Dances with Joy felt as if she were slowly falling from a very great height
as she began to waken from her Dream.  For a long moment, she lay very
still, breathing the soft fragrance of new-fallen snow, hearing the rustle
of a gentle wind that promised no more snow that night.
 
Slowly, her vision cleared and she saw Eagle standing just a few feet from
where she lay, preening his ruffled feathers - feathers that looked as if
Eagle had taken a long and perilous flight.  Her heart leapt as she spied
Jesse, helping Eagle to straighten and smooth one particular feather that
had suffered more damage than the rest.
 
"Jesse," she cried out as memory of the Dream returned to her.  "Were we
really there?  Did we witness the birth of Father Above's Son?  How can
this be?"
 
"Be calm," replied her Spirit Guide.  "Don't upset yourself.  Your time is
very near.  Yes, what we saw was true.  Father Above is giving many Gifts
this night - He is giving Himself to all that live upon this world - and
many others too.  Even you and New Mother will give birth to His Children
tonight."
 
"How can this be?" asked Dances with Joy as she stood and shook the off the
snow that had covered her silken fur.  "Why would Father Above give Himself
to us in this way?"
 
"Because He loves you." It was Eagle who spoke this time.  " He also wants
to understand the Creation He has created - to be a part of it rather than
a Divine Observer from afar.  Hurry now, Dances with Joy, let Jesse guide
you down the hillside, into the holy moment that is about to happen."
 
Having said this, Eagle took flight into the brightness that still filled
the nighttime sky.  Within a heartbeat, Eagle soared higher and higher,
until he vanished from view.  A single snowflake drifted down from the sky,
landed upon Dance's whiskers.  "Christmas." It seemed to say in Eagle's
voice as it melted upon her nose.
 
Jesse led the trembling and confused Dances down the hillside and into her
village.  As they approached, she saw that the entire tribe was sitting
reverently outside the lodge that she shared with Tree Shaper, New Mother,
and Gnaws on Wood.  The ancient shaman, Lame Wolf, sat at the front of the
group, next to the Old Chief.  Lame Wolf clutched a tortoise shell rattle
in his gnarled hand and he shook it in a slow and reverent rhythm, all the
while chanting a guttural chant of Hope and Joy.  Old Chief slowly and
softly kept time with Lame Wolf as he caressed a hide-covered drum with
gentle strokes.  Somewhere within the group, a young boy added a sacred
melody as he played a feathered, reed flute.
 
Silently, the crowd parted as Dances with Joy and Jesse approached the
lodge.  Just as they came to the door flap, Jesse stopped.  "Why are you
stopping," Dances asked, feeling more than a little panic and loss growing
within her.
 
Jesse gazed deeply and lovingly into her eyes and said, "My work is done,
Little One.  Our Father sent me here this night to guide you to this
moment.  I must return to Him now.  You can do the rest by yourself.  Look,
Gnaws on Wood has just seen you.  Go to him now."
 
"But, but, will I ever see you again?" Dances whispered as Jesse began to
fade from vision.
 
"Of course you will." Came a whisper upon the wind.  "Every time you see a
glorious sunrise or sunset, every time you look up upon the night sky with
a sense of Wonder, every time you gaze into your Child's face, I will be
there.  Fear not, Dances, great Joy is coming to the world this night."
 
To be continued...
 
Joy to the World!
 
Paw Paw
 
Footnote: The story is finished.  Space restrictions on the FML precluded
the sending of the final installment tonight.  By the time you read this,
the complete story should be available at:
http://members.aol.com/emssandy/christmas.htm
 
As always, members of the FML are free to copy and distribute the story via
email, newsletters, mailing lists, whatever, etc.  All I ask is that you
let folks know who wrote it.  With BIG's permission, the entire story will
appear on the Christmas Eve edition of the FML.  It's a bit lenghty, so
I'll understand if BIG declines.  Either way, the story is my Christmas
gift to the FML Community.  Enjoy.  Merry Christmas and Joy to the World!
 
- Paw Paw
[Posted in FML issue 2514]