I wrote a short story last Advent about an unusual Creche. I will be posting it over the next months in short installments. Be sure to check it out each week.

An Extraordinary Crèche

Snow fell silently all night. Around the edges of the window, frost built and crept towards the center of each pane. Alfred opened his eyes to see the sunrise coloring the ice, making it look like golden-pink cellophane. He jumped up, throwing the covers into a heap at the foot of the bed. Hardly    noticing the cold, hardwood floor, he rushed to the window. “Wow, cool!”

His breath made icy patterns on the glass. Intrigued by the beautiful designs, he held his face close to the window and exhaled with open mouth to create more.

“I wonder if Agnes is awake. I’m sure her windows aren’t iced up. Her room downstairs is so warm. I bet she’d love to see this.”

Quickly dressing in his flannel lined jeans and wool sweater, he hopped down the steep stairs from his attic room. Pausing at Agnes’ door, he thought, “Aw, she wouldn’t care about a little snow and ice. She’d probably say it’s boring or too cold. Or, she wouldn’t want to mess up her hair. Or Mom would say she shouldn’t be out in the cold air with her asthma.”

He passed the door without knocking and ran down to the main floor. “Good. Nobody is up yet.”

In the mudroom his one-piece snowsuit hung right over the heating duct. “Mom is so cool. She always knows what I am going to need. How did she know it was going to snow?”

Alfred grabbed a hat and mittens from the basket, again grateful for his mother’s thoughtfulness. The cold air stabbed at his face as he opened the door. A wonderland of white stretched out before him making the lines and distinctions between lots and fields fade into nothingness. The woods looked as though they were miles away. Alfred jumped off the porch and was surprised at the lightness of the snow. The powdery white accumulation billowed away from him with each step. He made a row of snow angels along the walkway then, bored with them he sprinted toward the woods. He knew exactly where to find the break in the fence, even with the snow.

He made a beeline for his tree fort. “This must look really cool from above. I’m going to…” A shiny, metallic object caught his eye just beyond his tree fort. “What could that be?” he wondered. Walking now, instead of running, he approached the foreign looking thing. Everything around it had a dusting of snow, but the silver metal cylinder was perfectly clean.