"A Christmas Carol Reimagined" by Gratiana Lovelace, 2016

Ch. 02: The Ghost of Christmas Past

"A Christmas Carol Reimagined", Ch. 02: The Ghost of Christmas Past, December 06, 2016 Gratiana Lovelace (Post #1011) 

(An original fan fic story copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace; all rights reserved) [(1) story cover, left]

[From time to time, I will illustrate my story characters with: Richard Armitage as Ben Scrooge, Danielle Denby-Ashe as Peggy Cratchit, Aidan Turner as Ben's nephew Frankilin Durin, Ken Stott as the late Jacob Marley, Cate Blanchett as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and others as noted.]

Authors Introduction Note / Wattpad Description: My fan fic "A Christmas Carol Reimagined" ) [(1) story cover logo left] is the tale of a miserly middle aged man—a friend to no one–who is scared into realizing the folly of his ways when he is visited by three ghosts (past, present, and future). He then vows to be compassionate toward his fellow man and through his good deeds, he redeems himself—and he comes to know the meaning of love.

And as an homage to Dickens classic tale "A Christmas Carol" you will recognize some of the basic plot premises and a quote here and there. But there is a twist in that my story is a new telling, blending in British actor Richard Armitage's character friends in "North & South" and "The Hobbit" trilogy of films. So anything can happen.

Author's Recap from the previous chapter: We are introduced to a young middle Ebenezer "Ben" Scrooge behaving miserly and curmudgeonly, despite his mere thirty eight years. The only one who can seem to stand him at his cotton mill or in town, is his stalwart Executive Assistant Miss Peggy Cratchit. She is a gentle woman forced into gainful employment in order to support her aging parents, Ben Scrooge's nephew from his late sister, Frankilin Durin is brash and cheerful—and earning a good wage as an attorney, due to the schooling and university he attended unto the patronage of his Uncle Scrooge. Ben Scrooge is a lonely and friendless man. But the ghost of his late partner Jacob Marley visits him on Christmas Eve to grant Ben one last chance to mend his ways—by learning the lessons of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future. And now Ben Scrooge must wait for the ghosts to come, in order to learn his fate.

"A Christmas Carol Reimagined", Ch. 02: The Ghost of Christmas Past

Waiting is something that Ben Scrooge has never been good at. Yet, the ghost of his late Mill partner, Jacob Marley, bade him to wait for three more ghosts to come upon each morning hour on Christmas Eve. In his fatigued sleepiness, Ben thinks that his bed chamber will be quite crowded with ghosts by the end of the early morning hours of Christmas Day.

And yet, Ben thinks that Jacob was so insistent—not a quality he remembered in his partner of more than fifteen years, after Ben had finished at university and had a short apprenticeship with Old Mr. Fezziwig at this very mill. Jacob had bought the mill when Mr. Fezziwig had retired--and he kept Ben on. Ben was not quite sure why he was kept on—nor why he stayed. But he was glad that he did. And then he rose quickly to become the master of the mill, then partner, and now sole owner when Jacob Marley died not even a twelve months past last January.

And so, Ben waits. The second hand seems to trudge around the dial. Yet it is only fifteen minutes he must wait. Fifteen years and fifteen minutes. Ben wonders at the significance of that. He has a keen mind—not put to much use with the drudgery of the Mill. But his mill turns a good profit every year, so that is something. And then the clock chimes for one o'clock. In Ben's distracted musings, he has lost track of the time.

Ben Scrooge stands and looks around [(2) right] —ready to meet the next ghost, or so he tells himself, when he does not think himself run mad for talking with ghosts. Yet he is clearly surprised at the vision that awaits him as the clock chimes one o'clock in the morning of Christmas Day, December 25.