The Long Winter Solstice

There is more than meets the eye in this Christmas surprise

 

The Long Winter Solstice

 

by

 

Jon McDonald

 

 

            “I don’t know, Ken, I really don’t know.”  Barb fussed.  “I just don’t understand what’s going on here.”

            “I know, dear.  I’m as frustrated as you are.”   Ken fumbled in the total dark. There was a loud clunk.

            “What are you doing now?” Barb barked, even more agitated than before.

            “I think I just knocked over the lamp.”  Ken mumbled as he searched on the floor, feeling with his hands hesitantly, as he did not want to cut himself if there had been any breakage.

            “Mommy, I’m hungry.” Jane whined.

            “I know honey, we all are, but the stove isn’t working, you know that.”

            “Daddy, why don’t you light the candles, then, since there’s no electricity?” Dickey asked, trying to be practical and helpful.

            “Dickey, the candles are electric too.  We’re just going to have to be patient and wait till the lights come on again.” Ken replied with a sigh of resignation. 

            “Then how about lighting a fire in the fireplace, Daddy?”  Jane got all excited by the idea of a nice cozy fire. “Maybe we could grill some hot dogs on a stick.”

            “Oh sweetie, the logs are fake, they only glow when we have electricity.”  Ken hated disappointing his daughter.

            “How long has it been now, anyhow?  Barb tried peering at her watch, but couldn’t see a thing.

            “Well, it’s the Winter Solstice after all.  You expect it to be dark.”  Ken had righted the lamp and was nestled back in his corner of the sofa next to Barb. 

            “Yes, but we’re not in Alaska.  It shouldn’t be so totally dark this long.  It’s supposed to be the shortest day and the longest night �" not just continual night.  And it’s been days now since the electricity went out.  Are you sure you checked the breaker switches?

            “Of course, Barb, I checked the breaker switches.”   He said with some little irritation.  “And I’ve tried calling the electric company a dozen times but the phone is dead too.  I’ve looked out all the windows and it’s dark everywhere.  It must be a system wide blackout.”

            “But that still doesn’t explain why it’s been dark all day - for day after day after day.”  Barb griped.  “And what happened to the trains?  We haven’t seen any trains going by either since it went dark.  Have they been stopped by the blackout as well?”

            “Yeah,” Dickey piped up.  “They used to go by all day long.  I loved watching the trains - with the smoke puffing out the smoke stack.”

            “And the Christmas tree…” Jane spoke up.  “Every night it would get real quiet and dark, but we could still see the giant tree out front all covered in lights, with balls and angels.  Why can’t we see that any more?”

            “And there used to be all those people outside.  It was always so busy - the shoppers scurrying by - the kids peering in our windows.  Remember?  What happened to them?” Dickey asked.

            “Well as you know, the TV and radio don’t work, so there’s no way for us to find out.”  Ken was feeling really helpless and not at all certain what to do next for his family.

            The first earthquake came very unexpectedly.  It was not severe but the house certainly shook.  It lasted for a very brief period and then it was quiet once again.  But as there were still no lights, there was no way to assess if there had been any damage.

            “What was that?” Barb squawked, sitting bolt upright, and clinging to the arm of the sofa.

            “My, my…that was unexpected.” Ken exclaimed.  “Is everyone all right?”

            They were, but Barb began to cry.  Ken put his arm around Barb and pulled her to him, resting her head on his chest.

            “I think we should try and get some sleep.  There doesn’t seem to be anything more we can do right now.”  Of course, it was impossible to know if it was day or night, but it seemed long enough since they had last slept that it felt like the right thing to do - and besides, he didn’t know what else to suggest.

            “Aw, Dad, bed already?  I’m not even tired.”  Dickey complained, but he was only keeping up his end of being the contrary kid.  He really did want to crawl into bed, pull the covers up over his head, fall asleep and forget about everything.

            “Mommy it’s too dark to go upstairs.  I’m afraid.”  Jane crawled over to Barb and took hold of her leg and held on tight.

            “Then let’s just snuggle down here.  One of you can sleep on the sofa between the two of us and the other can use the big chair.  Dickey, you use the chair, and let your sister rest here.” Ken urged.

            “Oookaaay,” Dickey reluctantly agreed.

            They had soon settled down and were quickly asleep.

            None of them knew how long they had been asleep when the second earthquake struck.  But this one was much more violent.  And this time it was accompanied by a terrible shaking and the wrenching sound of ripping cardboard.  Jane screamed, and sitting up sharply, clung closely to Barb.  Dickey sprang up from the chair and raced over to the sofa to sit next to his father.

            But they could not begin to express their relief when the shaking stopped and a flood of light poured in.  They blinked and shaded their eyes, as they needed to adjust to this new blinding brightness.

*      *      *

            “Oh Mommy….Oh Poppy…”

            “Do you like it, Mija?”

            “It’s exactly what I wanted,” Little Patricia squealed, peering into the now open box.  “It’s the most beautiful dollhouse ever.  It’s just like the one in the shop I liked so much, isn’t it?”

            “Here, let me help you.”  Poppy said, cutting the packing box away from the dollhouse, revealing it in its true splendor �" two stories, clapboard white sides, with gables, blue shutters and two brick chimneys at either end.

            Carlos was ripping at his large package under the Christmas tree.  He stopped and stared at the box in disbelief.  He looked up at Mama and Papa.  “It’s exactly the train I wanted,” he beamed.  “Help me set it up,” he urged his dad.

            Little Patricia plugged the power cord from the dollhouse into the wall socket and ran over to peer into the windows of her new present.  Every room was beautifully furnished.  The dollhouse blazed with light - even the fireplace lit up and flickered, and the candles on the sideboard glowed in the dining room.  Barbie, Ken and the two little children, Dick and Jane, sat squarely on the sofa in the living room ever so pleased and proud to be in the light and on public display once again.  Never was there a more contented family.  

Soon Mama called her family together for their Christmas supper of posole, tamales and biscochitos.  And as the happy family celebrated their Navidad, the Christmas tree was resplendent with an array of twinkling colored lights; and the new train circled under the tree, chugging smoke from its sturdy smoke stack - next to the brightly glowing dollhouse. 

Reviews

[Matt Pellegrini]

Very neat little story. And nice twist as well.

When I was still reading in the first section, I had thought it was almost a social commentary on how the holiday and the way things are today have changed in general.

Stuff like, Even the candles and fireplace are electric. The decreasing dependence on trains. Maybe even the lack of people who still put up a tree and celebrate Christmas. How Christmas shopping can be done from home and on the computer so you don't see as many Christmas shoppers anymore.

Even though by the end of the story I didn't think that was your intent, I found those little things really interesting. But I liked the creativity of your story the way it is too.

[Lena]

I enjoyed it.
It reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode I saw as a kid.
Makes one wonder whose reality is really real or are we all a just a part of some one’s bigger picture. If so, is that someone also a part of another’s bigger picture, and so on, and so on, and so on.

[Sarita]

I really enjoyed it....it was so well presented about the small minor things which we encounter in a affectionate manner...

Loved it, nice twist :)

[InkSlinger]

I liked this too.. and like Matt said.. I thought the intent was gearing me towards some type of social ideal.. but the more I read the more I enjoyed this..