A special shoutout to Drewmoviefan for the lyrics towards the end of the story, which would have stressed me further to finish the story if I had to write them myself.
This is an apology story. With all stuff going on with Christmas, being tied up with work and stress with other things, I was unable to complete A Frithmas Carol which I intend to finish for next Christmas alongside Home Alone: The Zootopia Way. Thank you all for the continued support. Merry Christmas and God bless you all.
Christmas, 2023. I certainly recall Christmas 2020 the new had our first Christmas with just my parents, brother and grandparents. Christmas 2021, it was just me, my brother and parents. Christmas 2022, it was the former mention once again. But meanwhile here, my brother had come down with COVID though thankfully my grandparents would be coming on Christmas Day. Before any of this, I was looking forward to Christmas as it was an opportunity to make Christmas for the unfortunate. Sadly that great feeling of helping was short-lived as work and money was becoming a struggle. Christmas is a stressful time granted, because people want a merry time which is granted for many, but sadly not for all. Many are worse off even though charities are open to help. But the stress consumed me something terrible. Though finally at an end, it didn't feel like Christmas to me at the moment despite looking forward to find what had been wrapped for me under the tree.
Here I was now watching the classic 1970 musical film Scrooge, starring Albert Finney (who was only thirty-four when he played the miserly old man!), as was my tradition every Christmas Eve, next to watching the 2003 Will Ferrell comedy movie, Elf with my family. But Scrooge had wonderful songs such as I Like Life, Thank You Very Much, Christmas Children and December the Twenty-Fifth. Something to at least get me ready for the spirit of the holidays.
Finally, with the movie over, I switched off my screen, clambered into bed. I looked over at the side of my bedroom where my rucksack lay. In it were three big bags of carrots. I bought some today thinking there wasn't enough but as it turns out there was. My mother told me to store them in the vegetable cabinet, but I completely forgot to do so.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp drop of coldness land on my cheek. I got out of bed, switched the light on, and wiped the cold thing off my cheek. It looked like a melting snowflake. I looked out the window to find that snow was gently falling. I shout my light off to get a prettier sight of the scene in the moonlight. It was twinkling blanket of snow going up a hill. It was nothing like my backyard. There was no shed or anything. What was happening? I certainly didn't remember a hill going up to a bare beech tree.
No matter how cold the winter, no matter how deep the snow
They will not break us, you and I
Beautiful, angelic voices were heard singing. To me, it seemed like they were up above the hill. Almost like as if it was calling me to come forward. Curiosity brewed inside me, and I decided to obey. I put on my dressing gown and shoes, grabbed my rucksack (I habitually took it everywhere) and climbed outside the window. It was downright cold, but I was desperate to know where the singing came from. I ran all the way up to the tree, tripping and tumbling, but I didn't mind. It was nice to feel the snow on me.
Finally, I reached tree. I saw something sillouhetted in the distance. A little figure down at my feet. I could make out by its long ears that it was a rabbit.
"Hello," I said gently.
Suddenly the rabbit darted into a hole inside the tree.
"Don't run away," I said kindly. "I won't hurt you. I love rabbits."
Saying rabbits made me think of carrots, and the thought of carrots made me think of what was in my rucksack. I slid it off my shoulder, unzipped it, opened the carrots and scattered them all over the snowy ground.
At that point a lion head charged out of the hole with a tall, brown rabbit, a tall, golden rabbit and a grey rabbit. They slipped on the carrots I left out. Technically, my generosity turned into a Home Alone booby-trap.
I watched them all get to their feet and shaking the snow off themselves.
"Are you alright?" I asked. "I come in peace."
"Carrots don't prove anything," said the lion head assertively.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I just wanted to show you mean no harm. I'll leave."
"No, wait!" said the brown rabbit. I stopped and looked.
"We thank you for this," he continued. "But is there any actual reason why you are here?"
"Well," I began. "I was getting ready to sleep in my home when I heard voices coming up here. People singing. Was that you?"
The rabbits all looked at each other.
"Not that we heard," said the golden rabbit.
"If I heard anyone sing, it'd ruin the holiday for my ears," said the grey rabbit.
"Fiver said nothing about danger," said the brown rabbit.
"Who's Fiver?" I asked.
"My little brother," the brown rabbit replied. "He can read the future if danger is near."
"I wasn't so sure."
I looked behind to see that it was very rabbit who fled when he caught sight of me. A small runt, alike in appearance with his brother only with lighter brown fur.
"Who are you?" I asked the lot.
"I'm Hazel," the taller brown rabbit introduced.
"I'm Fiver," the smaller brown rabbit introduced.
"Bigwig," introduced the grey lion head.
"Hawkbit," introduced the grey rabbit.
"Dandelion," introduced the golden rabbit.
"And I'm Pipkin!"
Jumping right in front of them was a small, maroonish-brown bunny.
"Hello, there," I said, smiling. I knelt down to him.
"Do you celebrate the Feast of Frith?" asked Pipkin.
"I don't know who that is," I explained. "But I do celebrate Christmas."
"Then what's all that holy and ivy you humans hang up?"
"It's part of Christmas," I said.
"Like us with the Feast of Frith," said Pipkin.
"We must have different Christmases from one another," I responded.
"What is Christmas?" asked Hazel.
"It's a time of the year," I began, "in which families, races and every human comes together and show that they care. Especially when we celebrate the brith of our saviour, Jesus Christ."
"Who's Jesus Christ?" asked Fiver.
"A wonderful man who died for the sins we humans committed. Christmas is his birthday."
"Are you trying to tell us that our culture is nothing to you humans?" growled Bigwig.
"No!" I protested. "There are many other religious cultures even in the human body. Judaism, Buddhism, Islamism, Muslim, Lutherism, so many. Mine is Christianity. Your religion just so happens to be … Frith. Is that what you call it?"
"Yes," replied Hawkbit.
"One could say that Frith is God himself, only he calls himself Frith to you animals. In a way you understand, since animals and humans have a different language, but I don't know why we understand each other now."
"What makes you think your God is also Frith?" interrogated Bigwig.
"Have you read The Chronicles of Narnia?" I asked.
The rabbits looked confused.
"Written by C.S. Lewis?" I tried to spell out further.
"You say we understand each other," said Hawkbit. "Yet you talk human right now, because we understand snowflakes compared to all that."
"Don't be so rude, Hawkbit!" reprimanded Hazel, then he turned to me assuringly. "Go on, lad."
"In the stories there is a lion called Aslan. One one of the satires, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, he said "In your world, I have another name". By that, he means that he is Jesus in lion form."
"First you talk of God," said Bigwig, less aggressive now. "And now you talk of Jesus? Who is who?"
"Jesus is whom we call the Son of God," I replied. "Christmas has a tradition about his birth which we call a Nativity. Children always put on a little play about the story."
"Can we hear it?" asked Pipkin.
"It'd be to long," I replied. "Especially as to how cold it is out here. Besides I can't get into your burrow."
As I looked at myself, I realised I had shrunk down to their level.
"What on Earth just happened?" I reacted.
"Not sure," replied Dandelion, "but one thing is certain, you can fit in now."
"How would you like to come in warm yourself up a little?" Hazel invited. "In the spirit of Frith's Eve?"
"Why thank you so much," I accepted. "You know Frith's Eve and Christmas have so much in common with hollies and ivies. including such warm generosity."
"Listen," said Bigwig. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off so harsh. As Owsla Chief, I need to reinforce safety even when it comes to humans."
"It's alright," I said. "What's an Owsla?"
"An army," Bigwig replied. "But come on, let's go in."
I followed the rabbits into the hole and came into a huge warren, very wide and sturdy. in the centre was a platform to serve as a stage and up above there was support firms to support the ceiling, marked out like a honeycomb. Rabbits here and there were hopping around, or chatting or whatever else. I also noticed two does decking out hollies. One was silvery-blue and the taller one was pale yellow. They were finishing now and were hopping up to the rabbits I was with.
"All sorted, everyone," said the silvery-blue rabbit proudly.
"Oh!" reacted the pale yellow doe when she eyed me. "What's this?"
"I'm only a human who means no harm," I replied. "Honest. I just heard some singing up here, I followed it and found myself here."
"He means no harm," Pipkin assured them. "He's also come to tell us a story about his tradition similar to the Feast of Frith."
"We couldn't leave him out in the cold," said Fiver. "Elil is lurking around badly at this time of year."
"Who's elil?"
"Elil is what we call the enemy," snorted Hawkbit. "Don't you know anything?"
"Gelyn," I replied.
"Who's Gelyn?" asked Hawkbit.
"Gelyn is what we call enemy. In Welsh. Don't you know anything?" I threw back with a friendly chuckle.
"Owned!" Dandelion chuckled at his frowning friend.
"How do you?" the slivery-blue doe greeted me. "I'm Blackberry."
"And I'm Primrose," the pale yellow rabbit introduced herself.
"You're both very pretty," I complimented.
"How sweet," said Primrose.
"Very polite," agreed Blackberry.
"He comes from another tradition called Christianity," said Hazel. "Apparently Frith's Eve is similar to his."
"It's called Christmas," I said.
"That's a strangely lovely name," said Blackberry. "I've heard of such a thing. But's really beautiful to say. Christmas."
"How is Christmas similar?" asked Primrose.
"Well," I said. "We have snow, the holly and the ivy and the gathering if family and friends. Including our own story of what makes Christmas and the Feast of Frith."
"Will you tell us?" asked Primrose. "Could he, Hazel?"
"You said we must accept new ideas," Fiver reminded him.
"Yes," said Hazel. "Of course."
At this he hopped up to the platform and announced me as a guest who would tell them all about the story of Christmas.
I enjoyed performing so I had no stage fright. I hopped up to the platform and looked down on the rabbits who stayed in confusion of a tiny human in their presence.
I ignored that, and started the story telling them of Mary being given the news of Gabriel the angel telling her that she would give birth to a baby who will be Jesus Christ, the Son of God, she and her husband Joseph moving from Nazareth to Bethlehem on a tiny donkey, taking shelter in the stable of an inn for it was entirely full, the star guiding the shepherds to the stable as well as the Wise Men who gifted the Baby Jesus with gold, frankincense and myrrh. I also told the darker side of the story in which the evil King Herod ordered every baby to be killed so he would remain king and not lose power, and of course it was important to include that Jesus was spared as Mary and Joseph fled with him to Egypt where they refuged until the wicked king finally died.
Everyone was fascinated by this story, but I said I would like to hear their story about 'Frithmas' as I privately called it so to avoid any disrespect.
Dandelion, the storyteller I soon learned him to be, hopped onto the platform and began the tale of Frith's Promise. Frith went to visit other worlds leaving Ela-Rah, the Father of the Rabbits and his sidekick Rabscuttle cold and hungry. They both visited Prince Rainbow who told them about Frith visiting the stars o discover the secrets of the universe. The two rabbits took matters into their own hands, so they created a symbol for Frith to read. He was called to examine it and the snow melted. Frith promised that even when goes away, he will always come back to the animals, and to reforge his promise he created the holly, the ivy and the yew.
"No matter how cold the winter, or how deep the snow," Dandelion concluded, "we will be warm again, and the grass will grow. Always and forever. Frith will always come back. He promised."
"What a wonderful story," I commented. "It really does make sense."
"You know something, lad?" said Bigwig. "I think maybe God and Frith are the same after all. Just different stories for making and the animal kingdom to share with all."
"I think you're right Bigwig," I said. "I might be Christian, but I am always happy to learn how others do their own traditions. We are supposed to learn from each other, not hurt each other."
"And I'm sorry I came off like that," Bigwig apologised.
"In the spirit of Christmas, I forgive you," I accepted. Despite all that had happened with Christmas, I felt refreshed after hearing that story. "No matter how cold the winter, or how deep the snow, we will be warm again and the grass will grow -"
Wait a minute … no matter how cold the winter, or how deep the snow, that was what I heard from that singing earlier on.
At that moment, the scene faded and stars winked everywhere. I was standing on an isolated hill and calm, serene, yet spine-chilling music erupted and a voice up from the Heavens shook the scene with a wonderful song. The very song I heard.
When the silence wakes you, When your nights all alone
When the world forsakes you, Please be strong
Nothing hurts you forever, It will fade away
And the sky will be blue again... one day
(Chorus)
No matter how cold the winter, No matter how deep the snow
We'll be warm again and the grass will grow
No matter where life may take us, No matter how hard they try
They'll not break us, You and I
When it's dark inside you, When your flame is low
I'll be beside you, You'll know
Let it pour all around you, Let the cold winds cry
Let the old winds of yesterday... blow by
(Chorus)
No matter how cold the winter, No matter how deep the snow
We'll be warm again and the grass will grow
No matter where life may take us, No matter how hard they try
They'll not break us, You and I
I couldn't help myself. I joined in.
No matter how cold the winter, No matter how deep the snow
We'll be warm again and the grass will grow
No matter where life may take us, No matter hard they try
They'll not break us, You and I
You... And I
Before I knew it, I was in my own bed. I peered out the window at the crack of dawn. Christmas Day had come, but I wanted to spend a little while in bed thinking about the wonderful words of that song that had hit me, including what I had learned from those wonderful rabbits.