Chapter Two: The First of the Spirits
That night, Merlyn searched his room all over with a candle before putting it on the table.
"Spirits." He scoffed. He'd obviously been stressed as he got into bed and blew out his candle. "Humbug!"
Merlyn then went to sleep without undressing.
As Merlyn slept, a lovely woman walked up. Her hair was blond, and she was dressed in a long white dress that exposed her shoulders. She starred at the fireplace, and the fire came on. She then rang the bell on the clock, which read two o'clock, but Merlyn continued sleeping.
"Oh boy." The woman groaned. She rang the bell again, and Merlyn got up.
"Oh, what?" Lex asked.
"Well it's about time." The woman said. "Haven't got all night, you know."
"Who... Who are you?" Merlyn asked in surprise.
"I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past." The woman said. "You can call me Lara for short."
"I would think someone like you would look a little older." Merlyn observed.
"Well Malcolm, if men were aged by kindness, you'd be no older than a new-born babe." Lara retorted calmly.
"Kindness is of little use in this world." Merlyn said as he prepared to go back to sleep.
"You didn't always think so." Lara said. "Come on, Malcolm, it's time to go."
"Then go." Lex said agitatedly when Lara walked to a window, and opened it.
"Lara!" Merlyn called out in alarm. "What are you doing?!"
"We're going to visit your past." Lara explained.
"I'm not going out there." Merlyn countered. "I'll fall."
"Take my hand, and you'll be lifted." Lara said, as Merlyn apprehensively took Lara's hand, and they were flying above Metropolis in an instant, having a wild ride.
They stopped at a small shop.
"Lara, I think I know this place." Merlyn mused. "Yes! It's old Lewis Lang's! I couldn't have worked for a kinder man."
Inside the shop, Lewis, alive again, was dancing with his wife and several others.
"Why it's old Lang himself!" Merlyn exclaimed. "And all of my very dearest friends!"
Merlyn then turned to a shy boy who looked very slim.
"And that shy boy in the corner, that's me." Merlyn remarked.
"Yes." Lara said. "Before you became a miserable miser consumed by greed."
"Well nobody's perfect." Merlyn defended before looking at a brown haired girl with green eyes. "There she is. There's lovely Dinah."
Dinah walked up to the younger Malcolm.
"Malcolm?" Dinah asked. "Malcolm."
"Yes, Dinah?" Malcolm asked nervously as Dinah pulled him under the mistletoe.
"My eyes are closed, my lips are puckered, and I'm standing under the mistletoe." Dinah said.
"You're also standing on my foot." Malcolm pointed out before Dinah chuckled, and they began dancing with everybody as Malcolm smiled. The dance ended with Dinah kissing Malcolm's cheek, and his mind went to mush.
"Oh, I remember how much I was in love with her." Merlyn said nostalgically when there was a sudden wind, and the entire area became darkened.
"In ten years' time, you learned to love something else." Lara said as Lex looked around and found himself in a very familiar place.
"It's my counting house!" Merlyn said in surprise.
"Yes." Lara said. "You had just formed your partnership with Strange. Your business was new, but your ways were set."
"Oh, please!" Merlyn said as he suddenly remembered the day. "Spare me the rest!"
"You have to drain the cup to the dregs for this trip to do good." Lara said. "Recall how you drove love from your heart and replaced it with the worship of money."
"Nine-thousand four-hundred and forty two." Malcolm said as he put a coin on top of a large pile from several foreclosures and debt payments. "Nine-thou-"
"Malcolm?" Dinah asked from behind the pile of coins.
"Yes, what is it?" Malcolm asked.
"For years I've had the honeymoon cottage Malcolm." Dinah said. "I've been waiting for you to keep your promise to marry me. Now I must know; have you made your decision?"
"I have!" Malcolm said finally as he pulled out the mortgage paper of the cottage. "Your last payment on the cottage was an hour late! I'm foreclosing the mortgage!"
Merlyn watched Dinah burst into tears and walk away.
Go after her you young fool! Merlyn called out angrily at his past self.
"You loved your money more than that precious girl, and you lost her forever." Lara reminded him as a look of anger crossed Dinah's face as she closed the door, causing the pile of gold to crash down on the table.
"Please spirit." Merlyn moaned. "I can no longer bare these memories. Take me home."
"Remember Malcolm." Lara said as the scene, and Lara, was beginning to fade away. "You fashioned these memories yourself..."
Wow. Talk about a dumb choice, huh?