"NO! No no no!" Scrooge struggled still, yanking himself free of the sheets and falling off his bed with a pained grunt.

  When his senses returned, he looked about himself in shock. There he was, in his room. It was chilly, yes, but nowhere near as cold as the grave! And what was he holding but his own blankets and sheets.

  At once, his pain left him in a spout, and he jumped to his feet, "Alive! I am alive!" He scrambled to the window, opening it to let in the cold fresh air, which hit his sweat addled skin like a mountain breeze. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked across the sunny snowstricken city that was his home. He gazed over the high towers and buildings, and then looked down. There was a munchkin lad, which so did remind him of his clerk.

  He shouted, "Hark! Lad!"

  The munchkin stopped in his paces and looked to and fro before looking at Scrooge.

  "Tell me, boy! What day is it!"

  After a pause, the boy shouted back, "What!?"

  "I SAID! WHAT DAY IS IT!?"

  There was another short pause, and then a repeated, "What?!"

  Scrooge sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He made a motion to stop, "Stay right there!" And he turned from the window and scampered out the room.

  It was with much glee that he looked down the stairs to see his own foot! Free of any slipper! Where it had gone, who knows, somewhere in a year long past perhaps! He giggled at this, for his heart was so full of levity having survived the ordeal, that the fact that it had happened was cathartic in his mind.

  And the same proof in the living room! The upturned chair and spilt gruel! And here he could see how bare, how miserable, and it made him laugh! To think there was a wonderful tree here, perhaps there could be one next year, perhaps tinsel and paintings and warm food and family! But he did not falter!

  He slid across his floor as he rushed to his door, running as fast as his cane would allow him to move. He pushed the front door open and stepped out into the cold morning.

  "You've got no drawers on!" The Munchkin boy commented.

  "Yes I have!" Corrected the still nightgown wearing Scrooge, "But nevermind that!" The Munchkin was startled back as Scrooge slammed from a slip into the fencing that surrounded his home, "Boy! What day is it!" He said, gripping tight onto the metal bars.

  "Why, it's Yule, sir!"

  "Then I haven't missed it! Ohh! A lifetime and they managed it in but one night!" Scrooge proclaimed to the sky! He felt about his person. "There's got to be something, please, oh, please... ah!" And he pulled out... a silver dollar! It was perfect, it was providence! "My dear boy! Do you know the Vegetarian Grocers in the Market?"

  "'Course I do!" He said, "My ma works 'ere."

  "And they're open this morning, yes? Before Church?"

  "Ahuh."

  "Take this!" He flipped the coin into the air and it landed in the boy's open palm. "A gold masque on top of that, if you could go and purchase for me a bundle of carrots, fresh cabbage, and fresh lettuce from the stall! And a small glazed ham from the butchers nearby!"

  "A gold masque!?" The boy gasped.

  "Yes, but you must bring it to Bob Cratchit, at 204 Mulberry Lane, hurry! Now go!" Scrooge motioned outwards, "Go go! With haste!" He shouted, turning and running back to his home.

  The rabbit hopped off at speed, popping the coin into his pocket.

  Meanwhile, Scrooge lifted a certain floorboard, and lifted from it, a sack. His job was to count coins, yet never in his life had he counted coins with such speed and vigor as he did now. Driven not by the love of the gold, or need of greed, but of something greater.

  The morning bells had not yet even struck Seven AM, sunrise only barely above Amalen, when Ina's morning duties had been interrupted by fervent banging at the great doors of the temple. The great hall of the temple had earned its name well, and thus carried quite an echo. Ina was a morning person by nature, though the cold air did cause a bit of preference for the warmth of her bed. And so it was with a foggy mind and annoyed attitude that, even on Yule, she approached the doors.

  She opened it bruskly, and said, perhaps ruder than she meant to, "Yule Service is at 8 am, please- Oh." Suddenly, all patience and kindness left her voice, "You." Her glare pierced her mask as she looked at the hunched, sweating, panting scrooge who was... wearing nothing but his nightshirt and nightcap. "Sir, what are-"

  And then the bag was shoved in her face, "Four Hundred-" Breathe in, out, in, out, "And twenty-" Breathe in, out, in, "-and Twenty Eight Dollars, in Gold coins! For the Sick, and- and the elderly, and- and the orphans and everything else! Distribute it as you see fit! Under the name... From Jacob Marley!" Scrooge said, "Jacob Marley, and- Ha ahahah!" Scrooge cackled in laughter, "And friends! Hahaha! Jacob Marley and Friends!"

  Scrooge's smile was not infectious, not even slightly contagious, as it was wild and hot as blood, and the fangs natural to his kind were not alluring. But Ina wouldn't have smiled if it was a kind one, because she was stunned into utter silence as she opened the bag and pulled from it a gold coin. She turned it over in her hand, watching how it caught the light. "For... for the- charity? Four...-"

  "Four hundred and twenty eight, unless my counting is incorrect! And I can tell you quite there's going to be more to come, once the banks are open! Ahaha hahahaha!" Scrooge laughed, "Ooh! What's that, uhm, oh, can't be more than a fraction of that gold block off my shins, can it? Haha! And off of Marley's too, I hope!" Scrooge turned, "Now, I have to go! I haven't paid for this horse I stole yet, haha!" His cackling laughter continued as he mounted the beast he had ridden to the church, and turned it on a dime.

  Ina walked out the temple, watching the man ride off, laughter fading into the distance.

  Ina looked back at the coins, then at the receding man, then at the coins.

  "I'm sorry?! I don't have a gold dollar!" Bob said, glaring down at the boy who had bundles under his arm.

  "Listen pal-" The boy said, "The ol' man said you'd pay me a gold dollar!"

  "I have no idea who you're talking about!" Bob said. When he looked up, he was stunned to find someone approaching at speed, holding aloft a weapon! "Gah!"

  And Ebeneezer came to a sudden stop behind the munchkin. Wearing his normal cold clothes, he held himself up with a cane, and wore a scowl ever so heavily, one that could never be mistaken for himself. And aloft, he held... a fire poker.

  "Cratchit!" He shouted, "Charity Case Cratchit!" He continued, having to swallow hard to keep his giggling from his voice.

  "What's going on, dear?" Emily spoke from inside.

  "M-Mr. Scrooge, what are you-"

  "I've had it up to here, Cratchit!" He said, holding his weapon offensively, "With your behavior, Mr. Cratchit! Which is why-" The scowl broke all of a sudden, "I will be giving you this Yuletide Bonus!" He lurched forward, planting the poker into the snow and using his now free hand to give a coin to the young boy.

  The boy bit down on the coin, and pushed the bundles into Cratchit's confused arms. He scampered off.

  "And a raise, of course!" Scrooge smiled, "Which we will discuss, at length, very soon! And this, a Gift, to you!" And held out the fire poker, laying it down atop the two bundles of cabbage and carrots and lettuce and the cold ham as well that Cratchit struggled to hold.

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  "What?!" Bob shouted.

  "Honey, oh lord!" Emily said as she bustled behind him. She took the ham, and then with a questioning look, took the fire poker. It was then she noticed Scrooge, "Is this... Ebeneezer?"

  "Well and kindly met, madame Cratchit!" Scrooge smiled as he tipped his hat, "I was just speaking with your husband on that raise he'll be getting! And this Yule bonus to replace the burnt dinner you would have otherwise! No potatoes for you tonight! And- a fire poker! To bring to work tomorrow! I'll tell you one thing, I've been cold for one day too many!"

  "Oh. I-" Emily looked at the ham. She had, over the years, become accustomed to the vegetarian diet that befit a rabbit like her husband... but to say she didn't drool would be only a fib I'd tell in her presence, to you, dear reader, I'll say she looked famished just from the smell.

  "Might I come in? I have another gift!"

  Bob couldn't stop his feet from stepping back into the house, allowing Scrooge entry. The old man stepped into the house, now revealing a long package he had concealed just under his cane arm as he walked.

  "Is Tiny Tim up in his room, by chance?" Scrooge asked.

  "Well, yes!" Bob said. Surprise had been overtaken again and again by new shocks. That Scrooge had actually been listening when he had told him of his wife and child was a surprise that outweighed even the gift and the raise! And the fact that he had gotten a fire poker for the office was more shocking than either of those! Why he was leaving it with Bob was a confusing point for later thought...

  Scrooge ambled up the stairs, followed by Emily and Bob, who were still holding the bundles with little else to do with them, and looking quite the sillier for it.

  The door to Tiny Tim's room was knocked upon and then entered by Scrooge, "Little Timothy Cratchit!"

  Tiny Tim was in his bed, his crutches leaned against it as he read a book by the sunlight. He looked up as the family and Scrooge entered. "Huh?"

  "You do not know me! But I am Ebeneezer Scrooge!" The man said, his own name coming to him like a peppermint, sweet on his lips, "I am your father's employer!"

  "The miser!" Tim pointed, much to Bob's dismay and alarm!

  "Not anymore!" Scrooge said, much to Bob's shock and awe!

  Scrooge passed the gift to Tiny Tim, "A gift for you, m'lad! From your old pal Ebeneezer! Merry Yule!"

  Tiny Tim put his book down as he took the package, and unwrapped the string. He opened, and beheld a finely carve well crafted toy sword! The type you'd find only at the best toy shops in Amalen, the type that Scrooge just so happened to be passing by on the way to Cratchit's home!

  "Wow!" Tiny Tim gasped, "A real replica of the King's sword!"

  "For you to play with once you're all better! Which I'm sure will be more than soon enough!" Scrooge said, ruffling the boy's hair.

  Emily looked over at Bob, and raised her eyebrows. Bob shrugged and shook his head, his look of confusion plain. Emily then raised her eyebrows two more times and nudged her head to Ebeneezer.

  Bob nodded, and then said, "Uhm. Sir, Mr. Scrooge, would- I- Thank you so much for these gifts, I- Uhm. Would- Would you like to come with us to Church, sir? We were about to head to temple, as I am dressed and such."

  "I'd like nothing more!" Scrooge smiled, wiping his face of the sudden welling of further tears.

  The walk to the church had Scrooge walking proud, holding with one hand onto Tiny Tim, so light and easy to carry on his back, while Tim swung about his toy sword, nearly knocking off Scrooge's hat again and again!

  And there, in the church, who sung Aude's praises the finest but Scrooge, for whom the wary eyes of the sisters shared concern and confusion was broken shortly by a kind donation of ten more coins into the plate of tithes.

  And there, would Scrooge have burst into tears had he not forced his most stoic smile as the Archpriestess of the service announced the kind donation of Marley and Friends that would see the church's free hospice and hospital care through until the end of the winter season alone, though she did not read the exact amount. It earned him a look from Bob, which he pretended not to see.

  After leaving, it was Bob's sudden determination to make the offer, "Sir, would you like to come to dinner with us? We'd be more than happy to have you!"

  And while often Emily would rather be in on discussion when 'we' came up, it was here that she acquiesced, for her standards and understanding had thus been broken that she was just as happy to see Scrooge at her dinner as anyone.

  "Sorry, my friend!" Scrooge said, lifting Tiny Tim off of his shoulders by the boy's shirt collar, and leaving him on his father's back, "But I have other plans this evening! See you tomorrow morning, my dear Bob!" He smiled and tipped his hat, "And a good morning to you, and a merry Yule! Aude Bless us, Everyone!" And with that, Scrooge whistled, whistled, as he left the churchyard.

  It was only when Scrooge, and the atmosphere he carried with him, that a strange fact that had niggled in the back of Emily's mind came to its surface. "Dear," She asked, "How did Scrooge know I burned dinner?"

  "It was... very pungent, my love." Bob muttered.

  And so, it was that noon, that Scrooge arrived to the home of his late sister. The domineering two floored house stood over him, a sentinel, a proving grounds of his new self, his new heart. He walked to and fro, up and down the street at least four times over, desperate to not go through with what he needed to do.

  It was with a rush of decision and force that he made the walk from the gate to the door in three strides, and rung the bell.

  A maid opened the door, "Yes, sir?"

  "Is Fred in?"

  "Yes?"

  "May I come in, please? I'm family!"

  "Oh- Oh?" The Maid pulled back as Scrooge sidled into the home, walking into the warm foyer that he had seen only in a vision, and in one or two home meetings over finances. The very thought stung his brain like a bee, and he had to scratch his head to alleviate the inner sore as he hung up his hat and coat.

  "I'll see to him myself! No need to trouble yourself!" Scrooge said, walking quickly past the maid to the sound of laughter! Oh, that laugh, which I have already told you is the strongest and wiliest in Amalen, drew Scrooge like an aforementioned bee to a flower!

  He opened the Kitchen door, "Fred, my lad!" And were Fred to have known that Fred's wife was also in the kitchen, he might not have burst in so bruskly and with such a fanfare as to startle her nearly out of her skin.

  "Ebeneezer?" Fred asked, not breaking his smile, "What on Mira are you doing here, uncle?"

  "Oh, Fred. I wanted... I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. I didn't mean it!" Scrooge said, a frown overcoming him as he reached out with one hand, "Your mother... she was the most wonderful woman I have ever known, and beloved as my sister. And I have been terrible to you! Despite this, I wonder if you'd have an old miser as your guest tonight..."

  And it was only two thirds through the question that Fred had already launched himself forward to hug his uncle about the shoulders and pull him close, "Oh Uncle! Dear Uncle! You need not fret or worry about that! I welcome you! Please, stay the night!"

  It was with shock that Clara, Fred's Wife if you do not recall, beheld this, and then to the shock of Clara's sisters, and then to the shock of the guests, even Topper who's eyes were mostly focused on one person, had to stare at he who he had heard of us the curmudgeon miser!

  And through the night, Scrooge felt accompanied. He was surrounded by family, and unlike his vision the night previous, he was heard and seen and spoke and laughed not just adjacent to, but with the rest of the family.

  It was in the evening, that Fred decided to not take the head of the table, but to instead pass it to his uncle.

  "Oh, Fred! You can't truly mean-"

  "I mean it! You are master of my table tonight, Uncle!" Fred said, good cheer and laughs abounded at the sudden whimsy of such a decision. And Scrooge did sit at the table, and before he grasped hands for a prayer, he raised his glass, "I'd like to make a toast, before we sit to eat... to my Sister. Fan Scrooge! How your father acquiesced to taking THAT name, I'll never guess!" And this was met by a round of applause and a bout of laughter, particularly overshadowed by Fred's own.

  "Oh my father would've jumped off a cliff if mother asked him too!" Fred commented.

  "And... another toast. To a dear friend of mine..." Scrooge said, standing tall and holding in one hand a drink, and in the other hand, his cane. "Jacob Marley... he wasn't just a fine businessman, but... a partner to me, a friend in tough times. The most intelligent man I've ever met. He ate pickled eggs, always had a jar of them, and took morning walks in the park with his dog until it passed away a year before he did. I never even thought about these things, about the man he really was, until just recently... and I thank him. I thank him for everything I have." Tears were rolling down Scrooge's face as he said this.

  He led prayers after, blessing Fred, and Fred's wife, and the child they were trying for, and the city, and the country, and Bob and his wife and Tiny Tim, and Ina and his Sister and Fred's father, and finally, "And Aude bless us, everyone!"

  It was with a cheer then that dinner began. The finest dinner to ever be eaten.

  "NOT A BAD START!" Said the voice of the Ghost of Yuletide Present, leaned down to peer through the window, his round smiling face taking up most of the pane.

  I thought it'd be a waste of time, commented the Ghost of Yuletide Yet to Come, who stood and leaned on his pale horse.

  "I believed in him." Said The Ghost of Yuletide Past, "He was a good man once, and he will be again." They smiled, and then looked upon the last spirit accompanying them.

  Jacob Marley watched, smiling, holding the brick of gold. It was smaller now, lighter, and the chains seemed looser about him. He was smiling, a violet tear of fire flitting off of his eye and into the stars.

  And Ebeenezer was a good, and fine man. As he promised the ghosts, he kept the spirit of Yule in his heart and in his mind throughout every season and day of the year. He became a second father to Tiny Tim, a beloved member of his family, a regular donator to the church and all other charities in the city, until he had but a few coppers to leave to Fred upon his death.

  And he did die, though not as soon as the Ghost of Yuletide Yet to Come might have guessed, and left the business to Bob and his three children to mind as he moved on. And to the same his home. The grand furnishings, cozy atmosphere, and warm and comfort came well to the small family, though the size of the stairs was a challenge.

  And after he died, in his bed, surrounded by his family and friends, he took the hand of his friend Jacob Marley. And, together, they walked into the never after, without chain or gold to restrain them to the mortal world. Led by the Reaper who he had met once before, on his pale horse, the two passed on. No regret, no business left unfinished, and all in peace and happiness.

  And it was just as Tiny Tim had said. Aude Bless Us, Everyone!

  The End

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