A Christmas Carole's Closure

Ebenezer Scrooge sat at home in a regal chair pulled close to a lit fireplace. One year had passed since that fateful Christmas Eve. His mind was wandering as he held in his hands an envelope addressed from his former employee Bob Cratchit. Scrooge and Marley went out of business shortly after Scrooge hired an accountant to assist in repaying all who were harmed by the miser’s lending services. Although Scrooge had the funds to sustain the business, he no longer had the heart to maintain his former empire and wished to spend his time on more charitable ventures. Scrooge kindly provided for the Cratchit family until Mr. Cratchit was able to find new employment on the other side of town.

Although there was no ill will between the two, Scrooge was reluctant to open the envelope from Mr. Cratchit because it had been a few months since they last spoke. During their last exchange, Cratchit attempted to repay some of the money that Scrooge had lent his family during that year; however, Scrooge was not interested in seeing a dime. He was happy to see that his former employee was doing so well, and just wished the best for his family. Cratchit thanked Scrooge for all his kindness this past year, and revealed that he formerly thought Scrooge was incapable of such compassion. This came as no surprise to Scrooge, and he decided to take the remark as a compliment to his new outlook on life.

Before they said their goodbyes, Cratchit mentioned having seen Scrooge in the hospital the week before while taking his wife to see the doctor. Scrooge said that there was nothing to fear and that he was in good health. He had simply been to the hospital to deliver a sizeable donation in-person. Cratchit was relieved to hear that everything was alright and mentioned that his wife only had a small fever that was already improving. In fact, there was a flu travelling around during that time that most people were unable to avoid, but the symptoms were fairly mild and short-lived for anyone that happened to become infected.

After pondering over their previous meeting, Scrooge decided that there should be no reason to fret over the unexpected envelope and decided to open it. Upon tearing open the envelope with his family’s hand-crafted letter opener, Scrooge found that inside there was only a single photograph. The photograph was of the entire Cratchit family, including a Mrs. Cratchit who appeared to be pregnant with her seventh child. The photo brought a smile and tear to the old man’s face. More than anything, he wished he could share Christmas dinner with this loving family; however, Scrooge had other appointments this holiday season. Appointments which were fast approaching and impossible to cancel.

              Scrooge set aside the photograph, took a sip of his nighttime tea, and continued to gaze at the fire. The brightness of the flames and the heat of the fire stung his eyes. After giving them a thorough rub with his forefinger and thumb and blinking once or twice to refocus his sight, he gave a big yawn and decided it was soon time for bed. Scrooge had been putting off sleeping this Christmas Eve for far too long. He recalled the events of last Christmas Eve, and although the outcome was beneficial, recounting the terrors he experienced that night still sent shivers down his spine.

The dreams, if they were dreams, were so vivid that night, and he knew that tonight he would be visited again. Only this night, he would not be visited by three separate ghosts each showing him moments from his life. He would not wake up Christmas morning a changed man with a second chance at life. He knew, because of a brief dream he had three days earlier, what was in store for him tonight. In this dream, which occurred during a midday nap, he was revisited by the ghost that had previously shown him his future demise. He was looking down at the street below and saw the ghost across the street staring at his front door. Scrooge was unable to tear his face away from the ghost as his heartbeat began to hasten. Without any perceptible movement from the ghost, he realized that it was now staring directly into his eyes. The sudden change in perspective was too much for the old man whose chest began to tighten. Scrooge stumbled away from the window, clutched his chest, and collapsed on the floor. Before the pain could continue, Scrooge awoke from his nap on the floor with flustered cheeks and sweat on his neck and forehead.

Although brief, everything he needed to know about tonight was conveyed when he locked eyes with the ghost. Scrooge knew that tonight was the night that he would die. He would not live to see another Christmas morning. He sat in his chair and glanced over at the staircase that lead up to the bedroom, and an all too familiar feeling of miserable disgust welled up inside him.

              “Humbug.” He mumbled under his breath. “I’ve had only a year to live this new life, and now it comes to an end before it’s truly begun.”

              Scrooge turned back to the fireplace unwilling to crawl upstairs to his final resting place. He was sure he had only spent a moment recounting this dream, but he was lost in his thoughts much longer than he realized. The flames in the fireplace were now dying, but with a skilled poke, he was able to catch the final log ablaze. With the light once again illuminating the room, Scrooge picked up the photograph again. He began to scan each individual in the photograph, but stopped when his eyes reached the youngest child. Tim Cratchit, who had been suffering greatly this time last year, now appeared healthy and fit. In a year’s time, young Tim grew an extra foot in height. The drastic change was due to finally receiving the proper treatment and nourishment his body had previously been lacking.

              “This boy would be dead if it weren’t for me.” He said coldly.

              The wind howled outside as if to protest this selfish remark, but Scrooge knew it to be true. It was the events of last year that ensured him of this. His change of heart brought real goodness to the world. It was a crime to allow most of his life to bring ruin to others and only a small fraction of it to repair the damages. This unevenness irritated Scrooge, and he wondered what use a single year of good would do against his entire lifetime of terror. At this point, he may as well have just continued to live this past year the same as all the rest. If these ghosts were here to help, why did they not come sooner when it would have mattered more?

              As he sat there in silence, the room became colder. The fire was dying yet again, and his tea was now lukewarm. Scrooge's eyes began to droop as he continued to think about his dilemma. He really had hoped there would be more time. So much of his life had been wasted in hatred toward the world. Money had become his only love, and he had done nothing except hoard it for himself for all these years. Despite having given a substantial amount away to charities during this past year, he knew that he could still do so much more if he only had time. Instead, he would die here alone as the ghosts had previously predicted.

Suddenly, Scrooge jolted himself back from sleep. He nearly dozed off. He was not ready for his life to be over; not ready to face tonight’s final ghost. As he scanned the room, he realized that he dropped the photograph on the floor. As he leaned in his chair to pick it up by his feet, he noticed that the family had written a note on the back wishing him good tidings and a happy Christmas season.

“There will be no happy Christmas for me.” He said aloud in the empty and dimly lit room. “I’ve never had a happy Christmas.”

The lie hung in the air. He knew that this last statement was not true. In fact, it was only last year that he had the best Christmas of his life. A Christmas day that he did not deserve with the life he had chosen to live. In fact, with the Christmas photo he just bent over to retrieve and the nephew that would invite him to Christmas dinner every year, he realized that there were now more people in his life that loved him than there had ever been. Scrooge knew that previously, others only thought of him as the butt of a joke, but now he had people who genuinely wished him well during the Christmas season. Although he still wished that he could have just one more Christmas, he was consoled by the fact that he had at least one good Christmas in his life. He wished to continue making up for the horrible life he had lived, but his time was coming to an end.

              “I’ve received more love in my life than I deserve,” He realized, “and for that I am grateful.”

Scrooge's thoughts were then interrupted by the soft and sweet sound of carolers singing Silent Night just outside. The wind had died down just enough to allow their words to echo clearly through the street. The sound comforted the old man who decided to stop getting lost in his own mind and enjoy this last Christmas Eve. His instinct throughout most of his life was to make every moment as pessimistic as possible, but he knew that this last year was only as wonderful as it had been because of his newfound ability to see the light amidst the darkness. Therefore, he decided to close his eyes, breath deeply, and allow the music to bring him ever closer to sleep.

              At this moment, Scrooge was as ready as one could be for life’s final journey. If nothing else, he could be grateful for at least one good year of his life. He was grateful that there were now a few people in his life that would miss him once he passed. At this point, rather than make his way upstairs, he decided to get as comfortable as he could in his chair as the last log in the fireplace turned to embers. His tea, now too cold to enjoy, would be left unfinished. He fell asleep holding the photograph of the Cratchit family near his heart. Scrooge did not live to tell the tale of the ghost that visited him that night, but those that found him the next day say he appeared to pass calmly and peacefully in the night.