The Virgin Beatrice

Beatrice adored the Christmas lights that covered gingerbread like houses in her home town. The neighbors who lived across the street had a plastic nativity scene in their front lawn and kept it plugged in all night.

She laid in her bed and stared at her neighbor’s decorations and wondered if that whole scene ever really did take place in Bethlehem.

Beatrice loved to read. She read everything she could get her eyes on although she never bothered to read the Bible. While looking out upon the glowing manger scene from her bed she decided to do the research and read about the story of Christmas.

Everyone in the house was sleeping so Beatrice tip toed down the carpeted hallway to the living room where she pulled out the family Bible from a bookshelf at the very end of a row of Encyclopedia Britannicas.

She carried the dusty book back to her bedroom and pulled back the curtains on the windows to permit more of the nativity light in her room so she could read comfortably without disturbing her little brother Charlie, asleep on the top bunk with visions of sugar plumbs dancing in his head.

She didn’t even know where to begin searching in that thick book to find the part where it tells a story about wise men and sheep that followed a star to find the baby Jesus who supposedly was born in a barn.

So Beatrice simply placed her fingernail midway through the book and opened up to a chapter called Esther. She read a few numbered paragraphs that told a confusing story about a woman wanting to be queen and Esther realized this was not the place in the book.

Then the thought crossed her mind. Let’s give this a little test she said to herself. She closed the book and her eyes and said a prayer, "God, if you are there, show me the story of the manger scene."

When she opened the book again she started reading a story about a woman drawing water from a well and Jesus asked her for some to drink. Beatrice got her first hot flash while reading that story. She never thought about boys like that, but something about the way the story was written made Beatrice thirst for more of the plot.

Finally after juggling though thin tissue like pages she came across a chapter called Mark where the confusingly written passages told of wise men from the East who gave gifts of gold and other things to a baby who was born to a virgin.

Beatrice then felt the Holy Spirt move upon her, just like it had Mary.

"Oh no, I’m a virgin too. God’s going to impregnate me with another one of his kids." she thought as she closed the book, curled up into the fetal position and grabbed her pillow as she felt a warm tingling sensation all over her body.