The Catholic Writers Guild

The Nativity Set

A mother is saddened when vandals attack the family’s ceramic nativity set. Her son Gianni, decides to save the day. It contains a project for children to work on with the help of their parents.

San Francisco, 1980s

He knew what was going on and why they had to live in a dilapidated Victorian in the Haight. Things were always breaking down. Uncle Mario had lived in a house next door but he was dead, only to leave his precious ceramic (polystone) nativity set, which his mother kept in a run down garage. This was all because his father was a deadbeat and left the family. That is why they were poor and had to take the bus to school.

So it happened just as he told his mother it would. Some vandals had come to the house a few days before Christmas when the nativity set was on the porch and broke it apart. His mother cried. He told her it wasn’t safe to put it there. It was a risk. Now it was a disaster. Even though he was 10, he was the man in the family so he would fix it.

Tuesday school was out so he was going then. So he prepared his pack. It had $57 from his paper route and he figured they could deliver it to the house. A nice new ceramic nativity set.

Then his sister, Tina aged 6, came along.  “What’cha doing?”  He said “I’m going to get Mom a nice new nativity set.”  She said “Where?” and he said “Kmart.” She said “Can I come, too?” and he said, “no, I am taking my bike and you can’t ride.”  She said “I WANT TO COME, TOO!”

He said “How’re you gonna come when you can’t ride?” She said, “I WANT TO COME!” Now she could tattle, and his mother wouldn’t want him to go by himself. He said, “Can you walk several miles?” He had a map and had plotted out the route to go. She said yes, and so he was resigned; they would go together.

So he checked and made sure she went to the bathroom and he brought some water bottles in his pack. They started out. She was pretty good, but after 3 miles or so, she said “I have to rest.” He said “OK.”  They did and they had some water, then they continued. Finally, they arrived at Kmart. There were clothes and school supplies and some poster boards. There were some nativity sets but not life sized like theirs. It was useless and it was time to walk home. It was getting dark, and then Tina said “I’m too tired and I have to go to the bathroom.” He had to go also. Now what? he thought. 

In the store, there were phones and bathrooms. They went to the bathroom. He approached a clerk and said, “Hi, we need to call our mother.”  The clerk said “Sure,”  so they did, but she was not home. They waited awhile, then the manager came out and said “We are closing, you have to go home.” He wanted to yell at him, but then Tina started to cry. He said “It’s ok Tina, we will figure this out.” So the manager saw this and said, “Well, you can come home with us, and wait at our house until she comes home.” So they got into his Toyota. It was a nice car with a smooth ride.

So they got to the manager’s home in the North Beach section of San Francisco. It looked to Gianni like a mansion. Inside it seemed opulent and cozy. A fire was burning in the fireplace, the couches had attractive upholstery, and there was even a chandelier. The dining room table was set with delicious looking spaghetti and drinks. The manager said, “I guess you can sit on the couch.” So they did.  Then the manager said, “Would you like something to eat? They said yes, and they were treated to the most delicious spaghetti and chicken. Before they knew it, they were asleep. The next morning they woke up in comfortable beds.  A nice looking professional woman knocked on the door. She said, “I can drive you home.” 

Gianni thought it was a good opportunity to get some information.  “Hi, do you know of any place here that we could buy some polystone figures for a nativity set?” She said, “Yes, I do, I can take you there today after my husband comes home from work.” It turned out that this man was not just any manager: he was the head honcho of all the Kmarts in San Francisco.

Gianni said “Great!”

Then Gianni thought of something.  “We have to call our mother.  She will be worried about us.”  So she directed them to the phone.  Their mother was so happy and relieved to hear from them!  “I am so happy you two are safe! Have them drive you home as soon as possible!”  Gianni said “We have to do something first, it is part of this op.”

After breakfast, the two kids loaded up in the car. The wife drove them to the store she meant. It was called Precious Stones. It was a grand store with many beautiful, life-size statues. There were generals, saints, even the parts of a nativity set. The one thing wrong was that the prices were more than $57. They were $325, $450, $500, etc. The two children’s faces fell. They were never going to get this nativity set together! Tina cried and got her hair all mussed up. The manager’s wife said kindly, “What do you want to do, now?”

Gianni thought about it. He had an idea that made him tingle with excitement. “Let’s go back to Kmart but first I have to look at an encyclopedia!!” He was bouncing up and down in the car all the way there. He went to the poster board area and selected a poster board that was 30“ by 32”. He had in his mind the picture from the encyclopedia of the Virgin Mary, kneeling. There were other figures to consider too:  St Joseph and the shepherds, the Angel, and the three kings which have to share one picture. He got a poster board for each one. He also got some crayons, the 64 piece set. Tina said, “What are you doing?” He said, “You’ll see, and you can even help.”

School was still out for another day, so the manager’s wife let them work in her living room. Gianni went into the garage and found some supplies that his uncle had kept there. They were a heavy wood lumber measuring about 3 feet long, a few inches wide, and some duct tape.  He used the duct tape to tape the poster board onto the piece of lumber in several places. Then he got a pencil and started drawing the figure of Mary on the main part of the poster board. He did this for all the figures. His sister picked colors that matched the encyclopedia article. So after drawing, they colored and colored, blue and red for Mary, the angel was white but you had to make the folds in her gown with brown. The three kings had green and red. The animals were brown and gray.  Tina was a trooper, she didn’t cry. Finally, they were done. The manager came home and said, “That looks spectacular!” The wife said, “We had better take them home now.” It was dark by now. And it was Christmas Eve.

After the manager’s wife drove them home, he and his wife helped the children put the figures in the living room. They worked very quietly so the mother would not wake up. Tina and Gianni were so tired, they tried to get to their rooms. In fact, Gianni dreamed he was in his room sleeping. He dreamed that the three Kings came to him and said “Come with us.” He went with them in a dark and silent desert. The stars were shining bright above. He saw a manger flooded with light. Mary was tending to the baby. The scene was filled with peace and light. Then a voice said to him, “It’s time to go back.” and he woke up. 

He was on the floor in the living room and so was Tina. She woke up about the time he did. They didn’t do anything for a while, just waited.  Finally, Gianni said, “Let’s get up and make Mom breakfast.” He got up and scrambled some eggs. Tina said, “What should I do?” He said “Make the toast.” Finally, the mother came down and they both said cheerfully, “MERRY CHRISTMAS, MOM!” 

Their mom was startled, but then said “Merry Christmas!” Her eyes were shining as she looked around and saw the colored figures. “Thank you so much, kids!”

Like he said, Gianni was the man of the house. He saw that a job had to be done, and he did it. So for the rest of Christmas, he relaxed with his family.

 

© Copyright 2023 by Cecile Bianco

Featured Image: Image by Hans Rohmann from Pixabay