We listened in the quickly fading light as a bawdy yells and laughter filled the night.
The supper hour was over and a din of activity lightly danced on the wind.
My brother and I stayed outside with the animals, as that was our fare.
Dreaming of the time, we were rich and could sleep a night in the inn.
With freshly turned hay and the animals fed, we finished our chores for the day.
We were retired when the innkeeper spoke saying only that he needed our beds.
With disappointment, we rose from our mock repose and complied as he tossed us a coin.
A tired young girl with a kindly old man would be using our room tonight.
The girl was with child and her time was near, it was plain to my brother and me.
So we hurried about to lend them a hand, getting lamps to light their way.
We watched quietly as the man she was with, gently laid her upon a bed of straw.
He held her hand and bowed his head in prayer, and my brother and I turned away.
The wind in the night grew quiet and calm, and a glow seemed to fill the room.
All sound was hushed and the sky came alive with the images of angels in flight.
When we turned around, there on the ground was a child wrapped in swaddling clothes.
My brother and I trembled in fear for we knew not what happened this night.
“Fear not”, we were told, as she held her Son up for the Firmament to see.
The animals looked on with no fear in their eyes, and the angels began to sing.
“Father behold your Son”, she said, and in answer a star lit in the western sky.
Hosannas we heard from near and far as a song of joy the Light did bring.
My brother and I were still quite astounded at all that occurred in our room.
Yet the joy that we felt made our hearts want to burst as we danced and laughed in fun.
Then a thought arose in my brother's eyes, as he looked for a gift to share with her Son.
He ran outside to the little cave were he kept his toys, then I heard him playing his drum.
