beatrix bobbit's winter solstice

Beatrix Bobbit was reading a book about pagan holidays while the fire danced in orange ribbons across the living room. She had convinced her parents to have a Winter Solstice celebration, but since she knew very little about the Winter Solstice, she needed to research.

So far, she'd only managed to hide the obvious Christmas relics, hang evergreen and sprinkle pine needles all over the house. The living room currently smelled exactly like a forest, which Beatrix was quite enjoying. Mrs. Bobbit, however, had been fighting an internal battle with the vacuum ever since the pine needles appeared.

"Beatrix!" Mr. Bobbit poked his head out of the kitchen holding a Santa stuffed inside a cookie jar. "Why is Singing Santa in here?"

"Because, he's not a Winter Solstice symbol. So there he stays till Christmas," Beatrix pushed her Witch Hat out of her eyes to respond.

"Penny loves Singing Santa. He brought me snow for Christmas when I was a boy..." Mr. Bobbit grunted.

"It never snows here, Dad. Plus, Penny loves the Winter Solstice too! She's been cozied up reading with me for the past hour," Beatrix grinned and slid the book down, revealing a fluffy black rabbit wearing a snowflake sweater.

Mr. Bobbit's eyebrows went all the way up his forehead, but he patted the cookie jar with the Singing Santa, and walked across the black tiles in the kitchen, out of sight.

"Happy Solstice, Bea!" Sybil bounced into the living room dressed in a white leotard and fluffy white tutu. "And you too, Penny!"

Penny lifted her head in greeting, and also to look for a carrot treat which Sybil did not have.

"Oh no! I'm sorry, Penny. Da--" Sybil called, but before she could get out the words, a breathless Mr. Bobbit had appeared holding a raw carrot in one hand and clutching a sprig of mistletoe in the other.

"Carrots under the mistletoe for Penny," Mr. Bobbit grumbled with a smile.

At that moment, the front door blew open and Mrs. Bobbit shuffled inside behind giant red and green bags. When Mrs. Bobbit had set the bags neatly down, she turned to greet her family.

"Jack, dear. Are you feeding Penny under the mistletoe again?" Mrs. Bobbit sighed and tightened the sparkly clips in her bun. Sybil had given them to her, and though they pinched her head uncomfortably, she wore them proudly and with very minimal mentions of their discomfort.

Mr. Bobbit quickly closed his fist over the mistletoe. "No, Judy. Ha ha, no. Just a carrot snack," Mr. Bobbit scooped the illicit mistletoe hand under Penny, and carried her off to the kitchen.

"He was," Beatrix closed the book and stood up from the squishy green floral armchair.

"Totally," Sybil nodded.

"Of course. Beatrix, dear, what else have you learned about the Winter Solstice celebration? I have all kinds of wreaths and candles and more greenery and Yule gifts and costumes!" Mrs. Bobbit clapped her hands together.

"Wow, Mom," Beatrix walked and inspected the bags Mrs. Bobbit had brought. "It seems like you might know more than I do. What can I do to help get setup?"

"Oh Beatrix, dear, I don't know," Mrs. Bobbit flicked her eyes around the living room, fighting the urge to vacuum pine needles once more. "Well, first we must decorate the Yule Wreaths and Tree. Oh, and the Yule Log! Then, we'll need to prepare the feast and our wishes. There's so much to do, however will we do it all?"

In a cloud of pine needles, a figure appeared then in their living room, by the heavily smoking fire. She wore a robe made of evergreen and a Witch Hat wrapped in holly and pine cones.

"Aunt Pan and Pug!" Sybil sprang across the woodland floor to pet the panting pug in Aunt Pan's arms.

"Pansy, dear, I didn't know you were coming. I sure hope I have enough surprise presents," Mrs. Bobbit mumbled the second part.

"I heard the youngest witch wanted to celebrate the Solstice. Since I'm somewhat of a Solstice celebrating expert, I thought I'd offer my assistance," Aunt Pan looked around the room. "Plus, I wanted to partake in the festivities!"

Aunt Pan set her pug on the ground, and the pug began licking pine needles and wandering towards the kitchen. When it disappeared inside, they heard a loud exclamation from Mr. Bobbit, "You beast, you get away from her!"

Beatrix and Aunt Pan ran to the kitchen to find Pug licking Penny's long ears.

"There's the Solstice spirit," Aunt Pan patted the pug then Penny.

"Your PUG is bothering Penny while she eats," Mr. Bobbit seethed.

While Mr. Bobbit was turned from Penny, Pug snatched the remainder of Penny's carrot and chomped it down in two quick bites.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Mr. Bobbit threw his entire body in front of Penny.

"Oh, it's just a carrot, Jack," Aunt Pan swished her sleek black wand. Two fresh carrots appeared, and Beatrix distributed them accordingly.

"Penny should get both," Mr. Bobbit grumbled from his prone position on the black and white tile floor.

"For goodness sake, no more talk of carrots. That's not very festive. Let's get to decorating!" Mrs. Bobbit sang from the living room.

"Actually," Aunt Pan said. "The Winter Solstice is all about being one with nature. Let's move the festivities outside for the moment."

"It's freezing out!" Mr. Bobbit grunted.

"Jack, dear, you can bundle up. Here's your costume robe and hat and gloves," Mrs. Bobbit tottered over beneath a pile of fabric.

"But, Penny's warmest coat is still drying."

"Dad, Penny can ride in my hat," Sybil trotted over with a furry lined witch hat hat tipped upside down. Mr. Bobbit stared dubiously at the hat before tucking Penny in his own pocket to a very loud sigh from Mrs. Bobbit.

Once the group was bundled in Mrs. Bobbit procured costumes and carrying their festive ingredients outside, Aunt Pan lit the way to a a mossy overgrown clearing just inside the forest. She began stacking piles of Yule logs and instructing Beatrix to light them.

After the tenth fire had been lit, the clearing did feel cozy. Mrs. Bobbit busied herself with laying out evergreen branches and holly. Sybil pranced and strung pine cone garlands and white twinkle lights in the surrounding trees.

"Bea! A little light!" Sybil called, and Beatrix tapped her wand to the string lights to set them ablaze.

After nearly an hour the space was alive with greenery and berries and the smell of fresh pine and sweet firewood.

"Now what?" Mr. Bobbit said, holding Penny between two of the fires.

"Now, we make wishes and dance. For the light!" Aunt Pan called out.

"No," Mr. Bobbit answered.

"Yes!" Sybil, Beatrix and Mrs. Bobbit exclaimed. They exchanged a knowing look, and surrounded Mr. Bobbit and Penny, pulling them up from the ground at once. "We wish you would dance with us," Sybil proclaimed.

"Tonight is the longest night of the year. We have to wish it away for the light," Beatrix said as Mrs. Bobbit and Sybil cheered. "Tonight we celebrate the return of the light!"

"For the light!" Aunt Pan cheered as she began humming a tune that sounded a lot like Santa Claus is Coming to Town. She started stomping and turning through the moss, around the fires while the humming got louder and the light from the fires cast bouncing shadows.

Beatrix and Sybil followed, while Mrs. Bobbit chimed in with new lyrics:

Darkness sees you when you're sleeping

And knows when you're awake

It knows if you've been dark or bright

So be bright for light's sake

They were so caught up in the song and the methodical dancing, that they almost didn't notice Mr. Bobbit staring up at the clear night sky.

"Jack, dear, what is it?" Mrs. Bobbit asked.

"You're not offering Penny up to the darkness are you?" Beatrix teased.

When Mr. Bobbit didn't respond, they all turned their faces up to the sky, looking up through a tangle of bare branches for any sign of what Mr. Bobbit was staring at with such intent.

"I wished for snow. And, I think it's happening," Mr. Bobbit said with a good deal of reverence. Mr. Bobbit spoke almost as fondly of his memories of snow as he did of Penny. He hadn't seen snow since he was a boy, though.

"Oh, Jack, dear. I don't think it's going to snow. The forecast gave no warning..." Mrs. Bobbit placed a mittened hand on Mr. Bobbit's shoulder.

Suddenly, Sybil squealed. "I think a snowflake hit my nose! A snowflake! Wow!"

"Do you know what a snowflake feels like, Sybil, dear?" Mrs. Bobbit sighed.

"Oh my Yule Tide! A snowflake fell in my hair," Beatrix held out a strand of long black hair.

"Beatrix, dear," Mrs. Bobbit began before she too was hit. "Could the weather people be wrong?" she asked the sky.

Not a moment later, big, fat snowflakes trickled down to their fire lit clearing. Mr. Bobbit held Penny out and twirled round and round, pulling Mrs. Bobbit along. "It's a Solstice miracle," Mr. Bobbit shouted.

"It sure is if Dad's dancing for the light," Beatrix said.

Then, Beatrix and Sybil and Aunt Pan and the pug linked hands and paws and leapt with their tongues out trying to catch the flakes. Snow dusted their eyelashes and hair and the green mossy ground. By the time they went back inside, Mr. Bobbit saw Singing Santa perched in the window.

He held it up curiously. "I thought you hid this away?"

"I took him out of the cookie jar before we left. Maybe it's okay to mix all of our traditions and come up with something that's all our own," Beatrix responded.

"Singing Santa strikes again," Mr. Bobbit replied as he shuffled off to the kitchen for a Solstice treat.