They took a deep breath of amazement, and no-one spoke.
The Moon seemed to come down lower into the garden as if she, too, wanted to hear Uncle’s story.
The Stars stopped their twinkling as they looked at each other in astonishment. They certainly must hear this wonderful story, they decided, and they crowded together to listen.
Joel looked up and saw them.
‘Look!’ he laughed delightedly as he pointed to the night sky. ‘The Stars have made a pathway to your Angel, Uncle Henry. A Milky Way, I wonder if he is listening too!’
The owls; Rufus and Raffles; and Billy stared fascinated as the Stars again twinkled and shone in their pathway of beauty.
‘What a Birthday Party’ squeaked Timmy, the tiniest owl. ‘I’m glad I wasn’t born next year.’
A great hoot of laughter went up from all the owls.
‘Well, I would have missed all this, wouldn’t I?’ he tried to explain.
‘We know exactly what you mean’ chuckled Uncle Henry kindly. ‘And we are all very glad you are here too.’
This pleased Timmy, and he fluttered his tiny feathers happily.
Uncle Henry shuffled a little to make sure he was comfortable, then asked ‘Are we all ready?’
The Moon; the Stars; and all Uncle’s party guests seemed to nod ‘We are ready’ so Uncle Henry took a deep breath and began:- ‘I saw an Angel; I saw a Miracle; and I saw Peter - in Jerusalem!’ Uncle paused as another gasp of astonishment was heard, and his deep rumbling chuckle echoed round the garden as Timmy squeaked
‘You never told us you had been to Jerusalem, Uncle Henry.’
Dozens of large unblinking eyes were glowing in the moonlight as they gazed at this most amazing of Uncles.
‘I know’ he agreed. ‘I was waiting for a special occasion, and I think tonight has been a very special time, don’t you?’
Oh, yes! A very special evening indeed. No-one could remember an evening quite like this one before.
‘I had flown to Jerusalem to visit my brother .....’
‘The one who lives on the Mount of Olives?’ interrupted Joel.
‘And who saw Jesus being taken away to be crucified?’ asked Keren.
‘The very one’ Uncle nodded his head sadly. This time he hadn’t minded the interruption as he knew how much the story in the Garden of Gethsemane meant to the children.
‘Yes, I was visiting my brother, Ethan, and he told me how King Herod had killed James, one of Jesus’ disciples, and had captured Peter.’
‘Would you like to see him?’ Ethan asked me.
‘Oh, yes’ I answered.
‘A few of us go every evening to cheer him up as he is in chains which must be very uncomfortable’ Ethan told me.
‘Ooh!’ Timmy’s quiet voice sounded very distressed as he looked at his little feet imagining them in chains. ‘In chains. How awful.’
‘Did you see the chains, Uncle?’ asked Keren.
‘I certainly did. A number of us flew to the prison, and, as I peeped through an opening in the wall, I saw Peter sitting on the floor, chained between two soldiers.’
‘There are sixteen soldiers guarding Peter, night and day’ Ethan explained.
‘And last night we woke them up by screeching through the opening’ my nephew told me. ‘They were not very pleased!’
Again the owls hooted with laughter. ‘Ha ha, fancy waking the guards! What fun!’
‘Did Peter mind being woken?’ asked Keren.
‘No! He seemed to know what his friends were doing, and he just laughed’ Uncle assured her.
‘I called to Peter, and he saw me and tried to wave his hands, but the chains rattled, and the soldiers told him to be quiet. One of Ethan’s friends shouted to Peter that we would come again tomorrow night, and I think Peter understood because he smiled. I think his guards understood too, because one of them shouted at us and threw a mug.’
‘Did he hit any of you?’ asked a concerned Keren.
Again Uncle chuckled. ‘No, he missed, which made him angrier than ever.’
The garden seemed to rock with laughter. The branches of the trees were shaking; the leaves were dancing; Billy hopped up and down twittering noisily; Rufus and Raffles rolled on the grass barking and laughing; the Moon almost turned the garden into day, she shone so brightly; the Stars twinkled radiantly - and was that the sound of an Angel laughing as he, too, remembered the story? I wonder!
When the sound of their laughter disappeared into the stillness of the woods, Uncle said ‘I was glad I had seen Peter, and I decided I would join the others when they visited the Prison the following evening - and I was so pleased I did.’
Uncle paused. ‘Do you know why?’ he asked.
‘Because you saw the Angel!’ the young ones shouted.
‘That’s right! When we arrived at the Prison and peeped through the opening we saw that Peter and his guards were fast asleep so we decided to fly around for a while, and return later. We didn’t go far, and as we were coming back we noticed a bright light in Peter’s cell.’
‘Why have they lit so many candles?’ I heard my nephew ask.’
‘We had no idea!’
‘Then ...... then as we looked into the cell We Saw An Angel! He was standing beside Peter.’
Uncle gazed into the distance for a while as the memory of that scene filled him again with wonder.
‘I saw the Angel of the Lord wake Peter’ he almost whispered. ‘Get up quickly, Peter’ I heard him say. And the chains fell off! What a noise they made as they clattered to the floor.’
‘Did ........ ‘ began Joel.
‘No’ Uncle answered his unspoken question. ‘No, the guards did not wake up. The Angel had put them into a deep, deep sleep. Then the Angel told Peter to get fully dressed, and not forget his shoes, and I saw them walk through the door which, up until then, had been closed and locked. We then flew quickly round to the iron gate leading to the City, and the gate opened for them.’
‘All by itself?’ asked Timmy.
Uncle smiled. ‘Yes, Timmy, all by itself, and not one guard saw them! They began to walk down the street and we followed them wondering what would happen next, and do you know what happened?’
They all shook their heads. No! No-one had any idea.
‘When they reached the end of the street’ Uncle explained ‘The Angel suddenly disappeared!’
They were all quiet as they thought of this new wonder. It was almost too much to take in. Miracle after Miracle!
‘Peter was delighted’ Uncle continued after a while ‘And he went immediately to Mary’s house - the mother of John Mark. Ethan had told me that many people had been meeting there to pray for Peter ever since his capture. But ......... ‘ and Uncle gave his deep chuckle. ‘When Peter knocked on the door, Rhoda, the servant girl, was so delighted that she didn’t open the door for him! She just ran back into the house shouting ‘Peter is here. Peter is at the door.’ ‘We could hear her quite clearly.’
Once more everyone hooted with laughter, until Joel asked ‘What happened then, Uncle?’
‘Oh, they let him in eventually. But he had to knock for quite a while’ Uncle chuckled.
‘This is the best and most laughterful story I’ve ever heard’ announced Timmy.
‘Laughterful!’ giggled Keren. ‘There’s no such word.’
‘Well there should be’ insisted Timmy, and everyone laughed again.
‘I’m glad you’ve all enjoyed my birthday party’ said Uncle Henry at last. ‘I hope you will all come again next year.’
And as the Moon covered her face with a cloud to hide a tired, but happy, yawn; and the Stars began to blink sleepily, Uncle’s guests thanked him for a wonderful evening and promised him, and each other, that they would all be there next year for another Happy Birthday Party in the garden in the woods.
Elizabeth Aynsley ©

Acts 12 vs. 1 - 17.