"A Christmas Carol Reimagined" by Gratiana Lovelace, 2016

Ch. 05 End & Epilogue: Christmas Day Beginnings

A Christmas Carol Reimagined", Ch. 05 End & Epilogue: Christmas Day Beginnings,
December 25, 2016 Gratiana Lovelace (Post #1020)

[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, James Nesbitt as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Meridith Baxter as Clara Lady Trenton, and Tom Conti as Lord Edward Trenton, 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: Ben Scrooge having now being visited by three—the last of which, the Ghost of Christmas Future, having shocked in through realizing that Peggy Cratchit's and his workers' lives and deaths were due to him—Ben Scrooge vows to change. Ben vows to change not only his ways from self involvement and his neglect of others, but to change others futures for the better.

"A Christmas Carol Reimagined", Ch. 05 End & Epilogue: Christmas Day Beginnings

Early Christmas Day morning in the bowels of Ben Scrooge's Mill Manor kitchen, his new cook-housekeeper Mrs. Boucher carefully prepares a hot breakfast for her new master of steaming porridge, two eggs boiled, sliced bread with a jam pot, and hot tea. It was all the food that she could find in the kitchen and ice box—the pantry and larder were locked. And she dare not feed any of the food to her six hungry children, lest she and they be thrown out into the street. Such is the precarious nature of the Boucher family's lot that, for now, a roof over their heads, and a warm kitchen due to her cooking for her employer Ben Scrooge, is a blessing that they did not have yesterday.

Then Mrs. Boucher urges her third oldest child and eldest boy, eight year old Tommy Boucher, to carry the tray with Mr. Scrooge's food to his room at a quarter to seven o'clock in the morning.

Mrs. Boucher: "Go on, Tommy. Be quick about it so the Master's food don't get cold. But don't spill anything!" She looks at him worriedly. He is her bright eyed boy. And his small shoulders have helped her carry some of their burdens since her husband and the children's father died several months ago.

Tommy: "I'll make right quick of it, Ma!" He smiles.

Tommy is a bright boy, quick to learn his letters and numbers as his Mother taught him, and he is dependable for his mother. Tommy along with his two elder sisters, help their Mother keep their younger siblings entertained since they became homeless over two months ago. Strangers had been kind at first, giving them food now and again. But without Peggy Cratchit looking out for them and then suggesting their Mother as cook-housekeeper to Mr. Scrooge, they would not have survived.

Then Tommy leaves the kitchen to head upstairs to the second floor bed chamber that is Ben Scrooge's. Then to distract her children from their hunger pains, Mrs. Boucher tells them that they shall have water cress soup this morning for breakfast. It is really not a soup—and no cress is in it. But the water is clean and its warmth will help fill her children's bellies for now. And she hopes that she will have enough milk to feed her six month old baby as she also eats some of the water cress soup.