When Sandra woke up next morning she lay in bed for some time, thinking.  “It was really true”, she thought.  “God has sent the one that He promised.”  It was a long time ago, but last night she felt that she was right there.  Even now it seemed as if it happened just yesterday, not many, many years before.  How exciting!

She decided she had to find out more about him.  But how?

“Are you awake yet, Sandra?”  Her mother didn’t approve of people sleeping in.  She was an “early to bed, early to rise” type of person.  So was her father.

“Coming Mum,” Sandra called, and quickly dressed and combed her hair. As she climbed up onto her chair at the end of the big table in the kitchen she said, “I was just wondering how I can find out more after what happened last night.”

“You are always just wondering, but it is time now to wonder about your breakfast,” her mother said smiling.  “Don’t be too long, I need to go out soon.”

Sandra ate her breakfast thoughtfully.  Her mother had made a very nice breakfast as usual, but she always seemed too busy to wonder about things.  “Why were grown-ups like that?” Sandra wondered.  She took her dishes over to the sink and went back to her room.

How could she find out more?  What happened next, after the boy was born?  Was everybody as happy as the shepherds were?  Did they make him a King and give him and his parents a palace to live in?

Her mother was going out, and her father had already gone, so Sandra had to find out by herself. 

“I know what to do!” she thought, and jumping up she went into her father’s room where he kept all his books.  She was allowed in there, but she knew she had to be very careful not to break or tear anything.

There were a lot of books, all in rows on the shelves, and hardly any had pictures.  They were quite thick and seemed to be very old, with small writing that was too hard to understand.

She looked carefully along at each one, hoping to see one that might help.  Then she saw it.  It was a thick heavy old book, but the back part said, “Illustrated… something … something”.  So very carefully, using both hands, she took the book out and carried it to the lounge room and over to her favourite chair by the fire (even though the fire was not lit).  It was quite heavy, but sitting up with the book in her lap, she was able to open it and slowly turn the pages.

The writing was not very small in this book but still it was hard to understand.  Sandra smiled.  “Who cares about all that writing anyway when there are pictures!”  Every few pages, sometimes after lots of pages, there was a picture that took up the whole page.  They were not in colour; they were more like drawings, but much better drawings than Sandra could do, or any of her friends at school, or even her teacher.  She looked closely at each picture and then turned over the pages, searching for one of the baby that was born in the stable.

It took a long time.  There were pictures of gardens and cities and even a flood.  There were pictures of kings, and soldiers and battles.  There were pictures of men and of women and one of lots of snakes.  But where was the baby?

Finally she found it!  There was a picture of a baby lying on straw with a cow and a sheep looking at him and with his parents as well.  She looked very closely at all the picture, not wanting to miss anything.  There were more sheep in the background, and another cow as well.  There were also some men standing there.  “They must be the shepherds,” she thought, “Although they don’t look very happy.  But what happened after that?”

Slowly she turned the page.  No pictures.  She turned another page, then another, then another.

At last!  This picture was of some old and very wise looking men who were visiting the family.  But they were not just talking to the grown-ups like most visitors do.  They were giving gifts to the baby. 

Each gift looked very valuable.  One looked like a small treasure chest – maybe it had jewels or gold in it.  Sandra could not tell what the other things were that they were holding out, but they all looked very nice.

“I wish I was there,” she thought.  “I would bring a gift too, and I would bring something very, very special, just for him.”

“These men will probably take the baby and his parents to a palace now.  They should”, she said out loud, in a bossy sort of voice, “Because God has sent him – he is very important.”

And then she thought again, “What very special present would I take if I was there?  Maybe I could give him my pink Unicorn!  No, he is a boy; he might not like a pink one.”

Sandra thought for a long time but she couldn’t decide what to give.

“Sandra, come and have a look at this,” her mother called as she came into the kitchen.

Sandra put the book down carefully on the table, still open at the picture of the men and their presents, and ran into the kitchen.  Her mother had been shopping and had bought some lovely new ribbons.

“Let me put these in your hair and we will see how pretty you look,” her mother said as she opened the packets and took out the new ribbons.

“Mum,” said Sandra as her hair was being pulled this way and that, “What would be the most special thing that you could give to a baby, that the baby would really like?”

“The most special thing?  Hmmm.  I think I know.  Don’t you know Sandra?” her mother asked, teasing her just a little.

“No, I’ve been wondering about it all the time you were out.  Tell me, please,” she said, a bit impatiently.

“Well, what’s the best thing you have that you can always give away and never run out of?” said her mother, making the question seem like a riddle.

“Mum, tell me, please,” pleaded Sandra, who could not think when she was excited.  “What is it?”

Then suddenly Sandra shouted, “I know!  My hair!  It will grow again so it will never run out.”

Her mother laughed.  “Well, your hair is very lovely.  And it would grow again.  But I don’t think a baby would know what to do with your hair…  No, no, not hair, my sweet.  The very best thing you can give a baby is love.”

Sandra was looking at her new ribbons in the mirror.  “Well, that’s easy,” she thought.  “I already love him.  So I will keep on loving him, and then love him more.”

She skipped back to the lounge room and sat down with the big book.

“Listen, you men,” she said to the picture, “Your presents are very nice, but there is something better than all of them.  If I was there…”

But she didn’t finish her talk to the men, because as she was speaking she turned over the page and saw something terrible.

“Oh no!” she said, “What’s this?”

Just when she thought everything would be all right because those men had come to visit the baby, on the next page she saw a picture of angry soldiers and mothers running away carrying their babies and crying.  The soldiers wanted to catch and kill all the babies!

What was happening?  Why were they so angry?  Where was the baby boy?  Would they kill him too?  Why didn’t they love him?

So many questions came into Sandra’s mind and she wanted to find out the answers.

Just then she heard a familiar voice calling, “Hello Sandra, are you there?”

“Monika!  I’m in here.  And I need to talk to you right now.”