by Dane Bagley
***
“Okay, so this is the feast of the year! Most everyone does turkey; have you had turkey yet?”
Aspiria turned and winked at Tammy, as she left the lab. “No, I don’t think so.”
“It’s a bird, a big bird. You get lots of brown and white meat. It can be a little dry—if you don’t do it right—but if it’s done right it is so moist, and has such an amazing flavor. The kitchen is going to smell like heaven! Then you stuff it with bread and herbs, and it makes this amazing turkey stuffing. You get sweet potatoes—I don’t know if you will like those—and then green bean casserole. I like a good spinach salad, and then pies—lots of pies. You eat until you can’t put in another bite. Then you crash on the couch for a couple of hours, watch football, and then eat pie until it hurts again. For the next two days you just keep eating left-overs, and pig out. Then it’s time to get ready for Christmas.”
Aspiria was smiling, not just at Bob’s excitement, but they had feasts on her world, too. It did sound like fun. She thought of Caryell, and of the feast she had just prepared for him, not long before she had come here. Those thoughts were always bitter-sweet, but she focused, at this time, on the sweet part. They were just now entering the galley. Danny, as usual, was quietly hard at work. He looked up with a quick smile and nod, and then went back to work again. Bob always knew how to talk the talk, but Danny knew how to walk the walk.
“Just telling her all about Thanksgiving,” Bob said as they entered the galley
“Oh,” Danny said emotionlessly.
“I think she is up to speed, so let’s get it going. Look here; see what a large turkey we’ve got!”
“So what is this feast for? Why is it called Thanksgiving?”
“You’ve got her up to speed on the food, but haven’t told her what it’s all about, I see,” said Danny with a trace of sarcasm.
Bob had to think for a moment. It felt strange to think: was there more to Thanksgiving than the feast? He had never done anything else, other than cook, prepare, and eat for Thanksgiving.
“Danny, what is it all about?” Aspiria asked.
“Many years ago, before the people on our world even had electricity, one group of people migrated from a faraway land to another part of our world. The people that they found, who lived there, were very primitive. The people who migrated got there too late in the season to plant and to get a good harvest. They would have starved to death, except for the primitive people. Although, they seemed very primitive, they knew the land, and they knew what could be grown. They taught those who had migrated over what they needed to do in order to survive. Later, those who migrated prepared a great feast and invited the primitive people to attend. They prayed and gave thanks to God for their blessings, in particular, being spared through the help of the natives. In part to commemorate that event, and to continue to annually remember to thank God for his blessings, we have a yearly Thanksgiving feast.”
“You’re talking about the pilgrims and the Indians. I remember that now; I guess I had forgotten that part of it,” said Bob, offhandedly, as he began taking down various ingredients.
“I like your, Thanksgiving—a special feast to thank God for your blessings; that makes so much sense,” said Aspiria sincerely.
“Oh…and that’s why we call it, Thanksgiving. That’s cool, I have never really thought about all of that before. I just know that it’s great food and a great time.” Bob, had everything on the island now, and had just brought up a large mixing bowl.
Aspiria got right to work on that evening’s meal. She had become very accustomed to cooking in the ship’s galley over the past week. Everyone on board loved her cooking, and Danny and Bob enjoyed her help and company. Danny and Bob began to argue over the Thanksgiving menu. They were almost like brothers; they fought over everything, but there was never animosity. She had a way of changing the subject, direction, and tone whenever she got tired of it; or it had gotten out of hand. She could always draw them into a discussion. After a few minutes she asked, “Bob, you said that after Thanksgiving, there was something else to get ready for. What was that?”
“Huh…oh—Christmas. Yeah, after Thanksgiving is over it’s the Christmas season. You don’t know about Christmas yet, do you?”
Steve walked into the galley. “Christmas? I thought that you were getting ready for Thanksgiving.”
“Hi, Captain, we are. It is going to be amazing! Have you seen the turkey? Check that baby out!”
“Hi, Steve, did you need me?” Aspiria asked with a very pleasant smile.
“No, I was just seeing how everyone is doing.” Steve always seemed to have a purpose. He did not just shoot the breeze. He had been much more relaxed, however, before Aspiria’s world had been discovered. But, since that time, he was always busy; always working on something. So, it was unexpected for the group to see him pull up a seat near the island that was being used for food prep. For a few minutes everyone was silent and just working, as he looked on. It was starting to get a little uncomfortable for everyone.
“Danny and Bob explained Thanksgiving to me. It sounds like a wonderful reason to have a feast. They were just going to tell me about the next feast, Christmas,” Aspiria said while mixing.
Steve smiled and nodded. “Christmas isn’t really a feast, like Thanksgiving, although you can have a feast. It’s really a month-long celebration. Actually, you can have lots of feasts.”
“Bob, are you ever thinking about anything other than food?” asked Steve chidingly. Bob smiled sheepishly, and Danny, from behind him, looked at Steve and shook his head.
Aspiria saw Danny’s gesture and she smiled, and then narrowed her eyes as if to say, “be nice.”
“I do love all of the holiday treats, but where I come from it is always snowy at Christmas time. I love that time of year. It’s dark in the early evening; everyone puts up bright-colored lights. The snow is aglow with all of the colors of the rainbow. On my street, everyone was in competition to see who could ring up the biggest electric bill. We were the best street in town. People from all over would drive up and down our street slowly to look at the homes all lit up. We would go sledding all afternoon, after school. That’s what I think of most when I think of Christmas,” said Bob with enthusiasm, and no mention of food.
“That sounds very pretty, Bob.” Aspiria had stopped working, and was leaning on the island towards Bob. Her dark eyes were glowing.
“Before most of my family died, Christmas was a wonderful time for us, too. I remember being indoors, mostly. My mother always wanted to have a huge tree. We had a great room with a very tall ceiling. We would cut down a sixteen-foot tree each year. It took a couple of days to decorate it. My mother always had a theme: angels, the North Pole, Winter Wonderland, The Nutcracker. Anyway, the tree was her thing, and it was the envy of everyone. When people stopped by to bring us treats, they always wanted to come in and see that year’s rendition of the tree. We had a hard-wood floor and a large fireplace. During the Christmas season, we always kept a roaring fire. I remember just sitting on the couch, sipping hot cocoa and watching the fire, and looking at the tree. That sure brings back some nice memories. I wish that Mark could have that. It sure isn’t the same since they all died.” Steve looked a little dreamy, and a little melancholy, all at the same time.
“My family are carolers. It’s kind of an older tradition, and people would look at us funny, but we would go around to our neighbors, friends, and people from church. We’d bring goodies to their home and sing Christmas carols,” Danny mentioned
“I didn’t know that you sang,” broke in Bob.
“I didn’t say that I could sing, I said that we were carolers. Mom had a good voice, and was loud; the rest of us just sang quietly and tried not to mess it up. But it was fun.”
“I love Christmas carols! Dashing through the woods, in a one horse open sleigh…” Bob began to sing, but seeing
that no one was joining him he left off.
“Christmas sounds like a wonderful season.”
“Oh, it is. The whole town gets lit up, and there are concerts, and choirs. Everyone has parties, and then everyone gives gifts. We put all of the gifts that we receive under the Christmas tree, and then on Christmas morning we open them all up. Then we play with the gifts, and have great feasts. For an entire month it’s a celebration…” Bob could go on, but Steve interrupted.
“Don’t forget about Santa Claus. We get gifts from everyone: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles; but the really good stuff comes from Santa Claus. We put up large stockings on the hearth, and in the middle of the night he comes and fills them up, and then puts out really great gifts as well.” Steve was looking at Aspiria, and she was giving him a quizzical expression. “He’s an elf—a magical elf. He lives on the top of the world, and all of his other magical elves make the toys. He uses his flying reindeer to go by everyone in the whole worlds homes and brings everyone gifts.” Steve was straight-faced as he told Aspiria the story.
Aspiria had seen some amazing things since she had been on this ship. They had traveled all the way from their world to hers. They did seem to be able to do many things that to her seemed impossible. Still, this story seemed farfetched, even for these people. After a few seconds Steve’s face broke into a laugh and a smile. “It’s a myth. We tell this story to the little children. The parents give the gifts, and say it is from Santa. The little children love it. I loved it when I was a child. Someday, I hope to have children and play Santa for them,” he said in a cheery tone, just as it reminded him of his sorrow.
Aspiria smiled warmly, knowing—so she thought—that he would have a child very soon indeed. She thought of Steve and Tammy, and the little child enjoying these festivities for which they were speaking. It was a very pleasant thought to her. She almost made a comment in regard to it, but stopped herself short. She was in the confidence of Tammy, and it was not to be broadcast.
“I would love to see your Christmas season; it sounds wonderful.” Then turning to Danny: “What is the reason behind this great celebration.”
“I was waiting for you to ask. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
“I knew that it must be about Him.” Aspiria had a particular glow about her as she listened to everyone. She was soaking it all in, and seemed to be genuinely happy—even joyful. “Tell me all about that; I would love to know this about Him.”
“His birth was miraculous. His mother was a young virgin. She was good, and righteous, and pure. An angel came to her, and told her that she would be with child—with God’s child—though she had never been with a man. She was engaged to a man, but they were not yet married. The man was concerned when he discovered that she was with child, but, the same angel came to him in a dream and told him what was happening. He married her, but was not with her, sexually, until after the Christ child was born.
“Near the time that he was to be born, they were forced to travel to another town, to pay taxes. When they arrived, she was ready to give birth. They went all around, but no one would give them a place to stay. Imagine, the Son of God was to be born, and no one would accommodate His mother. Eventually they were allowed to go into an animal stable, and she gave birth there. The Christ child slept in a manger, the place where they put hay for the animals to eat.”
Aspiria looked on, and her eyes were misty. She shook her head slowly, as Danny continued. “That night, an angel came to nearby shepherds in their fields, and told them that the Son of God had been born. They came, and worshipped the child. Imagine the greatest event in the world—in the universe—had just occurred. Yet it was the humblest people, in a most humbling circumstance that got to participate in it. The great people of the earth: kings, rulers, the wealthy—they had no idea. There was a new star that was born that night in the sky. The star shone brightly over the place of his birth. Some wise men recognized the signs and they traveled to find him. They made the mistake of telling the ruler what they were looking for. He deceived them and told them to find the Christ child, and then tell him where He was. He said that he, too, wanted to worship Him; but he did not. He wanted to kill Him. They brought the young child gifts; that is why we give each other gifts during this season. Those gifts provided some resources to this family who would soon need to leave to another part of the world. The wise men were warned by God to not tell the ruler. They left, but he knew that something was going on. He commanded that all children, in that part of the world, under the age of two years old, were to be killed. The Christ child would have been in the group, but because His mother and step-father had been warned of God, they left for another land before the slaughter of all of those children.”
Aspiria put her hands on her mouth. She was horrified at the thought of the killing of all those babies. She knew that Christ had been killed by his own people, but she had no idea that an attempt on His life had been taken when he was such a small child. “Those gifts that were given, likely gave his family the resources to leave, in order to spare his life. This is what the Christmas season is all about. It is a most wonderful celebration. You would love Christmas time, Aspiria.”
There was a warm peaceful feeling in the kitchen. Everyone felt it. There was silence for just a moment, and then Steve spoke up, “I haven’t heard that story since I was a child. It is a beautiful story. I remember now, that my mother always put up a small stable with figurines of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. There were shepherds, and wise men, and camels, and sheep. I used to play with those figurines as a child. If I got caught she would scold me. She said that they were not to be played with, but I did it anyway.”
“I have been given so much—to be told these stories. I hope that soon our worlds can speak. We would love to learn all that you know. I want to tell this story to my son.” Danny and Bob looked a little uncomfortable, but Steve looked her in the eyes. He was thinking—deeply thinking.
Rapid footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. Steve turned around and Kenny walked in. Tammy walked by the door, but did not come in, nor turn her head to look inside.
“Captain Jenners, Commander Wiston is requesting you immediately for a conference. He has asked that I attend it with you. He says that it is urgent,” explained Kenny.
Chapter 47
