ALTERNATE STAVE FIVE - THE LAST OF THE SPIRITS (ENDING)
"Is this correct?" she asked him, her eyes now shining with hope, the oppression finally lifting from her heart. "I can start new and help others?"
And for the only time in this visit, the ghost nodded.
For the first time in the entire ordeal, Dakota felt peace, and let out a relieved sigh. She turned once again to him—
But he was gone.
Then, slowly, whatever light there was around her began fading.
Silent terror filled her once again. She screamed, "WAIT! I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year long! I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future! All three Spirits will be within me! I won't ignore the lessons that they taught me! Is it—is it too late?"
No one was there to listen.
Had it been too late to turn from evil? Should she have acted instead of asking so many questions?
Dakota fell on her hands and knees. The ghost of Christmas Future had left her there, but her thoughts were in total turmoil.
No light.
No sound.
No companion.
Alone.
Not only that, but there was such an oppression over her, such an incredible fear, it reached right to her heart. And she felt it, too: shortness of breath, a horrible pain right in the centre of her chest, unable to cry for help, feeling like she was dying…
Dying…
Alone.
Slowly, she got used to the oppression, but she still felt like she was at the brink of death. She didn't know how long she stayed there, unable to move. Some time later, she turned her head.
Everything in the saloon was still the same.
All this reminded her of a song, and perhaps it was her own mind bringing up the memory to counter the torment of the silence, but in the background, the low strains of a cello sounded, enhanced a light the strumming on a guitar. Dee sighed and stood, feeling the words well up inside her, remembering the song.
It seemed so right.
She didn't dare look up, though.
"I'm standing on a bridge; I'm waiting in the dark.
I thought that you'd be here—by now." Tex always seemed to follow her, even through time.
"There's nothing but the rain, no footsteps on the ground." She remembered the rain of the earlier night…
"I'm listening but there's no sound." Just silence filled with terror.
"Isn't anyone trying to find me?" Her parents?
"Won't someone come take me home?" Her aunts and uncles? Her cousins?
"It's a (darn)-cold night—!" She hugged herself, her pyjamas suddenly losing their ability to warm her.
"Trying to figure out-this life!
Won't you—take me by the hand—
Take me somewhere new?" She walked outside.
"I don't know who you are but I—" She realised she really didn't know Tex that well.
"I'm with you.
I'm with you, mmmm…" She walked the streets of the dilapidated town, shivering in the December wind.
"I'm looking for a place; I'm searching for a face." A green buck's face, actually.
"Is there anybody here—I know?
Cause nothing's going right, and everything's a mess." She looked at the saloon, and its broken windows, and the shadows replayed in her mind.
"And no one likes to be alone."
"Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't someone come take me home?" Not even Tex?
"It's a (darn)-cold night—!" She yelled at the night.
"Trying to figure out-this life!
Won't you—take me by the hand—" She reached out to a shadow of Tex, but it faded away.
"Take me somewhere new?" Confusion and terror filled her as the entire town faded away, leaving her alone in the sand and gravel…
"I don't know who you are but I—" Pleading, hoping…
"I'm with you.
I'm with you, yeah-yeah." Completely alone, Dakota seemed to plead with the very air.
"Oh! Why is everything so confusing!" She glanced around at the dark emptiness.
"Maybe I'm just out of my mind!" And nearly pulled out her own hair in desperation.
"Yeah yeah-yeah! Yeah-yeah! Yeah-yeah! Yeah-yeah! YEAAAAAAAAAAAHAA!" Finally, she calmed, kneeled, and sang softly.
"It's a (darn)-cold night,
Trying to figure out-this life.
Won't you—take me by the hand—" Slow tears fell.
"Take me somewhere new?" Suddenly a bright light seemed to shine down on Dakota.
"I don't know Who You are but I—" She looked up, and screamed.
"I'M WITH YOUUUUUUU! I'M WITH YOUUUUUUU!" Maybe she wasn't seeking her family.
"Take me by the hand—take me somewhere new!" Or Tex.
"I don't know Who You are but I—" But Someone much more powerful, Who could change all of this.
"I'M WITH YOUUUUUUU! I'M WITH YOUUUUUUU!" The One Who had orchestrated this whole warning.
"Take me by the hand—take me somewhere new!" And she had heeded the warning.
"I don't know Who You are but I—" As the light brightened, Dee sensed a presence, and reached toward it. The human felt the Presence take her hand, and a flood of peace filled her heart.
"I'm with you," The hand seemed to have a puncture wound in it.
"I'm with you," She knew perfectly well Who It was.
"I'm with you," She whispered, as the Light brightened, and faded the scene into whiteness.
"I'm with you..." she heard.