Tuesday, December 3, 2013

A Christmas Story

Blogging Friends.... I wrote this Christmas-themed story years ago. It was inspired by our cat. This is a true story. Well, sort of!! My creative Brain Juices and I fictionalized this story!! Then, sometime during a minor mood swing in early November, I strangely needed to fight hard for my love of writing. So it was rewritten!! And boy, did I made several changes!! Heads up. This is my longest children's story yet!! So far!!  

"Creating beautiful mosaic artwork" with the broken, shattered pieces of my dream to be a published author....

 For my dear Blogging Friends who have children. You may print this story off and read it to them!! I am alright with that!! Enjoy!!

"A Very Important Journey"
It was Christmastime. Festive holiday songs were being played on the radio. Sweet-smelling cookies and candy had just been made. Seasonal decorations were displayed all over the house. And in one bedroom, there was a cute tiny Nativity Scene set up on Ramona's dresser. Mary wore her red dress. The loyal grey donkey which safely carried Mary to Bethlehem lie down, resting. Joseph wore yellow. Baby Jesus slept cross-legged in his manger. A brown cow lie on the ground. An angel wore her blue dress. A shepherd carried this little grey lamb over his shoulders. He wore ragged clothes. One little grey lamb lie on the ground. Three Wise Men held their gold, frankincense and myrrh. One day, Ramona's curious long-haired, yellow-eyed, grey kitten, named Noel, jumped up onto her bedroom dresser.
"Oh!!" Noel excitedly said, "Something new to play with!! All for me!!"
She then bit into a tiny Wise Man. Noel's sharp teeth touched him. She was playfully batting the Wise Man around with two paws, throwing her new toy across Ramona's bedroom. Oh, what fun!! Noel thought. She had been running after the Wise Man, when, to her surprise, it suddenly came alive and talked!!
"What are you doing? What are you doing?" the Wise Man asked in a deep voice, "Leave me alone!!"
Noel jumped back in surprise. She stopped playing. The Wise Man cannot talk!! Noel thought, It is a piece of decoration!! Now Noel was scared, her yellow kitten eyes open wide. She just sat in a corner of Ramona's bedroom, still and quiet.
"What were you doing?" the Wise Man asked again, "I am on a very important journey!! Well, I was. Until you stopped me!!"
Still scared, Noel slowly walked toward the Wise Man. An important journey? she wondered, You are a Christmas decoration!! What "important journey"? Understandably, Noel did not believe anything that this Wise Man was telling her. The decoration talked? And it was on an "important journey"? she thought. Everything felt like some wonderful mystery to be solved. And, as a curious kitten, Noel loved this!! She slowly stepped closer to her mystery Wise Man. Closer and closer and closer. She kept her distance, reached out a long front paw, then batted at the Wise Man three or four times.
"Ouch!! Ouch!! Ouch!!" the Wise Man cried, "Wait just a minute!! Now what are you doing?"
"I am playing!!" said Noel happily.
Wait, Noel thought, Did I just talk to a Christmas decoration?! I must be going crazy!!
The Wise Man kept talking. "Let me go!! I must leave!! I have somewhere to go!!"
Finally, Noel answered the Wise Man. "W-w-what very important journey? Where are you going to?"
Suddenly, Noel was not scared anymore. Noel felt more curious than she had ever been in her entire life!!
The Wise Man then raised his deep voice, as though he was proudly shouting an announcement, loud and clear.
"I am going to Bethlehem," the Wise Man answered, "There I will meet a Baby. He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords. This Baby is our Savior. He will save a world of lost and hurting people."
"Wait. What?!" interrupted Noel, "A baby is King? You are kidding me!! A baby? A baby will save a world of lost and hurting people? How so?"
Now, the Wise Man had captured Noel's undivided attention. She was listening.
"His name is Jesus," the Wise Man continued, "See, God sent Him, a human Child, and placed this Baby inside the tummy of Mary. It was an incredible miracle!! And all a part of God's wonderful Plan."
The Wise Man had been slow and patient with explaining everything to Noel. At first. But suddenly, this Christmas decoration was in a hurry.
"I must go!!" the Wise Man said, "I need to find the other two kings!! I must go!! Together, we were walking many, many, many miles while following a very bright light in the skies called Yonder Star!! And you carried me away from them!!"
The Wise Man looked up. Both he and Noel were standing on grey carpet. To the Wise Man, Ramona's dresser looked like a high, tall, scary mountain.
"They are up there, somewhere!!" the Wise Man said, "They are up there!! Trying to find the Prince of Peace without me!! And, where am I? Where am I? Down here on the floor!! How am I supposed to get back up to that dresser? Jump?"
Noel looked at the Christmas decoration. He was small, helpless, and seemed very, very worried.
"I will help you!!" Noel said, "After all. I was the one who got you into this problem. It is my fault. I can carry you back up to the other kings!! It is no problem!!"
"Oh, thank-you!!" the Wise Man said, "Thank-you!! Thank-you!! Thank-you!!"
Noel paused for one second.
"But," Noel said, "You have to let me come with you on this important journey!!"
The Wise Man smiled. Noel, with a childlike heart, wanted to meet Baby Jesus, as well!!
"I'd love for you to come along!!" the Wise Man said, "I truly would!! Just help me back up to the top of that dresser. We shall then follow Yonder Star!! This will lead us to Baby Jesus!!"
Noel opened her mouth, and the Wise Man walked inside. He was safe. It felt wet inside Noel's mouth, and everything smelled like fish. But the Wise Man was well on his way to meeting Baby Jesus. Once Noel reached Ramona's dresser, she saw them. The other two kings!! They were slowly walking, their tiny eyes staring up at Yonder Star. And what a sight!! Yonder Star was so very bright, it looked as though angels were pointing some flashlight from dark, dark skies!!
Noel bent down, opened her mouth, and gently set the Wise Man free.
"Wait," Noel said, sounding energetic, "That is Yonder Star?! It's huge!!"
The Wise Man smiled big.
"Yes," he said, "Yonder Star is unlike anything that we have ever seen in these nighttime skies!! Unlike anything. This is how we know that a Savior has been born!! See. Yonder Star was placed in these skies by God, as a sign from Him, so that we will know where to find Baby Jesus!!"
Now the three Wise Men, their camel, and Noel walked. They walked. And walked. And walked. For many, many, many miles. They were on their way to meeting Baby Jesus!! The journey was long and hard. Dry sand seemingly covered everything, like one big beach without water. Many times Noel felt thirsty. And hungry. Sand crawled into her little paws. Every part of Noel's body hurt. Sand blew into her pointy ears and yellow eyes. She could hardly see anything, except for Yonder Star. But the kitten did not complain. She could not complain. Noel kept walking. Her yellow eyes continued to stare up at Yonder Star. For Noel knew that she was on the adventure of a lifetime!! And after about two or three years of walking, they entered Bethlehem, this small town.
"Interesting," the Wise Man said, his deep voice confused, yet still full of faith, "I do not understand. Where is He? Where the King of kings, Lord of lords?"
"Now, wait just one minute," Noel said, "You mean to tell me that we have walked all this way. I've left the comfort of my own warm home. And you do not even know where Baby Jesus is?!"
Noel was very upset. But the Wise Man just smiled. He was calm. They looked around town. But Jesus was nowhere to be found. Nowhere. See, Joseph and Mary had to take an important journey much like theirs, with many, many, many miles and dangers. Because there was a very, very, very bad man, named King Harod, who wanted Baby Jesus dead. They walked sandy grounds while Jesus was growing inside Mary's tummy, then some more after His Birth. Which explains why the Wise Men and Noel could not find their Savior. Then.... They saw them!! Joseph, a carpenter, was carving something out of wood. Mary protectively watched Jesus closely. And Jesus was not a little Baby anymore!! No. Jesus was a Toddler!!
Upon seeing Noel, Jesus' little Hands gently touched her soft, long, grey fur. She purred loudly and proudly.
"What comfort of my warm home?" Noel whispered, "I have made it!! I've met my Savior!! Nothing else matters."