I feel stupid now for choosing to stay up for so long. I can't say that it's entirely my fault though. With all of the shenanigans taking place last night, I wouldn't imagine that anyone had a decent rest. Of all of the big celebrations that the village has had in the past, last night's was particularly festive. Zaria finally decided to grace us with her presence yesterday afternoon after about two weeks of not seeing or hearing from her whatsoever, (which had left our poor father feeling betrayed). Her excuse: Chiefhood is demanding. Of course she was immediately forgiven upon arrival, and the tribe set to work to create the biggest wedding celebration that the Pupanunu have ever seen. Singing, dancing, and an enormous feast were prepared for her "Chieflyness", along with a gift-giving ceremony that just went on and on and on… You get the idea. The tribe was overjoyed in giving their love and congratulations, and my sister was more than happy to accept it.

"It is a shame though, that Chief Jit'net could not join us," My father sighed at one point during the gift ceremony. "I was so looking forward to getting to know him better…"

"Daddy, you know that he wanted to be here, but he couldn't leave the village." Zaria drawled as she unwrapped another present. "There is just so much to do at home; it's one of the downsides to running such a large tribe, you know." She tore away the last of the wrapping to reveal a strange-looking flute. She muttered something nasty about it under her breath.

"Yes, yes, I know," he said glumly, "and I am happy that you have found such a hard-working care taker, but I must arrange to meet with him soon. It is of the upmost importance that a father be familiar with his daughter's husband."

Ah yes, Chief Jit'net. More like Chief Nit'wit. I've never actually spoken with the man personally, but I have seen him before and was able to gather more than an impression of him. It was just an ordinary day in the Pupanunu village when he first set foot on our ground: "On an expedition!" he had claimed, without ever bothering to explain himself.

At that time we had been in the middle of a harvest and therefore took very little interest in him, and he took very little interest in us – that is, until he laid his eyes on my sister. Then it was as if someone had declared an unofficial Love Festival right on the spot, and Chief Jit'net was kneeling in front of her, bubbling over with compliments, sighs and poetry. He flattered her by retelling the rumors of her beauty which had traveled far and wide across the country, and proclaiming that he had found them all to be true.

Yuck.

And it was love at first sight for my sister, too, but not for the same reason. Jit'net was a big, strong man, but old too. Very old. Have you ever seen those men who are blanketed from head to toe in wrinkles and gray hair, and yet are somehow built like a wild banbull? That's Jit'net. Don't get me wrong, that kind of shape is very admirable for someone his age to be in, but do you think that it would be enough to capture prissy Zaria's attention? No, that was the responsibility of Jit'net's guards, which at that time there were eight. It was also the responsibility of Jit'net's clothes, which were fabulously adorned in expensive feathers and pelts, complimented by a glittering jeweled amulet and crown. Yes, even an idiot could see that Jit'net was a very important and wealthy man, and that plus the promise of Chiefhood was all the push that Zaria needed to become a wife.

So she ran off, got married, and didn't send any word of her well being for two weeks, and while the tribe was sick with a chaotic worry, I was in paradise. Everything in my life was coming together so perfectly; it felt like one long, happy dream. But alas, all good dreams must come to an end. You may have been wondering what I was up to throughout my dear sister's wedding celebration. That can be summed up in one word: Work!

First I had to prepare Zaria's room. Her royal Chieftess was all tuckered out from her ride in the sedan chair and would place to sleep for the next few days while she regained her strength. Did I mention that Tak, Keeko and I were already in the process of turning her room into a hangout? So much for that. Second, I had to wash all of Zaria's clothes as they had gotten all wrinkled. You wouldn't believe how many outfits she had packed for one, simple trip. In the past, she had always entertained the idea of having a different outfit for the morning and the afternoon. Now it seemed as if she had one for every hour! (But I will admit that a few of her dresses were kind of pretty.)

Aside from a few other mindless errands that I had to run for her, the last – and worst – thing that I had to do listen to her. All night long she kept flapping her lips about this and that, oh, the new tribe is so big and rich, oh, the food is so succulent and plentiful, oh, I have a million admirers to wait on me, oh, oh, don't even get me started on my jewelry collection! They've actually made a crown large enough to fit my big, fat head! Of all people, why me?!

Fortunately, she did eventually grow tired and announced to the tribe her Royal Bedtime. Thank Juju. The only problem now was that it was so very late into the night; I barely had time left to enjoy the festival! But there was that familiar excitement in the air that comes with being out so late, and I was ready for adventure. I ganged up with Tak over at the buffet line (at least, what was left of it) and together we started an all-out rampage. We took out both the roasted stoarch and desert section, absolutely obliterated the remaining Candy Pigs, and then rode over to Keeko's cave at full speed on an angry rhino. It would have made for a perfect night's end if only Keeko didn't ruin it with his sleeping. He cursed us for having the nerve to ride through his home in the middle of the night like a couple of wild animals and threw us out.

"Oh man, what a buzz kill. I expected more from you, Keeko!" I snarled as we made our way out.

"Actually, he's right," Tak started. "It is getting really late and Zaria is going to be here for at least a day or two… Maybe we should all get some rest while we can?"

I gasped. "Tak! You too?!"

He smiled sheepishly at me. "It's for the best." And with that, we retired for the night.

Only I could not retire. That is, I went to bed, but I did not go to sleep. I squirmed around in my bed for hours, too hopped up on sugar to keep still. I wondered, since Tak had also eaten all that junk, if he was having these problems too? I considered going to check on him, but decided against it. If he was awake, he might get upset if he saw me out of bed. If he actually was sleeping, then I would feel like some creepy Peeping Pandora. No, it seemed that I would have to suffer alone.

Now, I'm sure that anyone who has suffered a long, lonesome night before know what I mean when I say that you can get some really strange thoughts in your head. Of course, being as sleepy as you probably are, you won't remember or even notice most of them. On this night it seemed that I could only think of two things: About how if at that point I fell asleep, I would throw my body's whole schedule off, and... MARRIAGE! UGH! I place total blame on Zaria!

I kept thinking about old I must be to have a sister who was somebody's wife, which made me somebody's sister-in-law (Pretty much a stranger's sister-in-law at that!), and gosh I'm getting so old, soon I'll have to be getting married myself – HOLD UP. I am NOT ready to be anyone's WIFE. Not yet.

Me?

A wife?

What a silly thought.

Who would I even be with? Tak? Well, I guess if I were to pick someone from within the tribe, he would be my best opti-

WAIT, NO! NO, NOT TAK! Ew, how disgusting, just ugh! What am I thinking? We're just friends, he's just my friend. Yeah, he's just my cool, handsome friend. I MEAN SANDSOME FRIEND! Wait, sandsome? Bothersome, loathsome, gruesome, awesome, winsome, lovesome? Oh no, why do I do this to myself?! I'm losing my mind…

It wasn't long before I noticed that the sun was slowly, lazily starting to peek out from over the horizon. Coincidentally, I was just now starting to drift off. Don't you just hate your brain sometimes? It was too late to try and sleep now, so I rolled out of bed and sauntered over to my door, thinking of ways to fight it off.

As I stepped outside into the fresh, dewy jungle air I was met by the voice of my sister, up bright and early and detailing to three villagers what she wanted for breakfast. Deeply disturbed, I decided that I wasn't yet ready to face the day and quietly began to turn back into my hut, hoping that she wouldn't notice me. She didn't, but someone else did.

"JEERA, MY SWEET LITTLE WILD FLOWER!" I wonder if the neighboring tribes can clearly hear whenever my father talks? "I have something very important to discuss with you!"

I cringed. Talk? Now talk? "Err, do you think it can wait, daddy? I'm not really in the might mind to talk right now…"

"I'm sorry, Jeera, but it cannot wait. We must start as quickly as possible." He took a solemn tone and motioned for me to follow him. "Come, we shall speak in private."

I wish that I had gotten some sleep.

*–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––*

So I've had this idea in my head for a long time now and I have finally decided to put it together. Right now the Tak category is kind of a quiet one, and I'm really, really hoping that there might be some more activity! Even if it is just in the forums. ;)

I'm unsure about how I wrote Jeera's voice in this, so some critiques would be appreciated. Review, review, review! And for those of you who have already posted a story or two, UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE! And Merry Christmas! :D