Twas a cold nigh on Christmas Eve, snow poured through the skies like flour through a sieve.
The shops where shutting to prepare for the glorious holiday we call Christmas.
The robins were singing, children were playing parents were packaging presents for their families and friends…. or at least most of them…most of the people had gone home…most of the places were shut! But one, one was still open…the timberland falls bank.
The dark gloomy bank had once been one of the most bright and cheerful places in the town. That was until Regina Lockmedow had taken over!
Her twin sister Gina suddenly died a mysterious death and it was up to Regina to take over, but she was not alike to her sibling like everyone expected her to be. In-fact she was quite the reverse.
The workers were working harder then they had ever done before, no extra pay.
Christmas may not be the busiest time of the year but hell will they make up for it!
The room was like ice and the workers could hardly move their fingers but they knew they couldn't quit. It was on their contract! They couldn't leave for at least another three years.
" …Ma'am?" quivered a particularly 'brave' (or very stupid) worker to Regina.
"What is it? I'm a very busy woman you know!" she spat in reply.
"Well I was wondering if I can go home early miss. It's my daughter Tilly,
You see she's got polo and I have to take her to the doctor to make sure she's alright."
The 'brave' employee (Vincent Valentine) slowly backed up as Regina made her way towards him.
" Sure you can go home…" she replied smiling then the smile turned into a face full of anger and hatred "WHEN YOU'VE FINSHED WORKING! OVERTIME ALL OF YOU! NO PAY EITHER! YOU THINK YOU'VE SEEN ME MAD? YOU AIN'T SEEN ANYTHING YET!!!"
All the other employees eyed him angrily but knew better than to make her angrier than she already was! (Although they seriously doubted someone could do that!)
"Nice going Vinne!"
"Yeah! Nice going Vincent!" Shouted Vincent's co-workers, as they finally exited the cold, dark, damp area of which they spent 72 hours a week in.
Vincent frowned as he quickly disappeared into the misty depths of this little, underprivileged town.
"What is going on? What is taking him so long? He should have been back home ages ago!" Tonie asked herself impatiently as she paced up and down the kitchen. She didn't have far to walk, as the kitchen was extremely small, as the family was tremendously poor & couldn't afford a ½ decent house.
"Hello darling!" chirped Vincent as he entered the little place he called home.
"Have you any idea what time it is?" Tonie yelled at the top of her lungs
"No…my watch stopped the other week." He took a deep breath "I'm sorry I'm late but you know Regina…(mumble, mumble)…sorry"
"Mmmm… I took Tilly ….she is not doing too well at the moment" Tonie said sadly.
"Don't worry yourself too much Tonie. You'll give yourself wrinkles!" Vincent replied trying to hide his own sorrow for the child.
Regina watched the streetlights flicker out from her little mansion as she turned out her bedroom lamp & closed the curtains.
She finally collapsed onto the huge double bed. She removed her chocker from her neck & stopped dead.
A low rumbling sound came from afar, the room rocked a little & the window burst open. 'What is going on?' thought Regina.
A quiet childish laugh came from the distance.
"Hello, Hello? Who is there? I'm warning you…you'd better come out now or I'll…"
A young ghostly child appeared. She seemed to have lived a couple of centuries ago. She had floated though the wall. She smiled and said
"Or you'll what? Well? What are you going to do? You don't know do you oh well ghost in your house life hanging on a tread…"
"There's got to be some logical explanation for this…"
"Sorry but that's the way it goes when you act like you do, you'll have to be punished."
"You like money? I have plenty of money you can have if you'll just leave me alone…"
"Money doesn't interest me. I'm dead remember?"
"Right…so what's my punishment?"
"…..To see your past present and future. Hopefully that will sort it out. If not I shall have to kill you."
"…….?" Regina's eyebrow rose. "That's it?"
"Well can you guess of better ways?"
"Guess not." Regina said looking down. "But can we not go to the future I already know what's going to happen." Asked Regina hopefully.
" 'Fraid I can't help you there. Rules is rules…" she said in her ghostly voice.
"…Come on get dressed you're coming with me."
"Wasn't there traditionally three ghosts?" yeah well I was the only spare. All the others went on holiday, and Christmas is the only time possible for this."
"what's your name anyway? & how on earth did you die? If you don't mind me asking."
"My name's Cla- Ra" the ghost replied in a fairly sarcastic way. "My father locked me away in the monastery dungeon, when I was born. I was fed on rats and stale bread. I died at the age of seven on the same day I was born. 'Happy Birthday'."
"..Wish I'd never asked."
"No you don't."
Regina placed (once again) an old-fashioned chocker round her neck and her deep green velvet cardigan on her shoulders and smiled worriedly "Let's go!" she said.
"Take my hand." Clara whispered from the already wide-open window. "Don't worry, trust in me and hold on tight." The child grinned.
Regina took hold of Clara's tiny hand and stepped up to the window. The girl's hand was ice-cold like snow. "Don't let go of me." She said.
"Don't worry 'bout it I've yet to let go for the first time and I've been doing this for ½ a millennium."
Regina closed her eyes, and jumped.
'Ow!' thought Regina as she rubbed her head. She had obviously hit the ground as a terrible force, but where was the girl? And where was she? This wasn't her past she was sure of it! She had never been here.
"I'm telling you Arthur you don't need to do this!" a female sobbed."Out! Out! Out! and Take those bratty children wit' you!!!"
She recognised the female voice. It was her mother's.
Regina wasn't going to listen to this! She wasn't going to hear some big-shot like that call her a brat! "What do you think you're saying!?! I am not a brat!!!" she screamed
"Don't waste your breath they can't hear you." Clara muttered.
"Take me elsewhere." Regina mumbled softly.
"Ok… You asked for it. Clara replied. She opened up a time portal, which was just a whirl of colours (mostly dark purples) than they took each other's hand and started to fly towards the portal. (Like A1 in their 'Take on me' video.)
"Wow…" Regina gasped as they landed. "That was one hell of a ride."
Clara smirked "Thought you would prefer it that way…." She said."…Look to the window." She carried on. "Fine… What the?" was the reply she got.
"Your 7th Christmas I presume?" Clara asked curiously. "Looks ok to me. Why were you sent here?"
"I was given a piece of coal by my biological father… which may I add? Was throw immediately thrown on the fire in my mother's room."
"It's the thought that counts."
"My sister got a video player."
"Harsh…well count yourself lucky. I only ever got one present and that was this dress because I was completely grown out of my rags that was smuggled in by a guard who was instantly killed by guillotine." Clara said in a deep angry voice.
"Ouch." Regina replied.
"Ouch is right."
"Lets move on"
"Right…the present."
The time portal once again opened for the two.
"Here we go!" cried Clara.
"Get a life… it's not that exciting."
They arrived back in the town about two minutes afterwards. "Dude that gives me a headache every-time I go though that thing."
"Yeah you do look a bit pale." Regina observed.
"I'm a ghost. I'm meant to look pale idiot! … anyway, go in that tattered old house.
"Fine…. Don't see why." What Regina saw worried her immensely. A small young child in a broken old wheelchair was being sung lullabies by 2 older twin siblings. Now both children looked terrified & sick. Regina realised that she was in Vincent's house. Vincent never let on that he was this poor. Or had 3 children, although once told her about Matilda (Tilly). Regina was asked constantly asked by her employees for money, but never once by Vincent. He was a decent enough worker. She actually thought that Vincent was just thinking of an excuse to get out of work.
"Sprit…."
"Clara"
"Clara then…what is to become of tiny Tilly? …Wait! Where are you going?"
"To the future."
"Don't forget to send me a postcard."
"Come on!"
"OOOHHH…"
Regina watched as the dark purples in the portal turned a deep red. Regina screamed. A coffin! She was in a coffin!
With thousands of fiery tongues licking at it! She was about to be burned to death! She searched around for an escape route, but to no avail. She screamed and banged on the lid. Luckily the lid was a cheap type of wood and easily broken.
Her funeral was a very small one Vincent and his family was there and the clothing store manager (of whom she made very rich with her greedy need for expensive clothes)
And the owner of the jewellery store (For the same reason)
And few members of her family, & others she didn't recognise. But she couldn't help but sense some thing was very wrong. She turned back & saw what it was that she was sensing. Another, smaller coffin was placed beside her own. Inscribed on it were the words 'TINY TILLY'.
Regina turned back to the sobbing crowd. Clara reappeared. "Well?" she said.
"Clara I have seen the error of my ways…." Regina Replied. "Send me back."
Regina smiled as she pulled back the silk covers of her double bed. She strolled over to the window and peered into the frost-fallen streets and grinned. "Little boy!" she called to the oldest and most depressingly cheerful of a group of young children.
"Run! It's Ms Regina!" shouted the youngest child.
"Don't worry, I won't harm you. I want you to take this." Regina tossed out a bag of £50 notes. "Now take this to the
Toy store & buy the ps2 that's in the window with really good games and accessory's and two girls bikes both teenage and bring them to Vincent Valentine's house! You know where it is right?"
"Right ma'am." Replied the child grinning.
"Oh yeah…. You can keep the change."
"OH RIGHT!!!" the child yelled running towards the Toy store with a massive grin on his face and a fist full of cash.
Regina pulled her best dress over her head as she dialled the number for the town hall. She was going to arrange the best Christmas party there ever was!
The child had arrived at Vincent's house just about the same time Regina had. "Got the stuff?" she asked.
"Ma'am" the kid nodded and revealed the gifts hidden on a sledge under a long black cloak. Regina smiled 'lets go in' She thought to herself. "Be at the town hall at lunchtime for the feast of a lifetime" she called to the child who was already running towards the sweet store. Then she turned back to the house and rapped on the door several times. Vincent rushed to answer the door. "Yes Ms Lockmedow." He was obviously thinking that he was in a lot of trouble perhaps he had to go back to work? Regina decided to tease him. "I want you to……." She said in a very low 'I'm gonna bite your head off' voice. "……Yes?" Vincent replied squinting a little.
"Move out of the way and show me your adorable family." Regina smiled.
Vincent fainted.
All went well as you can see here:
The town-hall party was a splendid success.
Matilda was given the world's best medical treatment.
The Valentine family moved in with Regina.
Regina lost all greed (apart from being a chocoholic).
Clara was given her life back for world record in time-wise but was sent back to her own time and released from jail as her father was executed.
Regina gained a lot more being good than bad.
By Catherine Halliday.