O Holy Night

In an alley by the garbage, shivered a miserable-looking rocking horse next to a manger. He had a gray tuft for a mane and was missing one eye. Not so long ago, he had been loved by a boy in a fine mansion. Now that he was old and worn, the servants had cast him out. Large tears fell from his eyes as the rocking horse faced the alley wall, all alone, seven days before Christmas. "I am worthless," he muttered. "Who will want me now?' Shivering, he said a prayer that someone would take him off the street. "You are worthless with only one eye," said the servants who cast him away. The little rocking horse was not alone in his misery in a village of many shops and churches. On the other side of town, trudged an old fiddler. By an abandoned church, he had buried his last and most trusted of friends, his loyal dog. After many years together, the dog had died, leaving him quite alone. His loneliness felt colder than the fresh fallen snow. Once long ago, he had played in great cathedrals before kings and wealthy patrons, but now, he too, was blind in one eye and quite stooped with age. The old fiddler didn't complain, but at times his loneliness was more than he could bear. "When will I ever play again before kings?" he asked. He did not hear the carolers sing, O Holy Night...