Solsta

by Jeff Baker

(A Food Garden Court Story)

There was a festive air in the mall that season. Green and blue garlands were draped on the walls, storefront windows were festooned with blue lights, even the window in Mrs. Du Pass’ Scrying shop, The Orbuculum, displayed a fake crystal ball with glittering lights around a miniature cow.

Cows, of course, were everywhere.

Little replicas for sale, cow balloons the kids were carrying, more expensive cow sculptures of course and the virtual shrine with the big cow standing in a pile of gifts to one side of the Food Garden Court.

An old man with a grey beard shook his head as he paid for his veggie roll.

“Disgusting! All this commercialization of WinterRite. Makes you want to scream.”

“Yeah, it does,” T’amec said, playing agree-with-the-customer to the hilt. Behind the grey bearded man the young Sorcerer who worked in the Augury shop there in the mall was grinning and pointing to the cow emblazoned on his tunic. T’amec tried not to smile or laugh until the grey bearded man had walked off and T’amec served the Sorcerer his usual morning cup of broth.

“Some people just don’t understand the season,” the Sorcerer said, glancing down at the cow on the front of his tunic, emblazoned with the words HAVE YOU ASKED YET?

“Yeah,” T’amec said. “I sent out my note as soon as the season started.”

“Same here,” the Sorcerer said. “My Mom didn’t get around to it one year, back when I was in school. We had no end of trouble for the next few months. Car broke down, furnace got clogged, household spells misfired.”

“Yeah, I try never to even cut it close,” T’amec said, handing the Sorcerer his broth. “Skid on the other hand always waits ‘till the last minute.”

“Yeah, we got a guy like that down at the shop,” the Sorcerer said. “He puts everything off. Hey, what did you ask for?”

“A couple of new discs for my old player,” T’amec said. “How ‘bout you?”

“Another cow tunic, what else?” He grinned at T’amec. “Comes in handy; did a formula wrong last week and it zapped my other tunic down a size too small.”

T’amec grinned as the Sorcerer paid for his broth and walked back to the Augur’s shop. He glanced around at the decorations in the Mall and smiled, remembering one of his earliest memories, going shopping at the old shopping center where they lived around WinterRite time and his pointing at all the decorations and mooing like a cow. His Mom had explained to him about Solsta the Cow and how she had no children of her own so she was granted the gift of giving gifts to other children on the Winter Solstice which heralded the beginning of WinterRite Season. His Mom also said he had to select what he wanted in time or Solsta would be unhappy.

T’amec sighed. That was a story for little kids he had thought but as he got older he realized the necessity of selecting a Solsta gift each year even if you never got anything. In school, they’d learned the old rhyme about Solsta coming around “When the Solstice Bell tolls.” T’amec had never heard a Solstice bell as far as he knew. Little kid stuff.

“Hey, T’amec!” The voice was Skid, coming through the kitchen doors into where the counter was. “A little help here?” Skid was balancing two big pans of sliced meat on a tray. T’amec grabbed the edge of the tray and helped Skid put the pans in their slots on the counter. He noticed wryly that one was sliced beef. Cow meat.

“So,” T’amec said. “You picked out your gift yet?”

“No,” Skid said. “I don’t think I’m going to. I don’t really have to, you know.”

Even when you weren’t a kid anymore it was tradition, some said superstition, to ask for some small token gift from Solsta. Better safe than sorry. T’amec remembered what the Sorcerer had said about his Mom.

“You’d better make up your mind,” T’amec said. “Solstice is tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I know,” Skid said getting annoyed. “Everybody keeps telling me that.”

“It’s tradition,” T’amec said.

“More like superstition.” Skid said grumpily.

After a few minutes T’amec sighed again.

“Look, I didn’t mean to get on your…”

“That’s okay.” Skid said. “Just everybody keeps asking me. That’s one reason I’m glad I stayed at your place the last few nights. My folks don’t bug me there!”

“Yeah,” T’amec said. But Skid had been sleeping over a lot the last few months. Even though they’d said they were taking it slow.

“And I think you’re going to like what I got you for WinterRite,” Skid said.

T’amec almost blushed. “You didn’t have to,” he said. Last WinterRite they had barely known each other.

“I know,” Skid said grinning. “Just don’t nag me about Solsta or if I’m asking for anything, okay?”

“Okay,” T’amec said.

Skid looked up, startled. “Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“A sound…like rushing wind and a cow mooing.” Skid said.

“Must’ve been from one of those decorations,” T’amec said with a grin. “And it may not have been wind. But I didn’t hear anything.”

They went back to work as the day stretched on to late afternoon. T’amec noticed that Skid looked lost in thought.

They’d had a rush, serving a line of customers who were doing last-minute shopping when Skid stopped what he was doing and banged on a pot with a broth ladle.

“Okay,” Skid said. “Can I have everyone’s attention please?”

Customers stopped what they were doing and stared at Skid behind the counter.

“I’m probably way too late to send a note so I’m doing it this way. I didn’t think I wanted anything this year, but you have to ask, right? I mean, this past year, well, I realized what I want more than anything in the world.”

He looked right at T’amec, standing by the broth pot.

“I want you,” Skid said. “I mean, I know we said to take it slow, not risk screwing-up what we’ve got but I’ve been realizing all year that this is what I want. I want to spend my life with you. I want to sit around the apartment and listen to the radio. I want to snuggle together in bed. I want you with me always, even if you’re not there. If we have different jobs I want you to be the guy I come home to. I think about you all the time. Even if we never do an official binding or anything, I don’t want to ever lose you. You’re what I want for WinterRite. And every day. I want you.”

The two of them kissed right there and several people applauded. In that moment, Skid thought he heard a deep bell chiming and the low baying of a cow.

—end—

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I worked in a mall in the late 1980s-early 90s and have fond memories of Christmastime there, back when malls were a big deal. I had been wondering what kind of “Christmas” they celebrate in the magical world of Food Garden Court when I saw the picture of the Christmas-dressed cow sculpture at a local dairy. It was probably meant to look sweet. To me it looked fairly demonic and menacing. And the story came out of that!

We’re taking a break posting the pictures for next week, and I’ll post a pic on January 3rd, 2025.

Whatever my readers celebrate, I wish you all the best for this Christmas Season and for the New Year. To me, your readership is a priceless gift all year ‘round.

——-jeff