#sorry for posting a christmastime story in october

[encantowishes]

(All my Encantober stories will be collected here.)

Encantober Day 7 - Donkey

Christmas Miracle

Pepa regarded the donkey, uncertain. The donkey regarded Pepa, unperturbed. Ordinarily, mounting the animal wouldn’t be a problem for her, tall and nimble as she was. At the moment, however …

“I don’t know why I was voted to play Maria,” she grumbled. “I didn’t even put my name in.”

“It is because you are the most radiant woman in all the Encanto, mi sol,” Félix assured her, taking her hand and smoothly kissing it.

For an instant, Pepa’s little cloud glowed with sunlight before dissipating, and it did look a lot like a nimbus, you had to admit.

“Also the most pregnant,” Bruno noted. “It adds gravitas.”

Pepa scowled at her brother. “You didn’t put my name in, did you?”

“No. I did think about starting a write-in campaign, ‘cause I thought it would be funny, but that would mean, y’know, talking to people. This wasn’t nepotism, it was all grassroots.”

Pepa’s suspicion did not fade. Naturally, unsociable Bruno would prefer to direct his own family members rather than anyone else in the village. As kids, Pepa had been his star stuntwoman and melodrama specialist. (Julieta had preferred behind the scenes tasks.)

“Bruno, I swear, if I go into labor during this show …”

“Everyone will say it was the most authentic Nativity play they’ve ever seen,” he insisted.

Félix laughed. “They’ll say our baby was born for the stage!”

Bruno’s eyes went wide as he succumbed to a sudden coughing fit. “Well, now. Wouldn’t that be something. Come on, Pepa, let’s get you up on Samson here.”

Félix gave Pepa a boost onto the animal’s back, while Bruno stood on the other side, ready to steady her if needed. Samson seemed to ignore all of them.

Then Bruno stepped a few paces back, scratching his beard as he appraised the scene before him. Pepa, costumed as Maria, seated upon a donkey, ready to ride into a stable in Bethlehem. Or at least onto a set that had been built in the plaza last week. He smiled. “You do look beautiful, hermana.”

Pepa caught her breath. She hadn’t seen him smile like that in so long. Suddenly, trying to ride a donkey and act despite expecting her second child to make their appearance in the world at any moment seemed worth it.

Pepa had once thought she understood her brother, them both having developed moodiness as teens. But hers had turned out to be a youthful discontent that she eventually outgrew. Bruno’s was a melancholy that ebbed and flowed, but overall grew worse with time. Worse and worse until his relationships began to deteriorate, and he spent long stretches  hardly ever coming out of his room. Even at the cost of disappointing his nieces, who he adored.

Padre Flores had mentioned that the Nativity play needed a director, and it had been Julieta’s idea to talk Bruno into it. Get him out of the house. Both sisters together were not enough to convince him, but Dolores (of course) had overheard, and recruited her cousins to lend their voices to the plea. Bruno couldn’t say no to them.

So now here they were. Pepa in costume on a donkey, looking down at her brother who was smiling like … like he meant it. Like he was happy to be here with her and with Félix. Happy to be taking part in the play.

Bruno clapped his hands together. “Beautiful! Everybody’s gonna love this. Oh!”

Pepa looked to see what had caught her brother’s attention. The children’s choir approached, Dolores and Isabela among them, all in costume. Bruno met them and knelt down to lay his hands on his nieces’ shoulders. “Look at you, my angels. And, and all of you angels. You all look great!”

Most of the children gave each other uncertain looks, but Dolores and Isabela beamed.

“Donkey!” This was Luisa, who broke away from her parents to run up the path and hug Samson’s foreleg. The animal sniffed curiously at her hair, but otherwise did not move.

Agustín waved. “Félix, the rest of the musicians have set up.”

“I’ll be right there.” Félix gave Pepa’s hand another kiss, assured her she would be magnificent, and was off.

Julieta, not quite as heavily pregnant as Pepa, walked over to the donkey and gently extracted Luisa. Looking up at her sister, she pursed her lips toward Bruno, who was now giving his vigorous approval to the recently-arrived three kings. 

“Never seen him so excited over a dress rehearsal,” Julieta said quietly. “Did you see the way he was smiling?”

“Yes.” It was all Pepa could say without letting tears loose. Seeing Bruno like that was like a little miracle.

The little miracle in Pepa’s belly kicked. “Hey, you,” she said. “Stay put until after Christmas.”

The baby listened. This time.

[starlightomatic]

1. Hi, sorry, just saw your "How to write Jewish characters" post, and, well, most people I'm around are Christian or atheist, and the others are at best acquaintances, (and I'm really white and they're very, very traditional Navajo), so if I could ask you a question, as a non- christian, I'd really appreciate it. How is using Yule, as a non- religion related winter holiday term, in terms of, like, inclusiveness and non- exclusionary language?

2. I know it’s linked to some Celtic traditions, but I always stutter and stumble over “happy holidays” (It’s the damned H ’s, I swear), so I’m hoping that a) I’m not being horribly offensive on accident, and b) that you either tell me Yule is fine, or c) you tell me something that is. Don’t quite remember if I already said this, or if I deleted this while formatting, but I dislike using merry christmas if I don’t know a person’s faith/belief/traditions, have since I grew up a little, so, yeah, hope this made sense, and wasn’t too awkward or accidentally offensive.

I’m guessing this is about real-life interactions rather than story-writing?  (If I’m wrong, send me another ask.)

When someone says “Yule,” I think of Christmas.  And even though it is more of a pagan tradition, I suppose, that’s just as foreign to Judaism as Christmas is, if that makes sense.

That said, I don’t really mind if someone who doesn’t know me wishes me a Merry Christmas around Christmastime.  I wouldn’t mind if someone wished me a Happy Yule either (in fact I’d probably be amused).  “Happy Holidays” is pretty much okay too, though I actually like it *less* than “Merry Christmas” because 

1. It’s kind of a cop-out of owning how Christianormative our society is, in that it sort of… pretends that it’s not?  Like, if there’s a display at a store that is full of Christmas imagery but says “Happy Holidays” it comes across as really stupid to me.  Like, I know it’s about Christmas, you know it’s about Christmas, just say it’s about Christmas.

2.  It implies that non-Christian holidays are just different version of Christmas, including being at the same time.  Like, if Chanukah is in late November/early December, and you wish me Happy Holidays a month later, what holiday are you actually referring to…?  Furthermore, our most important holidays aren’t even during the winter season, they’re in early/mid fall.

That said, I’m not going to get mad at anyone for wishing me well.

So if by now you’re wondering what you *can* do to make holiday greetings less Christianormative, here’s what!  

You can look up when non-Christian holidays are and wish people well based on those!  You can wish a Jew “Happy Chanukah” during Chanukah, for instance. Here’s a calendar of when Jewish holidays are in 2017: https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/2017

Even if you don’t look up the exact dates, be aware that our major holiday season is in September/October, so you can always wish a Jew “Happy Holidays” or “Shana Tova” (Happy New Year) then!  We might be a little surprised but we’ll appreciate it. :)