ic (IC) Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow

[Heritage]

Silbermann's Books. Tuesday, January 15th 2024. 1:05 pm

 

The snow just kept coming down! With 12 inches reported at 8 am and no signs of slowing down, Lynn Epstein decided to send her staff home while they could still see; no one was crazy enough to face a winter storm for a muffin and newspaper anyway.

 

So Lynn took the opportunity to do a little bookkeeping in the store for a few hours before deciding to take a break. She left her cozy office to make herself a cinnamon chai latte behind the counter. As the milk steamed, she turned on the store's stereo system to play an old playlist, with a lot of her early 2000s faves. She didn't realize how loudly she was singing Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape."

 

"Woo hoo. Yee hoo!"

"Woo hoo. Yee hoo!"

Edited February 20 by Heritage

[Dr Archeville]

Doktor Archeville

 

Static crackled softly over Lyn's radio, and Gwen Stefani's powerhouse soprano was slowly overlaid with a crooning tenor.

 

"...Still schweigt Kummer und Harm,
Sorge des Lebens verhallt..."

 

Lynn was then aware of footsteps coming down the stairs from the apartment above.  It was her former mentor, uneasy ally, and current tenant, humming merrily.  He smiled and waved at her as he passed, but the smile was quickly replaced with a look of utter horror as he realized what was playing over the store's sound system.   His voice snapped off from the stero, and Stefani's sang true once more.

 

"Oh," he ran up to the counter, hands up, "oh, my goodness, I am so very sorry about that!  Sometimes, when I've got a song going through my head, it will, well, leak out to nearby devices."

 

[Heritage]

Grimalkin

 

It was rather shocking to hear German vocals coming out of the speakers; for a minute there, Lynn thought it was a weird remix! But then Viktor came running up to her, and the changeling had to laugh as she poured out her latte.

 

"It's alright, Doc, it's okay! I'm used to bizarre phenomena in my store. Hey, you want I should make you something while I'm behind the counter? Eine kleine espresso, maybe?"

 

Then she paused for a moment as she thought about the song he'd been singing.

 

"'Grief and harm are silent, worries of life fade away'; interesting lyrics. Who originally sang it?"

Edited February 22 by Heritage

[Dr Archeville]

Doktor Archeville

 

Viktor smiled as he realized Lynn was not put off by his unintended broadcast, and relaxed a bit, placing one elbow on the counter.  "Einen cappuccino, bitte!"

 

The corners of his mouth fell a bit at her question, his smile diminishing but not completely fading, "ah, that.  Well," he cleared his throat, "it's from one of the most famous Christmas songs in Germany, Leise rieselt der Schnee, 'the snow falls softly.'  The lyrics were written in 1895 by Eduard Ebel, a Protestant pastor, but the melody is based on a folk tune that's at least a hunded years older.  Funnily enough, though, the first version I'd heard was performed not by a German, but by a Spaniard: Julio Iglesias!"

 

"I know we'd discussed my Jewish heritage some time ago, but," he shrugged, "my father raised me Protestant -- nominally, at least -- and I suppose some of those stuck with me.  Do you have any childhood favorites which have stuck with you?"

 

[Heritage]

Grimalkin

 

Lynn sighed and looked thoughtful as she pulled Dok's espresso shots. "Well really, the only popular Chanukah song is 'Ma'oz Tzur', which I think is also sung to the tune of an old German folk song." The changeling hummed a few bars in her pleasant but not very powerful singing voice.

 

"Now if you're talking about Christmas songs, those disgustingly cheerful tunes that I've been forced to listen to by the gentile world for the last two months of the Christian year...I like 'White Christmas'...and 'The Liitle Drummer Boy'. 'Silent Night' is kinda pretty."

 

The elfin shopkeeper did a very smooth steamed milk pour, and even added a bit of foam art in the form of a snowflake before handing her houseguest his drink.

[Dr Archeville]

Doktor Archeville

 

"Ah, White Christmas, I adore that movie!  Danny Kaye is always a delight to see.  And the costumes!"  He let out a gasp, "some of Edith Head's finest work, in my opinion.  Definitely better than what she'd done on Sabrina that year, at least."

 

"Surprised?," he added, smirking, "not 'technial' enough for a movie recommendation from Herr Doktor Viktor Archeville?"  He chuckled as he placed his hands around the cup, feeling the warmth seep in, "alright, how about... 'White Christmas was the first film released in VitaVision, the precursor to IMAX, allowing for then-unprecedented richness of color, sharpness of image, and capturing rapid movements without blurring.'?"  He winked as he took a sip of his cappucinno.

 

[Heritage]

GRIMALKIN

 

Lynn shrugged.

 

"I mean, Christmas was never a big deal at our house. Sure, Dad got excited, but that's because despite being named 'Epstein,' he grew up in an Italian household. Mama Epstein was about as Jewish as a plate of meat and cheese lasagna."

 

She fixed herself a cup of hot chocolate made with steamed milk.

 

"The only time Christmas was special in our house was those times when Christmas fell during Channukah; those were the times when Mom would make latkes and donuts for us to bring over to the Epstein house after Christmas dinner. We'd spin the dreidel and eat chocolate gelt with our goyishe cousins, and then eat way too much fried food. Those were good times."

 

The changeling smiled as she sipped her cocoa.