by Jon Moray

It was the Christmas season, and she made an important, crossroads, life-changing decision. She struggled with the tug-of-war issue that clawed at her when she first learned she was pregnant. She was too young to take on great responsibility, her friends warned her. She should live her life without being held down, others said. Voices to encourage her to welcome life fell silent. She felt alone, and so she would end the life of the child inside of her tomorrow, but tonight she decided to battle the brisk air and go for a walk in her subdivision to clear her head.

As she was ambling along, she noticed a lighted nativity seven houses down, but also noticed Baby Jesus was unlit. She saw an older couple working on stringed lights not far from the nativity. 

“Your Baby Jesus is unlit,” the young woman said.

“Oh, thank you,“ answered the lady. “We must fix it immediately.”

The lady tried to reach down for Baby Jesus, but her back ache would have none of it. The young woman saw her struggle and retrieved Baby Jesus for her, handing the item over as if it were a loaf of bread. The lady’s gentle approach to the handling of the plastic lawn figurine intrigued her as the lady wore a loving smile. “I must handle Baby Jesus with precious tenderness,” the lady added. When she was done fiddling with the light bulb, she asked the woman to replace it back in the nativity.

“Thank you, you are so kind,” answered the lady. The woman half-smiled and continued on her way. 

She walked a quarter mile further before the dropping temperature forced her into a U-turn and she headed back home. She approached the older couple’s home and saw Baby Jesus flickering. She looked around for the lady but figured she had gone inside. She began to walk home and looked behind to find the Jesus figure still struggling to light. In the spirit of Christmas, she decided to help the lady out and try to reset the light. She knelt before the Holy Family nativity, studied the countenances of Joseph and Mary, and felt the weight of the love in their faces. She then surveyed the peace on Jesus’ face as her eyes watered. She wasn’t looking for a sign that night but felt the miraculous work of the Lord present. She sniffed as she carefully readjusted the light bulb and attached it back to the figure. 

The date with destiny came the morning after and the young woman struggled through the most basic of the day’s preparations, from almost cutting the inside of her jaw brushing her teeth, to slipping in the shower and almost taking a header onto the tile floor had it not been for the towel rack to break her fall. She was a mess, trying hard to mask it and fooling no one. Her mom assured her it would be okay, with a nod as she headed out to the driveway to meet her brother, the chauffeur on her date with the fate of the child inside of her. 

Her brother approached the trip robotically, determined to follow the commands the GPS barked out. 

“Go the other way out of the loop,” the woman urged him, to avoid the neighbor’s nativity.

Her brother huffed and heeded her request, only to be forced into a U-turn because a moving van was blocking the street. The woman shook off the momentary inconvenience and was determined to avoid looking at the nativity only to side eye the scene as they passed by. Her brother got to the end of the loop and was about to turn left out onto the boulevard when he came to a screeching halt to avoid hitting the lady on her morning walk. The lady backed away and her momentum had her tripping backwards onto the sidewalk. The woman shot out of the car to assist her.

“Are you okay?” the woman gasped and helped the lady up by hand, noticing the warmth of her palms.

“I’ll be okay,” the lady assured and thanked the woman for fixing the light that illuminated Baby Jesus after she had already gone back inside. “I saw you out of my front living room window,” the lady whispered.

The woman re-entered the vehicle, and they drove off. “It’s a good thing we left extra early for your appointment, or else I would have to break some traffic laws to get you there on time,” her brother stated.

They motored onto the interstate and were smooth sailing until a vehicle pileup a few miles ahead stopped traffic in all lanes and in all directions. “It doesn’t matter how early we left, we are stuck, and it looks like we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

The two sat in traffic as the woman was tormented with her feelings. “It looks like you may have to reschedule,” her brother said flatly. 

Traffic finally cleared, but they were now more than an hour late for her appointment, so he turned the vehicle around and headed home as the sun gave way to night. 

They pulled onto their street and passed the neighbor’s nativity when the woman pleaded with her brother to stop the vehicle. 

“I’ll walk from here,” she informed him, with a return shrug as his reply. She got out of the vehicle and knelt before the nativity. Sniffles fighting back flowing tears followed as she mumbled under her breath, “Why won’t you stay lit, Baby Jesus?”

The lady approached and knelt beside the woman. “Child, you are tormented with a great struggle, yes?”

“The woman caved into the lady’s arms and conceded her attempt to hold back tears. “I think I am meant to keep my baby. I tried to get rid of it today but was met with obstacle after obstacle. After seeing the Baby Jesus unlit this final time…this is truly a sign from God to keep my baby.”

The lady cradled the woman in her arms, stroking her wavy hair. “You are not alone. I live close to you, and I will always be here to help you.”

The next night, the young woman decided to meet with friends to inform them of her life-giving decision, and as she drove off, she spied her neighbor’s nativity, with Baby Jesus glowing bright in the starry night.

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Jon Moray has been writing short stories for over a decade and his work has appeared in many online and print markets. When not working and being a devoted family man, he enjoys sports, music, the ocean, and SCI-FI/Fantasy media. Read more of his work at moraywrites.com.