At the end of the street, a small cottage stood looking almost deserted. A small ray of light shone out of the smashed downstairs window. Inside, a miserable old man named Scrooge sat on a moth-eaten chair. The loud church bells started ringing indicating it was Christmas Eve. Scrooge covered his long, pointed ears trying (and failing) to block out the sound of the jolly bells. All of a sudden, a cold chill filled the room. The fire blew out leaving Scrooge in complete darkness…
From the thin narrow hallway shone a blue glow and a loud clanking noise joined in with the bells. The bells stopped suddenly and there stood a blue ghostly figure…
The chains it carried scraped along the rotting oak floor. As it walked closer, Scrooge cowered under his blanket. Through a hole, he could make out the ghost was Marley.
The ghost’s pale white face glared through the hole at Scrooge. A mist covered the broken windows and the room temperature dropped below zero. Suddenly, a loud booming voice shot out of the long-robed ghost,
“Come out! I am only here to help.”
Slowly, Scrooge removed his blanket to come face to face with the terrifying ghost of Marley. His white silky hair was in the same style Scrooge had seen him in last. With an unforgiving look, his wrinkled face stared into Scrooge’s eyes.
“You still have time!” bellowed the ghost.
“F-for what?” stuttered Scrooge.
“You will see,” said the ghost in a gentle voice as he slowly faded away into the fire… The mist left the windows, the room became warm and the fire re-lit as the last particle of Marley’s ghost disappeared.