2. Jacob Marley died seven years ago leaving our protagonist the sole owner of their shared firm.
Ebenezer Scrooge was his partner, a cold hearted money lender, indifferent to the suffering of those that lived around him.

3. We join him this cold Christmas Eve. Scrooge liked the cold
We join him this cold Christmas Eve. Scrooge liked the cold. He wasn’t a people person--in fact, you could call him as solitary as an oyster.

4. “My, there certainly are a lot today.”
“Let us deal with the eviction notices for tomorrow, Mr. Cratchit”
“My, there certainly are a lot today.”
Mr. Cratchit was Scrooge’s employee. He didn’t have much meat on his bones, probably because Scrooge paid him so very little. Still he got by.

5. “Christmas is a very busy time for us—people giving parties, having feasts, spending the mortgage money on frivolities. One might say that December is the foreclosure season. Harvest time for the money lenders.”
At that very moment Scrooge’s nephew knocked at the door and welcomed himself in.

6. “What right of you to be dismal? You’re rich enough.”
“Merry Christmas Uncle”
“Christmas a humbug Uncle? Surely you don’t mean that.”
“You say Merry Christmas nephew. What right of you to be merry, you’re poor enough.”
“You keep Christmas in your way, and I’ll keep it in mine.”
Before the conversation could continue they were interrupted by two gentlemen entering the room.

7. “Who are you?” “Mr. Scrooge I presume?”
“At this festive season of the year many of us feel the need to take care of our poor and homeless.”
“Oh plenty of those Sir.”
“Are there no prisons? No poorhouses?”
“Who are you?”
“Some of us are endeavoring to raise a fund for the poor. What might I put you down for?”
“Oh thank goodness, for a moment I was worried.”

8. “That’s certainly not true.”
“Nothing. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I cannot afford to make idle people merry.”
“That’s certainly not true.”
“I know how to treat the poor. My taxes go to pay for the prisons and the workhouses. The homeless must go there.”
“Don’t you have something else to do this afternoon dear nephew?”
“Sadly I do.”
“Now then sir, about the uh, donation?”
“But some would rather die!”
With a merry Christmas to the room, Fred left Scrooge to his business.

9. “If they’d rather die, they’d better do it and decrease the surplus population!”

10. The two gentlemen left in a huff, surprised by the man’s miserliness
The two gentlemen left in a huff, surprised by the man’s miserliness. Scrooge returned to his desk and wiled away the hours until closing time came about.

11. “8:30 then.” “The uh, whole day.” “How much time off is customary?”
“Very well, I’ll see you at 8 tomorrow morning.”
“8:30 then.”
“Tomorrow is Christmas day.”
“Sir, it is almost closing time.”
“The uh, whole day.”
“Excuse me sir, but half an hour off hardly seems customary for Christmas Day.”

12. “The entire day? It seems a poor excuse to pick a man’s pocket every December 25th but very well. Take the day off. Be here all the earlier the next morning.”

13. Upon returning to his home that night, Scrooge stepped up to the door
Upon returning to his home that night, Scrooge stepped up to the door. As he reached the key to the lock he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

14. He stepped back and watched in horror as the decorative silver doorknocker transformed into the face of his deceased partner Jacob Marley.
And just like that, it was gone. The knocker was just as it has always been and the street was quiet.

15. Distressed by the events at the door, Scrooge searched his rooms
Distressed by the events at the door, Scrooge searched his rooms. Finding nothing he sat in his parlor for a snack of bread and cheese. The evening passed slowly with very little difference from the rest of the nights in his long, relatively dull, life. Just as the clock struck ten, something very different happened.

16. Every bell in the house rang at once.
The fire extinguished itself leaving Scrooge in total darkness.

17. Scrooge was nearly ready to hide behind his chair when from the staircase he heard a familiar voice.
Then from the stairs Scrooge saw a faint glow, growing larger every second. He heard the sound of chains dragging across the floor.
Click to stop the chains sound.

18. Scrooge yelped and leaped out of his chair
Scrooge yelped and leaped out of his chair. There at the top of the stairs stood the ghostly figure of Scrooge’s late partner, Jacob Marley. Jacob looked much like he did in life with the exception of the chains that wound about him like a snake with keys and cashboxes at random intervals. It was a terrible sight to behold. “Jacob Marley?”

19. “It is I.”

20. “Humbug! It may look like you, but it certainly isn’t.”

21. “Why do you doubt your senses?”
“Because a little thing can upset them; you may be a bit of cheese or a blob of mustard. Yes, there is more gravy than of grave about you!”

22. The ghostly Marley yowled and rattled is chains against the floor in reply.

23. Scrooge fell to his knees clutching his ears in fear of the cacophony.
“Oh those horrible chains!”

24. “You wear such a chain.”
“These chains were forged by the horrible things I did each and every day in life. Your chain grows longer every day. So have your fun, when life is done, a nightmare waits for you!”

25. “Speak comfort to me friend,” Scrooge pleaded.
“Comfort? That’s ignorant. There is no comfort for you waiting in the afterlife unless you change your ways. Tonight you will be haunted by three spirits.”

26. “Haunted? No I think I’ve had enough of that.”
“Can’t I have them all at once and get it over with?”
There came no answer. The apparition was gone, leaving Scrooge alone in the darkness once more.
“Expect the first ghost when the bell tolls one.”

27. He woke moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a strange childlike phantom with a brightly glowing head.

28. “But I am mortal and will fall.”
The window of Scrooge’s bedroom burst open as the Spirit gestured toward it.
“Are you the spirit who’s coming was foretold to me?”
“But I am mortal and will fall.”
“Now Scrooge, Come with me.”
“Don’t worry. Just take my hand and you will fly.”
“I am the ghost of Christmas Past.”

29. The spirit escorted Scrooge on a journey into the past to a Christmas Eve afternoon when he was a child.
Scrooge spent his childhood at a boarding school and only rarely came home for the holidays. He spent Christmas doing extra work and getting ahead of his peers.

30. It is here that he met Belle.
The spirit takes Scrooge’s hand and leads him to his time as an apprentice to the jolly Mr. Fezziwig and the annual Christmas party.
It is here that he met Belle.

31. “Look how happy you were… Do you remember how it feels to be happy
“Look how happy you were… Do you remember how it feels to be happy? Or has the money blinded you?”
“Don’t show me that one…”
“There was of course another Christmas with this woman.”

32. “You loved me once, but now you only care about your money.”
Belle went on to marry another man and live happily.
“Belle, my sweet, sweet Belle…I never knew love until I knew Belle, all she wanted was to love me”
“Why do you delight in torturing me?”
“These are but shadows of your past. Do not blame me.

33. Scrooge grew angry with the spirit and extinguished the light on its head with his cap. Suddenly he was back in his bedroom, waiting wearily for the next spirit.

34. Scrooge caught sight of a large amount of light coming from just down the hall, underneath the door to his spare bedroom. He entered the room and was somewhat taken aback by what he found.

35. A large spirit was sitting in the corner surrounded by the most extensive feast Scrooge had ever seen.

36. “Come in and know me better, man. ” The spirit said joyfully
“Come in and know me better, man.” The spirit said joyfully. “I am the ghost of Christmas Present, over 1800 of my brothers have come before me.” The spirit laughed, “come, there is much to see. Take hold of my shirt.” Scrooge clutched the cloth in his hand and in a blink arrived on the streets in a dirty corner of town.

37. “What are we doing here?”
“This is Bob Cratchit’s house.”

38. Scrooge leaned on the window sill and watched the family inside
Scrooge leaned on the window sill and watched the family inside. Inside he saw a lovely woman bent over the stove and five children hoping around excitedly.
Bob entered the room with Tiny Tim, his youngest son, on his shoulders. The six children talked excitedly of their Christmas dinner. Scrooge was surprised to see the boy dependant on a crutch.

39. “What is wrong with him spirit?”
“If these shadows remain unaltered, the child will die. The Cratchit’s cannot afford proper treatment for the boy. But then, if he’s going to die he’d better do it and decrease the surplus population.

40. Scrooge’s attention returned to the family as Tiny Tim calls a toast to the ‘Founder of the Feast’ Mr. Scrooge. Mrs. Cratchit scoffs at this idea, but Bob defends his employer.

41. “Is it an unwanted creature?”
The spirit took hold of Scrooge’s shoulder and turned him around. Suddenly they were standing in the living room of Scrooge’s nephew. Fred and his wife were hosting a party, the group was playing a game of Yes and No, which is very similar to twenty questions.
“Is it an unwanted creature?”
“Yes.”
“Oh I know! Its Ebenezer Scrooge!”
“Is it a dog?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Is it found in the city?”
“Yes!!”
This brought forth a riotous laughter from the group.
“No.”
“A cat?”
“No.”
“A rat?”

42. They turned around again and this time arrived in a church yard
They turned around again and this time arrived in a church yard. The spirit appeared to have aged greatly throughout the day.
“Spirit, do you age?”

43. “My time upon this globe is very brief
“My time upon this globe is very brief. But before I go, you’ve got to see this.” From underneath his robes he produced a pair of children. The children were thinner than seemed possible, and horrible to behold. “These are Ignorance and Want. Beware them both.”

44. “Have they no refuge. No resource
“Have they no refuge? No resource?” Scrooge asked, unable to believe what he saw in the children’s forms.
The church bell rang loud and clear through the night, and the Spirit faded away leaving Scrooge alone in the church yard.
“Are there no prisons, no workhouses?” The spirit said mockingly.
A large hooded figure approached him. “Are you the Spirit of Chirstmases Yet to Come?” 

45. Scrooge was taken through a sequence of mysterious scenes relating to an unnamed man's recent death. Scrooge saw businessmen discussing the dead man's riches, some vagabonds trading the deceased’s personal effects to Old Joe for cash, and a poor couple expressing relief at the death of their unforgiving creditor.

46. Soon the spirit leads Scrooge back to the churchyard where they first met. The spirit pointed a long bony finger toward a gravestone covered in snow and ice.
“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said Scrooge, “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?”

47. As Scrooge scraped away the ice and snow he revealed the name on the grave marker. “Ebenezer Scrooge.” Scrooge wept and turned to the Spirit.
“I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope!...I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!”

48. In the blink of an eye Scrooge was back in his bed, clutching his curtains as if they were the robe of the third spirit.
Scrooge felt a surge of hope and happiness that he hadn’t felt for years. He put on his best clothes and ventured out into the streets to wish a merry Christmas to all.

49. Scrooge hurried to work the next day, eager to catch Cratchit coming in late. Bob came in at 9:15 and hurried to his stool to get to work. Scrooge called him into his office.
“I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore I am about to raise your salary.” Bob just stared at him. “Merry Christmas Bob.”

50. Scrooge was better than his word
Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew.
it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!

51. The End.
And Happy Holidays.