Ice: Hi! This is a story I had to write for school a couple of years ago. I hope you like it!
Paw prints of the Past:
The Annunciation from a Dog's Point of View
Nazareth, Present Day
Jake stopped and turned around to see where that guide of his had gotten. Ariel was nowhere in sight. In fact, no one was around at all. Jake realized that he was lost. He kicked the wall in anger.
"Great," he mumbled as he slid down the wall. "Now I'm lost and I have a sore toe."
Jake had come with the excavation committee to find Biblical relics. With a sinking feeling, Jake realized that he was in the old part of town. This was the place that supposedly had all the Biblical relics. It was also the part of town that was supposed to be nearly impossible to get out of without a guide.
Something brown suddenly caught his eye. A scroll of parchment was sticking out of a hole in the wall. Jake coughed as dust flew out of it. He slowly unrolled it. This could be his big find…
This is what Jake read.
Prologue/ Why you are reading this
If you are reading this, then you have found my old home. Well done. However, dear reader, this is not to congratulate you, but to teach about our Lord's mother. I knew her, and she entrusted to me a tremendous secret, a secret that changed the world. Dear reader, I would tell you everything in person, but I am an old dog, and I must finish my travels before it is too late. This is my story, a story of a puppy struggling for survival in the midst of one of the world's greatest events.
Please read on.
Second Day of No Food
I've been kicked out four houses already today and I'm close to collapsing from lack of food. I 'm desperate. If I don't eat soon, I know that I will die! The humans, however ruthless they are, are always praying to a Higher Being, so maybe I'll try it too.
God, please hear me: help me. Give me food. More importantly: give me a friend.
Answer my prayer.
Later
My prayer was answered! An alley cat named Lizzy told me about a sweet human girl named Mary who lives with the carpenter and hands out food to all the strays. Mary was more than happy to give me meat and scratch my belly. I now have a full belly and two new friends.
P.S. I have a name now: Naomi.
Two Days Later
Lizzy and I went to visit Mary in the fields today. Lizzy managed to get another alley cat, Sergei, to come along with us. You should have seen the look on Sergei's face when he agreed to come with us! He looked like his own death had just been announced! He didn't regret coming with us when Mary scratched his back, though!
A Fortnight Later
Some thing odd happened today, and I think that it was a miracle.
This is what happened:
I was bored when I woke up this morning. I knew, though, that I wouldn't be bored for long with Lizzy. I sped over to her place near the baker's house. She wasn't in her alley, though, and I howled her name repeatedly until one of the other alley cats told me to shut up and go home. When I asked him why, Sergei gave me the evil eye and told me that Lizzy was away "on business". I gave a little sigh and turned around to trot home when Sergei called my name.
"Naomi, why don't you and I go down and see if Mary saved any fish heads for us?"
I suppose he must have been feeling sorry for me, because he usually says that he's not going to put up with my antics. Though I was surprised at this display of kindness from the scruffy cat, I quickly recovered.
"Ooh, Sergei, that sounds great!" I barked, my tail wagging in wild excitement.
Sergei rolled his eyes, stretched, and jumped down from his perch on the window ledge.
I darted off along the path, stopping and turning every once in a while to make sure Sergei was keeping up.
"Hurry up, slowpoke!" I yipped over my shoulder as we got closer to Mary's house.
Mary was cleaning up the room, making sure everything looked neat. She seemed lost in thought. Suddenly I stepped on the squeaky part of the floor that everyone always forgets to avoid. Mary whirled around. Then she saw Sergei and me, and smiled.
"Sergei, where were you? I haven't seen you in weeks!"
Sergei blushed, and I had to stifle a giggle. I knew that Sergei had been down by the sea, stealing the fish from the boats, but I wasn't about to tell Mary that. Mary rolled her eyes at him and turned to me.
Mary scratched me behind the ear.
"Hey, Naomi, want a snack? I saved some leftovers from dinner last night."
I barked happily, my tail wagging frantically as Mary pulled out some scraps for me. I heard her tell Sergei to go run an errand for her (going off to find Elizabeth the alley cat), but I was really too busy eating to care.
I continued eating as Mary bustled around, straightening up the room. I wouldn't have stopped licking my bowl if I hadn't heard Mary gasp.
My head jerked up. I immediately saw what had made her gasp. A huge, shining light was right by the window.
On any other day, I would have barked. Today, however, something made me stay still, whether it was instinct or awe, my ears cocked so I could hear was going on. I was sure that the- The Important Thing was talking to Mary. It took me a moment to realize that Mary and The Important Thing must have been using a form of telepathy.
The light disappeared as suddenly as it had come, leaving Mary shivering and shaking the way I do in a thunderstorm. I looked at her questioningly. Mary sighed and slid down the wall until she was looking directly into my eyes.
I was shocked to see how frightened she looked. She looked just like Sergei after he had agreed to go on one of my adventures. I whimpered, as if to say, "What's the matter?"
Mary looked at my solemnly.
"Do you know what that light was?" Not waiting for me to yip an answer, she said, "It was an angel. He told me all these frightening things, that I-" She broke off, sighed, and whispered,
"The angel said that I am going to be the mother of the Savior."
Suddenly Mary groaned. "What will Joseph say when he notices that I'm pregnant? It's inevitable that he will. He might divorce me, have me stoned, anything! She sighed again, "I have a duty, though." Mary reminded herself. "Anyway, it's not as if God will abandon me. I just have to trust that He will provide."
I shuddered, still imagining the horrible things that might be done to her. I knew that she hadn't been married to the carpenter, Joseph, for very long, and I also knew that the law said that Joseph could have her stoned. I had seen women stoned in the streets before, had seen the townspeople dragging the bloody bodies out of the town. I whimpered and shuddered again, praying that nothing bad would happen to Mary.
Even Mary noticed my eyes widening, and her eyes widened too.
"Can you understand me?" she cried in amazement. Then she shook her head, laughing.
"Who am I kidding? Today's been exciting enough already, without dogs being able to talk."
Mary paused, and I was just getting annoyed with her (because I certainly can understand her!) when she said very seriously,
"If you can understand me, though, please don't tell any one about this."
"Don't worry about me, either." she added. "I'll be fine. I know that God will take care of me."
Just as I was getting quite sentimental because Mary was trusting me with such big secret, and at how brave she was, when Elizabeth alley cat and Sergei burst in, arguing.
"You said that you were going to help me!" Elizabeth growled, her fur fluffed up.
"I did not!" Sergei yowled in protest.
"Yes, you did!"
"I think-"
"All right, you two," Mary said, pulling them apart, "break it up there, break it up."
A smile quirking my lips, I knew that whatever might happen, life would go on. What would come would come, and we would have to meet it when it did.
Mary turned and looked at me as a headed for the door. She looked frightened and joyful, but, most importantly, she looked determined to do what God wanted her to do.
That's when I knew that Mary would be the perfect mother for our Savior.
This sentence was borrowed from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K.Rowling.
Index of Animal Characters
Naomi- medium sized tannish-brown dog with German Shepherd ears. Naomi is only about a year old. She has been surviving on her own since she was two months old. However, she is very puppy like and is eager to make new friends.
Lizzy- kitten/young cat who belongs to Mary, but who often chooses to live the life of an alley cat. She is Naomi's best friend.
Sergei- pronounced SIR-jay; large, scruffy alley cat with half an ear missing. He is whitish-gray with a black fish-shaped splotch by his eye. Sergei's rump is rather bald, and he has a stump for a tail.
Please Read and Review!
-Ice