Kettle: A Six Sentence Story

Maya and Beck honeymooning by spending two weeks backpacking along the rugged Ridge Trail was no surprise to anyone who knew them; after all, they met a year earlier when their separate hiking groups overnighted at the same campsite, and their individual senses of adventure were instantly entwined and became one.

After posing for selfies atop a rugged crag that clung to the side of the mountain, the newlyweds began their descent, laughing and talking as they made their way down to the valley below, and as they debated the merits of stopping for the day or pushing on a little longer in order to shorten that next, final day of hiking, the couple pushed through a thicket and found themselves amidst a small group of folks, men and women alike, who were engaged in various activities, including setting up a large, wooden table under the trees while others gathered firewood and still others danced to the odd cadence of a drum.

The drumbeat stopped abruptly as several dozen pairs of eyes turned towards Maya and Beck, who met the surprised stares with ones of their own, but before they could say a word, a silver haired gentleman stepped forward and greeted them with a firm but gentle voice while beckoning them to the center of the clearing. Nearby, several of the women appeared to be preparing a meal, tossing vegetables into an enormous black kettle that hovered over a hot fire, and as they worked, the women sang a wordless tune. 

It was an eerily beautiful scene, and mesmerized, Maya's hand slipped out of Beck's as she moved closer to the group. She didn't even flinch when the silver haired man struck Beck in the back of the head with a heavy piece of firewood, and she closed her eyes and began to sway to the women's song as they lifted Beck's body, slid it into the kettle, and began to stir.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge's Blog for Six Sentence Stories with the prompt "kettle"