Savanna tried to make small talk with her friend, Riley. They were standing in the yard outside Savanna’s house, the sun setting. "So," Savanna said, clearly hiding something. "How's your little cousin? The one that’s getting adopted soon?" "She's doing good," Riley said, nodding, playing along with the game. "We're all excited and getting pre-" "I got to tell you something," Savanna interrupted. Riley smiled. She raised her eyebrows to signal that Savanna should continue. "I... found something." Riley sighed. Savanna tended to drag her feet when it came to important things. "It's pretty cool," she tried to disguise her voice. The same voice she used when she was on the phone with strangers. The voice that said that everyone was fine and perfect and normal and woohoo*. She slung the new backpack she had bought off her shoulder, rummaging through it even though she knew exactly where her 'something' was at. When she reappeared from the bag full of pencils, paper, drawing supplies, and bulletins, she held a small metal object. It had wires sticking out of it, buttons flashing, glass panes and two metal rings on top. Riley looked at it with suspicion. "It's a... a..." "It's a what?" Riley asked, annoyed. Savanna took a deep breath before continuing. “It’s a time machine.” “A time machine?” “A time machine.” “A time machine?” “Yes, it’s a time machine!” Riley stared at Savanna for a second, with nothing to say for perhaps the first time in her life. Savanna was now excited, smiling from ear-to-ear. “What d’you think?” Savanna asked. She bit her lip, and Riley knew that meant she was happy. “What do I... What do I think? Well, where are we going first?” Riley asked. That was a dumb question. Riley’s mind started rolling. She thought of all the places they could go. Ah, so many possibilities! She could see the epic poets of the world, the historians, the political figures! She could go to RBG’s high school and talk with her, even though that would be at the bottom of Savanna’s time-traveling-list, or see Martin Luther King Junior’s famous speech, or- “We only get one trip,” Savanna said. “Just one?” Riley asked, disappointed. Savanna nodded. “I have an idea of where we could go,” Savanna said. She rolled on the balls of her feet, her eyes alight.
“Where?” Riley asked. Probably a Biblical event... “Well, it is Christmas Eve, and where better to go than Jesus’ birth?” Savanna was dead-set, Riley knew.
“Shouldn’t we vote?” Riley said. “You do love Democracy.” “There’s only two of us and no tiebreaker,” Savanna said very seriously, shaking her head. “What- eh, when were you thinking of going?” Savanna asked, even though she was already fixed on the idea of going to Jesus’ birth. “We could go to Africa! Or Greece- any ancient Civilization. We could see the Revolutionary War, George Washington, the Civil War...” Riley started naming off places she knew Savanna would like to see. “Are you just naming places I would like to see?” “No.” Riley and Savanna stood staring at each other for a moment.
“Ok! Are you ready to see baby Jesus?” Savanna asked, looking at the buttons of the time machine. “This isn’t very professional,” Riley said, putting her hands on her hips. Savanna stared up at her for a second with her signature sass, Seriously? Written all over her face, before she started fiddling with buttons again. “We should decide together.” Savanna ignored her. “So, you’re just going to decide?” Riley asked. Now she bent down a little bit, her short, pink and brown hair swinging into her face. “Well, I am the one who brought it,” Savanna said, dropping the time machine to her side and shifting her hips. “You have to have the same policies with me as with everyone else, as you well know!” Both of them were raising their voices now. “Well, I don’t really think there are policies for traveling in a hand-held time machine, and I certainly don’t have any!” Savanna said. That was a dumb thing to say, Riley, she thought. “Does that matter?” Riley asked. “You’d probably want to go to some political event, and I don’t really want to go to some political event. Besides, I’d probably get so angry at some leftists I’d mess up the course of time,” Savanna said. “Unless End Game was right and the past becomes the present and we wouldn’t change the present, which is now the past, but that’d mean Harry Potter was wrong, and I really don’t think I can handle that right now!” The two stood, glaring at each other, noses flaring. Then Savanna started laughing at the stupidity of their argument. Riley joined in, even though that was not her typical rule. “I guess you’re right,” Riley said after they had stopped laughing. “What better time to go visit baby Jesus than right now?” “That’s what I said!” Savanna said. “Ok, so I think what you do is stick your wrist into one of these loops. See?” She stuck her wrist in one of the loops on top of the machine, smiling happily. “Wait. You brought a time machine over here and you don’t know how to use it?” Riley asked, her jaw slack. Savanna shrank a bit, her smile fading a tad. “Yes?” Riley raised her eyebrows again, but this time she wasn’t so nice. “The man didn’t speak much English, just French! And I don’t take French until next year and the stuff I learned this year did not relate to time machines.” She trailed off, mumbling about hand gestures, and definitely using the words “Angry French man.” Riley rolled her eyes but stuck her hand inside the loop, even though she thought it was a terrible idea. “Ready?” Savanna asked, ecstatic. Riley sighed. “Ready.” “To Bethlehem, we go!” Savanna yelped as the two were enveloped in a blinding white light. Savanna screamed, just a little, as the world tumbled over itself into a cascade of molecules and cells. With a loud pop! The girls landed in a grassy valley, the stars blinking above them. They staired around, awestruck for a moment, before Riley interrupted the silence, “Do you hear that?” Savanna cocked her head to listen. And she heard. She didn’t know how she didn’t hear it before. It was angels. Beautiful, melodious, harmonious angels. Riley and Savanna ran up the hill to see them. There were hundreds of them, all in the inky black sky like stars. Shepherds stood at their feet, dressed in rags, clutching lambs and shepherd’s rods. The angels were beautiful and terrifying at the same moment, majestic in every conceivable way. “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” They sang and their voices drew tears from Riley and Savanna’s eyes. Joy and peace radiated from the winged creatures above their heads. The angels stopped singing, and silence filled the land. The angel of the Lord stared down at them for a moment, something magical in his smile. Suddenly, the angels shot up into the sky, leaving streaks of gold behind them. Riley and Savanna stood still, mingled awe and shock in their eyes before the shepherds started talking to each other. Savanna knew they were going to leave for the stable Jesus was in soon. And the shepherds did, fetching their families on the way. Riley and Savanna ran to follow the shepherds, crouching low so they wouldn’t be spotted. The shepherds came to a run-down stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem. It was falling apart, the roof sliding off, the door simply a hole in the wall. The shepherds walked humbly inside, ducking their heads. Savanna went to follow them, but Riley pulled her back. “We can’t be seen!” She spoke. “Right,” Savanna agreed. Riley began to climb the roof, much to Savanna’s dismay. She grunted and puffed as she followed. Riley was perched near a hole in the roof like a hawk. Savanna laid down beside it like, huffing like a turtle trying to run. “Be quiet,” Riley whispered. Savanna nodded and tried to suppress her beating heart. The two looked down into the stable. Joseph was there, bending over Mary, pale and sweaty. His beard was scruffy and his hat awry. Mary didn’t look much better. She was tired and looked clammy, her brown skin glistening. She was young, younger than Riley but older than Savanna. But she was smiling. In her arms was a Baby. He looked ordinary but adorable. That’s a weird way to think about the King of the Universe, Savanna thought. He was crying, His voice piercing the silent night. Joseph wrapped Him in tattered cloths, shushing Him. Jesus stopped whining and cooed. Joseph laid Him the manger, clear of saliva, and Jesus quickly fell asleep. Savanna and Riley looked down at Him in awe. Savanna could never again sing O Holy Night without thinking of this beautiful moment. I wonder what Riley thinks of this. Savanna had always been a Christian. She couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t know in her heart that Jesus Christ had died for her. But Riley was different. She had struggled with religion. She called it her journey, her ride. To Savanna, this moment was a beautiful picture of the truth she had always believed, always loved. But to Riley, this was the end- or the beginning- of a long journey. The shepherds talked with Mary and Joseph. They told them all about the angels. “’ Fear not,’ the angel atold us. ‘Fear not, for behold, I abring you good news of great joy that willa be for all the people,’ they asaid. ‘For unto you is aborn this day in the city ofa David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this willa be a sign for you: you willa find a baby awrapped in swaddling cloths and alying in a manger.’ And then amany angels joined the first un in the sky, asinging songs of praise. And look! He’s alying in a manger, wrapped ina cloths. Hea be our Savior.” Joseph was astonished at what the shepherds said, but Mary stayed quiet, thinking about what they said as she stared at her newborn King. Soon, the shepherds left to go tell the great news of Jesus’ birth, yelling in the dark streets of Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary talked softly with each other for a while, Mary softly stroking Jesus’ curly hair. Finally, Joseph blew out the lamp, and the young couple fell asleep. Riley and Savanna were left in dark silence. Savanna sighed. “Are you ready to go home?” She asked Riley. Riley nodded and yawned. “It’s way past your bedtime,” she said. “You say that like I’m five,” Savanna said as she began fiddling with the buttons on her hand-held time machine. “That... That was amazing.” “I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again,” Riley replied. “It was so simple, but, in a way, it was miraculous.” Savanna nodded and began humming Christmas songs softly. “Ok, the time machine should spit us out at the exact moment we left.” She stuck her hand inside one of the silver rings on top of the machine and looked up at Riley, motioning for her to do the same. “Ok,” Savanna said once Riley had put her hand in the silver ring. “Ready?” “Ready.” They both braced themselves for the uncomfortable feeling of swimming through atoms. This time Savanna only gasped as they tumbled through the seams of the Earth. A Few Hours Later Riley and Savanna stood next to each other at the Christmas Eve service. As the congregation sang Silent Night, Riley and Savanna couldn’t help but look at each other with a smile that said: If only they knew. __________________________________________________________________________________ Word Count: 1,967 *One of my favorite writers, Tui T. Sutherland, used this technique in one of her books and I decided to steal it XD. Scripture Used: Luke 2:1-21 ESV - The Birth of Jesus Christ - In those - Bible Gateway This was gonna have more, but I decided it would be good this way as well (and I didn't have enough time to finish it XD). Also, I apologize for the shepherd's accent XD. The shepherds were kinda like poor, low-class mountain men, so that's the accent I thought of XD. So, I am Savanna, and Riley is my friend! I thought it would be fun to take her on a Christmas trip, so that's what I did! I and her used to be... well, we didn't like each other very much. Our only interactions were political debates that ended very poorly. But we recently reconciled and now we're friends, which I think is amazing. I'm really glad we got to put that stuff behind us and are working toward a better relationship. This is for you, Riley! We should go on adventures more often! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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