Several years ago, I met a little mouse at a Christmas market in Berlin and we had an amazing adventure together. Here’s the story of how we found the true meaning of Christmas…
Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, excitement was stirring – especially for Mouse. Mouse is nuts about Christmas. It’s the best time of year. He loves presents and tinsel and all the good cheer.
But Christmas this year would be different for Mouse. He was going to Germany to his cousins’ Mouse Haus. They live in Berlin near an old famous square, where every December there’s a big Christmas fair.
Mouse filled his pack with crackers and cheese – and mittens and socks so his paws wouldn’t freeze.
He flew on a plane over mountains and seas and arrived in a land filled with grand Christmas trees…
In his mittens and socks, Mouse scampered through town to a big Christmas market near a Wall they’d torn down.
He stopped in his tracks as he entered the square. It was a stage set for Christmas, with lights everywhere.
He scurried down aisles with stalls full of treats – pretzels and strudels and baskets of sweets.
He spied Santa’s elves and angels on high, nutcrackers, puppets and a toy train passing by.
Candles lit windows that were covered with frost. Mouse looked at his map. He knew he was lost. The hour was late. He hoped Mouse Haus was near. But there was no one close by who could quiet his fear. He was alone in a place a long way from home. If only he’d thought to bring his cell phone.
Then suddenly a light made his heart jump with joy…
It shone over a manger next to a bag full of toys. Mouse saw a small tail poke out of the hay. He smiled for he knew he’d at last found his way.
The stable and manger where a baby would lay were, in fact, the same place where Mouse’s cousins did play. They sprang from the rafters and the stable’s horse stalls and hugged their lost cousin with their warm little paws.
As a sky full of stars smiled down from above…
Mouse and his cousins filled the stable with love.
The meaning of Christmas is not presents and lights, but the birthday of someone born on that night.
Mouse smiled as he snuggled down in the hay…
Tomorrow, he thought, would be his best Christmas Day.
MERRY CHRISTMAS from Mouse and me! 😉
Shooting Star from a memorial section of the Berlin Wall
Story and photos: “The Christmas Market” by Rebecca Bricker © 2009
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