A/N:

Thanks for the reviews! :)

I am so sorry about the delayed chapter! I had a lot to do yesterday and I didn't have time to finish it in time. But don't worry, I will also upload Chapter 7 with this update! Yay! :)

Well, there's only 1 more day till Christmas!

Here's Chapter 6: "On Man's Garbage Is Another Man's Present"

This chapter is long so, be energized!! :) This is my favourite chapter yet!

Read and Review!

When Simon opened his closed eyes (Why he had them closed, he didn't know) he did not believe what he saw. People where everywhere! People walking with friends, telling each other what wonderful gifts that had received from loved ones, people buying gifts from stores hoping to give them to their boss in hope of a promotion, and people buying fruit and vegetables from the market in preparation for Christmas dinner. Children were playing in the snow, having the time of their lives with friends. Simon saw a small family building a snowman together in the far distance. It was snowing lightly. The sun was trying to shine through the clouds that hovered over the joyous city....Although, Simon saw nothing joyous about the city.

"I welcome you," announced Theodore who was standing on top of a lamp post, his arms out stretched. "To Christmas morning!"

Indeed, it truly was Christmas day and, just by looking around, Simon could tell. But....he still saw no reason why people were so..."merry" on this day! What was the point in it all! First you buy presents for the children (Which Simon never had any, thank god!) which wasted a lot of money. Simon saw a lady buying a toy car for her son over by a market stand. Simon could see that the toy car cost Thirty pounds. (A/N: If you converted that to dollars, it will give you a total of $44!) Then you have to buy all the food for Christmas dinner. For what? Just to waste more money on a meaningless feast!? There's also the cost for party food, Christmas lights, decorations.....Simon could go on and on!

"This is very nice, Spirit!" Simon yelled sarcastically up to Theodore who was still standing on the lamppost looking down on Simon. "But, can you come down here..." Simon pointed to the ground. "...so I can speak to you?"

The spirit was down by Simon's feet in a flash. The spirit was smiling broadly.

"Thank you" Simon said shocked at the spirits speed. "Now, as I was saying Spirit, I would love to go on this little journey and all but I have much to do and I-" But Simon was cut off.

"Much to do?" The fat chipmunk spirit repeated. "Of course there is much to do, Scrooge!" The spirit put his hand on Simon's back again. They both walked toward the busy market place. "This is Christmas day, after all! So much to do! So much to see!"

"I agree Spirit, fully. But I-"

"Of course you do Scrooge, of course you do" The chipmunk spirit chuckled a little. He then saw some delicious looking pies at a stall. His eyes lingered for a while and then carried on. Simon rolled his eyes at this. "That is why we must start straight away!"

"Spirit, really. I don't think I-" But Simon was interrupted yet again.

"Trust me Scrooge!" The fat Spirit turned to face Simon. He held him by his shoulders. (A/N: Not "held" exactly because Spirits can't touch anything) "You'll be glad you joined me" The chipmunk smiled at Simon.

Maybe if I go along with this I could get back to my bed quicker. Simon thought. I might as well just go through this "journey" and then I will be back in my own bed again.

"O-OK" Simon finally said. "Lead the way Spirit. Lead the way"

"Will do!" The fat chipmunk spirit said, happily. The both walked down the street that was crowded by people. They soon stopped and the spirit turned to face a house with two small children sitting on the stone steps. The both held wrapped presents in their hands.

"Look over there!" The spirit pointed to the two children. Simon lazily looked into the direction the spirit pointed to. The two children had exchanged gifts.

"I don't like toy trains" One of the children said to the other.

"I don't particularly like toy cars, either" The other child replied.

"But I'm glad you gave me a present" one of the children said, happily to the other. "That's exactly what I wanted"

"Me too" They both hi-fived each other.

"Do you see, Scrooge?" The spirit asked a stunned Simon. "That is the true meaning of Christmas; love"

Simon couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Two children exchanging gifts they didn't like!? Simon had no idea what he was missing...and he wanted to see more. He turned to the spirit.

"Spirit I had no idea. Show me more....show me...Family" Simon request from the happy chipmunk soul.

"It will be my pleasure" He clicked his fat fingers and, in a dazzle of light, Scrooge and the spirit had disappeared into thin air...

*

Simon and the fat Spirit were both standing in the middle of a small dining room. People were sitting around a very large table that was laid with many Christmassy foods. A Christmas tree was stood magnificently in the corner of the room, decorations were decorated all over the room, the feeling of happiness was present in the atmosphere. At first, Simon thought the spirit had sent him to the wrong house; he didn't recognize any of the people present in the room. That is, until he heard a very friendly voice:

"Yes, Martha I know; the tree is brilliantly decorated. My wife, Clara decorated it." Fred was sitting on the far end of the table. He was dressed in a blue over-coat looking dashing and handsome as always. His blonde hair was wavy. He soon stood up with a glass in one hand. He tapped a spoon to the glass. The room felt silent.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for attending mine and Clara's Christmas party." Fred gestured to a woman in a pink dress with curly long blonde hair. She inclined her head forward. "Well, hope you enjoyed the food. What shall we do now?" Fred asked the people sitting around him.

"What about a game?" asked a bald man.

"Yes, we must have a game at Christmas!" agreed a snotty man with a snotty little voice.

Simon turned to the happy fat spirit. "Do people play games at Christmas?"

The fat spirit smiled. "Yes! I love games!" He chuckled a little. Simon turned back to the conversation before him.

"Capital idea, old bean!" Fred happily said. "But what game?"

"What about "Guess It"?" a large woman in a large dressed suggested.

"Yes, and let Fred go first; he always thinks' of the best ones!" Fred's wife, Clara smiled at her husband.

"OK" Fred agreed. He started to walk around the dining table. "Begin.....Now!"

"Is it....a vegetable?" asked a skinny woman.

"Certainly not" Fred answered.

"Is it a....animal?" Clara asked.

"What else could it be?" Fred smiled at his wife.

"What else, indeed!" Clara replied with a smile.

"Is it a....bird?" A man with a deep voice enquired.

"If it was, it would never fly away" Fred replied. It sounded to everyone else in the room (and to Scrooge) that there was an inside joke to Fred's comment.

"A dog?" The large woman asked.

"Nope" Fred said, quickly. He was still circling the room. "I'll give you a hint: it is an unwanted creature" People started to murmur.

A bird! No, he already said "No" to that. And it's not a dog........It's an unwanted creature? Simon was presently surprised that he was getting into the game. Not only that but he was....enjoying it, too! I've got an idea! He knew no-one would hear him, but he did it anyway.

"A rat!" Simon shouted, as if he knew the answer. He was standing next to Fred now, who had stopped by his chair.

"A rat!" Clara exclaimed. Simon turned to face her.

"I said it first!" Simon replied, acting as a child.

"Nope....You'll never guess what it is!" said Fred, smiling all the time.

"Wait!" Clara exclaimed. She smiled. She knew the answer. "An unwanted creature but not a bird, dog or a rat"

"Then what?" asked a large man

"What?" Fred asked wanting to know if his darling wife had figured it out.

"What?" Simon really wanted to know.

"It's Simon Scrooge!" Clara answered, laughing to her answer.

"Yes! She's right!" Fred joined her in laughing. The whole room had joined in the laughing as well. They laughed how Simon Scrooge was never wanted, how he never wanted anyone. But person did not find the joke funny at all and that was the person who the joke was all about. Simon Scrooge stood stock still. His eyes were glistening.

"Come" The fat chipmunk spirit patted Simon on the back. "There is much to see" He put his arm around Simon's shoulder.

"No more" Simon choked. "I wish to see no more!"

Poof!

The people in the room were still laughing at the chipmunk who had just vanished from the room.....

*

Simon and the fat spirit were both standing in the middle of coble street. People walked on by on the streets. Cheaply made brick houses were all lined up on each side of the street. Simon saw a homeless person outside the front doors of on the houses. It was still snowing lightly. The sun was shining through the over casted clouds. The sound of happy children was in the air.

"Why have you brought me to this retched and awful place?" Simon asked bitterly, the visit to Fred's house still fresh in his mind. Why had the spirit sent him here? To cheer him up? Yeah right!

"You won't Family, I'll give you Family!" The spirit smiled broadly. He pointed to a small house. It didn't look like it cost much. It didn't look like it could hold many people....well, that's what Scrooge thought anyway.

"And who lives here?" Simon asked pointing to the house.

"Alvin Crachit, you're only employee" The fat spirit replied.

Simon turned to the house. Alvin Crachit lives here? Surely not! I knew I didn't pay him that much but....I never thought he would live in such a dump like this. Simon turned back to the spirit not wanting to believe that his employee would live in such a place.

"Alvin Crachit lives here?" Simon asked hoping he heard incorrectly.

"Who told you that?" The fat chipmunk answered an expression of surprise on his face.

"You did. Just a minute ago!" Simon was looking at the spirit confused.

"Oh yes that's right" Simon's stomach right. He heard correctly. He went up to the window to peer inside. The spirit joined him.

The room he was looking into was tiny. Simon saw a pot boiling over a fire in the corner of the room and a small counter area. He saw a table of six chairs around a table that could barely stand up. He saw a small Christmas tree over in the corner; it was not decorated. A light bulb was the only source of light in the room. A chipmunk woman with long blonde hair in a pink dress was over the stove cutting vegetables.

"Who's that?" Simon pointed to the chipmunk over the stove.

"That is Mrs. Crachit, Mrs. Brittany Crachit" The fat chipmunk spirit said, merrily.

Simon looked back into the Crachit household. Mrs. Crachit was still cutting up vegetables.

"Stupid husband of mine!" Brittany muttered angrily under her breathe as she chopped up a carrot. "Cannot even stand up to his own boss!"

She had finished cutting up a carrot and was now cutting potatoes: "One-Day-I-Will!" With each word she cut the potato furiously. "Stand up to that no good man!"

"Mommy! Mommy!" Came a high pitched yell from somewhere in the small house.

"What now?" Brittany asked herself putting her hand over her face.

Two chipmunk boys, both with a red hat on their small heads came running down the stairs to their mother.

"Mommy! Alvin. Jr won't let me have a turn with his red toy car!" One of the chipmunk boys had his arms crossed looking up at his mother, innocently. The other chipmunk boy (who looked identical to the first chipmunk boy) was holding a red toy car in his hand.

Brittany slammed her hand to her face. "Alvin. Jr The Second, you have a red toy car as well!" Brittany said angrily to her whining son. Alvin. Jr The Second was holding his red toy car in his hand. He looked at it and then back at 's. He then looked at his mother and said:

"But his red toy car has a little man in it! I won't one!" Alvin. Jr The Second crossed his arms and pouted.

"Oh, stop being such a baby!" Alvin. Jr was playing with his toy car, now. He looked at Alvin. Jr The Second and smiled evilly. "Maybe next year, Santa will give you one with a little man in it"

"Mommy! His making fun of me!" Alvin. Jr The Second whinnied, again.

"Alvin. Jr The Second, do not make fun of your brother" Brittany scold her teasing son.

"Mom, I'm Alvin. Jr! Not "Alvin. Jr The Second" Alvin. Jr looked as if he was just insulted with a dirty word. "How many times do we have to go through with this?"

"I'm Alvin. Jr!" Alvin. Jr spoke up, loudly.

"O...of course you are....Alvin. Jr" Brittany was looking at Alvin. Jr The Second. Her statement was more of a question than a statement itself.

"Alvin. Jr The Second!" The chipmunk with a red toy car without a man inside it looked just as insulted as .

Brittany put her hand to her face. "Why did I ever let your father name you two after himself?" She was more talking to herself than to her two insulted sons.

"Isn't it obvious?" One of the chipmunk boys asked; Brittany just couldn't tell who said it. "We're awesome! Just like our father"

Outside of the Crachit house, Simon looked at the scene before him. He didn't even know that Crachit had such a big family to provide for....to provide food for.....to care for. A small anchor dropped in Simon's stomach; it hurt. Simon had never experienced this feeling; it was guilt. For the first time Simon felt guilty....

"Did someone mention "awesome" and "father"?" The front door to the house was open. In the door frame was Alvin Crachit and his small seven year old son, Little Alvie, on his shoulder. Alvin was wearing a thick red coat that covered most of his body, a scarf around his neck and a red hat balanced on his head. His son, Little Alvie, was also wearing a red coat, a scarf and a small red hat that fitted nicely on his head. Alvin closed the door behind, trying not to let in any cold air and snow.

Simon didn't even notice Alvin and his son walk up the street!

"Daddy!" The twins ran at their father and hugged him, affectionately. "You're back!"

"Oh, happy days!" mumbled Brittany, sarcastically. Just then a high pitched squeal could be heard through the whole house. A chipmunk girl with long ponytails came running down the stairs and joined hugging her father with her brothers.

"I missed you daddy!" The chipmunk girl said, happily.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Emily" Alvin replied, smiling down at his daughter.

"Children! It's time to sit up at the dinner table" Brittany announced as she tried to pull her children away from their embrace with their father. They all let go of their father, in the end, and ran to the dinner table. Alvin placed Little Alvie on the floor. He gave Alvie a walking stick and watched as excited little Alvie tried to dash to the dinner table with the rest of his siblings.

"Wow!" Little Alvie's eyes gleamed with excitement as he looked upon the dinner table. "Look at all the wonderful food to eat!" He sat at the dinner table. He was bouncing with joy. "Daddy, will you come join us?"

"I sure will-" But Alvin was pulled to one side of the room.

"Not until I have a word with him" Brittany had clenched Alvin by his clothes. She turned to her children. "Just wait for us children" They nodded.

Alvin looked into the dangerous eyes of his wife. He had done something wrong....well, that's what those dangerous eyes mean. But, what?

"Brittany, baby. What's the meaning for all-"

"You know PERFECTLY what this is about, Alvin baby!" Brittany was fuming with rage.

"Actually, dear" Alvin had pulled free from Brittany's clench. "I don't know what you are talking about. I will now join my children if you don't mind"

But Brittany had a hold of Alvin again.

"You are not eating until we sort this out!" Alvin could tell that Brittany meant business. "You promise me, Alvin!"

"Promised you what?" Alvin was confused.

"You promised me that you will get a Christmas Bonus from Mr. Scrooge!"

Alvin started to sweat....to shake with fear....to grow scared. It all came back to him now.

"Oh....yes, I promised you that, didn't I?" Alvin smiled at his wife, nervously.

"Yes, you did. But, where is it may I pray tell?" Brittany's armed were crossed.

"I-I....it's...Err..."

"Alvin, we needed that Christmas money!" Brittany knew straight away that Alvin didn't have it. "Do you won't our son to die? Just look at him!"

Alvin turned to face his youngest son, Little Alvie. He was small, weak, and needed an operation....fast. He was slowly eating Christmas dinner....coughing now and then, taking a sip of water. Little Alvie looked up from his plate, waved happily at his "Daddy", a big smile on his cute little face. He looked as though he didn't have a care in the world.....but, soon, Alvie wouldn't even be part of the world.

Simon couldn't help but to shed a tear.

Alvin looked back at his wife, tears in the corners of his eyes. "I t-tried, Brittany" Alvin croaked. "I tried so much to get that Christmas Bonus but....I was afraid of...."

"Let me guess!" Brittany was still angry. "You was afraid to stand up to Mr. Scrooge! Wasn't you?"

Alvin hung his head down low, and nodded.

"Alvin, we could lose our son" Brittany was calmer now. She had never seen Alvin so upset and sad before; now was a first and she couldn't help but to feel sorry for him. She walked closer to him. "And....it could be your fault"

Alvin looked at her tear streaked face. Brittany looked backed at Alvin's saddened face.

"Mommy, Daddy?" Alvin and Brittany looked to the right. Their children were all looking at them with concerned looks. "Are you two, OK?" It was little Alvin who had asked the question.

"Yes, of course!" Alvin put on a fake happy voice and smile.

"We're both fine, children! We will join you now" Brittany joined in the "Fake smile and happy voice" game. She glanced at him; he glanced back. "We will talk about this tomorrow" She whispered to him. Alvin nodded and both of the parents joined their children at the dinner table to enjoy their Christmas dinner.

As Simon looked upon the smallest of the Crachit children, Simon could tell that this child, Alvin, was very weak. Death was upon his doorstep, waiting to take him away from his family and loved ones...away forever. Simon felt as though he was shot in the heart....felt as though someone had pulled out his heart and had stabbed it a few times with a dagger. This child did not deserve to die; he had so much to give to the world....so much love to share. The child was a fighter and he was putting up quite a fight....but, Simon could see he was losing and death was winning. Guilt filled the entire of Simon's body, mind and ....soul. Why didn't he give Crachit the Christmas Bonus? Why did he have to be a selfish moron and say "NO!"? He was a fool...a selfish old fool.

"Spirit?" It felt like a long time since Simon had spoken to the spirit. He had almost forgotten that he, himself, Simon as watching the Crachit family. "Tell me if Little Alvie will live" Simon turned to the fat chipmunk spirit....tears streaming down his face.

The fat chipmunk spirit looked at him with sad eyes. "That information belongs in the future; my realm is the present. However..." The chipmunk spirit looked in through the windows at the Crachit family eating. "...I see a vacant seat where Little Alvin once sat. If these shadows remain unaltered, I believe the child will, ultimately, die"

"No, Spirit" That was all Simon could muster. That was all he could say to that discouragement of hope. No was all Simon could think. Pain was all Simon could feel....

The room before Simon, started to vanish and as the Crachit family vanished into the darkness, Simon kept his eyes on Little Alvie until the last glimpse of light.

Poof!

They were gone....

A/N:

My God! Did I seriously write all this? All 3,569 words!? Where do i have time to write this stuff!?

As you can see, this is my favourite chapter! The emotions and humor are just great. I loved writing the "Crachit scene" It was emotional and it really pulled at the heart strings; I actually she d a tear when writing that part. Mrs. Crachit is, obviously, Brittany (Who else could it be? lol) I came up with the two twins: and The Second (Trust Alvin to name his children after himself! lol) They were both fun to write....oh, and Alvin and Brittany's daughter, Emily! I wanted to give her more things to say but, I couldn't find anywhere for here to say anything. :( My fav character to write about was, Little Alvie who is based on the Character of Tiny Tim! He is cute.

So, why was this chapter called "One Man's Garbage, Is Another Man's Present?" Well, the basic thing to show in this chapter was to show that even though Scrooge (Simon) hates family and Christmas, I wanted to show that from another person's perspective (Alvin Crachit's) his family means the world to him. Yep, that's basically it.

Seeing how I am posting two Chapters, it would be great if you could review both chapters; this one and the next one. Could you please do that for me? It will make Christmas even more of a happier day for me! Just tell me what you thought, please. Thanks guys! :)

After you review, go ahead and review Chapter 7! :)