Short Stories

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For
with God
nothing
shall be
impossible.
[Luke 1:37]
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Time: Roughly fifteen
years before the birth
of Christ.
Place: Nazareth.
Characters: Joachim,
Anna, and Elizabeth.
________________________
A woman, neither young nor
old, opened the wooden
door of a small house,
and cried.
"Joachim!
JOACHIM!
Come!
COME!"

A bearded man, who had
been sitting on his knees
and praying furiously,
in the little garden outside,
looked up.
"Elizabeth!
How is my WIFE?"

The woman, who was still
wearing her dusty traveling clothes, shouted excitedly.
"She is WELL,
Joachim!
She is WELL!
You have a....DAUGTHER!"

The man fell face down
on the ground, and continued praying. After
a few moments he got up
and ran into the house.

The room was dark;
only a small candle burned
in a corner by his wife's
bed. The air smelled of the candle, and was only
a bit musty.

Everything was quiet.
A woman lay in the
bed; her face was aglow
in the candlelight with sweat,
and contentment.
Long, wet strands of dark hair stuck
to the sides of her lovely face, and neck.
She held a small bundle
of blanket against her bared breast. Suddenly,
as if being startled out of
a deep sleep, she stopped
gazing at the bundle, and
looked up. She spoke softly and slowly, as she
were too exhausted even
to speak.
".......A little.....girl,
Joachim."

The man knelt down beside
the low bed, and kissed his
wife's damp forehead.
He whispered.
"Are you WELL,
Anna?"

The woman smiled up
at her niece, who had
arrived from her hometown
just in time to help with
the midwife. She reached
out a slender hand, and
spoke, this time with more
strength.
"Elizabeth took good CARE......of me!"

The man looked up;
tears welled out of his
eyes.
"Thank you......
Elizabeth."

Elizabeth gave a wide
smile, and reached down
to hug her beloved aunt.
"It was.......the LORD!
Praise the LORD!"

The three people gazed
down at the baby's face
for a long moment; the
man tenderly caressing
the infant's tiny, wrinkled
hand poking out of the
warm blanket.

"Alright now!
Shoo!
SHOO!"
The midwife, who had
been busying herself in
the corner, spoke with
a stern, motherly voice.
"ALRIGHT!
She needs.......REST!
That's.....ENOUGH!
ELIZABETH.....go and
fetch more WATER!
JOACHIM.....what do
you plan to NAME....
the child?"

Anna, whose eyes were
beginning to close in sleep,
spoke up softly.
"......Mariam......"
She murmured, just before
dozing off.
"I'm sorry, Joachim......
I know you were hoping
for a ......son..."

Elizabeth paused for
a moment at the door:
cradling a heavy, scarred,
chipped, old
jug in her arms. In the
midst of her relief and
happiness, she felt a twinge of deep sadness;
she had been a wife for many years,
and still remained barren.
She closed her eyes and grimaced for a moment,
as if in deep pain. Joachim's voice broke
her thoughts.

"Ah.
Mariam is a LOVELY name.........
I am only happy that
you are WELL,
Anna......"

"Still........."
Anna sighed, and fought
to keep her eyelids from
closing.
"........I know......"
She sighed once more,
and closed her eyes.
".....that a GIRL.......
among our people....
does not have....
much.....
value."
**********************
And
Mary said,
My soul
does magnify
the Lord........
For He has
regarded the
low estate
of His
handmaiden......
from henceforth,
all generations
shall
call me
blessed.
[Luke 1:46; 1-48]

Copyright 2012.

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