” I lie and wait. My dad nods, and I smile looking back at the ball. I push the plate and all the forks and knives away from me and start rolling the ball from one side to the other. I like to catch it before it falls. My sister sees it and asks if she can play with me. Yes! We start rolling the ball from one another, harder and harder until the other doesn’t catch the ball and it falls off the table. I almost did it once! Yet, she got it. I lost twice already. My sister is good.

Our parents warn us to stop again before we hurt ourselves or anyone else in case the ball flies off the table. It would be funny to have someone step on the ball and fall butt on the floor. I laugh at the thought of it, only to bite my lip right after trying not to get caught.

This is so boring. Dad and mom told me it would be a bit boring, but this is way worse. There is nothing to do! There is no food and I’m hungry. I want to play but I can’t. These clothes are tight and make me look like a penguin. Why did I have to come? I bet I could have stayed home with Grandpa and Nanny. They would be happy. I would be happy!

Happily ever after! Aren’t that what weddings are about? I don’t feel happy…

As I’m thinking about being home and playing cards with Grandpa, my dad gives me a little push on my arms so I take them off the table and starts messing with my plate so it is back in front of me. He orders my sister to do the same.

I start seeing a bunch of people showing up with bowls and putting it at the table. It must mean that food is here. We are finally going to eat! I sit up straight and my dad puts a napkin tucked into my shirt collar. I lean forward as a man approaches with a big silver tray and starts putting the bowls in front of us. I peak to see what is inside and see that it is soup. It looks orange and it has leaves on top.

I tilt my head but grab my spoon. My dad tells me that it is the first spoon from the outside making its way in as more plates come next.

I put the spoon in and take a sip… That is awful. I look at dad and he is looking down at me with a ‘don’t even try’ look.

It tastes like carrot. I hate carrots! For the first time since I got here I think of looking at the menu.

***

Starters

Carrot and Coriander soup

Cocktail Shrimp

Fish

Salmon with salted asparagus

Clean palate

Orange and lemon

Meat

Roasted Lamb coated in honey and lavender with sweet potato

Dessert

Pavlova covered in wild berries jam and lime juice

Wedding cake

***

I don’t even know most of these words! I drop the menu and stare down at my soup, then I look at my sister and suddenly I remember, she hates carrots too. She looks back at me as if she knew I was looking at her and she shrugs while giving me a sad smile, before saying, “At least we have cake at the end.”

“And cookies! We always have cookies.”