STABLE - a Christmas story

STABLE

“We have a son! I will teach him to be a good carpenter.”

“Are you sure? I know you promised but . . .”

“Hush, wife – I meant every word – now sleep.”

She lay back on the straw holding her son to her breast and slept until voices woke her.

“Find another shelter – my wife’s just had a baby.”

“We know; we were told to come – we’ll leave the flock outside.”

She moved her veil aside to show the child, and weathered faces worshipped while his baby hands bestowed blessings.

“You’ve seen him,” Joseph said, “Now leave us in peace.”

“We all wish for peace,” they said and departed, leaving a lamb behind – mother and baby snuggled into its warm fleece and were comforted.

Later, more visitors came, rivalling the star-shine with their gifts, and as Joseph hid the treasures from thieves his last doubts vanished - Mary’s story of an angel was true.

That night Mary woke weeping. “I had a dream,” she sobbed into Joseph’s arms and he said, only half in jest, “Not another one!”

“I dreamed he was sold for thirty pieces of silver.”

“Our son will be a simple carpenter, wife – who would sell him?”

                                                             *********************

There's no 100 word challenge this week, so I chose a story that I wrote a year ago in response to a different forum's challenge to write 200 words inspired by the word SILVER.

The photograph I have used is of the crib at Reina Sofia Airport in Tenerife, where I live.

Thank you for reading my blog, and for the lovely comments I have received over the year.

I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL 2015.

100 YEAR OLD PLANE

How do you fancy flying in this replica of a 100 year old plane?
It is - or was - a Bleriot XI - named for the Frenchman who was the first to fly the English Channel. Or as they call it, La Manche, which is French for 'The Ditch' - who said the French were romantic?

According to the Diario de Avisos, in 1913 another Frenchman, Leonce Garnier, brought his plane, his mechanic and his wife from Cadiz to Tenerife by boat in time for the May fiestas Probably hoping for a lot of Ron Miel!
He entertained the locals with demonstrations of his flying skills at Reina Sofia Airport until September, when he moved to Los Rodeos. The paper didn't say whether he flew there at his top speed of 73 kilometres per hour. Or whether he really only had bicycle wheels to land on.

I find it a little hard to believe that there actually was an airport then - it is much more likely that M Garnier used the flat bit of land by Montana Roja. After all, when I first visited Tenerife seventeen years ago there were only five check-in desks at Reina Sofia.
Times have changed and there are ninety now, which means there is enough space for them to exhibit a whole plane that has, again according to the newspaper, a wing-span of 7.81 metres.

I couldn't get far enough back to get it all in - I was practically sitting on a car-hire desk as it was - but I really do recommend a visit if you're local or flying in for a holiday - it's gorgeous!