Julien's Journal December 2016 (Volume 41, Number 12) | Page 37

DECEMBER 2016

been bowed against the night air, but suddenly she raised her
head, and their eyes met. Her gaze was so startling that Theresa
heard herself take a sharp, quick breath.
The woman’s eyes were deep brown pools of despair, but as
their stares locked, Theresa saw their strength. Yet there was
something else as well… It might have been pride, but the
woman’s meek, humble demeanor dismissed that possibility.
Theresa felt at once connected to that uncanny aura. Yes, it was
strength, but something more... what was it?
It’s as if she sees right through me. As if she can see something...
greater.
Self-consciously, Theresa dropped her eyes, focusing once
more on the man.
“I’m sorry,” she said before he could even begin. “My inn is
full.”
“Please,” he implored. “We have traveled far. My wife is with
child, she is weary. We need shelter for the night. Please, let
us in.”
Theresa shook her head. “I understand. Believe me, I would
gladly welcome you, but there is no room. So many others have
also traveled far…” She trailed off, wishing she had not answered
the door. Somehow these two were harder to turn away than the
rest had been.
“Then only for my wife!” the man insisted. “Is there room for
one alone?”

“No. I am sorry, but there is nothing for even one.” She moved
to shut the door, but the man, in desperation, barred her way
with his stick.
“I beg you, do not send us away! We cannot go on.”
Shutting her eyes, Theresa willed herself to be strong. “I am
sorry, but you cannot stay. I have no room.”
The man looked ready to protest again, but seemed to give in.
He nodded once. “Thank you,” he said, and the true gratitude
in his tone twisted Theresa’s heart.
He turned to his wife. “Are you yet well, Mary?”
Mary. The name reverberated in Theresa’s mind, inscribing
itself upon her memory. She would recall it years later, as an old
woman, when her sons, now grown and gone, returned home
with shameful faces to tell the tale of a s Friday in Jerusalem.
But for now, those realizations were years away. Now, there
was only the shadows, the light breeze, the woman’s eyes – and
no room at the