Josh and the Mystical Magi

Chapter 1

Out of all the legends told in every culture all across the world, the Christmas legend of the Magi is one of the most amazing. You know, the story of the three wise men, or Magi, who were kings from the Orient. They followed the star of Bethlehem which led them to where Jesus was born, and they gave him gifts befitting a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When I was younger, I never quite figured out what the heck frankincense and myrrh were, but gold I could understand. I wish I had received a big pot of gold when I was born!

There was more to the Magi story, about them meeting this bad Roman guy, Herod the Great, king of Judea, appointed by Ceaser himself in an attempt to pacify any rebellions to Roman rule. And the Magi barely escaped getting double-crossed and arrested by that madman. But other than that, the Magi deliver their gifts, worship the baby Jesus, then they depart out of the land and are never heard of again. It's a pretty cool story in and of itself, but what's even more amazing is that I found myself right in the middle of it. Literally right in middle of it.

But let me back up a bit, and I'll try to make this all make sense. My name is Josh, and I'm just a regular teenage kid, living in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Well, actually I live in Maryland on the beach of the Chesapeake Bay in a town called Chesapeake Beach. It's a fairly quiet town about an hour drive from the Capitol Building in DC. You may have seen it if you saw the movie Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. I've only lived here for the last few years, and before here I lived in Pennsylvania, not far from a town called Bethlehem. That's where I grew up, so the Christmas story was almost a part of my daily existence, I guess you could say. Then my dad got a job working for NASA in DC, so we all moved to Chesapeake Beach -- my mom and dad, my older sister Emily, younger sister Abby, and my little brother Ben.

Our best friends are the Palmers, and we hang out with them practically every day. They live just around the corner from us and go to our same church with us. The Palmers have three kids close in age to us: Katie, Bryce, and Adam. Katie is good friends with Emily and Abby, and Abby has a crush on Bryce, and Adam is Ben's best friend. Last Christmas, both families decided to go up to New York City together for a few days, and see all the sights, do a bunch of Christmas shopping, and of course go see the big Christmas show with the Rockettes at Radio City Hall. When we left Chesapeake Beach on that chilly December morning, I never knew that when I returned, my life would never be the same again.