Mano Ka'ao

Then on the night of the full moon her grandmother asked her if she would come to a ceremony at a very ancient heiau shrine. She was interested but a little nervous. Cindy hadn't grown up with any kind of religion and was basically an agnostic. But it seemed important to her grandmother so they drove to the other side of the island and were now hiking across a long beach.

"Are you sure I'm dressed okay, Kupuna?"

She was wearing only her favorite blue bikini. Grandma had on a traditional grass skirt.

"You're fine, Ipo. Your clothes don't matter at all."

They climbed up over some lava formations and then splashed down into knee-deep water. Cindy's grandmother turned on a flashlight and led her into a cave. It was a long tunnel that stretched back farther than Cindy could see.

"This is amazing, Grandma! What is it? Some kind of lava tube?"

"Yes. It is a holy place made by the Akua."

They walked deep into the tunnel and Cindy saw light coming around a sharp turn in the tunnel. They rounded the corner and Cindy was startled to see that the tunnel widened here and was packed with people. They were all native Hawaiians. Some were her grandmother's age but many were younger. All the men and some of the women were bare chested in the flickering torchlight. She smelled some kind of incense.

A very handsome man with broad muscular shoulders held out his hand to help her out of the water.

"Aloha, Cindy."

"Aloha." How did he know her name?

All eyes were on her. She knew she was dressed wrong for this. Then an older woman stepped forward and started chanting. Everyone in the cave joined in. Cindy didn't know what to do. She only knew a few words of Hawaiian and nothing about this ceremony.

The old woman poured a dark liquid into a cup and held it out to Cindy. She took the cup timidly.

"'Awa." Her grandmother whispered in her ear. "Drink it all."

"Is it alcohol?" Cindy sniffed it experimentally. No, not alcohol. It smelled really bitter.