The Little Drummer Boy

I wrote this on December 18, 2014, which means I was 11 years old.

Chapter one

Once upon a time, there was a little boy carrying wood.  “Cecil!” his mother called, “you are being very slow with that wood!”

“Yes, mother, I will be faster,” he responded. But under the heavy weight of the wood, Cecil barely gained any speed. 

“Now go help your father in the shop.”

“Yes, Mother. Should I take him some wood for the fire?” He asked.

“I suppose that would be necessary.” His mother replied.

Cecil reluctantly grabbed some of the wood and toiled the five miles to the shop. As he passed through the market square, he started coughing uncontrollably, for twenty or so horses were galloping at full speed along the dusty road.

“Romans.” 12-year-old Cecil heard a lady beside him mutter under her breath. Cecil scowled at that word. Herod had taken the life of his Grandfather, and with his father and mother’s talents, they would have been rich, if it weren’t for the Romans. As the chariots rounded the corner, and started coming the direction of his father’s shop, the wheel of the chariot fell off, and the whole chariot fell on the ground. As Cecil watched with wide eyes, the wheel of the chariot fell off and rolled his direction, and Herod, the King Herod stepped off the chariot and walked towards the wheel, which was right at Cecil’s feet.

“Pick it up.” Herod said staring with his sharp, dark eyes at Cecil. Cecil had never seen Herod in person before, only on the silver coins that he used every day. Right now, Cecil did not want to obey him, but he knew that he had no choice. If he refused, he might be killed. But, he thought, ‘I would rather die than obey Herod, my Grandfather did.’  Anyway, Cecil’s arms were more than full with the heavy wood that he was supposed to be taking to his Father.

“Pick it up.” Herod repeated.

Without even giving it a second thought, Cecil, with a dark scowl on his face, refused.

“My hands are full.”

In one movement, Herod swiped his hand on the pile of wood Cecil was carrying, and as it scattered on the ground, he picked up the wheel and struck Cecil across the face with it.

                  

                 

                        Chapter two

When Cecil woke up, he found himself in a little dimly-lit hut, hardly able to move without a sharp pain searing across his forehead, where he had been struck. He heard voices.

“He is lucky he is still alive, he is a strong boy.”

“Do you have any idea where he came from?”

“Not at all. I don’t even know his name.”

“I’ll go make him some hot soup.”

“That’s a good idea. That boy had a lot of nerve, disobeying Herod himself.”

“I can’t say it’s a good quality though, he could have been killed.”

“Yes, but I admire him. I wish I would have hit Herod with a piece of wood.”

“He would of, if he hadn’t been knocked out cold.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Hey, look, he’s awake.”

“Open your mouth.”

Cecil obeyed, and hot soup was poured in.

“Talk, boy, what is your name?” Cecil looked up and saw a kind, elderly man looking down at him.

“Cecil, son of Ayrab,” Cecil muttered. An elderly lady poured more soup in his mouth.

“Oh, Ayrab who owns the shop with all the wooden sculptures? That man sure has talent,” said the man.

“Yes.” Was all Cecil could say.

“How far do you live from the market?” asked the woman.

“Five miles.”

The man groaned. “Five miles! We live thirty miles from the market. We hardly ever visit it. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go to the market for more than a few months.”

“Yes,” said the woman. “But he can stay with us until he is better. I like Cecil.”

“Okay. He can help keep us shepherds awake while we tend the flocks at night.”

“Where are we?” Cecil managed to sit up.

“A mile south of Bethlehem,” the man answered. “I am Ezekiel, and this is Hannah.”

For the next few weeks, Cecil stayed with Ezekiel and Hannah. After a few days, he could walk around, and went at night with Ezekiel and talked to him and a few other men to keep them awake while the sheep grazed and the stars shone.

                  

                       Chapter three

  Cecil had trouble staying awake all night, and getting little sleep during the day. One night, Ezekiel pulled him aside, before going to watch the sheep.

“Cecil, I have a present for you.”

“What is it?”

Ezekiel handed him an old scroll.

“This is a journal kept by my grandfather, and his grandfather, and so on.”

“What is it about?”

“Great tales, stories from long ago, of The Great Sin, of what happens when we die, of a great God, who will rescue us one day.”

“Rescue us from what?”

“Ourselves. Our sins which have kept us captive for years now. Yes, we all have sinned, the book says. I think I have a few times. You have, Hannah has, everybody has. Herod especially, I think. I believe the part about sinning, that’s easy to believe. But the rest, well, I don’t know about that.”

“You mean you only believe the things that are easy to believe? But if that is true, isn’t the rest?” Cecil asked.

“Well, I don’t know. It says that he will send us a savior, but that book is so old, and this savior still hasn’t come yet.”

“Why are you giving this valuable gift to me?”

“Well, I never have had any children, and so you are the closest to one.”

Cecil read that book aloud every night to keep awake while tending the flocks. The other shepherds often listened. Enoch, a musician, especially liked to listen. One night Cecil came across this verse.

‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.’

When the shepherds heard this, they were shocked. Ezekiel was especially dumbfounded.

“I never read that part before,” he said.

“From right here, inside those city walls,” Enoch said, pointing towards the city of Bethlehem.

“I think I seem to remember now, reading something like that in another old book,” Arnabi, the oldest of the shepherds recalled.

“I have another gift for you, my little prophet,” Enoch said. “I will give it to you tomorrow night.”

                     

                     Chapter four

The next morning Cecil went inside the city of Bethlehem to deliver a message. It was then that Cecil realized that it was very busy in Bethlehem today.  But as he was walking, he also realized there were signs posted everywhere that said,

   ‘Herod has decreed a census. Go to hometown with families to be counted.’      

Cecil thought back to his family. He guessed they thought he was dead. He missed them, but he knew that there was no way to get back to his home unless by foot, until Ezekiel and Hannah needed to, for it was a trip that took days. That night, Enoch presented him with his gift.

“A drum,” he said.

Ever since Enoch had brought his drum to the hills, Cecil had wanted one.

“Thank you,” he said to Enoch. And after that, Cecil was even more thankful for the drum; for Enoch taught him everything he needed to know to make beautiful music. In the daytime, when he wasn’t eating or sleeping, Cecil was in the city playing his drum for money. The extra money he got, he gave to Ezekiel and Hannah, and he paid merchants for music to play and scribes for copying the pages of his book. He did this because he read in his book,

‘Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.’

Enoch had gone east for a few days, and when he came back, he told the other shepherds,

“I saw many magi, in this direction from the far east. They said that they saw a star, and wanted to follow it. They were telling everybody that a king would be born under this bright star. Even the new king, Herod found out.”

“Why would they tell Herod? If he finds this king, he will kill it,” Cecil scowled.

“I know, and I told them that. But they didn’t believe me. They said that Herod just wanted to worship this king to and that as soon as they found him, they would tell Herod where he is.”

“Enoch! I think that this king could be God’s savior! From the book, I mean. Don’t you think so? He is supposed to be born in Bethlehem, anyway,” Cecil shouted.

Enoch wasn’t so sure. “I don’t know about that. I think the book might be a myth. But if a king is born in Bethlehem, I’m sure we’ll hear about it.”

But the magi didn’t come for weeks, so the shepherds forgot about it. But after a while, the incredible happened.

                  

               

                    Chapter five

That night, Cecil didn’t think of anything but his drum. Many of the shepherds fell asleep because of the soothing music. Cecil almost fell asleep himself, but Ezekiel woke him up. Jeremiah, a young, tall shepherd, who was usually quiet, said what everybody was thinking.

“There is an odd stillness in the air tonight.”

And there was. But, out of the dark night sky, suddenly shone a bright light, and the shepherds who were asleep woke up. Cecil was the first to yell as the shape of an angel took form, all the other shepherds were shielding their eyes and were terrified at the booming voice that said,

 “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

                                            “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
                  and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

And as the light died away, Ezekiel said,

“Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing the Lord has told us about.”

The rest, with starry eyes, agreed, and they all made their way through the gates, and followed the star that they now saw shining brightly in the night sky, until they came upon a roofless stable, and the star was shining right above it! The shepherds were mystified. How could the king of kings be born in a stable? But the angel had said that he would be lying in a manger, so without knocking, they walked right in.

                Chapter six

    Inside the stable, all the animals were surprisingly quiet. In front of their eyes, a young lady was crying and looking at a baby, lying in a manger, while what must have been her husband was looking at the baby intently. He gestured for them to sit down, and they did, on bales of hay. Some richly dressed men came inside and placed expensive gifts, which Ezekiel later told Cecil they were of gold, frankincense, and myrr, and Enoch nudged Cecil, and told him those were the same magi he saw on his journey a few weeks ago.

Ezekiel left and came back with a few blankets for the baby, and Enoch gave the husband a flute to play to soothe the baby. Jeremiah and Arnabi also brought him gifts, along with all the other shepherds. The man and his wife told all of them about how the baby born was named Jesus and would one day free everyone from their sins, and how the lady’s name was Mary and the man’s name was Joseph. While they were talking, Cecil started thinking about what to give Jesus. Suddenly, he knew.

Cecil came back from the hills with his drum and started playing for Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. He played for hours, and no one said anything as the shepherds slowly began to leave and the magi started on their journey back and Joseph, Mary, and finally baby Jesus drifted off to sleep. Cecil was the last one to leave, and before he walked out the door, without hesitation he left his precious drum right beside the manger where Jesus, the King of the most high, was soundly sleeping.

               The End