A Phantom Christmas Carol - *Phantom of the Opera*

Chapter Eight

A/N: for the video - this was done when we I was given more than 10 minutes for a vid- as a result, both the last scene with Christine, the new scene of this story, and a little of the next is shown in the vid. Not only has the vid story caught up- it has surpassed the written. lol - asterisks (*) are unspoken thoughts - color text are when two or more people are talking, to differentiate between them.  As always, video story is a bit different from written, with a few little surprises to make it more fun. ;-) (deep breath) - here we go - clips from:

Phantom of the Opera (2004); A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Carol (the musical); The Little Match Girl; In The Company of Wolves; The Gospel According to Scrooge; Port Charles- Surrender; Port Charles- Superstition, lightning strikes Toronto Tower (by IdealistDreamer) think of tower when it's shown as one of Erik's candlesticks that only showed in flashes because lair was too dark. Also, when you see Christine there behind him at end of video, think of her as the mannequin.

music: Main theme from "King Arthur" by Hans Zimmer; song from The Little Match Girl; "The Gravel Road" from "The Village" by James Newton Howard ; Blood- "Father Time"; "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse" - by Immediate Music...  and now, the written work ....

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Too Long You've Wandered in Winter

VIII

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The road they traveled remained absent of horse-drawn vehicles or pedestrians, though a few poverty-ridden souls huddled around a fire under the eaves of a decrepit building. A steady fall of snow dusted the muddy ground and the rooftops of the tall pathetic housing structures, two of which leaned toward one another like old, arthritic men.

The Phantom rarely left the opera house. When he did, he did not travel in this direction. Throughout his journeys with the Spirits, he'd felt neither the chill nor the heat from his surroundings, but now he shivered from the cold. He drew his velvet robe close about him and tucked his bare hands beneath his armpits, wishing he'd at least retrieved his cloak and gloves before leaving the lair.

"Where in blazes are we?" he groused, though certainly this godforsaken place was far removed from the fires of Hades. He cupped his hands in front of his mouth and tried to breathe warmth onto them.

"You would not be familiar with this place. The destitute make their homes here."

He sent her a sharp look. The quality of her tone seemed to suggest he was at fault for the welfare of the populace. A dirty child in rags, a basket over her arm, stood on the stoop before a door. Her cheerless blue eyes appeared to look straight through him, and he panicked before remembering she couldn't see him.

"It would seem that your spirit of joy and goodwill has not visited this locale," he said dryly, "though you claim such expressions flow universally throughout Christmastide, and manage to find even the stingiest of hearts and situations."

She smiled. "Good. You were listening."

He grumbled under his breath about the impudence of some spirits. "You have yet to present me with an explanation of your oversight in this matter."

"I do, don't I?"

Her comportment made the Phantom uneasy and he averted his gaze to the dwelling near which they stopped. He caught sight of another small child sitting on a bowed wooden stoop. She clutched a patched cape around her tiny body, her gaze expectant as she peered past the Phantom as though waiting for someone special to appear.

"I am but Spirit," the Ghost murmured from beside him. "I can do little if others refuse to listen. If they choose to bar with walls of silence and apathy those in suffering, and close their eyes to the deprived souls in the world around them, I am given no opportunity to act." She drifted closer, peering intently into his face. He would not look at her but kept his gaze fixed on the wan child. "I influence the hearts of men to reach out with charity toward their fellow men, but if they choose not to listen, then all will suffer. Wealthy or impoverished, those hale in body or ailing - none are unaffected by the crass choice of indifference."