Meatball Subs

Part 1

Equinox Bjarnlaugsson walked the wide streets of Helvetica, kicking loose stones, hands stuffed in his pockets. He watched people with fire talents extinguish the flames in the streetlamps. Equinox was thinking about the sandwich stand. It was his first day without Hoefler's help; could he run the stand without him?

Equinox used his spare key to quietly enter Hoefler's hut. Hoefler lay on his cot, sleeping soundly. Equinox thought about waking him, but turned away. He needed to prep the day's food. As efficiently as he could, he molded flesh into balls, turned red spheres into sauce. He prepared everything himself and opened the stand, opening the canopy and lighting the oven fire. Equinox hoped and prayed that while he was at work his sister would be okay at home. Her magic was growing stronger, but she didn't know how to weild it. He hoped their mother would stay at "work" and away from the hut until he came home.

The stand opened a little later than usual. Equinox cooked the meatballs outside so that as the city's residents walked the streets the scent of cooking meat was the first thing to greet them. Hoefler says it's his best sales tactic. By now it was past noon and hungry citizens and tourists were milling about looking for food. Equinox pulled his hair back and prepared some sandwiches just as customers began to be lured by the aroma of the meatballs.

Lunch was the most successful time of day for Hoefler's stand. Every day since getting this job Equinox talked with the regular customers while he sold sandwiches to the tourists. But strangely, today was different. He expected to be overwhelmed with customers, especially without Hoefler's help, but he didn't struggle at all. The only normality was the delivery boy that came with fresh ingredients. He didn't have nearly as many customers for lunch rush as he was used to. Was it because he opened the stand late? Where were all his regulars?

As if on command, Hoefler's neighbor, one of his regulars, approached the stand and dropped some leaflets on the table. "I'll have a six inch please, Equinox. How's Don doing?" he asked.
"As well as he can be," Equinox replied.

"Good to hear. How's business been today?"

"There weren't as many customers for lunch today."

"Probably due to the new stand on Topaz Avenue. Could you layer on some extra cheese? Thank you."

"What stand?" asked Equinox. He wrapped the sandwich and stored away the money.

"It's fascinating. This man and his assistant showed up at the Midnight Star the other night. He's serving lasagna on the corner of Topaz and Palatino. It's all the rage with the city right now."

"That explains slow business," Equinox replied. He gave a nod of thanks to the leaflet and coins dropped in the tip jar.

"I'm going to try some of it later, but nothing's near as good as Hoefler's sandwiches. Keep up the good work, Ex, and tell Hoefler he needs to get better soon."

"Will do, thanks."

The man sauntered away, enjoying his sandwich. Equinox continued cooking, wondering about this new stand. During the quiet afternoon he worried about his sister. Would she be okay when he got home? He hoped. He hated that hoping was all he could do. He felt he was failing her every day.

By the end of the afternoon, Equinox had lived through the much quieter dinner rush and had not sold as much as he anticipated. He wrapped up the leftovers and brought them inside. Hoefler was waking up for the first time that day and looked about curiously as Equinox handed him a warm sandwich.

"Thanks, Ex, but you better get back out there. You don't want to let the meatballs burn."

"It's past sundown."