The loud song of the church bell woke Martha up who was still wrapped under her blanket. She cursed while rolling over to the other side of the bed with her pillows stuck to her ears. She had always disliked the fact that her house was close to a church with such a big bell that had a loud sound.
"Wake up marthaaaaa" her mum called, stressing the last syllable of her name as she always does. Martha mumbled and reluctantly rolled off the blanket. She didn't want to do anything, all she wanted was to rest. She had just taken a break from work for Christmas and meeting a lot of work that denied her sleep didn't go well with her.
"We still need to finish up with this work before the festival," her mum said, pointing to the pile of coffee that needed to be processed.
Three days to the Christmas festival, the entire people of Zulu were busy making plans toward that day. Streets were decorated with flowers and Christmas trees, malls were busy selling decorations and clothing to grace the day, while others welcomed guests. Among those who had guests was Martha's family, her Aunty had visited with her family to celebrate with them.
"I hope this Christmas is going to be different?" Agnes, Martha's aunt asked.
Martha laughed, she wondered how quickly Agnes had forgotten about her sister, no coffee meant no celebration for her.
"Nothing has changed, we'll still have the coffee jingle". They both laughed.
"I guess some things don't change," Agnes replied.
"Make the coffee beans pop, its sound should be so loud for the neighbors to hear. Do you know it's this jingle that reminds the neighbors that it's Christmas?" Martha's mum said, feeling so proud of herself.
"I doubt if it will be louder than the church bell," Agnes replied.
"Actually that's the only jingles around here, the beans and metal jingle" , Agnes chuckled, she knows how proud her sister feels to know the citizens of the town recognize her way of celebrating Christmas.
While Martha's mum was busy making pop sounds out of the coffee beans, Agnes and Martha were in the kitchen frying meat and cooking meals for the family.
The People of Zulu were filled with joy, throwing fireworks, and dancing around a campfire. The king read the history of their salvation to serve as a reminder to them on how important the festival is, the entire day is left to dancing, singing and sharing of gifts.