Myshuno! Prompt: Coming of age.

[fuzzyspork]

Prompt: Coming of age.  (from rosefyre)
Rating: Teen (for nudity, if written words even count as such) e__e
Word Count: 495
Notes: This is very spoilery!  It's from my Egyptian legacy and will be extremely significant to the story.  I tried to be vague about who the "him" is anyway.  :P


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Hati was out of breath from running all the way from the temple to the Women’s House, but she was too excited and happy to show restraint now.  Her bare feet pounded through the halls and she ignored the disapproving looks from the women as she raced to her private chamber.  She skidded to a halt just inside the threshold and closed the heavy cedar door behind her as a sign that she did not wish to be disturbed.

Still panting, she went straight to the long mirror and observed her reflection, running her hands over her bare scalp with a giggle.  It was slick from the scented oils that had been applied at her Lock Shaving Ceremony and she noted that her head felt strangely light without the thick braid that had grown on the right side since her weaning day.  She was completely naked except for the red linen Belt of Womanhood, and she saw that she was full and soft in all the right places, and taut of thigh and stomach. Marveling at her new look, Hati ran her hands over her breasts, down her stomach, and across her hips.

Just then she caught sight of a small box sitting on her bed in the reflection.  She turned around and her heart quickened out of anticipation.  She settled onto the bed and gently lifted the box onto her lap.  It was plain, undecorated, and looked like something a scribe would keep his palettes in.  Her heart fluttered again, this time because she was sure who had left the box for her.  She slowly lifted the lid.

There it was!  Coiled in the bottom of the box like a cobra was her black, braided side lock.  A small scrap of papyrus rested on top with the words, “your every wish, my eternal command” written in a neat, precise hand.  She snapped the lid closed and hugged the box to her breast.  He’d done it!  She didn’t know how he had managed the sleight of hand, but he had somehow deftly switched her braid for one made of horse hair before he tossed it into the ceremonial brazier to be burned as a sign of her youth being put behind her.

Flinging herself backwards onto the bed, still clutching the box, Hati felt an overwhelming joy that made her want to laugh out loud.  She couldn’t explain even to herself why she felt so adamantly about keeping the side lock, but she was so sure that something important in her future depended on this braid.  That wonderful man had figured out how to accomplish it, and it had worked!  She could kiss him for his brilliance!  Then with a sudden flash of warmth across her skin she realized that she very much wanted to kiss him.

She sat up and looked down at herself.  She was a woman now.  She could kiss men now.  But more importantly, she could kiss him now.

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My Card

Comments

[rosefyre.livejournal.com]

Ooooh! Nice.