In December 2012 Seamus was visited by Father Christmouse.

After a wee bit of whiskey he told Seamus a wonderful Christmas story:

Dormouse and the Star

‘In his hibernation hole, deep in the ground, at the Great Hungarian Plain, Dormouse lay tossing and turning in his tiny bed. Tiny, yes indeed: tiny and grey he was, this little Dormouse and fairly old too. As every year he had left his nest in the tree in the orchard of Farm Lator for his hibernation hole. Normally he would sleep here all winter until the next spring. But this winter it was different. Perhaps because he had met Dark Horse on a lovely summer’s day. She was young and bold and after a difficult start (of which I will tell you some other time), because she was rather big and daunting for such a little mouse, they had become friends and had been roaming the Great Plain together all season. At dawn and dusk that was, for Dormice are creatures of the night, but Dark Horses usually go to sleep when it gets dark. But they had found some sort of equilibrium and had had a lot of fun...

So when winter came Dormouse had gone to his hibernation hole as usual, but he did not sleep as sound as he used to. He was restless. He had even set up a tiny Christmas tree in the hole. Although he knew he would, or actually should be asleep most of the time. Now and again he opened an eye and peeked at the tree and wondered. He knew there was something wrong with it. He knew he had forgotten something. But what? There were multi-coloured glass baubles, shining crystal birds and butterflies, gold and silver tinsel garlands, tiny candles... But still, there WAS something missing... So there he lay, tossing and turning, night after night until it was Christmas Eve... And then, suddenly it dawned to him: the Star! He ‘d always had a star in top of his Christmas tree! But where was it? He hadn’t seen it in years...

Frantically he searched the whole hole, until everything was turned upside down: the cupboards where he kept his food supplies for the winter, the chest with his pyjamas and his night caps, and even his secret place under the floor boards where he kept a nice supply of the finest single malt whiskey... But nowhere, nowhere was his old star to be found...

So, there was nothing else left than to climb all the way up to the surface to get himself a new one. And so he did. It took him quite a while because a thick layer of fresh snow had covered the entrance of the hibernation hole and he had to dig himself a way out... And so, for the first time in his life he stood there, in midwinter on the Great Plain, in the middle of the night. His little pink toes were freezing! But how beautiful it was! The snow twinkled in the moonlight, the stars were high up in the velvet black sky. Why did he ever go to sleep in the winter? he wondered. But when he started to walk over the white blanket, with it’s strange blue shadows, he shivered and soon realised a Dormouse wasn’t really suited for the winter time...

But in spite of the cold he was determined to find himself a new star and up he went. Yes: up! Up to the Bükk Mountains, because everybody knew stars were only to be found on the tops of pine trees. And these do not grow on the Great Plain... He doggedly trotted through the deep snow for many hours and passed into the forest a the mountains feet. It got darker and darker and soon he lost all sense of direction. But then, lo and behold! He saw a spark of light in the dense forest and yes: there it was: a wonderful, large crystal star, right on top of a tall pine tree, glistening in the moonlight. Happily Dormouse jumped into the tree. Since Dormice are excellent climbers he soon reached the top and set himself next to the star, on a small branch.

Fascinated Dormouse looked into the glittering, faceted surface. How brilliant it was! To his surprise he saw his own tiny little face mirrored a thousandfold in it’s intricate crystal patterns. And colours, many bright and wonderful colours, and stars and all the treetops of the whole forest and all stars in heaven and the moonlight and everything a little Dormouse could imagine! As if in trance he slowly dreamed away and fell asleep, tired and happy, clutching the star in his tiny pink claws...’

Father Christmouse paused.
‘And then, Father Christmouse, then what happened?’, Seamus asked impatiently.
‘Well my boy, this Mouse could use another wee drop of whiskey...’ Father Christmouse said, chuckling in his beard. Seamus poured him a good shot and, smacking his lips, Father Christmouse continued...
‘And then Dormouse fell down of course! Holding on to the star he crashed through the snow-laden branches and landed right on top of... Dark Horse!’
‘Huh! What was Dark Horse doing under that tree, Father Christmouse?!’
‘Well, as everyone knows she loves walking in the snow. Especially in the dead of night when all is quiet and dark. When the snow is still fresh and crispy and its crystals crackle so nicely under her hooves. So she was roaming the Great Plain on Christmas Eve and saw Dormouse’s tiny footprints in the snow and followed them, high up into the mountains.

‘Hi Dormouse’, she exclaimed happily, as he bounced off her large, broad black back and landed upside down in the snow. ‘What are you doing here?’
Dormouse scrambled up with as much dignity as he could master, while Dark Horse blew the snow from his fur with her large black nose.
‘I was looking for a star to put on top of my Christmas tree’, Dormouse explained.
‘And, did you find it?, Dark Horse asked, as she warmed the shivering mouse with her steaming breath.
‘Yes, but I think it shattered when I fell out of the tree.’
‘Oh, I see. I’m so sorry for you Dormouse. Let’s go home. It’s far too cold for you to be out here. I’m sure you will find another star’, Dark Horse said and she enthusiastically started to run around in circles around the little Dormouse, as she always did.
But Dormouse looked at her in wonder. Dark Horse’s black skin was strewn with hundreds of tiny stars! The shards of the big star must have sprinkled all over her...
‘Dark Horse, you are so beautiful!’, he squeaked, trying to make himself heard over her thundering hooves.
‘Dark Horse!’, Dormouse cried again, ‘you are clad in stars! You look like..., like a walking night sky!’
Dark Horse stopped dead.
‘I did not know you were such a poet’, she said blushing (although that was a bit hard to see, her being black and all...) and turned her head to look at herself.
‘I can’t see it,’ she said disappointed. ‘Let’s go to the pond of Farm Lator. Perhaps I can see myself in there.’
She kneeled down in the snow and Dormouse climbed into her mane and onto her large, black back, as always.

And there they went through the forest and the deep snow, out into the Great Plain and into the Valley of Farm Lator. What a lovely sight that was: Dark Horse’s black skin covered with glistening crystal stars and the tiny grey Dormouse sitting on her back, it’s tiny head still covered with a patch of gleaming white snow...

As they reached the pond Dark Horse scraped away the snow from it’s frozen surface with her hooves and looked at herself in surprise.
‘Wow!’, she whispered, ‘what a wonderful Christmas dress! Thanks Dormouse!’
‘You’re welcome’, said Dormouse as he looked into the dark shining mirror of ice, and thought ‘Mmm, she is a darned pretty horse...’
‘Let’s go to the stable, where you can warm yourself in the fresh, dry hay in my manger,’ Dark Horse said, as she let Dormouse climb onto her back again.
‘If you promise that you will not accidentally eat me, I’ll be happy to join you,’ Dormouse replied.
‘I promise I’ll be careful’. And so they went to the stable.

And as Dark Horse stood eating there, sparkling like the Milky Way in the soft light of the stable lantern, Dormouse crept into a corner of the manger, where he even found some leftover oats... Nice and cosy it was. And they had the most wonderful Christmas dinner ever...’

‘Thanks Father Christmouse, for this wonderful story...’, Seamus said with a deep sigh. ‘Would you care for another drink?’
‘O yes, my boy. But just one for the road. I’ve got stories to tell elsewhere. But I’ll be back next year, I promise!’