The Drummer Boy Read online

  Two doors opened, then a third. The street came alive with rhythmic beating. Some had drums, others used pots, others garbage cans, and still others struck windows and walls.

  Grinning wide in giddy delight, Daniel stood in the middle of the street leading the orchestra in this announcement of the Christ child’s birth. He began to sing clear and strong for them all to hear, “Come, they told me, Pa rum pum pum pum; A newborn King to see, Pa rum pum pum pum.”

  And then an amazing thing happened. Someone on the adjacent street joined in. The City had been debating this song for three days now, and it seemed that the call to join had somehow become irresistible.

  Daniel could see them more than hear them— dozens, maybe hundreds of people beating out the cadence. Pa rum pum pum pum.

  He sang the song again, hardly able to contain himself. For a moment, and only a moment, he stopped playing. What greeted his ears nearly took his breath away. A dull thunder rose from the skyline in almost perfect unison:

  Pa rum pum pum pum. Pa rum pum pum pum.

  Hundreds, thousands, maybe a hundred thousand, maybe the whole City, pounding out a welcome for the king loud enough to wake the dead!

  And they had, Daniel thought. They had awakened Christmas from the dead.

  Daniel threw his head back, beat on his drum, and began to sing again at the top of his lungs.

  “Come, they told me, pa rum pum pum pum; A newborn King to see, pa rum pum pum pum!”

  For the first time in many, many years, the old remembered why they had once paid homage to this king called Jesus. And for the first time, countless children learned that there was a king deserving of such a thundering welcome on Christmas morning.

  The Little Drummer Boy had indeed played once more for Christ the king, but, more importantly, the king himself had come again, illuminating their minds and hearts in a time of total darkness.

  THE END

  MORE FROM THE MIND OF TED DEKKER . . .

  If The Drummer Boy touched your heart, you’ll also love The Promise, Ted Dekker’s Christmas tale about a mute boy who clings to the hope that one day a King will give him a voice.

  With more than a million novels sold and several number one bestsellers, Ted Dekker is known for mind–bending, adrenaline–laced thrillers, including:

  SHOWDOWN

  A black-cloaked man arrives at the sleepy town of Paradise with the power to grant any unfulfilled dream. He is irresistible. Seems like bliss…but is it? Or is all hell about to break loose in Paradise?

  OBSESSED

  As a man frantically pursues his family’s lost legacy, someone pursues him—someone equally obsessed with the prize. Looks like the man most obsessed will gain everything. And the loser will lose all.

  HOUSE

  WITH COAUTHOR FRANK PERETTI

  In a killer’s game, the only way to win is to lose and the only way out is in. One game, seven players, three rules.

  Visit TedDekker.com to discover more.