tet vigil

my sister and i are seated on the floor, each with a candle in front of us. mom demonstrates first. holding the folded triangle flaps over a flame, she melts the cellophane, then presses the two flaps together to seal the candy square. she watches us as we replicate her moves and produce two more sealed squares. she gives an approving nod and returns to the stove where my aunt is watching over a pot of tinned condensed milk and butter. we sit on the floor for hours burning our thumbs on molten cellophane. in a few hours our cousins sleeping in the other room will wake and take the caramels to town for new year's day.