A Coming Of Age Story called "The Three Wise Women Of Bethlehem"

The Three Wise Women of Bethlehem

Rose had always been wiser than her 10 years would suggest, or so said her Grandmama, Esther, who had been named for her own grandmother. Being wise didn’t make getting up in the middle of the night to feed the family horses, in that smelly stable next door, any more pleasant. But what was a girl to do, since her 4 brothers didn’t have to do anything at all. And being the older of two girls, her young sister, Sharon, only 2 now, meant that it was her duty to tend the animals. It didn’t seem fair, but her own momma, and her female cousins, all had the same situation. Like her Grandmama said, that’s the way our world works, and her smile always seemed to make it much better. Kicking off the thin sheet and blanket from her own bed, which she shared with her two younger brothers, Rose slowly rose and walked quietly through the room where her family, all 11 of them, were snoring and sleeping. She was very careful to tip toe around Grandpapa, since everyone knew he was a light sleeper, and as Momma said, he needed his sleep before the next day.

Dressing quickly in her simple dress, Rose opened the door, and walked outside, in the chill air to the stable opening, and moved along the wall of stone, to the stall where Samuel, the family horse, was standing. No one else knew that his name was Samuel, it was their secret. Checking on his feedbag, Rose saw that the animal next to him, was a donkey, that looked like he could use some food, so without another thought, she fixed two feedbags up, and hitched them to the animals so they could eat and be strong for the next day’s walk. Glancing around the stable, she saw something that seemed different from the last night, and walking softly on the straw on the floor, peeked through the wooden slats separating the stalls. Her eyes grew large, as she saw a young woman, not much older than her own Momma, laying back on a blanket, and even though she was only 10, Rose knew that this woman was going to have a baby. Her round belly, covered in blankets, was quite larger than this small woman, and the other thing Rose noticed, that there were none of the usual women around her. That was not right. Even she knew that much. Standing in the darkened stall for another few moments, Rose was startled to hear a low keening moan, coming from the woman in front of her. Getting up quickly, she ran to the inn, and opened the door to her family’s room. Walking softly to her Momma’s bed, she shook her shoulder gently, until she awoke. Her Momma, seeing her through sleepy eyes, looked startled, but Rose leaned over to her ear, and said “Momma, come quickly. There’s a woman that needs your help.” Taking her hand, she led her Momma through the room, and into the stable, and showed her, through the wooden rails, what she had seen. Watching her Momma closely, Rose saw her glance once at the young woman, barely her own age, and quickly, both the woman and her daughter, walked around the wall, and went to the woman’s side.

The full story is available here:

http://www.sophiasirius.net