He noticed the missing sidewalk before anything, but eventually realized the park, houses, the stoplights, and in fact all the lights of his neighborhood were just...gone. Well, all the lights, that is, except for the fires he saw in the distance. Little campfires, seemingly unattended in the distance. Being 15 and out past dark wasn't out of the question for him, but these questions he had and the fact that he no longer could see his, or any other, house for miles was a little worrisome for him. So, he decided that since he couldn't find his house, he might as well search for some answers. He decided to proceed to the nearest campfire to see if he could get any answer about what had happened.
He turned to walk towards the closest campfire, which was about what would normally be about 3 blocks, he noticed that without lights and houses, nothing looked right, or at least nothing looked like it used to, like he wasn't even in his hometown anymore. Even as the thought was entering his mind, he could hear movement off to the right of the campfire he was aiming at. The movement seemed like pounding earth. He was preparing to run away when his eye caught sight of something small and... fluffy? Like a cottonball with legs and a face. He trotted over to see this thing, this creature. Within a few steps, this creature was simply a sheep, well, a whole pen full of them, maybe a dozen or so. The sheep were not interested in him at all, though they might have been if they could see him. But they didn't. Their eyes, along with their hearts, seemed to be fixed ahead of them. He could see it too, torches bouncing in the distance, connected only to disembodied arms, because of the surrounding darkness.
The arms actually were connected to men who were walking with some excitement away from the sheep pen and headed into a group of smaller buildings that could have been a town, not the boy's, but still a town. Maybe the group knew what was happening, or maybe they knew more than he did, and he was really hoping for answers. He started to sprint, then quickly changed his mind because he worried that he would frighten the group or that they might not be welcoming to some kid running towards them in the dark.
He approached the small group to ask if they knew why everything got dark so quickly, or if they might know where all the houses, lights, park and others went. It was then that he noticed something else that was strange, as if there weren't enough strange things at this moment. These men were wearing ancient-looking robes and had a traditional shepherd's staff from the first century. He thought this had to be some sort of trick or possibly a group headed to a dress-up party in that town down the way. While this was running through his mind, and he was running up to them, they noticed him. They must have thought something about him was strange to them, but almost at once the look disappeared, and they started asking him questions before he could get to his own.
One asked, "Please, you must know where the child is!" Oh, maybe this was a search party for a lost child... Just then another asked, "Are you here to tell us about more signs? More than a child in the feeding trough, wrapped in swaddling cloths. Which remind us all of the flatbread without the typical starter to make it rise or puff-up during the Passover meal, and that we heard about in temple. The first Passover, the dough was carried in kneading troughs, wrapped in cloths, and carried on shoulders."
The boy just stared blankly. Are they talking about Jesus? Are they doing a reenactment of the first Christmas? It wasn't even near Christmas! He was just about to ask them his first question when another of the men commented, "You must be here to tell us something else! Why else are you here?!" All the boy could do was realize he wasn't in his hometown anymore, but His, the very night He was born. Not sure how, not sure why, but he was here. So, he simply pointed toward the town, the little town, and they ran with all their might as they left the boy standing there, just wondering about all he saw and what it could possibly mean.
After the group had departed, the boy decided sitting was a better option. Less likely a chance of him passing out or vomiting, which he was sure would happen any moment now. As he started to sit, he thought if he were to lose any lunch, maybe being on his knees would be a better option. The moment his knees touched dirt, the brightest light he'd ever seen came into his field of vision. As he looked up to see where the light was coming from, he realized it was from this man standing directly in front of him. Too terrified to speak, the boy simply bowed his head, more like a duck-and-cover position.
With a voice as sweet as sugar, but as powerful as the churning of many waterfalls, said simply, "No need to scream, nor fear!" And then said, "Rise." So he did, with some difficulty, while staring at a lighted fellow. His knees didn't know the meaning of stillness, as they attempted to support his full weight. The boy's eyes teared up, without really knowing the reason. The missing house, lights..hometown, weren't the real reasons, though they played a part. Something deeper within felt like he was seeing something that he felt he missed, but also felt he never knew, not really. It was a flavor of missing something or someone one has never known.
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