Buz, the Fox

You see, it might have happened this way: Once upon a time, about two thousand years ago, there were foxes who dwelt in the hill country and plains around Bethlehem. They followed, at a safe distance, of course, the flocks of sheep that shepherds led here and there to find tasty grass for them to eat. You see, the foxes felt that mutton was a first-rate meal, next only to field mice in tastiness.

One of those foxes was a small fellow named Buz. That word came to mean “someone who is looked down on by his brothers” because that’s exactly the way it was. His brothers looked down on Little Buz and scoffed at him. In fact, he was called Buz the Scruffy One. He was smaller than most other foxes and his tail, instead of being a proud, fluffy plume, was a sad little wisp of fur.

And, while most foxes had a regal coat of lovely red, white, and black, Buz had a coat that was skimpy and sort of dull red. Because of his small size and scruffy looks, the other foxes (who were bullies) picked on Buz. You’d think maybe this would have made Buz try to keep on the good side of those other foxes but it did the opposite.

Buz just became more sly and sneaky than any of them. To get even with their bullying, he would play tricks on them, like tying their tails together while they slept and then yelling, “Earthquake!” Buz laughed about that for a week. I’m sure you’ll understand that Buz was somewhat of a loner. He avoided his brothers and they, in turn, avoided him as much as possible.

So it was that one night, Buz was skulking around a herd of sheep, sniffing here, scurrying there, trying to find a shepherd who was asleep and a small lamb away from its mother. His stomach growled and he was about to give up and look for a different kind of meal when something happened that stopped Buz in his tracks.

An amazing light filled the whole sky. It couldn’t have been the sun. Sunrise was hours away. This light dazzled and hurt Buz’s eyes. Then, he heard a sound that woke the shepherds and the sheep. Buz crouched behind a rock and listened and watched. Many voices reached his ears. They were singing and shouting something all at the same time. They sounded happy and other-worldly too. Buz felt the fur along his neck stand straight up.

Some of the shepherds shielded their eyes. Some of them fell flat down on the ground. Then, as suddenly as it began, the sound stopped and the light faded. The shepherds began talking wildly to each other, pointing to the sky, then pointing toward Bethlehem, where moonlight danced off the tops of houses in the distance. All but one of the shepherds, who stayed to guard the sheep from the likes of such as Buz, hurried away toward Bethlehem.

Buz’s mouth watered. What an opportunity! Only one person to guard the whole flock of sheep! He could almost choose any fat lamb he wanted for supper. But, something stirred inside him. You see, in addition to all the other things that made up the little fox named Buz was a big helping of curiosity. He just had to know the answer to what he had seen and heard. The shepherds seemed to think they could find that answer in Bethlehem so that’s where he wanted to go.

(To be Continued)