FOREVER HOME (a Christmas story for Brinley)

            “Blessed is the season, which engages the whole world in a                              conspiracy of love….” – Hamilton Wright Mabi

Snow. It fell that Christmas Eve. In the quiet of the day, and early night. Candles burning in shining windows. So quiet. So  beautiful. So lost she was in their light. In the white world beyond the place where she belonged. Her dreams engulfing her in a warm embrace.

Brinley (photo credit Suzanne Smith)

 Lost. Not so long ago.....or so far away. On a moonless night, such as this. A magical night.  Just stars above and heaven below. Showing her the way on sweet ,new snow.

Footfalls soft and gentle. Snow  whispering on her lashes. Eyes lifted up to the darkening forest, dense and overgrown. So alone was she. 

Branches dripping and dragging. Crystals sprinkling  from  sky torches held aloft, above the trees. That endless sky of starlight shine. Night of nights. She stepped carefully,  as not to disturb the loveliness.

She remembered a warm fire. Candlelight  glow. Peace and endless love. And The Dog. She had not forgotten him. The Dog she loved so well. Curled up by the fire. And she. Waiting for angels.  Gentle voices, telling her she was loved, beyond all measure.

She was drawn out into that world of icy white velvet. Where were the angels. Where did they go......

Tranquil night of her heart. She was lost in the soothing, still air, catching snowflakes , dancing before her. She felt beautiful.........

The angels spoke in quiet words. Above the snow and stars. She closed her eyes, imagining herself home. To be home at last. Forever. For she was lost in the galaxy, searching for her way.

                                          

To be safe and cherished. Forever. To be loved. In the darkness she heard  her angels whispering again. Somewhere in this cold night. Where were they....

          For she was lost. Mountains towered before , wrapping her path in forbidden fog......

 

 

 To be without fear at last. To be home. To be at journey's end. She wondered a lot of these things. Keeping her thoughts close to her heart. 

Once more she heard the angels. They were close this time. Very close. She twirled in the soft snow, feeling warm arms scooping  her up. Holding  her up to their hearts. This night of nights. 

 "The true spirit of Christmas is love...."  -Linda Willis

For the rest of Christmas Eve, she stayed by her window, in the warmth of the fire, with the Dog snoring blissfully beside her. She saw the last star fade away, then morning shone over the horizon. She still heard the angel voices. Sweet and low. Surrounding her. For that would never fade. Now she was truly home. ....

“Angels come down, with Christmas in their hearts, Gentle, whimsical, laughing, heaven-sent; And, for a day, fair Peace have given me.” —Vachel Lindsay

Photographs 2024  with thanks to Suzanne S. and Peter G. 

Stay tuned for more stories in 2025......

Merry Christmas, with love......

          Brinley (photo credit Suzanne Smith)

 

GLORY...(Christmas story)

"On Christmas Eve the bells were rung...." -Sir Walter Scott

Above the hills, the sun fell on broken mountains, bowing  to the  darkness that swallowed everything in its path. It left only a gleam  of  gold touching the horizon.

Skiffs of snow swirled  over craggy peaks, a promise of winter. So cold , thought he, as he stood out in the blackness. He longed for peace today. Too many people . Something howled as the moon rose and a single star  shone  insistently. He grudgingly began walking, muttering to himself about how  annoyed he was to be out this late.  His lantern faltered .  

 He wrapped his heavy cloak around his head.  Wind whipped at  his feet. Biting cold. His lantern was the only comfort he  brought. Little solace for him.

 He was drawn to the light in the sky.  The way was long and arduous. He wanted to be anywhere but here. And yet he had to be here. In the night. With the star.

Just that one star piercing the sky like diamonds. 

 He complained to the wind about his lot in life, while the star flamed over his head.

Wind blew with a fragrance he did not recognize. Sweet. Pungent . He breathed it in. 

The star led him  into the  hills.  To a place he used to play as a  boy. Long ago, when he was young and the world seemed new. Now he was old and had forgotten . So forgotten.

The star did not leave him. "Glory...."he heard, somewhere beyond the beyond. "Glory...."it sang again.

He knew it at once. A place of refuge .  A place that he  had come before as a child with his friends to play. It was a poor place. A safe place. It was his old place.

The star stopped over that  quiet, dark place now bathed in light.  He saw them there. The two of them. She  held a  baby, newly born. It wailed  to the new  world.

"Glory," he heard singing somewhere out of the dark. On this night of nights. He shivered. Not with the cold.  

He was the first to arrive in this place. This lovely, special place. He could not speak. His words would not come. The baby fussed, as babies are want to do.  

His eyes met hers. She smiled and touched his shaking hands. "Glory..." he heard from far away.

He did not know this child, but he felt the child knew him.   "Glory" sang from the star into the night. He no longer felt tired or old, but new again. So new.

Others came . Others  who were curious. Others drawn by the star. And still others wrapped in velvets and wore crowns, and had travelled  from afar. They bowed down and gave  "Glory..."

 He had no gift. So he gave them his lantern to hang up high and shed light in this place. This wild , poor place .

The star  moved on, close to morning. It was time for him to leave. It was time to return.  He had been the first to arrive. Now he was the last to leave.

   On that bleak winter's night, when the world was new again,  when  he saw heaven in the sky.....

 Photographs 2023

MAGI (Christmas 2021)

"Once in our world a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.." -C.S. Lewis

A corpulent  moon slumbered and died. Night waned and fell into the dusk that was almost dawn, but was not. Dark in the wind ,  he hurried along the street, thick with snow. Sleet  slapped at his cloak and the pack he carried . 

It had been a long journey. He watched the storm rage ,like  sands of the desert, as it tossed  souls into the passage of time.

He must keep moving. Must keep on…

His breath fell from speechless words. He uttered  no sound. He felt no cold. 

Dazed with wonder,he could not believe  he had been there. Together,  they had been with Him. Stood there. Kneeled on rough floors. Warmed their hands at His fire.

Their gifts of perfume fell at His feet. He felt afraid, and confused. Beyond the world, as he knew it. He remembered it now. Even though it was not far off in memory.

“I saw Him”  he thought to himself. “I saw Him…”

He  Dreamed sweet dreams,  as candles lit our way. We stood there,not knowing why we came. Why we found Him….Why He found us.

His throne was of tattered rags and hay to keep him warm. Smoke hung in the air,from the smoldering  fire  burnt so low.

“He looked at me” He said aloud to no one in particular.

I am no one. But He is king of us all. “He saw me….”

“And I saw Him. He. Saw. Me.” He wondered.

Mercy  follows me, he thought.  I must keep moving. He knew that there would be those who would try to find him. 

So he trudged on. Into the night. Into the bleak midwinter.

They had come from a long ways. Followed the skies. Followed that star that vanished when they reached Him. He felt evening  rain turn to snow. Their hearts lingered with Him. They did not stay long. Time was of the essence.    

“I weary….I weary of this world,” He said aloud to no one in particular. 

The path led to him, and now in the night his lonely world was gone. 

“I hear you now”

The star that led  to Him, had long gone. Replaced with ice and wind. He had to make his way home.They would be following him . And the others.  The snow would cover their tracks.  He must hurry.This wild morning of snow and shadow.

“He saw me”

This haunting, magical night.

He quickened his pace and pressed onwards. Ever onwards.The road home beckoned. No longer weary. No longer afraid. His journey beyond the moon, sheltered in the night. And blew on till he was lost in the distance…..

Photographs 2021