Chapter 6 – Advent’s Way to the House of Bread: Adventures Along the Way to Meet Mother!
- Beata
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
Adventures Along the Way to Meet Mother! - Advent’s Way to the House of Bread
From afar, the sun glinted off the stone walls of the houses of Nazareth. Most of them were low but wide, with adjoining terraces. The main road was even and clean. Along it grew all kinds of plants forming hedges, stretching in every direction and separating one property from another.
Suddenly, from a dense hedge, a dog leapt out—medium-sized, with short light-brown fur and a black muzzle, resembling today’s shepherd dogs that guard flocks or farms. It barked loudly but was not dangerous; it only wanted to check who was passing by. Gabi jumped in surprise, and Marcel stepped forward toward her to protect her. There was no need—already the dog was running on along the thick green myrtle bushes.
As it tried to return to the other side, a small light-brown snake—typical of the Galilean hills—slid lazily across the path, disappearing into the shade of the grass on the opposite side.
It caused a shiver of excitement in the children and indifference in the rest of the travellers. They knew it posed no real danger and understood what the dog had been chasing—probably intrigued by movement at such an early hour, it had run out from one of the houses with an adjoining garden.
Such gardens practically surrounded every home. Beautiful gardens, rich with vegetables, herbs, flowers, grapevines, olive trees, and other plants, were the wealth of this land. There was no shortage of strange-looking cacti either. Various birds, finding shelter in the treetops, sang and broke the silence of the morning with beautiful music.
The children’s senses, unaccustomed to such sights, were stirred by unfamiliar stimuli. Gabi, casting a jealous glance at the empty baskets on the donkeys, would have been overjoyed if someone had placed her into one of them. Instead, she only sighed to Marcel, “It’s a pity we don’t have bicycles.”
“If you were riding a bicycle, you wouldn’t be able to gather so many flowers. Maybe that’s enough—you’ll start losing them along the way,” he replied teasingly.
“Watch out! A frog!” Gabi jumped with a grimace on her face.
“Where?” she asked in surprise.
“Hahaa! The snake ate it,” the boy joked, bending down to hand his sister a few twigs that had fallen from her hands.
“Don’t worry, I won’t lose them. These are flowers for Mom. Mom likes flowers, and there are so many different ones here compared to our fields. She will know that I am thinking about her and missing her,” Gabi replied.
In the center of the town, the rest of the group headed toward the noise coming from various directions. There they could find the market area—something like our own superstore or neighbourhood deli. Noemi pointed the children toward a side path along cactus hedges and winding lanes of packed sand.
“We’re close now. Just two more turns, and we’ll reach the edge of the town,” she whispered, her voice changed and slightly trembling.
Gabi thought of her mom and began hopping forward more quickly. She could hardly wait to meet her mother in this exotic place. She missed her so much, as if ages had passed.
Soon they reached a small house at the foot of a hill. An olive grove and a garden overflowing with flowers adjoined it. The children sighed with delight and, for a moment, could not move. Noemi did not move either. What had made her so awestruck?
Do you want to find out? The answer will probably come in the next chapter of Advent’s Way to the House of Bread. What do you think? You don’t know?
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