Editor's Note: I love my readers! Many of their comments are spot on and bring up aspects of a subject that I haven't even thought of. How much they enrich the experience of blogging. I'm so thankful for them. One sent me a short story he was assigned once in a class (in 1991). Students were told to write an original piece about Christmas. I was so impressed with what he sent, I asked to reprint it. I know you will be as taken with the elderly scribe, Josiam, as I was. He makes me think of Simeon in his excitement over the coming of the Messiah. Because of its length, I'm publishing this in two parts. Part 1 is your St. Nicholas Day gift. It may be late in the evening, but it's still that dear saint's feast day. May you enjoy this little gift as much as I did.
THE SCRIBE
THE LEGEND OF JOSIAM
by Thomas J. Walsh
Chapter I
“Josiam, you had best come quickly!” Enos called to the elderly scribe, who was sitting hunched over with his nose nearly touching the tiny wooden desk. “King Herod demands that we attend to him in his court at once.”
