Vincent-McWilliams: A Christmas Carol

Chapter Three: The Ghost of Christmas Past

The two girls couldn't sleep. Pippa just lay in her bed while Maddie paced around, trying to think of a good explanation as to what happened. The two shared a room as most siblings do. Pippa was weird about being alone at night so that's another reason why they share a room. The clock outside chimed so Pippa looked at her pocket watch to see it had turned 1 o'clock. The room started to creak as the clock continued to chime.

But nothing happened so Maddie walked toward her bed. That was until the room started to shake and a large crack started to form from the ceiling, to the wall, and to the only mirror in the room. The crack shone the color of an orange flame as a little light came out of it. The light formed a wick and then a giant wax candle underneath. A ball of glass shards circled it, showing people that were in Maddie and Pippa's past life.

It soon picked a drawing of someone Pippa made years ago. The wax formed into the girl in the drawing. She has short hair, a pair of wax wings, a sailor's shirt that showed off her shoulders, a corset around her waist, a knee-length skirt with a belt that had small bags on it, sailor trousers, and a pair of private boots. Her colors were supposed to be mainly blue but, being made of wax, she looked more orange. This was Pippa Pirate.

An old character Pippa created of the person she wanted to be. But, to save any confusion, she will be called Pirate for this part of the story. Pippa got out of bed and touched her shoulder but she wouldn't move. The flame above Pirate's head burst, making Pippa fall back to Maddie who was on the floor. Pirate looked at herself in the mirror before seeing the two girls on the floor.

"Oh, hello," Pirate said turning to them, "It's Vincent and McWilliams, isn't it? Yes, that's the one, Vincent and McWilliams. What funny names. Are you quite comfortable down there, Vincent and McWilliams?"

"Uh, well..." Pippa stood up, helping Maddie up too, "Never mind that. Who, or what, are you? And it's 'Miss McWilliams' and 'Creator' if you please."

"Well, Miss McWilliams-and-Creator-if-you-please, who am I? I can be anyone you have ever known. I can even be one of you two!"

Pirate transformed into Pippa first and started to mock her in this form. She then turned into Maddie and mocked her.

"You were not told of my coming?" Pirate asked, still impersonating Maddie but the two girls were just confused, "No? No matter. You have nothing to fear from me. After all, your welfares are my business."

"Miss, to be disturbed at this hour is hardly conducive to our welfare," Maddie told the wax version of herself

"Your redemption, then," Pirate corrected, turning back into herself, and then into Kimberly "You see, some old friend of yours asked me to illuminate a thing or two for you. I..."

"Illuminate what, exactly?" Pippa asked, interrupting

Pirate transformed back into herself, annoyed, "I was getting to that. You are an impatient one, aren't you?" Pirate transformed into Rachel, "I will show you the past. Christmas past. Specifically, your Christmas past."

Pirate looked at herself in the mirror and screamed at her appearance. She turned back into herself, preferring this angel form.

"I've gone mad," Pippa said knowing it was bound to happen someday.

"Mad, you say?" Pirate asked

"Kimberly and Rachel floating in our sitting room. Faces etched in frost. Whispers in the wind. A blizzard indoors. Now you, a talking waxwork with a wick for brains. My dreams are never this... exciting. And none of this can be real. So, yes, I must be awake, but quite insane."

"Well, I may have wick for brains, but I do think I'm real. Here," Pirate slapped Pippa, hard

Chewy growled at Pirate for doing that but she told him to shush.

"Do you want a go?" Pirate asked Maddie

"No, I'm fine," Maddie said already believing

"There, did that feel real?" Pirate asked Pippa

"I-I suppose it did," Pippa said, "It hurt too!"

Pirate chuckled, "Yes, the past can hurt. Especially you two's. But it can also heal if you learn from it. Now, come with me."

"Absolutely not. I refuse to go anywhere..."

Maddie was interrupted when Pirate made a ring of fire around them. The floor turned into glass, showing off galaxies and stars. Pirate clapped her hands and the floor disappeared from under them, making the sisters fall into the void below. Pirate flew after them and Chewy jumped in too, following his masters. Among the galaxies and stars were giant cog wheels and shards of glass showing the past.

As the sisters fell, they turned younger and younger until they had become babies again. But they went back to their usual selves just as they made it to the past. The sisters landed face-first into the snow-covered pavement below them while Pirate landed down safely. They got up from the snow, confused but Pippa fell back into the snow when Chewy landed on her. She shoved him off her and got back up from the snow. Pirate apologised for what happened as going so far back in the past does take its toll.

Pippa was confused as to what Pirate meant by 'back' and looked at her pocket watch. The hands were spinning fast as the past caught up with them. To prove that the past hadn't yet caught up, a man pushing a wheelbarrow was walking backward. Singing backward too. Maddie even saw that the snow was falling upwards instead of down. But soon the past stopped going back and started going forwards.

Pippa's watch had started ticking normally, the snow fell down, and the man they saw walking past was walking forwards, singing a Christmas song. The girls looked around and started to recognise the area. But it brought back many memories. In front of them was the building where the two first worked: A Shoe Polish factory. Pippa would later see it gat knocked down once the place had closed for good. She thought it would crush the terrible memories of the days working there. And it almost worked.