I thought it was just another boring day trudging around the village; after all they never used me for any important jobs.
“You’re too small and weak,” the other donkeys would say and they would laugh and call me Silly Little Donkey. Huh!
But that morning one of the humans (a male I think) came into the yard and surprisingly he didn’t choose any of the big bullies, instead he walked straight over to me and put my bridle on.
“Wow! I’ve never been chosen for anything before.”
The human loaded up my panniers then helped a female to climb up – she looked very young, not much more than a foal I would say.
We set off Southwards, I heard the male say it was about 100 miles journey (and I thought we were just going to market!).
We trudged slowly along for several days and I learnt that my humans were called Mary and Joseph. Mary rode on my back all the time and we had to have lots of rests. Joseph looked after her very well and he was kind to me too. He would pat me and give me oats.
“There you are, Little Donkey,” he would say. Nobody had ever been kind to me before, and because I didn’t have to fight the bigger donkeys for food I felt strong and fit. I could have carried her a thousand miles!
After many days and nights of travel we arrived at a big town. It was complete chaos! I was so scared, people were rushing around everywhere! Joseph led me to every inn in town trying to find somewhere to stay but no one could help. During that time I realised that Mary was going to have a baby, poor thing. I thought that we would have to stay outside all night but finally a kind old innkeeper said we could use his stable for shelter.
”Nothing wrong with that,” I thought, “stables are nice places, warm, cosy and friendly."
We settled down for the night. Joseph made Mary a soft bed of straw and the animals gathered protectively around her. In the middle of the night Mary’s boy child was born. It was quite extraordinary for this baby seemed special in a way. He didn’t cry, he didn’t sleep but lay there silently as we gazed at him. The stable was filled with a beautiful light and a feeling of deep peace.
After a few hours there was a bit of a kerfuffle outside and a load of shaggy shepherds trooped in. They were all really excited and I heard them talking about angels and heavenly music but when they saw the child they fell to their knees and were silent.
The light in the stable grew brighter and brighter until it was so bright that we all had to shield our eyes and then the glorious music began. We saw blazing figures of silver and gold with flames of colour surrounding them. I felt scared and fell to my knees and touched my muzzle to the floor in worship. Mary smiled at me and somehow I couldn’t be scared because there was a beautiful warm sensation running through me. I knew this was the start of something amazing.
During the next few days many people came to look at the new born child who had been named Jesus. Then one night some very important men came to the stable, they had camels, servants and carried gifts of great treasure.
All three men knelt down and placed their gifts before Mary and her baby.
“Hail” said one “We have been led here by a star to see the new born king.”
Wow! A king! I knew he was someone special.
That night an angel from heaven came and spoke to Joseph, he said
“Joseph, I have a message from God, you must leave Bethlehem immediately because King Herod, an evil man, is scared that Jesus will take his throne. He has ordered that all baby boys must be killed. Flee at once; you will be safe in Egypt.”
I was terrified, but Joseph spoke calmly to me.
“Little donkey, are you strong enough to carry Mary and her baby 200 miles – all the way to Egypt?”
That very night we set off South West towards Egypt. We travelled by night and during the day we stayed with friendly people or hid in caves. Everyone was terrified by Herod’s law and they helped us when they could.
One night we were hiding in a windswept cave and couldn’t get warm, though I tried to shelter them with my body the baby started crying. A spider in the cave woke and asked me what was wrong.
“It’s so cold” I said “and we are hiding from soldiers who want to kill the baby.”
“Don’t worry,” said the spider. “I’ll help.”
I didn’t think he could do much but he started spinning his web. All night he worked and worked and by the morning a web covered the mouth of the cave. Suddenly we saw soldiers coming and we cowered down in the back of the cave. But when the chief soldier saw the web across the cave opening, he said, “No-one’s been in here for a long time. Look there’s a spider’s web right across the entrance,” and the soldiers moved on.
What a relief! I reckon that hard working little spider saved our baby’s life!
When we finally got to Egypt I was tired but proud and I was even more proud when Joseph patted me and said, “Well done little donkey. Will you stay with us and help us in this new land?”
I bowed my head; I knew I had played a big part in this wonderful adventure.
I maybe a little donkey but I can do big things!
Who knows one day someone might even write a song about me. They could call it 'Little Donkey'.
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