Season's Meetings by Ren Gold

Author:Ren Gold [Gold, Ren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-64108-687-5
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2023-09-28T00:00:00+00:00

“DON’T TELL anyone I’m showing you this.”

Kyle didn’t think the abandoned factory by the riverfront was used for anything these days. When he was a child, it used to process paper. He still remembered the constant stream of white billowing out of the smokestack. The rare visitor might comment on the smell of the papermill, but locals seemed born with an immunity to it. Before Kyle was in middle school, however, the paper company had gone out of business and the building sat there since, fading into the background until he’d almost forgotten its presence at the scenic waterfront.

Vic struggled with the lock on the heavy metal door for a few seconds before waving Kyle inside.

The door swung open with an echoing creak as they entered. Kyle had to wait a moment for his eyes to adjust to make sense of the shadows that lurked in different shapes all around the edges of the large, echoing room.

Boxes of vendor stock and decorations poked out of the cardboard. Kyle recognized some of the statues and trees from prior years of the Circus, including a nativity scene that was displayed before the market became less religious over the years.

In the center of the room loomed a large snow globe. Well, large was actually an understatement. The glass top of the structure was tall enough for an adult to stand in and the circumference of the average hot tub. It was wrapped in strings of periwinkle-white Christmas lights, making it look like the glass was being hugged by the stars themselves. The base was painted with a deep blue background and silvery snowflakes. It had a hatch at the top and another at the base, which momentarily confused Kyle.

“It used to be a giant gumball machine,” Vic explained, as if reading his thoughts.

The area wasn’t entirely enclosed. The ceiling above them had an expansive hole worn in it from years of neglect. Kyle stepped forward to get a better look and realized the hole opened up to the sky outside. As fast as winter night could fall, the patch of sky already shone with real stars.

“Whoa,” Kyle breathed.

“Right?” Vic smiled. “Originally we were all told to keep our stock here. But, y’know, with it being open to the elements, it’s not the greatest for that. The owner mostly uses it to store future projects. Like that—” He pointed to the snow globe. “— is going to be used so kids can catch money blowing around in it next year.” He walked to the globe, pulling up the metallic hatch at the bottom. “Step into my office.”

Kyle smiled. “And tell my story to the globe?”

“Exactly.”

Getting inside was less awkward than Kyle would have imagined, even with his tall stature. Halfway through, he had to twist his body into a limbo move to join Vic, but in less than a minute they took seats on opposite sides of the globe. It was vaguely stuffy, so Vic stood and pushed up the top hatch. It clattered to the side with a jarring bang, but fresh, cool air wafted in.

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