Felicity Fox Goes To Bethlehem (A Christmas Revival)
As Felicity woke on the morning of Christmas Day, she looked around to see that the rest of her family was awake and out of the den, probably looking for food for the day.
It had been a harsh winter so far; they were all hungry and very tired, but not Felicity, she was always full of energy, and today was no exception.
So she got up and looked out of the den entrance, she looked around and smiled, thinking to herself, ‘I know where I can go today’ as she walked slowly on the cold icy snow that was covering the ground.
She looked up and around making sure no one was following her as she walked down to the only place that she and her father knew about... the pond. Felicity continued with her short walk, to cover her tracks she swished her tail over her paw prints to disguise them with more snow.
As Felicity got closer to the pond she noticed a shimmering object lodged within the ice that had formed on the surface of the water a few nights before. As Felicity Fox got closer to the edge of the iced over pond she noticed that the object was glowing a vibrant bright yellow, almost as bright as the sun, and yet it wasn’t melting the ice.
Felicity was very intrigued by this so she slowly and very cautiously stepped onto the ice, not knowing it if would hold her weight, but still she walked out, her body close to the ice, ‘just in case’. She walked out slower, as she got closer her nose began to twitch, and her fur suddenly stood up on end, as if something was about to happen.
Then, all of a sudden the ice below her cracked, but what she fell onto below wasn’t water, no, it was sand, and it was night time. Felicity looked around a little frightened until she found what she saw in the pond ice, it was a bright beautiful shining star, and it was moving so slowly.
As Felicity watched the star she heard a sound just ahead of her. She crouched low to the sand dune as she came over the ridge, she looked over and saw three humans with camels, each of them holding boxes. Felicity sniffed the air and could smell weird things, nothing like anything she smelt before at her den, or even on the moon, but she dismissed it to begin with.
She began to follow them at a safe distance, until they stopped and made a camp. The oldest of these three men started a fire and began to pray, the other two put up this strange looking shelter, it looked like the houses that were back in Scotland, where Felicity’s den is, but still, it did look warm and Felicity was beginning to feel cold so she walked towards it, trying not to be seen as she snuck her way into their sleeping quarters.
As Felicity got inside she looked up, in front of her was one of the humans she saw outside, he was standing right there. She froze in her tracks and said nothing, but the human knelt down and placed his hand softly on her head.
"We’ve been waiting for you, Felicity,” he said. She looked up into his eyes, seeing truth and courage in his soul.
Felicity Sat down. “Where am I?” she said to him.
He looked back and smiled. “We three men of truth, courage and valour are on our way to see Jesus, the King Of The Jews. You Felicity are going to be joining us, to learn about the true meaning of Christmas. You see, myself and my two companions have travelled a long way to see the newborn king, and to present him with gifts of frankincense, myrrh and gold,” he said pointing to three boxes behind him. “Jesus, the newborn king, is the son of God, and he is here to forgive the Jewish people for their sins. We three men are kings of the Mejia, and the Mejia are the guardians of that which is good and pure,” he said as Felicity moved into the tent.
After a about 30 minutes of Felicity talking with the wise king of the Mejia, she began to feel more comfortable and relaxed, and as she was tired she asked where she could sleep the night. To this the Mejia King smiled and pointed to a pile of furs on the floor to his right. Felicity smiled and went over to them, curling up and closing her eyes, and slowly drifting off to sleep.
As Felicity was sleeping the three kings were discussing their route into Bethlehem, and decided to head straight into town, following the star of wonder and might, the star that was in fact the Angel Gabriel herself. They looked to each other and then agreed with a nod that they would leave first thing, as soon as Felicity had woken. After this they all went into the tent and to their beds for the night.
After a few hours of sleeping Felicity woke up to find that the three men were already up and had a breakfast prepared for her. She smiled as she got up out of her bed and walked lazily towards the campfire. When she got there the one who she was talking to the night before placed a bowl with some chunks of meat in front of her. She smiled and thanked him, then she began to eat, as she was doing so the other two men took down the camp and packed it away.
Moments later one of the men helped Felicity onto the back of one of the camels so that she didn’t have to walk all the way. FFelicity was grateful of this as she only had short legs and it was a long way to travel.
As they travelled closer to Bethlehem Felicity talked with the three wise men to get to know them better, and to find out about who they were, and why they were travelling so far to see a baby. They were happy to share what they knew with Felicity, who was absorbing everything they told her like a sponge soaks up water.
As they came closer to the city, night was closing in, and Felicity jumped down from the camel wanting to walk the rest of the way. She followed the three wise men, weaving through the streets as they held their gifts in their hands, and then they all saw it, Felicity as well. Just ahead of them was a cattle shed, with the star above it, shining down on a cattle trough, where a newborn baby was laid.
They got closer, and as Felicity looked around she saw cows, sheep, goats and many other animals there just watching and waiting for something. Felicity got closer, sitting down looking over the baby, realising that this was Jesus. She bowed her head in respect and the baby Jesus reached out and placed his hand on top of her head. Felicity felt a great force pass through her, and she smiled. As this was happening the three wise men presented their gifts to the baby Jesus’ parents, then placed them around the trough.
Felicity then realised the true meaning of Christmas. It wasn’t just about presents, lots of food and Christmas decorations and all that. No, it was about family, hardships overcome, coming together, and yes, gifts, but not as we know them. It’s about gifts of love, kindness and joy, the ultimate feeling that you are loved by one and all, the feeling that you are in a family, or that you are just happy and glad to be here.
Christmas stems from many different eras in time, the main focus of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and the hardships that he went through in his life to forgive the sins of his people. But also to celebrate the fact of unity, and that we men, women, children and animals of all kinds are here on this earth for a reason, and a purpose, and that's to exist and thrive.
We can’t succeed if the world is constantly at war, that's why this Christmas, Felicity Fox will be praying for those who have no homes, and those with no food, or hope within this world. That's why Felicity was brought to that moment in time, to remember why we celebrate Christmas, and she hopes that you remember too.
As Felicity lived these feelings in her mind, she looked around to see that the cattle shed was slowly fading and the woodland that surrounds the pond was coming back into view. She dozily got up and started to walk towards the path from which she had come earlier that day.
Felicity headed back to her den, a tear in her eye and a smile on her face. As she walked her father came up beside her.
"Are you okay, Felicity?” he asked
She smiled and nuzzled into him. “Yes daddy, I’m fine,” she said, walking towards her room in the den.
Until the next adventure, Vincent Xavier.
Felicity Fox Goes To The Moon
CLIC's Introduction To Creative Writing (PDF download)
Literature Wales (Formerly Academi)
2 Comments – Postiwch sylw
lincoln
Rhoddwyd sylw 17 mis yn ôl - 7th December 2011 - 11:57am
Good stories - what age would you say the series is for? I find that haveing a clear idea of age helps with the writing process.
eddie secretary
Rhoddwyd sylw 17 mis yn ôl - 7th December 2011 - 12:09pm
the age that i am looking at is between about 12 and 18. because i am looking to bring back young people to their childhood, but also to have an interesting story that has twists and turns, as you may notice the language style used within the story may be unaccessible for young people below the age of 12ish, and yet the story is a little childish, which is what i was aiming for,
the reason for this is because i want others who like animals and animal stories to feel comfortable about reading a story like this in a public place and not worry about being called childish or anything,
but yea, thank you for the comment