"I'm going to work Ma! I'll be back before dawn," I called to my mother. "Okay! Bring back some corn, we're all out. Stay safe Itzamná!" she called back. I went off to work in the fields.

I walked down to the fields and saw my friends already there. The crops had declined massively this year, and our population was increasing quickly. We usually grew corn, squash and beans. I looked at our dry, skinny plants. We'd been working so hard with our crops, but they weren't showing improvement. The prices were rising, it was taking more cacao beans to trade for small amounts of squash.

After a long day of work, I returned home. "Hey! How was work?" my mother asked. I didn't have the heart to tell her how terrible it was, because of our crop situation. "Good." I replied. "I couldn't get the corn, the- uh- King needed it for the ceremony tonight!"

"Oh," she said. "Makes sense. Speaking of the ceremony, are you ready to go?" Right. This ceremony was required for everyone. There were sacrifices needed for this ceremony, so everyone had to go. "Yes, let me just change."

I quickly put on my skirt and slipped on my hat. I checked my reflection in our ceramic mirror. I looked so tired, I had heavy eye bags from worry. I could see a couple white hairs in my usually dark brown hair. I quickly plucked them and headed outside.