There the two stood, shoulder to shoulder at the top of the hill. The sun soon to be falling behind the horizon. Arlo curiously scanned the area below. Slowly looking from left to right and then back again. Gideon told him that they needed to head down now that it was almost dark. Arlo, surprised to see so many, quickly made sense of all the different lights he had been seeing lately. He asked Gideon what they were all doing. Why they were all dragging and stacking fallen branches and random brush. As they started down the hill, Gideon explained to Arlo that they were getting ready for that night, and this was an every evening thing. Seeing that Arlo was confused, he told him not to worry. That he would catch on while he was there about how everything went. As they ventured down the hill, Arlo noticed that the smell of the air had changed. It had always smelt somewhat pleasant. With hints of cedar, various flowers and fresh earth. Now, it was stale, smelling of ash and old smoke. No longer bringing him the peace and tranquility that it once did. Instead, feeling like it took more of his energy to breathe. As they got closer to the bottom of the hill, Arlo was instructed to go and help the others. Even though he had only just arrived and hadn’t had any time to rest from the days hike. But nonetheless, he agreed. There were only a few individuals who started to look at Arlo. He could see that some of them had, what seemed to be positive expressions on their faces, and started waving. Others simply showed no emotion, and the rest looked distressed, almost broken. They were all very different. Short and tall, big and small. Men, women, and there were even some who looked young enough to be children. Many were even elderly, and looked to have been there for quite some time. As Arlo went to begin helping, he noticed that Gideon didn’t join in. He just meandered through the crowd in the same care free manner that he had in the forest on the way here. Arlo watched Gideon as he made his way to a small, rundown hut that was just across the clearing. It sat right at the tree line and seemed to overlook the area where everyone was. When Gideon went inside, Arlo turned around to go back to his newly appointed task. Grabbing branches and taking them to the large pile that they were working on. Eventually, the little remaining daylight faded away. The only light left that was shining, was coming from the torches on the front of Gideon’s hut. In the very faint glow, Arlo watched as most of the individuals began to gather around the large pile that they had made. Setting up some stumps and logs, as if to use to sit. It was calm and quiet; only slight murmurs out of the crowd could be heard. Once it seemed that they were settled, well, all the ones that stayed. For some, had crept off into the darkness. It was then, that Gideon exited from his hut. Grabbing both torches, one from each side of the door, and walked toward the crowd. Holding one in each hand, his face was aglow with flickering orange, red and yellow. Approaching the pile, he threw one on top. With the other, he held it to the base of the pile and slowly walked around it, steadily setting it ablaze. As the fire grew, so did the mood of all who remained. With Arlo hearing the once soft murmuring, instantly turning into cheering.