HOLIDAY DOUBLED?
We have been in a short story frame of mind. So, once again, with a slant toward the
upcoming holidays, we'd like to share another.
Enjoy!
What Holiday Is It Anyway?
“It’s time.”
“For what?”
“Winter Solstice.”
“It feels like spring.”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Miranda, all of eight with the adultness of
thirty-eight. “Today is the day of the
year that the Sun is farthest south. It
marks the first day of the season of winter, and is the shortest day and
longest night of the year.”
The two of them sat opposite each other in the window seat staring out
into a gray, raining day. The swags and
greenery that decorated the Odessa homes looked limp and uninterested, rather
than buoyant as they had just a couple weeks earlier. The only redeeming aspect of the landscape
was the girl’s view of the January House’s artistically decorated mail box with
its greenery, red bow and white lettering, the house set off in the distance
partly hidden by bare branches of the many trees and bushes. Otherwise, rain faded the world, mud pools
replaced snow that had come early and then regretfully melted.
“Usually it is cold,” insisted her younger sister, Julian, by three
years. “It would make more sense if it
were snowing.”
“December 22nd or sometimes the 21st is the Winter Solstice regardless
of what the weather is like.”
“Is all that in the book you’re reading?”
“Yup. I got it out of the
library yesterday,” she said, holding up the hardbound book from her lap.
“I got The Okapi.”
“That’s a good story. You’re
going to like it.”
“Want to read it to me?”
“Sure, in a bit. I want to read
some more about the Solstice, first.”
“What’s it say?”
Hunching up her knees, Miranda placed the book there and read, “In
ancient Rome, The Festival of Saturnalia, which marked the end of the harvest
season was a time for joyous celebration and reverent thanksgiving.”
“Wow, they had Thanksgiving in Rome?
Did they invite Indians?”
“It wasn’t like our traditional Thanksgiving, and I doubt they invited
Indians since the Americas weren’t discovered back then.”
“Oh,” the younger girl said, looking a bit saddened at the thought of
no Indians.
“In our Gregorian calendar, Saturnalia coincides with the Winter
Solstice,” Miranda continued to read, “a cosmic occurrence in anticipation of
mystery. The Romans used the Julian
calendar and the Winter Solstice or Brumalia occurred on December 25th.”
“Julian? I have a calendar all
my own?”
“No, it’s just called that.”
“Oh,” she said picking at her jumper, making tiny teepees and again
looking disappointed, and then saying, “December 25th is Christmas.”
Miranda looked as surprised as her sister. “Yup, and listen to this. The Romans decorated their homes and
communities with glowing candles, greenery swags and wreaths of holly, cypress
and laurel.”
The girls took another look at the homes beyond, and the red and green
bows and evergreen suddenly looked perky.
Miranda returned to her book.
“They had huge public feasts.
They exchanged gifts and greetings of good will.”
“Wow, Christmas started before it was actually Christmas.”
“Who knows, I think it has something to do with a Roman Emperor maybe
eventually combining Christmas with some of the traditions of their Winter
Solstice.”
“I’m glad he did, especially the
gift part and the decorating part and the party part. I wonder if they made chocolate chip
cookies?”
“Maybe not chocolate chip, but they probably had sweets.”
“I wonder if they had snow.
Don’t you wish it was snowing?
Then we could build a snowman.”
Julian huffed air on the windowpane and then drew a snowman in the foggy
cloud it created.
“It’s cold enough to do that,” said Miranda, and then put her book
aside as the mature Miranda morphed back into her age. “Wanna build a mudman?”
Both girls grinned.
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Angelica Hart and Zi ~ Vixen Bright and Zachary Zane
www.champagnebooks.com - www.carnalpassions.com - angelicahartandzi.com
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