From Roa de Duero, Pilar Martín Bouzas gives us this beautiful gift in the form of a story for the night of the Three Kings, with our pets Fina and Barry as the main characters, accompanied by a tender little bird, Toc, who chirps as he pleases through the Ribera del Duero. Fantastic reading for the little ones on a night like tonight, when magic and illusion flood our homes. Thank you very much Pilar!

Story “A single wish for Epiphany” by Pilar Martín Bouzas

Mr. Oak, the wisest tree in the countryside, has been chosen to make with his wood the barrels where the wine will sleep for a long time. He knows so many stories that his branches are always full of birds to listen to him. He will surely be missed, but Roble is proud to have been chosen, among hundreds of brothers, to occupy an important place in the history of wine.

A bird that lives among its branches – named Toc – must seek shelter elsewhere. It perches on a vine whose shoots are almost bare; as it is winter, its leaves have fallen and only small bunches of grapes that were left unharvested during the harvest, as if they were earrings, hang there, as if they had not ripened.

He begins to fly aimlessly, until he discovers a cellar in the middle of a vineyard. Smoke is coming out of the chimney. It is very cold. The bird perches at a window and discovers a huge Christmas tree in a secluded room, with no decorations on it. A little girl is sitting on a cushion. She is cleaning her worn boots. Even though they have holes in the toe, she goes over them again and again with her brush, in the same place, until they are shiny. He places them next to the tree. When he has finished, he takes a sheet of paper and cuts out many circles with the scissors, which he then binds together with a thread and hangs on the branches.

Toc is touched by the scene, although he doesn’t understand the girl’s joy, as there are no lights, no balls, nothing… The letter to the Three Wise Men is also lying on the table, unmailed.

For a while now, -Fina-, a beautiful figure that is part of a painting hanging on the wall, made up of precious grapes in the shape of a bunch, has been watching him. She comes down from the painting, approaches the window and says:

-The child can’t be left without presents! The Three Wise Men are coming tonight and they don’t have the letter!

-I can’t think of a solution,” says Toc, “If only Mr. Oak were here…!

– You don’t by any chance mean Barry! He’s been living with us for some time in the lower part of the cellar. It’s a barrel made of oak where the juice of my grapes rests, when they go from solid to liquid. When everyone leaves, I usually go downstairs to listen to his stories at night. Let’s go and tell him!

They come down slowly. Toc is holding on to Fina’s beak, who guides him down the long corridors.

Toc finds it hard to recognise his kite-like friend, but his voice is unmistakable. Fina tells Barry about the problem they are having upstairs. After several minutes of discussion, they come up with a plan:

-It will be dark soon. Without anyone seeing him, Toc will carry the letter in his beak to the royal pages and the matter will be settled,” says Fina.

-You forget, dear friend, that Toc is not a night bird. He can’t fly at night,” says Barry.

-Well, it will take me a long time to get there, for my steps are short and slow,” says Fina.

-All right, I’ll go,” says Barry. I’ll slide down the slope and start rolling as fast as I can. But you’ll have to push me!

Toc and Fina, making a terrible effort, threw Barry down the slope. In the blink of an eye, he was out of sight.

Fina went out with Toc and they collected several bunches of grapes, which they hung on the tree. The spiders spun a marvellous web and put it on top. The sparks from the fire in the fireplace lit up the room. It was a beautiful sight. Barry came puffing in… It was one thing to come down the hill, but to go up it, with all the weight he had put on…!

They all retired to rest. Toc looked for a hole by the fireplace, and Fina settled herself in the box on the wall. Barry reached the cellar. Hundreds of barrels were waiting for him and applauded his feat. Overjoyed, he began to tell the story of the girl who cleaned his boots…. He began to yawn. He was so tired that soon his snoring could be heard.

It has become daylight. The little girl opens the door and discovers under the tree, that where once there were worn boots now occupy their place, shiny new ones. Her eyes fill with tears, her wish has come true, her feet will never be cold again!

Fina smiles from the painting on the wall and Toc flies out of the window, to go somewhere else.

The girl puts on her new boots and goes downstairs. She looks for Barry. She hugs him and places a soft kiss on his belly as she whispers:

– Thank you for being my Royal Messenger!

Pilar Martín Bouzas (Anguix, Burgos, 1968), -based in Roa de Duero-, who works in administration, has been writing for several years and is the author of numerous stories on different subjects. She won second prize in the “VI Certamen de escritura rápida” (Ávila, 2017) and first prize in the III Concurso de microrrelatos “¿Y tú, por qué lees?” (Roa de Duero-Burgos, 2016).

Several of her works, submitted to literary competitions, have been selected to form part of her anthology books. Apart from her short stories, she writes stories for children and participates in collective readings in libraries and schools.

Thank you very much Pilar! We also got a great gift with your story…