Christmas Past
written by: Dawn DeBraal
Derry Mace stabbed the pitchfork into the loose hay, sending it down to the first floor in a heap. He was hosting the First Annual Christmas Pageant in his barn tomorrow, reconstructing the manger scene with sheep, cows, and donkeys from his farm, including three wisemen, a few shepherds, Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus.
His boys spent the last few days constructing a star that they hung in front of the loft. Derry strung an extension cord from the milk parlor to plug in the beautiful lights they’d attached to several boards wrapped in tinsel.
The star shone down on Larry Abel, his neighbor, who had built a manger cradle from old, reclaimed barn wood. Larry’s newborn would play the part of Jesus, though the baby was his daughter; no one would know. The baby’s older sister, Laney, would pose as Mary, while he would play Joseph. His hand went to the beard he had been growing for months in anticipation of getting a big part in the Christmas play.
An old pickup truck pulled in front of the barn with over one hundred folding chairs for the audience to sit. Benny and Billie Port jumped out and began hauling the chairs to where Derry told them to set up, right in front of the staged manger. It was all coming together in a beautiful way, and those who worked to make this pageant happen were excited at what they had produced.
On Christmas Eve, people pushed into the Mace’s barn, surpassing the hundred they had expected. There were no longer any chairs to sit on, and people stood behind those who were seated and along the sides of the stage.
“Excellent turnout.” Pastor Dan said, clapping Derry on the back. He felt a surge of pride in all his family had accomplished. The music started with five students in the Senior High band. A flute, clarinet, trumpet, drums, and an old piano he’d taken out of the parlor, moving it on a track he’d built with several wooden boards to get it out here.
The lights went off with only the star shining. The effect was breathtaking. Brenda Lee played “Away in a Manger,” joined by the other instruments, and the church congregation hummed along as Joseph, leading a donkey with Mary and the baby seated upon its back, came in, taking their places. Little Lynette, wrapped in swaddling clothes, was placed in the manger on a soft blanket, unaware that she was the star of the show.
Pastor Dan read from the scripture about how Joseph didn’t find a room at the inn. A spotlight shone on the Star of Wonder when the animals were marched in and held by shepherds, followed by the three wisemen and the gifts they bore, while the congregation sang songs about wisemen, shepherds, and angels.
In the last scene, the littlest angel carried a large, white, pillared candle, coming up to put it on a shelf by the cradle when she tripped over the loose extension cord, extinguishing the Star of Wonder, the only source of light. Her candle fell into the hay and started the barn on fire. Even though Larry tried to stamp out the flames, his Joseph costume still burned brightly. Soon, the fire was beyond control. The people in folding chairs screamed as they fled the barn. Some of the local volunteer fire department members tried to pull people out until the barn became fully engulfed.
The newspapers carried the story the next day. “On Christmas Eve 1942, the town of Prairie lost over a dozen citizens and several farm animals during a Christmas Pageant to a fire. Those lost included Derry Mace, Larry Able, and his two daughters, Laney and little Lynette; Pastor Dan Herd; Benny and Billie Port, who played the Shepherds along with their cousin Tomas Feldman. The three wisemen played by Gary Portman, Alan Ledding, and Noel Cadman, musicians, Brenda Lee, pianist, Andrew Cull, trumpet, Tammy Weinstein, drums, Annabelle Kehller, flutist, Nancy Pepperdine, clarinetist, and the little angel, Nancy Ann Patton, along with several farm animals. The barn was a total loss due to an overturned candle.”
The town was devastated, and for fifty years, there was no pageant. However, when Clara Dunworthy became the new church Choir Director, she felt they needed to revive the play as her grandmother had originally written it.
Derry Mace’s son, Andy, who had since rebuilt the barn years ago, agreed to host the church Christmas play with the stipulation that there would be no candles or flames of any sort.
There was a mixture of excitement and trepidation as those who had lost loved ones in that first Christmas pageant were reliving that fateful night, but this time it would be without the danger of fire.
The main characters in the play stayed back at the church to do one more rehearsal while the congregation gathered at the Mace’s barn. A new and improved star had been hung, and everything seemed perfect.
After practicing, the actors came outside to the bus headed for the barn to perform. And as if the night couldn’t be more perfect, it started to snow. Bert Hasselbeck called the actors to board the bus, took the head count, and they started for Mace’s farm, hoping to make a better memory of this night.
Bert did his best to navigate the slippery corner, but the bus went off the road into the ditch. The actors scrambled out and began pushing the vehicle to get it back on the road.
***
“They’re late, where are they?” Whispers went through the congregation who waited for the performers in the darkened barn. Outside, the snow came down in swirls like a snow globe, and everyone was worried until a young girl seated herself at the piano with her music sheets and began to play. Soon, the other musicians joined in. The crowd sighed, and the Star of Wonder lit up. Pastor Al read a bible verse about there being no room at the inn.
Joseph came in, leading Mary on the back of a donkey, and she was holding a baby, which she placed in the manger, on a soft blanket. The congregation sang, “Away in a Manger.” Then, to the song “Shepherd’s Watched their Flocks by Night,” the animals were paraded in with three shepherds. In the song “We Three Kings,” the Wisemen came in bearing gifts. At long last, the littlest angel came in with a candle and put it on a table near the manger, and they all sang “Silent Night.”
The congregation stood and applauded the beautiful pageant that night, when the bus’s tooting horn announced the arrival of the actors. They rushed out to see a dirty church bus letting the actors out.
“We made it! Sorry, we were late.” Bert Hesselbeck assisted everyone off the bus.
“How can that be? We just watched the play,” said Andy Mace.
“That’s impossible. We were stuck in a ditch,” Pastor Al said. They rushed back inside, watching the scene disappear. One by one, ghostly actors were leaving the stage until it was empty.
“It was them, the ghosts of Christmas past. They performed for you tonight when we couldn’t get here.” Pastor Al whispered, not believing what his eyes told him. “They’ve been waiting for fifty years to finish that play, and tonight, at long last, they did.”
The End
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