Seasonal Shifts

When they arrived at the bar, Summer decided on a mai tai, while Fall, as usual, ordered a cider. After a bit of polite chatter, Summer looked at her watch. “He’s late again.”

Fall rolled his eyes. “As usual.”

“I blame that damn whistle pig,” Summer said. “One look at its shadow, and he thinks he’s allowed be late to everything.”

Just then, the third member of their party burst through the door. His shirt was misbuttoned, his face unshaven, and his hair a mess. Over one shoulder, he hoisted an old backpack, clearly weighed down.

“Spring!” Summer said when he took his seat at their table.

“We thought you’d never arrive,” said Fall, handing him the cocktail list.

Spring looked at it. “Hmm, maybe I’ll do an eggnog. Or, no. This watermelon rum punch sounds good. I wonder if they could do something special? Like, a mulled white wine sangria, served over ice, but incorporating nuts somehow. Do either of you two have a tab? Because I forgot my wallet. I’ll get you back.”

Fall and Summer exchanged a look.

“So, Spring,” Fall said at length. “The reason we asked you here today was because we hoped to check in with you. After all, you have a tendency towards wishy-washiness and procrastination.”

“As you know, Winter’s shift is soon coming to an end, Philip’s proclamation be damned,” Summer said. “Given that your shift follows hers, and mine follows yours, I just wanted to be sure that I will not be inheriting the same chaos as all the previous years.”

“Oh, totally,” Spring said, his eyes still on the drink list. “It’s gonna be great.”

“By that do you mean,” Fall ventured, “that for the first time ever, you took the weather conditions allotted to you, and spent the entirety of winter’s shift carefully arranging them into a sensical order, tinkering as necessary so that your own shift will logically bridge Winter’s harshness and Summer’s brightness?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Spring said. “Right when winter started, I began really stewing on it.”

Summer gritted her teeth. “Stewing,” she said.

“Yeah, you know, letting it really marinate,” Spring said.

“These are not good words to use, Spring,” Fall said. “It makes it sound as though you, as usual, gave your job the vaguest thought, only to do the actual work at the last possible second.”

Spring looked hurt by this. “But I haven’t done that! I’ve still basically got a whole month left!”

Summer looked suspicious. “And when did you start?”

“This morning,” Spring said.

Fall massaged his temples. Summer shook her head.

“And I’m done too!” Spring said, not seeming to sense his colleagues’ frustration. “Check it out, I brought my schedule with me.”

He pulled out a thick workbook and set it down on their table with a thud. Fall and Summer gathered close and thumbed through it, their expressions growing dire with each new page.

“Spring,” Summer said, “this is your most insane work yet.”

“Thank you,” Spring said, not listening as he tried to flag down a server.

“On April 10th,” Summer said, looking at a page, “you’ve got a high of 76 in the morning and a low of 24 at night.”

Spring nodded sagely. “That allotted cold wind had to go somewhere.”

“Is this a blizzard I see?” Summer asked. “In late May?”

Spring smiled. “People are gonna be talking about that for years.”

“Look, Spring,” Fall said. “It’s not just about us, okay? I fully trust Summer will handle things in a perfectly capable way, however you leave them, as she always does. But you must think about everyone. These dramatic shifts between warm and cold weather are daunting for people. How do you expect them to contend?”

“Long sleeve shirts,” Spring said, without hesitation.

Summer and fall exchanged another look.

“That’s actually not a bad point,” Summer said.

“Not a bad one at all,” Fall said. He closed Spring’s plan and handed it back. “Well, what do you say we go somewhere for some food. I think this place only serves olives and other bar snacks. Although, Spring, you never got to order a cocktail, did you?”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Spring said, returning his workbook to his bag. “I’ve been drinking all morning while doing this.”