That night, Homer and Marge sat in bed.
Marge spoke up.
"Think about it, Homer," she said, "after all this shopping we did for the kids and all and ourselves as well, this could be the best Christmas ever."
"Oh, you got that right, Marge. But I think there's one slight problem."
"What's that?"
"Not everyone in Springfield loves Christmas."
"Who wouldn't? It's the greatest time of the year."
"Well, my boss: Mr. Burns just hates the whole Christmas season."
"Why is that?"
"Oh, please don't ask. 'cause no one at work quite knows the reason. It's just so because he's always so grouchy. Especially around this time of year.
"So what do you think we should do?"
"Maybe give him a little Christmas cheer."
"How would you plan on doing that, Homer?"
"Well, how about we just invite him to Christmas dinner. Like we did for Barney and Apu and unfortunately your sisters. He he he."
Marge gasped.
"Homer! What a horrible idea!"
"Why not? It would cheer him up. And we could invite Smithers too."
"Montgomery Burns is not coming to our Christmas party. There's no way we're inviting him. He'll spoil everything."
"Oh, come on. Please, Marge. He'd never do that. Besides I really want to show him the true spirit of Christmas. It might bring him a little Christmas cheer. 'cause no one should be unhappy and alone on Christmas."
Marge sighed.
"Maybe you're right, Homer. It's just sudden. And overall thoughtful of you."
"Good then. I'll just invite him. And Smithers as well."
"Well then, good luck with that Homer. And good night."
"Good night, Marge."
Then they turned off the lights and went to sleep.
Next day, it was Christmas Eve.
Everyone was excited.
Only 24 hours left until Christmas.
Christmas was always a traditional event around the town.
Everyone down in Springfield who wasn't decorating a tree or singing a carol were out shopping.
Others just loved to Christmas carol.
Others loved decorating their Christmas.
Everyone just loved all these traditions.
Except for Montgomery Burns. He just hated Christmas. The whole idea of it.
No one quite knows why this is.
He was heartless enough as it was and the reason why this was quite uncertain.
Every time someone gave Mr. Burns a Christmas greeting, his reply would be "bah! humbug!"
After work, Mr. Burns was sitting in his office signing a bunch of papers.
Homer came in.
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Burns."
"What's there to be merry about?"
"What's there to be merry about? It's Christmas. And I was wondering if you would like to come to Christmas dinner at my house tomorrow night."
"No desire, Simpson. I've had enough of this festive holiday spirit that creates a pathetic excuse for celebrating Christmas."
"Why?"
"I hate to admit it once more, Simpson but I hate Christmas. The whole Christmas season."
"Why do you hate Christmas?"
"Oh, please don't ask why if you don't quite know the reason?"
"Why? Christmas has always been a traditional event around Springfield."
"Bah! Humbug!"
"But Mr. Burns, sir..."
"I said humbug, Simpson! Now get out of my office!"
"But, sir. Please. At least take a chance to settle with all your friends and employees around Christmas time. It's the perfect time to..."
Mr. Burns finally lost it.
"I SAID HUMBUG, SIMPSON! NOW GO!"
A tear shed from Homer's eye.
"I guess so, Mr. Burns."
After Homer left, Mr. Burns banged his fist on the papers placed on his desk. He then left his office in a huff.
Smithers came by.
"Merry Christmas, sir."
"HUMBUG!" he shouted to his face.
Mr. Burns put his coat and rushed hastily through the snow back to his mansion.
"Stupid Simpson! Stupid Smithers! Stupid Christmas! Who needs it?"
"Montgomery" said a wailing voice as he was about to open the door.
Startled, Mr. Burns jumped backwards in surprise.
"Dad," he gasped.
He had recognized the voice of his father but hadn't heard it in a long, long time.
He looked down.
"Doh," he grunted as he saw all his papers scattered around the floor.
Quickly, he picked them all up.
He opened the door to his mansion and walked in.
He bought all his papers up to the door of his bedroom but before he could open it, another wailing voice occurred.
"Montgomery."
Mr. Burns fell back again in surprise.
"Mom," he gasped.
He looked down.
Once again, his papers were scattered all around.
"Doh," he grunted again and picked them all up.
He then opened the door to his bedroom, walked inside and placed the papers down on his desk.
He heard the caroling outside and closed the door.
"One year," he said to himself, "I must find a way to stop Christmas from coming. All the noise and the emotion and the cheering and all the jolly attitudes of the people around Springfield."
He set back to work at once.
The hours passed and Mr. Burns had finished with all his paper work.
By nightfall, he was seated down in his living room with a nightcap.
Suddenly, he heard a whooshing sound.
"Who's there?" he gasped.
But there was no reply.
"Probably just the wind," he sighed to himself.
Then he heard a slow pitter-patter of footsteps coming from outside.
"Could be any of those people around Springfield walking through the snow," he said to himself.
He was then startled by a knocking on the door.
"Who is it?" he called.
But there was no reply.
Mr. Burns rose up from his sofa.
He walked to the door and unlocked it.
He was going to open it but had a bad feeling about it so he just peaked through the little hole to see who it was.
To his surprise, no one was there.
"Hmm," he said to himself, "strange."
As he turned back, there was another knock on the door.
"It's open," he said, "come on in."
Suddenly, the door flung open and two spirits flew into the mansion.
Mr. Burns fell back to the ground in surprise.
"YOU ARE BLOCKING AN ENTRY!" he shouted.
One of the spirits flew up to him and said "is that a way to talk to me...son?"
"Dad," gasped Mr. Burns quietly.
"Montgomery," said the other spirit, flying up to him, "what have you done with yourself?"
"What do you mean, mom?"
"Why have you been so cold-hearted and so selfish to all your clients?" said the spirit of his dad, "I mean, after all we've done for you, we gave birth to you, we raised you as our child, we put a roof under you for over twenty years and to be even more generous, we've passed this mansion over to you at the same time we died."
"And you promised to be grateful about it," said the spirit of his mom.
"I'm sorry, mom. I'm sorry, dad. It's just that I've missed you so much that I couldn't take it anymore."
"You have a great deal to learn, son," said the spirit of his dad.
"Tonight," said his mom, "three ghosts will come and visit you."
"What...what...what kind of ghosts?"
"The ghost of Christmas past," said his dad, "who will bring you back to your past Christmases as a kid."
"Then the ghost of Christmas present," said his mom, "who will then show you how jolly Christmas is around Springfield."
"I already know how Christmas is celebrated, mom. And I'm telling you that if you think..."
"DON'T INTERRUPT!" boomed his dad, "you will then be visited by the ghost of Christmas future who show you what will happen if you don't celebrate Christmas properly like all the other people you know around Springfield."
Mr. Burns stayed silent for a few moments.
"There's no way I'll be celebrating Christmas with any of those imbeciles."
"Then join us in heaven," said his dad, "or rot in hell."
Thunder occured and both Mr. Burns' parents disappeared in the night.
