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 Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2025 8:29 pm
Quote: Burning Bright: (9) : This time of year there are candles popping up in just about every shop selling anything. Maybe you stopped by one of these shops yourself, or maybe a friend wanted to get you a thoughtful gift, but somehow you’ve come into possession of a pair of candles. They don’t seem to be anything spectacular upon first glance; they are pretty and well made and have a pleasant fragrance. They would be pretty decor on their own, but once you light them, they really shine. Nonstop. For twenty four hours. No matter what you do, you cannot put the flame out. No wind, no water, no fire extinguisher–nothing–will extinguish the flame. You just have to wait until it burns itself out. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem very flammable so you don’t have to worry about other things catching on fire in the meantime. Wherever you keep the candle will have a pleasant smell for several days after the flame extinguishes.
Bingo. A stall selling candles.
Hurrying over, she skimmed through the display. Unfortunately, while there were a number of candles, there were only two that would be perfect for farolitos. The rest would have to be purchased elsewhere. Which was a shame, really, these ones smelled so nice, of all the Christmas spices, with an underlying note of pinon wood. Sighing, Ria purchased the two little candles, and continued on to Michael's, where she was able to procure wreath-making supplies and some poinsettias at a nice discount, plus a bag of tealights, for when the really nice candles burned down.
They wouldn't be as nice, but they'd still get the job done. So when to use the nice specialty candles?
Silly question, the night of Christmas Eve, light the candles after sunset, extinguish them before bed. Use the others for the nights afterward, leading up to Epiphany. Sure, she had...okay, she had enough candles for two little farolitos on her balcony. Not as much as she had been hoping for. But Ria didn't have a lot of sand, either, and the paper bags would absolutely keep til next year.
Sighing, she pulled out one of the tamales in her bag, and munched it all the way home, reveling in the strange warmth that seemed to linger after each bite. Hot, spicy, and utterly delicious--oh, sure, she had tamales just like them at home in her fridge, as well as a tub of bizcochitos like the sleeve in her bag, but those could be saved for Christmas with only the smallest, most highly confused twinge of guilt. They weren't her Mama's cooking, but they tasted so identical as to be indistinguishable, which was a strange kind of magic in and of itself.
Destiny City was just plain weird, sometimes.
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Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2025 3:56 am
After a few more busy days, Christmas Eve came, although with a concert featuring a big name jazz pianist, a woman named Shams Lyon. She'd been great to listen to, but the concert had meant that Ria had been at work when she wished she could be home lighting the farolitos. Now, she wouldn't be able to burn those really nice candles for very long before bed. Oh, well. At least the candles would keep reasonably well til next Christmas, as long as she could keep them from melting in the summertime heat.
Arriving home, she put a couple tamales in the microwave to heat up, wrapped in an additional layer of wet paper towel, and then retrieved the candles to light and put in their paper bags, before retreating inside to have her very late dinner.
As she ate, she logged onto one of her favorite streaming sites and put on an old favorite holiday movie, relaxing by the window with the lights off so she could enjoy the movie, and any lights still on this late into the evening of Christmas Eve.
Outside, a light snow began to fall, adding to the magic of the evening. Sure, it'd be unpleasant to shovel in the morning, but at least for Ria, she didn't have any front walk to shovel, just a balcony that could accrete as much snow as it liked before the spring thaw.
Inside, Ria snuggled into the blankets on her couch, and enjoyed the movie.
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Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2025 4:15 am
A little after midnight, Ria awake with a start. She'd fallen asleep on the couch as the credits rolled on one of her favorite specials, and she'd forgotten to blow out the candles!
Bouncing to her feet, she threw on a coat and slipped her feet into her boots before hurrying to the balcony. It was just a mercy that there was nothing outside, barring the bags, that was flammable, and the bags were filled with sand, and surrounded by freshly fallen snow. So, by that token, it was also a mercy if the candles were still lit.
Poking her head outside, she checked on the candles.
They hadn't gone out yet. So that was a plus, of sorts. They hadn't lit anything on fire, which was even better.
Time to blow them out.
Crouching down, Ria opened the top of the first bag and blew the candle out.
Or tried to.
The flame danced before her breath, but didn't go out. Ria frowned, picked up a handful of snow, ignoring the sudden, sharp chill that froze her skin, and dropped it on the candle.
The flame flickered, but didn't go out, melting the snow as it settled on the sand.
Oookaaayyy. That was not fine.
Heading back into the apartment, she found some extra sand, and poured a small handful on top of the candle.
The flame again flickered, but didn't go out.
Ria got a cup from the kitchen, and lowered it to just over the wick, waiting desperately to hear the hiss of the extinguished flame.
She was, unfortunately, distressed to hear no hiss, and removing the cup yielded only a flame that rose up for a hot minute after being released, before resuming its normal height. The bag did not at any point catch fire, but the flame didn't go out.
Oookaaayyy. That candle wasn't going out any time soon, but at least it seemed resistant to setting the universe on fire.
Ria turned her attention to the other candle, and ran the same series of attempts to extinguish the flame, to no avail.
Sitting back on her heels, Ria closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, reeling in her emotions. Piñon smoke overlaid with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, anise, cloves, and allspice filled her nose like the sweetest Christmas incense, and, now that she focused, she could tell her entire balcony, and maybe the very air around her balcony, now carried these lovely aromas.
Okay. So the candles seemed to be like everburning incense in candle form that also lit the whole world. But they didn't set the universe on fire, and they made the world merry, bright, and smell incredibly festive. This...seemed like a special kind of Christmas miracle. Possibly intermixed with a Hanukkah miracle.
Ria would take it.
Inhaling another deep breath of the delightful, homey smells on her balcony, Ria retreated inside, and crawled into bed properly this time, snuggling under the blankets, and letting sleep take her.
The candles burned merrily until late the next night. She kept checking on them, and didn't bother lighting new candles that night. By the time the special ones blew themselves out, it was too late to start new ones. But they had done such a special job, that Ria wasn't even mad.
On the contrary, she hoped she could find more of these candles next year.
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