The Path of Stars and Angels

Chapter 3

It was evening, and Neriah sat back against the house wall. His stomach was full from dinner. The rest of his family were either reclining like he was or still finishing their meal. Over the noise of everyone talking and eating, Neriah thought he heard a strange sound come from outside the house. Without excusing himself, he slipped outside to check it out. He could not see what it was in the fading light, but everything seemed fine, so he returned to the house.

"What's going on?" said his father when Neriah sat back down in his spot.

"Nothing," said Neriah. "Thought I heard something." His father gave a shrug and returned his attention to his food.

"Think you heard one of those angels again?" said Neriah's younger brother, Zadok. This got a laugh out of a few of the family, and Neriah's cheeks blushed. "No," he said, looking down and trying to be invisible.

"But you wanted to," said Zadok with wide eyes like he was trying to see into Neriah's thoughts. Neriah blushed again as more laughter rang out.

Immediately after the event, several shepherds told many people who marvelled at the news. However, things died down after a while and more and more people refused to listen. Most people would just laugh when told now.

At first, Neriah had come back excited to tell the news. Seeing angels like this was something straight out of the Scriptures. Something that did not happen much anymore. Neriah was sure this was the birth of the Messiah and had been eager to tell his family and friends. Unfortunately, none of them had believed him. At first, it was just a simple disbelief, but as Caleb had pressed the issue, Zadok, especially, had started to mock him for it.

Neriah's older brother, Caleb, had also been in the field and had come to see the baby. Initially, Caleb was as enthusiastic about it as Neriah was, but as the mocking started, Caleb's enthusiasm had waned. When Neriah looked at Caleb for support, his brother did not help him but laughed along with Zadok's jokes.

It did not help that the rest of the Shepherds who had been there that night stopped talking about it. The oldest, Ezra, had denied the event from the beginning, and most others had followed his lead and shut up. Neriah was the last one who would still talk about it occasionally. Only this time, he had not brought it up at all. He had not even been thinking about it. He had gone outside because he had really heard something. Not angels singing. Just a random noise.

It did not help that Neriah had spent hours sometimes at night staring up at the sky. Trying to remember the angels' song and hoping to see one fly across the sky. He thought he did one night. However, it did not go over with his family. Many of them saw him as a crazy person.

Neriah was angry this kept being brought up. "Fine," he said. "I saw what I saw. Even if Caleb and the rest aren't going to tell the truth about it. I saw the angels. I saw the Messiah. And the rest of you missed him."

Everyone went silent now and stopped eating except for Zadok. "He'll just get killed like the rest of them." 'Messiahs' had a habit of appearing every few years and then getting killed.

A few people snickered but stopped as Neriah's father looked at them sternly. Then, his father turned to Neriah. "I know you think you saw something," he said, holding his hand up as Neriah tried to say something. "No, quiet, please. You too, Zadok," he turned to Zadok. "Stop antagonizing your brother. He didn't bring it up this time." Then, looking back to Neriah. "You have said what you saw, and that is fine. But it is tough to believe it. So please don't bring it up again."

It took a moment for Neriah to respond. "Ok," he finally said. The meal resumed quietly, and Neriah slipped out of the house again, not because of a noise this time, but because he wanted to be alone. The stars were out now, but none were moving. Neriah wondered if he would ever see angels again.