Eternal Solstice
"Explain why we're doing this again?" Jack asked as he and his friend, Ralph, heaved a large statue of a deer onto a pedestal.
"Tourism, Jack!" Mayor Thompson exclaimed, rubbing his hands together with demented excitement. "All those city tourists with their tourist money coming to our small town, staying in motels, eating at restaurants, and buying useless knick-knacks!"
"Sure, Steve." Jack rolled his eyes. The irony of him talking about big city money when he wasn't even from this town originally was mind-boggling. The summer solstice was only two days away. At the start of May, Claire—Jack's sister, the mayor's girlfriend, and the town librarian—had unearthed records dating back to when the town was a collection of huts in the late 1300s.
While helping her sort them, Steve found a journal detailing an ancient ritual the town performed on the summer solstice to bring prosperity and luck in the coming year. This gave Steve the idea to set up a festival around the "ritual" as a money-grabbing scheme. And that was why Jack was stuck, setting up statues of crows, rabbits, deer, and other "Totems of The Luck Gods" on the hottest day of the year.
"It's looking great, hun!" Claire walked up to them as Steve was directing where to place the rabbit statue. Ralph shot her a look that could freeze fire.
"Please don't indulge him," Jack muttered, as they slid the final statue onto a pedestal.
"Oh, lighten up, Jacky! It's going to be fun!" Claire giggled. "Sammy's motels are booked solid!"
"Best news I've heard all day," Steve boomed.
"Festival is going to be fun, sure," Jack said to Claire, ignoring Steve's greed. "But these?" He waved his hand at the statues. "Will haunt my nightmares."
"What about the empty pedestal in the center?" Ralph asked, cutting off the conversation, rushing to finish.
"It needs to be empty for the ritual." Steve beamed.
"In that case, I'm headed home." Ralph left, wiping his sweat. "Jack, if you need me before the festival, no you don't."
"Home sounds great." Jack sighed. "I need a shower. Claire, I'm going to Mom's for dinner tomorrow. If I don't see you there, I'll see you at the festival."
"Steve and I might stop by." Claire smiled.
"Alrighty, Jack! See you at the festival! You're not going to want to miss it!" Steve expressed the same borderline demented excitement.
"Sure, Steve. Sure." Jack said, walking away.
------
"Steve, are you coming with me to dinner at my mom's?" Claire called upstairs. No response. No sign of him in their room. He wasn't in the den either. Then she noticed the basement door ajar. She pulled it open and walked down.
He was hunched over a book, muttering to himself, with the town's archival books beside him. "S-Steve?" Claire said quietly, concerned.
"W-WHAT?!" Steve slammed the book shut and turned around, wild-eyed. "Oh... Claire," he quickly switched back to the smooth-talking man she knew. "I shouldn't have yelled. You startled me is all."
"I'm... I'm sorry, Steve." Claire's voice trembled, "I'm going to my mom's for dinner. Did you... you want to go?"
"Oh no, Claire. I'm prepping for the big festival tomorrow. I want to make sure I'm ready for the ritual at sunset. You go on. I'll see you later tonight." Steve said, hiding the book behind his back.
"O-okay, see you later then," Claire stammered, leaving.
-----
"It was the weirdest thing, Jack. He didn't come upstairs all night," Claire said, walking beside her brother. It was the day of the festival, approaching sunset. Stands were set up, and city people filled the town's streets.
"He is taking this more seriously than I thought," Jack said, baffled. He had never known his sister's boyfriend to take anything seriously. He even seemed only half-serious when running for mayor.
"It's odd. I've barely seen him today either. He says he's working on preparations for the show."
"What 'show'? Wasn't that ritual bit hogwash?"
"Steve doesn't think so. Keeps telling me it will change everything. I don't think all these people will be mesmerized by him reading from an old book surrounded by weird animal statues, but Steve knows city people better than we do."
"Must really want people to come back next year." The festival looked like a roaring success, "ritual" or no "ritual." People were buying souvenirs, enjoying great food, and parking was nearly impossible to find. It was probably the most money the town had seen in decades.
Jack's thoughts were interrupted by the metallic squeal of a megaphone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, sunset is fast approaching, which means... it is time to conduct the ritual! Can everyone please gather near the statues in the town center?" Steve's voice blasted from the megaphone.
"Really hamming it up, isn't he?" Jack said, rolling his eyes at Claire.
"Mmhmm... let's go check all his preparations," Claire said sarcastically, pursing her lips.
They headed towards the town center. Unsurprisingly, the locals arrived much faster than the visitors. They approached the statues and found Steve standing on the empty pedestal, wearing a purplish-blue robe.
"Claire! Jack! So happy you made it!" Steve said, a deranged grin on his face.
"What in heaven's name are you wearing?" Claire covered her face, embarrassed.
"Don't you worry, Claire! It's part of the show!"
"And what part is that?" Jack asked, in disbelief at the goofy getup Steve was wearing.
"You'll see soon enough, Jack," Steve said, staring down at them, bemused. The tourists soon reached the town center, joining the townspeople staring at the mayor, confused.
"Good day, good day, everyone!" Steve greeted them. "Thank you for being here to witness this fantastic moment that will reshape modern history." He held up a red book that Claire recognized as the journal he had found among the archives.
"What!?" a heckler shouted.
"You'll see in a moment. You'll all see." Steve held up the journal. "I'd hit a dead end when I traced the legends to this dump, then that dumb small-town librarian led me"—he indicated Claire—"straight to this!" Claire, caught off guard, looked like she was about to cry.
"Show's over. You crossed a line," Jack said angrily.
"Oh, Jack," Steve laughed, sounding borderline insane. The crowd of city goers and townspeople watched on, whispering amongst themselves, unsure of what was happening. "It will never be over for me. This book isn't just some journal detailing a dumb little luck ritual. No. It's a spell book."
"You're bonkers," Jack said, taking an angry step towards the pedestal, ready to tear Steve down and send him to the nearest psychiatric hospital in a body bag.
"Am I?" Steve snapped his fingers. The deer statue beside him sprung to life and blasted a fireball at Jack. Jack barely jumped out of the way in time. The crowd fell into a hushed silence. "That is just a small display of the power I now command. These statues aren't 'Totems of the Luck Gods,' you moron. They are the Avatars of the First Gods."
"Steven! I don't understand! What are you doing?" Claire called to him.
"Oh, Claire, I'm claiming my place as the rightful ruler of the world, eternal ruler actually." Steve looked smug. "Thanks to this festival giving me the last piece, I can now cast the spell I've sought my whole life!" He flipped to the middle of the book and began to read. The sky filled with green clouds, and the statues of the animals began to glow green, their heads turning to face him. The festival-goers began to duck and hide.
"By the Power of the First Gods
Witnessed By Those Who Serve
And Those Who Are Yet to Serve.
Under the Dying Embers of the Solstice Sun
I Call Upon You!
By Your Will,
May My Soul
Never Fade From the Earth
May My Bones
Never Be Reduced to Dust
May My Flesh
Never Be Inflicted With Rot."
Green beams blasted forth from the eyes of the statues, enveloping Steve.
"Yes! I feel it. I feel—" He froze mid-sentence as his mouth ceased to move. His skin started to fade to gray. The green clouds above dissipated. The statues' heads moved back into place, and as the green light faded, a statue of Mayor Steve Thompson stood on the last pedestal. The crowd was deathly silent, then roared in applause.
"Jack... what just happened?" Claire asked.
"I have no idea," Jack said, looking at the scorched ground in front of him as crowds of the festival-goers surrounded the statues. One of the more excited men ran up to Jack and started shaking his hand.
"Sir, those were some of the best special effects I have ever seen in my life. I have no idea how you pulled it off, but I can't wait to see what you do next year," he proclaimed before running to look at the statue that was once Steve.
Jack could only look at Claire and shrug.
Thanks for making it this far! More stories to come. Follow and Stay tuned
Credit to Cr ai yon.com for images
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