The Gray-Cloaked Stranger

         Maggie's eyes snapped open as she felt the warmth suddenly flow through her body. The last thing she'd remembered before passing out from hypothermia was the gray-cloaked figure coming towards her...the figure that now loomed above her, touching her forehead gently and chanting under her breath.
         "Are you all right?" asked the figure - woman, now that Maggie was getting a good look at her.
         "I..." said Maggie. "I remember being lost here in the Corkani Woods during the white-out, seperated from my family. I passed out...I was so tired and cold..."
         "You need some tea," said the woman. "I am Zathra, by the way. Zathra of the Shaddai people."
         "Margaret Elionel," said Maggie. "But friends call me Maggie." Then, she remembered her manners. "Thank you for saving me-"
         "Do not concern yourself," said Zathra, gathering wood into a pile and holding her hand over it.
         "Pyriati!" she cried, and suddenly, the wood ignited into a roaring fire. From under her cloak, she brought a pot and some tea leaves, filling the pot with snow. When she had enough, she dropped the tea leaves in the pot, and then turned to Maggie.
         "Why are you here in the woods?" she asked roughly, but not unkindly.
         "I was with my family, searching for a Christmas tree," said Maggie. "I got separated from them when the snow started to fly, and I thought I could just walk out the storm. I was wrong."
         "'Christmas'?" asked Zathra curiously. "What is 'Christmas'?"
         "It's a holiday my people celebrate this time of year. Usually we celebrate by giving gifts, helping people who need it, and praying to our God that the next year will be good."
         "And what would you have done with the tree once you had it?"
         "We would put it indoors and decorate it in lights and ornaments. It's an old tradition, I don't know where it comes from."
         "How strange," said Zathra. "Why put a tree in the dwelling when you can look outside and see as many as you wish?"
         "You know, I never thought about that," said Maggie. "But you actually showed what we call the 'Christmas spirit' when you saved me from dying of cold."
         "I only help another in the way I would be helped if it were myself in your situation," said Zathra. "But it is good that you are grateful."
         Just then, a voice cried out, "I found some tracks! She might be over here!"
         Maggie turned in the direction of the voice, singing out,
         "I'm over here, I'm all right!" Then she turned back to find that Zathra had vanished, as if into thin air. She'd left no tracks to follow, and even the tea-pot was gone. Maggie was amazed. How was that possible?
         Just then, the Search and Rescue people came in and tended to her. Maggie got up from the ground, brushed the snow off herself, and went over to them. What was Zathra? Her mind playing tricks on her? Or was she an angel? Maggie didn't think she'd ever know...or that she really wanted to know anyhow.