Thanks to CherubKatan for the correct appearances of the ghosts from 'A Christmas Carol'.My muses must have lost the memo on that one.
I'm trying to (hopefully) write a somewhat different version of the original story, mainly because I only vaguely remember the original story. I'm just using the three ghosts for my story. No Spirit of Christmas here.
I've also decided to dope the title into 'A Christmas Wish' instead.
Don't worry, the story will take a dark turn soon enough.
This story is dedicated to those of us who hated how Gluhen ended.
A Christmas Wish
-Chapter 1: Why is this happening to me?-
This time the cup of hot chocolate milk did end up on the floor. Luckily, the floor is covered with an ugly yellow carpet. This gave me the right excuse to change the carpet.
But back to the situation at hand. I blinked profusely and really hoped that the image or hallucination would disappear just as quickly as it appeared. No, quicker would nice.
Alas, alas, no such thing happened. For a man who didn't or no longer believed in ghosts, it is hard to be confronted with proof of the exact opposite. However, there was no mistake that the being now residing my room, was not human. Humans were not supposed to be see-through, which was definitely the case here. Through the white T-shirt, I could still see the remnants of my Hawaiian pizza, the bottle of wine, the empty wine-glass and the still unopened bottle of Jack Daniels. I could even still see the outline of the pink chairs and the pink table Asuka adored so much.
"Youji-kun." The ghost took a step closer and I backed away, knocking down an empty flower vase in my hasty retreat. I only spared a quick glance to the shattered vase.
"Stop. Stop right there! You...you're just a fraction of my over-worked imagination. I want you to leave right now. I'll close my eyes and count to ten. And when I open my eyes again you'll be gone!" With my back against the wall and my eyes firmly closed, I started to count out loud.
"One..."Of course I'm not mad, I've just had too much to drink. I told myself.
"Two..." Wait, I only drank two glass of wine.
"Three..." Maybe I forgot to close the door?
"Four..." So he's just a very quiet thief. That must be it.
"Five..." What kind of thief would be see-through?!
"Six..." So he must be a ghost then.
"Seven..." A ghost. Why the hell did this have to happen to me?!
"Eight..."
'Youji-kun, please!" The ghost interrupted.
I opened my eyes and there he was. Or should I say it was? Still standing at the exact same spot, the ghost frowned at me. Wait, wait. He's...he's...
"You're...pouting?!" I gasped.
The ghost shrugged and smiled. "I'm just trying to avoid being out of character here."
Out of character? But how would I know if he's out of character. I didn't know him, or did I? Dammit, this is one of the reasons I hate not having my memories. I always spot glimpses of faces, without knowing a name or anything else behind the face. In the middle of the night, I would sometimes find myself chasing after some stranger who would always mysteriously disappear.
Feeling some of my initial shock starting to fade away, replaced by my familiar friend the numbness, the logical parts of my brains finally started to kick in.
"So I knew you…when you were still alive?" I asked hesitantly.
"Sure you did. Well, that's not exactly true. You knew the person whose appearance I'm currently borrowing and he's actually still alive. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past." The ghost announced, with a certain pride in his voice.
"Well, good for you! Since I obviously no longer remember my past, maybe you could give me my past and then be on your merry way." I said, making sure the tone of annoyance was abundantly clear in my voice. If I couldn't wish him away, maybe I could annoy him away.
"Dear, dear Youji-kun. Things don't exactly work that way. Also, you are not going to be rid of me so easily." The ghost laughed cheerfully at me.
"Don't you know who I am?" A little disappointment could be heard in his voice. Great, I just disappointed a ghost. I sighed.
"Sorry, I've got no idea. But I'm sure I'll find out, if you give me sometime."
The ghost brightened with a huge smile on his face. The smile was the size of a 100 Watt light bulb.
"Egh, tone it down a little. You're hurting my eyes."
"Okay, here's the deal." The ghost started to explain. "I will be showing you some memories from your past. Remember everything you see. Make notes if you have to. You may ask questions and I may answer them, or not. I'm not your tour guide."
"What are you going to do? Show me a movie, with footages from my past?" I frowned, not really liking things were going. I suspected that something I didn't like was about to happen.
"No, silly Youji-kun. Where's the fun in that?" He smiled mysteriously.
"Okay, since you're obviously going to stay around for a while. How should I call you? The Ghost of Christmas Past is a little long. Should I call you Ghosty? Pasty? Pasty-ghost?" I questioned.
He pondered a while.
I sighed and pulled out my personal smoking-kit. I desperately needed a smoke. Just when I was about to put a freshly-lit cigarette in my mouth, the ghost stole it. And he tsked at me.
"No smoking. It's bad for your health. Besides, where we're going, you can't smoke." And then out of nowhere, a brown sack appeared in his hand. He scooped a handful of blue sand and threw it in my face. When I finally finished with the painful task of coughing and hacking my lungs out, I realized I was no longer in my small apartment.
"And you can call me…Omi."
I'm trying to (hopefully) write a somewhat different version of the original story, mainly because I only vaguely remember the original story. I'm just using the three ghosts for my story. No Spirit of Christmas here.
I've also decided to dope the title into 'A Christmas Wish' instead.
Don't worry, the story will take a dark turn soon enough.
This story is dedicated to those of us who hated how Gluhen ended.
A Christmas Wish
-Chapter 1: Why is this happening to me?-
This time the cup of hot chocolate milk did end up on the floor. Luckily, the floor is covered with an ugly yellow carpet. This gave me the right excuse to change the carpet.
But back to the situation at hand. I blinked profusely and really hoped that the image or hallucination would disappear just as quickly as it appeared. No, quicker would nice.
Alas, alas, no such thing happened. For a man who didn't or no longer believed in ghosts, it is hard to be confronted with proof of the exact opposite. However, there was no mistake that the being now residing my room, was not human. Humans were not supposed to be see-through, which was definitely the case here. Through the white T-shirt, I could still see the remnants of my Hawaiian pizza, the bottle of wine, the empty wine-glass and the still unopened bottle of Jack Daniels. I could even still see the outline of the pink chairs and the pink table Asuka adored so much.
"Youji-kun." The ghost took a step closer and I backed away, knocking down an empty flower vase in my hasty retreat. I only spared a quick glance to the shattered vase.
"Stop. Stop right there! You...you're just a fraction of my over-worked imagination. I want you to leave right now. I'll close my eyes and count to ten. And when I open my eyes again you'll be gone!" With my back against the wall and my eyes firmly closed, I started to count out loud.
"One..."Of course I'm not mad, I've just had too much to drink. I told myself.
"Two..." Wait, I only drank two glass of wine.
"Three..." Maybe I forgot to close the door?
"Four..." So he's just a very quiet thief. That must be it.
"Five..." What kind of thief would be see-through?!
"Six..." So he must be a ghost then.
"Seven..." A ghost. Why the hell did this have to happen to me?!
"Eight..."
'Youji-kun, please!" The ghost interrupted.
I opened my eyes and there he was. Or should I say it was? Still standing at the exact same spot, the ghost frowned at me. Wait, wait. He's...he's...
"You're...pouting?!" I gasped.
The ghost shrugged and smiled. "I'm just trying to avoid being out of character here."
Out of character? But how would I know if he's out of character. I didn't know him, or did I? Dammit, this is one of the reasons I hate not having my memories. I always spot glimpses of faces, without knowing a name or anything else behind the face. In the middle of the night, I would sometimes find myself chasing after some stranger who would always mysteriously disappear.
Feeling some of my initial shock starting to fade away, replaced by my familiar friend the numbness, the logical parts of my brains finally started to kick in.
"So I knew you…when you were still alive?" I asked hesitantly.
"Sure you did. Well, that's not exactly true. You knew the person whose appearance I'm currently borrowing and he's actually still alive. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past." The ghost announced, with a certain pride in his voice.
"Well, good for you! Since I obviously no longer remember my past, maybe you could give me my past and then be on your merry way." I said, making sure the tone of annoyance was abundantly clear in my voice. If I couldn't wish him away, maybe I could annoy him away.
"Dear, dear Youji-kun. Things don't exactly work that way. Also, you are not going to be rid of me so easily." The ghost laughed cheerfully at me.
"Don't you know who I am?" A little disappointment could be heard in his voice. Great, I just disappointed a ghost. I sighed.
"Sorry, I've got no idea. But I'm sure I'll find out, if you give me sometime."
The ghost brightened with a huge smile on his face. The smile was the size of a 100 Watt light bulb.
"Egh, tone it down a little. You're hurting my eyes."
"Okay, here's the deal." The ghost started to explain. "I will be showing you some memories from your past. Remember everything you see. Make notes if you have to. You may ask questions and I may answer them, or not. I'm not your tour guide."
"What are you going to do? Show me a movie, with footages from my past?" I frowned, not really liking things were going. I suspected that something I didn't like was about to happen.
"No, silly Youji-kun. Where's the fun in that?" He smiled mysteriously.
"Okay, since you're obviously going to stay around for a while. How should I call you? The Ghost of Christmas Past is a little long. Should I call you Ghosty? Pasty? Pasty-ghost?" I questioned.
He pondered a while.
I sighed and pulled out my personal smoking-kit. I desperately needed a smoke. Just when I was about to put a freshly-lit cigarette in my mouth, the ghost stole it. And he tsked at me.
"No smoking. It's bad for your health. Besides, where we're going, you can't smoke." And then out of nowhere, a brown sack appeared in his hand. He scooped a handful of blue sand and threw it in my face. When I finally finished with the painful task of coughing and hacking my lungs out, I realized I was no longer in my small apartment.
"And you can call me…Omi."