Every Single Bit of Christmas

First and foremost, a HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!

here's a christmas story i've written. although it didnt come to live, i just thot of sharing it with my faithful readers that have constantly came here only to be disappointed (SORRY!!!) so here's something exclusively for u! =)

it's a bit wordy tho.. but it's a story.. so i hope u enjoy it!

On the last day of school in Sri Peace; all the students were talking about their annual Christmas vacations. Rae-Lynn’s parents had been planning for a vacation trip to Paris this Christmas; she joined in the conversation with ease. However, Rae-Lynn did not know that due to the economy crisis, Rae Lynn’s dad’s business had been affected. As a result, the plans for Paris had to be changed; but Rae-Lynn’s parents did not want her to worry about the family’s financial situation, therefore they’ve held up breaking the news to her.

Telling her friends about her family’s Christmas plans made Rae-Lynn excited about the upcoming trip. Upon reaching home, Rae-Lynn went to look for her mom and was surprised to find her dad home early; they were in the study room. There was a solemn atmosphere in the room but Rae-Lynn was too excited to notice it. Seeing their only child home from school, both of Rae-Lynn’s parents greeted her with a half-hearted smile. Rae-Lynn was still grinning from ear to ear; completely oblivious to the gloomy aura in the room. She noted that her father was home early, but before he could respond, Rae-Lynn went on to talk about the chat she had with her friends on their Christmas trips; most of her friends were going to Europe. Frown lines were forming on the face of Rae-Lynn’s mom, Mrs. Ching. As she was trying to smooth the lines, it was Mr. Ching, Rae-Lynn’s father that broke Rae-Lynn’s train of blabber.

“We will not be going to Paris this time around,” was all he said.

“What? Why?” Shock and confusion rang in Rae-Lynn’s tone when she heard her father’s words.

Mrs. Ching stood in quickly to suggest that they go to Hong Kong or Singapore instead. Rae-Lynn was never much of a difficult child, or so she seemed to her parents; maybe that’s because Mr. and Mrs. Ching usually freely gave her what she wanted. But this time, there was a definitive tone in her father’s words; she knew that they were not going to Paris this Christmas, just as her father said. However, for someone that has hardly ever taken a “No” from anyone, especially her parents, Rae-Lynn became furious as reality sank in. In her rage, she exclaimed that she would not go anywhere for Christmas if the destination was not Paris. Mrs. Ching tried to reason with her, to get her to understand their family’s financial condition; but Rae-Lynn, being clouded by her anger and disappointment, in return, demanded her parents to understand that she’ll be embarrassed in front of her friends because they will all be going to Europe. Faced with stress and a daughter that seemed to be every bit selfish and unwilling to understand, Mr. Ching snapped; he raised his voice, something he has never done before to Rae-Lynn and told her that if she refuses to join the family’s Christmas vacation, then she can stay home alone. Rae-Lynn retaliated by shouting that she hated her parents and Christmas.

The moment Lynn shouted the words “I hate Christmas”, something happened; time began to move in a reversed order. Time travelled back to the moment when Rae-Lynn’s parents broke the bad news of cancelling their trip to Paris; just when it seemed like a déjà vu, time continued to revert to March when Mr. Ching announced that they’ll be going to Paris for Christmas. Before Rae-Lynn could grasp what was happening, major events began to flash pass her in a reversed order; Malaysia’s independence, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech. The flashes slowed down at the scene of two women speaking to a brightly lit figure in front of an empty tomb, but time continued to reverse its order. A man was seen hung on a cross when Lynn realized she was walking backwards. Then, something distracted her; it was a little boy running around backwards with another man, running behind the boy; also backwards. Rae-Lynn was still puzzled; her lips began to form words,

“Where am…” but before she could finish her whisper, a piercing shriek shocked her.

Rae-Lynn couldn’t believe her eyes when she turned around to where the shriek came from. Right before her was a lady in labor, the lady was holding on to the hand of a man, and they were all in a stable. Something clicked in Rae-Lynn’s head when the lady gave out a second shriek; she blinked to realization that it was the nativity scene she’s always seen in church plays every Christmas. But still, it didn’t make any sense to her, Christmas was still three weeks away, she couldn’t be watching the play right now. Was she dreaming? She had to be; this was the near conclusion Rae-Lynn came to when she heard a baby cry.

“Jesus Christ, that’s Jesus! No way, I’m dreaming, I must be dreaming!” Rae-Lynn reassured herself.

But out of curiosity, Rae-Lynn moved forward to touch the little baby that was resting so soundly in the arms of his mother. Rae-Lynn gasped as she felt the warmth of the baby’s soft skin; she lifted her fingers but the baby seemed to have a charm that pulled Rae-Lynn towards him.

“How could a dream be so real? This had to be a dream, if not, what am I doing here?”

Questions flooded Rae-Lynn’s mind. She began to touch other things, the hay, the lady that’s supposed to be Mary; she even waved at the man, Joseph, if she was definite of her bible stories. Everything she touched felt real, but one thing was out of place; no one reacted to her touch, even the animals didn’t seem to be affected by her.

Confusion and fear began to creep into Rae-Lynn’s conscious mind, or was it her subconscious mind? Rae-Lynn couldn’t be sure. At that very moment, a Voice spoke,

“My child, do not be afraid.”

No one else seemed to react to the Voice; perhaps they did not hear it, only Rae-Lynn turned to find the source of the Voice but she found no one else in the stable besides Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and herself. It could have been an adrenaline rush from all the novelty, because instead of running in hysterics, Rae-Lynn spoke to the Voice, questioning who was there.

“Why it’s Me, my child,” the Voice replied.

There was something familiar about the Voice but Rae-Lynn couldn’t put her finger on it, however, the familiarity made Rae-Lynn ask,

“Dad, is that you?”

However, as the words left her lips, Rae-Lynn knew she made a wrong guess for the Voice did not sound like her dad. But, with a tinge of humor, the Voice answered,

“Hmm… that’s how some people address Me.”

Rae-Lynn did not reply as she was still recalling for she knew she’s heard this Voice somewhere, sometime ago. Besides that, she got distracted again with the little boy that was running around, this time he was running forward and was chased by the man; this time she knew the little boy was Jesus and the man Joseph. Just as she was about to smile at the cute little Jesus, the Voice spoke again,

“Dear Rae-Lynn, don’t you recognize My voice? Haven’t I said that My sheep hear My voice?”

Shocked, the word fell out of Rae-Lynn’s mouth before it was processed,

“GOD?”

“Yes, My child,” was the Voice’s reply.

Although she was still in disbelief, an unexplainable surge of peace filled Rae-Lynn, she didn’t fear the Voice, instead, she even felt safe speaking to It.

“What am I doing here God?”

With the same humorous tone He had earlier, God replied, “Well, I couldn’t help but overheard that you hated Christmas, would you mind telling Me why?”

Embarrassed, Rae-Lynn explained how her parents broke their promise and how she’ll be embarrassed when her friends asked about her trip to Paris after the holidays. As Rae-Lynn spoke, her surroundings changed again; Jesus was no longer a little boy, he was now a young man that was going around performing miracles. Rae-Lynn’s rage built up as she spoke of her argument with her parents, but that rage melted away as she observed from the corner of her eye, Jesus resurrecting a girl that was claimed to be dead. Rae-Lynn stood in awe as she witness a pale and lifeless girl breathe and come back to life. When she found her voice, she asked God if He saw what just happened, and God said with pride in His voice,

“Every bit of it, that’s My son!”

Before Rae-Lynn could say anything else, she heard the lashing of a whip and the cry of a man in pain. Chills ran down her spine and fear filled her eyes as she realized the scene around her had changed again; and changed for the worse. She was there in the middle of a crowd, the man crying out in pain was just beside her, he was Jesus; he was whipped by a Roman soldier. Without any hesitation, Rae-Lynn screamed and yelled at the soldier but of course to no avail. Rae-Lynn knew she couldn’t just stand there and watch Jesus, the baby she saw at the stable, the little boy that was playing with his father, the young man that performed miracles, being whipped and spat at; she grabbed the arm of the soldier with both of her hands and with all the might she could manage, tried to stop the soldier from whipping Jesus. But the soldier didn’t stop, it even seemed like Rae-Lynn was the one that was whipping Jesus herself. She let go of the soldier’s arm immediately and tears were already streaming down her cheeks when God asked why she was crying.

What an absurd question! “Can’t You see that they are whipping Jesus, Your Son?!”

God paused; it was as if He was trying to recollect Himself before speaking because His voice trembled when He said,

“Every bit of it, that is My Son!”

Just as God finished His words, Jesus exclaimed from the cross,

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Rae-Lynn screamed as she saw Jesus hung on the cross, she ran to the soldiers, yanking their outfits, shouting that Jesus is innocent. As she crumbles to the floor, at the feet of the cross, Rae-Lynn cried,

“God, do something, do something!”

And God replied, “I hate Christmas”

Those words rang a bell in Rae-Lynn; this was why she was here; she was brought back in time to witness every bit of what Christmas meant to God. Just as Christmas was the birth of Jesus Christ to bring hope to mankind, Christmas marked the beginning of the days of pain for God because He knew how Jesus’ life would end; it would end on the cross of Calvary.

“No, no, no, NO! This is not how the story ends, God, NO! The Bible says three days later, Jesus will be resurrected! Three days God, on the third day, he will live! You know it, You knew he would live! So don’t hate Christmas!”

As Rae-Lynn spoke those words, she regained consciousness; she was in her room, on her bed when she woke up. Was it a dream, a vision perhaps? Or did God really bring her back in time? Whatever it was, it made Rae-Lynn see how superficial she was about the true meaning of Christmas. She whispered a prayer in her heart,

“God, I’m sorry. How superficial of me to hate Christmas because I won’t get to go to Paris. I’m so sorry. But God, can we make a deal? I’ll remember the true meaning of Christmas, every single bit of it and You’ll promise me You’ll never hate Christmas anymore alright? I should go apologize to my parents now.”

God smiled and responded, “Deal”.

-------------------------------------------------------------The end--------------------------------------------------------------

oh do give comments ya =)