starring Padraigh Penwyn as Scrooge
Part 1 is here:
http://365project.org/summerfield/365-again/2014-12-22
Part 2 is here:
http://365project.org/summerfield/365-again/2014-12-23
Part 3 is here:
http://365project.org/summerfield/365-again/2014-12-24
Sleep deprived and tired, Scrooge crawled into bed and settled down for a good sleep. But, oh, tarnation! The lovely winter sun shone through the window which had been left open. Scrooge could hear children merrily about, perhaps playing in the snow. Darn, why not, since he was already awake and he did promise the Flamingo that he was going to change his ways. He now knew that Fred his nephew did care for him genuinely. And no, he would not let that poor little boy Timmy die lest it be on his conscience. And what was he to do with his money? He certainly couldn't bring it to his grave lest it be pillaged and looted. He worked hard all his life, foregoing the joys of life and he had forgotten that money does not buy everything. Certainly not if it's inside his pocket.
He ran to the window and a big snowball landed on his face. The children laughed at him and started to run. "Wait!" he called out to them and they hesitantly walked slowly back. "What day is it today, lads?" "Why, it's Christmas Day, doncha know?" And one of the lads threw another snowball at him which he dodged and told the lad "Ha-ha! missed!" He told the boy to come forth. He threw him a fifty-dollar bill and told him to go buy candies for him and his little snowball throwing buddies. And the lads ran off with the money!
Scrooge merrily took a shower and put on his best clothes. His cleaning woman appeared in the doorway and he grabbed her (no, not that kind of grab, duh!) and danced with her around the room as he sang, rather loudly and desafinado, Jingle Bell Rock, to the cleaning woman's consternation thinking her master had really gone coo-coo this time. "How long have you been working for me, madame?" he asked. The cleaning woman was puzzled and thought that he was about to fire her. But Scrooge merely took a few hundred-dollar bills and gave them to her and told her to take the day off and what was she doing working on Christmas Day! The confused cleaning woman could barely say thank you and rushed out of his home. As soon as she was in the street, she ran as fast as she could yelling "He's gone mad! He's gone mad!" But Scrooge only laughed at her like, well, like he had actually gone mad.
He walked out onto the streets, sometimes throwing little snowballs at the children. He duffed his hat as he passed by his poor neighbours, shook hands with them as he greeted them Merry Christmas and he was quite amused at their reaction. "Tee-hee! they must think that I've completely lost my mind." The shops were lively with carols and decorations. When he passed by the butcher's and saw a large turkey hanging by its display window, he went in and asked the butcher to have the turkey, along with other gourmet foods and treats delivered to Bob Cratchitt's home. The butcher almost fainted when Scrooge gave him a large tip, "for his efforts"! Way to go, Scroogey!
First stop for him was Fred's home. He smelled the ham baking in the oven and the soft sounds of Christmas Carols playing from the stereo. Fred's wife was not receptive at first but she eventually smiled when Scrooge told her "Nice camera! what is it, a Nikon?" for he had never acknowledged her in the past. Fred was quite happy to see his uncle especially that he seemed to be in a genuinely happy mood. Fred thought that his uncle must be either drinking too much or going senile or he had completely lost it. But he was very engaging and ate a lot and very chatty. Then he took out a small envelope with a lot of hundred-dollar bills in it and handed it to Fred and his wife and wished them a Merry Christmas.
It was getting late and the sun was pink in the sky as it slowly started to set. Scrooge thought it felt good to be nice and to do something for others. But there was still a void in his heart. He really really regretted that he had been mean and a sorry excuse for a human being. But he knew in his heart he had still a lot of time to atone for all his sins and shortcomings. He just hoped that everyone will forgive him.
His feet took him to a ramshackled cottage. A delivery man was just knocking at the door. Mrs. Cratchitt opened it and her mouth fell open when she saw all the goodies being handed to her by the delivery man along with a large cooked turkey with all the trimmings. Bob joined her at the door and helped her carry the stuff to their wobbly table. The children were all excited. Scrooge peered at the window and watched as they tried to guess where it all came from and could not believe it when the man said it was from Mr. Scrooge. "Oh, it couldn't be from that old wretched miser!" Mrs. Cratchitt said. "Now, now, m'dear," said Bob, "maybe it is really from Mr. Scrooge. After all, it's Christmas."
Just then, little Timmy hobbled his way across the room pointing at the window, seeing Scrooge peeking through it. The other children screamed, not in delight but in horror as the way the light struck his face, Scrooge looked like some dingbats who was up to no good. But Bob Cratchitt recognized him and politely asked him to come in. Mrs. Crachitt was still wary. But Scrooge held her hand and told her, "I am so sorry to have caused you a lot of grief. If I can make it up to you, I would like to have little Timmy looked after by the best doctors so he would be well." Then he turned around to Bob and said, "Take the week off and be with your family. And you and your wife can take your son to the hospital as soon as you want and I will see to it that he is looked after. And for heaven's sakes, get some good furniture! And he handed Bob a cheque with so many zeroes, Bob almost fainted. Then Scrooge grabbed it back and told him "Kidding!" upon which he produced some papers and handed them to Bob. They were shares to his companies, all one third of them with instructions for Bob to contact their attorneys at Never Right Fullosheet to draw up all the pertinent agreements. It was Mrs. Cratchitt who ultimately fainted.
And so it was that Scrooge redeemed himself at Christmas. Everyone was now a happy camper. Little Timmy grew up to be a fine young man and taking computer technology and his five siblings became successful in their field of studies. Bob and his wife bought a cottage out in the Muskokas and all six children would visit them during term breaks and occasionally, Scrooge would spend summer with them. Fred and his wife now owned a successful photography studio and travelled so often with Uncle Scrooge. Scrooge himself retired and left Bob Cratchitt in charge of his business which Bob managed so well by the time of his death, Scrooge's empire had tripled. He left his wealth to Bob and his family, to Fred and his wife, and to charities that cater to the poor and impoverished children.
(writer's note: with all due apologies to the great Charles Dickens. i have forgotten the exact ending of the play but i thought i got the essence of the story. A Christmas Carol is my all time favourite Christmas story. it was the first dickens story i ever read. i hope you enjoyed my spoof and appreciated the fact that our star, Padraigh Penwyn, can only be photographed in macro because he is only as long as the diameter of a quarter coin. and that i almost lost him during this photo shoot!)
Great read
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