Holidays

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Now,
there were
in the same country
shepherds
living out
in the fields,
keeping watch
over their
flock
by night.
[Luke 2:8]
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Jo'ach bit into the cold
piece of stale bread. It
was still food, after all.
And, it tasted wonderful:
at least, to a dirty,
smelly sheep-herder,
lying on the cold ground.
Jo'ach looked up at the sky;
it was a cloudless night,
and a chill wind was blowing
across the lonely hills. Even
the moon was at its lowest
visibility, at this time of the
month. He sighs, and
lies back down against the
cold, hard rock. Sleepily,
he wondered where his plump dog,
Matil'dah, was; maybe, she'd
had gone down to the little brook
to get a slurping drink. Jo'ach
bunches up the small blanket,
so that his head would be somewhat
more comfortable. Grunting,
Jo'ach thinks of his cousin, Loa'im.
Loa'im was a merchant in town, and
kept asking Jo'ach to come and
work for him; it would mean
working in a warm place, out
of the cold wind, and at least
a lot more food. Jo'ach made
a face to himself; he wasn't
much of a people-person,
and hated the idea of fussing,
and arguing with a bunch of
cranky townsfolk,
in a crowded market-stall.
It was quiet out here,
on the eastern hills, and
besides, he liked taking care of
the sweet, doey-eyed sheep.
Jo'ach closes his heavy eyes,
and begins to doze off:
his covered head against
the rock, and a lazy
smile on his plump face.
______________________________
"HARK!"
[BOOMING ANGELIC
VOICE; NEITHER FRIENDLY NOR
UNFRIENDLY.]

(Jo'ach squints his
heavy eyes open; upon
doing so, he moves his
head and hits it back,
against the hard rock.)
"OW!"
(Woeful grimmace.)
(Rubbing his head,
moanfully.)
"OW!
Who's.. THAT?"

[BOOMING ANGELIC VOICE.]
"HARK!
WAKE UP,
JO'ACH!"

"Who IS that?
Hey, are you here
to ROB ME? GO AWAY!
You know us SHEPHERDS
don't have any MONEY!"
(Jo'ach frowns, and tries to
turn around,
to go back to sleep.
Jo'ach's spent most of his
thirty years out in these hills,
and nobody has ever bothered him,
except for his pesky relatives.)

[BRIGHT ANGELIC LIGHT
SHINES IN JO'ACH'S
SQUINTING FACE.
THE LIGHT FEELS GOOD
BECAUSE IT IS VERY
WARM, BUT IT'S MAKING
HIS EYES HURT.]

(Jo'ach puts his plump
hand up to his squinty eyes.)
"HEY!
How d'YA KNOW
my NAME?"
(Squint.)
"Did my COUSIN.....
send you UP HERE?"
(Irritable squirm.)
"Well....just TELL HIM,
I haven't DECIDED yet!
And.....TELL HIM,
I KNOW WHY HE WANTS
me to come WORK for HIM!
It's to MARRY his SIXTH
DAUGHTER, LI'LAH! YOU
TELL HIM....I'm UP TO
his TRICKS! Now.....
GO AWAY!"
(Turn about, facing
away from the booming
voice, and too-bright light.)

[BOOMING ANGELIC VOICE,
STILL NEITHER FRIENDLY,
NOR UNFRIENDLY. BUT,
THE LIGHT SEEMS
TO BRIGHTEN, QUITE
BELLIGERENTLY.]
"No, beloved JO'ACH!
I am from The LORD!"

(Jo'ach, now irritably
wide awake, sits up. He's
never had to use his
shepherd staff, before:
except to climb up the grassy hills
on his two rather cumbersome,
flat feet. Now, he's wondering
how to throw it, successfully;
but.... wouldn't that scare the SHEEP?
And....WHERE was scruffy MATIL'DAH?
Squinting, cluelessly, again;
Jo'ach wonders where the
other shepherds have gone.
Usually, he can see at least
a couple of his buddies,
just down the low hill. But,
tonight, for some reason,
there's nobody about.)
"WHO?
WHAT do you WANT,
ANYWAY? I'm all OUTTA
my BREAD! All I GOT,
is a COUPLE 'A THESE
LITTLE PIECES'A CHEESE!"
(Frown!)
"And.....I was saving THEM,
for the MORNING!"

[BOOMING VOICE.]
[BRIGHTENING LIGHT.]
"THE LORD WANTS you,
my beloved JO'ACH."

(Jo'ach begins to wonder
if he is dreaming;
maybe, that stale bread was BAD,
AFTER all. He swallows,
and puts one hand
to his plump stomach;
perhaps, his indigestion
was just acting up.
Perhaps, all his relatives were right;
maybe, he SHOULD marry his
busybody-cousin's youngest daughter,
and move into town.....
at least, THEN, he'd get a regular MEAL,
on time. Grimmacing,
Jo'ach squints again,
and leans forward.)
"WHO?"

[PATIENT ANGELIC
SILENCE.]
[WARM, PENETRATING
LIGHT BECOMES EVEN
BRIGHTER.]

(Squint.)
"WHO?"

[ANGELIC BOOM;
THE SOUND SEEMS
TO PENETRATE JO'ACH'S
RIGHT EARDRUM.]
"THE L....O.....R.....D!"

"OW!
THAT HURTS!"
(Jo'ach covers both
his big ears, with
his plump palms.)
"And....WOULD YOU
PUT THAT big...CANDLE
OUT? Y'UR....HURTING
my EYES!"

[PATIENT ANGELIC
PAUSE. A BARELY
AUDIBLE SOUND,
ALMOST LIKE A SIGH.. CAN BE HEARD.]
"You are to COME,
my beloved Jo'ach...
and follow ME."

"What FOR?
GO AWAY!
Or.....I'll THROW... this STAFF, at you!"
(Jo'ach grumbles, and
sits up, higher; he
starts looking around,
for his long walking staff.
The Angelic Light, however,
is still blinding his view. He
curses, and then whistles
for scruffy Matil'dah.)
"Where IS she......
MATIL'DAH!
COME HERE!
COME HERE.....GIRL!"
(Whistle.)

(Silence.)

"HEY!
WHAT'D YA DO...
with my DOG?"

[PATIENT ANGELIC VOICE.]
"She's with the SHEEP,
my beloved Jo'ach. Now,
COME. I want you to follow...ME."

"For...GET it!
I ain't goin' NOWHERE,
with YOU!"
(Jo'ach picks up a clump
of cold grass, and tosses
it at the Blinding Light.
Then, pulling off one
of his soddy sandals,
Jo'ach throws it,
as hard as he can:
toward the direction,
of the Big Candle,
and Booming Voice.)
"Now.....GO AWAY!
And.....BRING BACK MY
DOG!"

[FOR A MOMENT,
THE ANGEL STOPS
BOOMING. HE LOOKS
UPWARD, NODDING,
AS IF LISTENING TO
SOMEONE. THEN,
HE MUMBLES SOMETHING
INAUDIBLE TO JO'ACH'S
BIG EARS. MORE NODDING.
BOOMING VOICE RUMBLES
THROUGH THE STILL NIGHT,
AGAIN.]
"I'm here to WAIT..
for you, beloved Jo'ach,
even if it takes....all NIGHT."
_________________________________
(One year passes.)
_________________________________
Jo'ach's new wife, Li'lah,
is pregnant with their first child.
Jo'ach, who gave up shepherding a year ago,
is living with his cousin's big family,
and working at the crowded market-stall,
in town. His scruffy, plump dog, Matil'dah,
sleeps under the market-stall, all day,
snoring, and munching on dropped
delicious crumbs of Li'lah's
freshly-baked bread.

Nobody asks Jo'ach what suddenly made him
leave his lonely shepherding job,
and go to Cousin Loa'im's noisy, busy house.
Some say it was because he got robbed,
one night, out on the low hills.
Others say it was because his indigestion
finally got the better of him. Still,
others say it was because of his bad
flat feet, and all that tromping along
the soddy, manure-covered hills.

Still, others...say it had something to do
with the bright light that appeared
one winter night,
forcing all the shepherds
up on the far eastern hill,
to go a little mad and
run down into one of the closest towns:
yelling and shouting,
about some baby being born
in one of the cow-barns.
Jo'ach never talks about it;
he just seems very happy
and content to stay in town.
And, never.....never,
does he ever show any interest
for venturing into
the lowly, shepherd hills...
ever, again.
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And,
behold,
an angel
of the Lord
stood before
them,
and the
glory of
the Lord
shone around
them,
and they were
greatly
afraid.
[Luke 2:9]

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