A/N:
Well, here it is! Chapter 7 "A Broken Future For A Broken Man" What's up with all the names I'm giving the chapters? Well, just to let you know (which you should know by now), each chapter has a different meaning which relates to each chapter.
I hope you reviewed my last delayed chapter, Chapter 6 "One Man's Garbage Is Another Man's Present" (Which I am deeply sorry you had to wait for, may I add – Come on! It was over 3,000 words long!) Hope you enjoyed it!
This is the scene where it gets pretty scary! So, to all you kids out there, you may get a little scared of this.
Well, enjoy this chapter! :)
Read and Review!
Simon could hear nothing. Simon could feel nothing. Simon could see nothing. Was Simon dead? Had he....moved on? And where was the ghost of Christmas present. Where was that happy fat chipmunk ghost of kindness? Where was he when Simon desperately needed him? Simon was afraid....and alone. He put his arms around himself.
Soon, Simon could make out where he was. The reason why he couldn't see anything at first was because there was too much fog in the air. When the fog started to drift away, Simon could make out varies shapes and figures. He could make out the siloert of some kind of church, he could see a tree i the background and large stones were surrounding him. Simon still couldn't hear anything which scared him because he could now see. Where are you spirit?
"Scrooge?" came a flat emotionless voice. "Where are you?" Simon didn't know if he should trust the voice at all; it could be anyone after all. But, seeing how he was lost and afraid, Simon figured it was best that "someone" at least found him. Maybe they could help?
"I'm over here!" Simon shouted to the voice, directing them in the direction Simon was. "Just follow my voice!"
"I'm coming!" Simon could hear that the voice was huffing and puffing. Were they running to him? Maybe they were a rescue party to save him! But that didn't make any sense! "
Just stay where you are!" Simon could tell that, whoever the voice belonged to, was old....very old. Oh, he just wished that the fat chipmunk spirit was still with him!
"I'm almost there!" The voice was indeed telling the truth; they were very close now. Simon looked in all directions in the drifting for, trying to make out a moving figure in the distance. Suddenly, Simon saw it; a moving figure was....gliding towards him!! But...no, Simon mustn't had seen right! This person had no legs...that couldn't be! No, It was impossible! The legless person was nearing closer and closer towards Simon. It became bigger and bigger in size...no, fatter?
"I'm here, Scrooge" the voice said in an emotionless voice. "I'm here" Simon saw who the voice belonged two but, for the right reasons, did not comprehend what he saw in front of him. It was the ghost of Christmas present...
"S-Spirit?" Simon was unsure what he was seeing was real. Was any of this real? Maybe the whole thing was a dream to him? Maybe everything he had felt was...fake! He didn't feel sad....guilty....heartbroken....happy.....none of it! It was all fake! It.....couldn't be fake! Could it?
"Yes Scrooge, I was the ghost of Christmas present" A gliding figure with no legs stood in front of Scrooge (A/N: How does that make sense? Lol) No, this isn't the ghost of Christmas present! The spirit that Scrooge was always happy, always smiling....not an emotionless face of nothingness. The spirit Scrooge knew had a round colourful face.....not a winkled up grey face. The spirit that Scrooge knew was big, large and fat.....not skinny and weak. This was not the spirit Scrooge, knew!
"Was?" Simon stared at the strange ghost before him. "What do you mean "was"?"
"I am no longer the ghost of Christmas present" The spirit replied....still remaining emotionless.
"That I can understand....because you were never the ghost of Christmas present!" Simon shouted in a reply.
"I know it is hard to understand, but-" The emotionless dragged on the sentence and Simon just couldn't hear anymore.
"I don't care what you say! You are not the ghost of Christmas present!" Simon did not believe any of it.
"Look into my eyes and tell me what you see" The winkled chipmunk ghost said.
Simon did as requested and he saw something he thought he would not see in these pair of eyes; warmth, laughter, happiness.....the ghost of Christmas present.
"Spirit? It is you, isn't it?" Simon asked the shevelled up ghost.
The spirit nodded.
"What happened to you? Where were you when I found myself in this....place?" Simon wanted to know the answers to many questions. He looked into the glazed eyes of the ghost of Christmas present.
"Do you not know where you are?" the ghost asked Scrooge.
Simon shook his head.
The spirit waved his weak hand out and, in an instant, the fog had disappeared from the landscape. Simon lost his breathe when he found out what he was standing in. The many big stones Simon saw were grave stones.....the church he saw was abandoned....the tree in the distance had no leaves on it. Simon was standing in the middle of a cemetery.
Simon looked at the emotionless face of the spirit in front of him. The face gave him no comfort what so ever.
"What's going on Spirit?" Simon's voice shook with fear....for the very first time.
"I am sorry Scrooge" The face did not show it. "But, I must leave you now"
"What!? No! You mustn't go!" Simon couldn't bare this; he wanted the spirit to say....whether he looked like the ghost of Christmas present or not! "I can help you! You can stay"
"I have taught you much, Scrooge" The spirit looked down at Scrooge, hovering in the air. Was that a smile Simon could see on that emotionless face? "But, there is nothing you can do. I must leave you and let the ghost of Christmas yet to be, take over in my place"
Simon's heart skipped a beat. The ghost of Christmas yet to be? Well....that meant he ghost of...No! Not now! Simon isn't ready to meet a ghost such as that!
"When?" Simon barely asked.
"When the bell tolls three" the spirit said, softly.
"Dong!" The abandoned church to the left of Scrooge, started to chime it's big bell.
"What should I do?" Simon asked desperately, trying to keep the spirit with him for as long as possible. He held out his hand.....but the spirit did not take it.
"Follow him" the spirit whispered. The spirit started to glow bright....he was vanishing.
"Dong!"
"What must I do?"
"Remember what I have taught you...." The sprit's voice had vanished....the spirit's form was gone.
"Dong!" It was now three O'clock.
Simon had never been so afraid in his entire life! The wind howled angrily. The leaves brushed against the stones path in the cemetery. The smell of death was in the air....strongly. It was quite. Simon was all alone....again.
Fog was in the air. Simon couldn't see a thing. He looked left and right in all directions. He saw nothing. The fog soon disappeared again. Simon could see everything. He was afraid the spirit would be in front of him....nothing was there. Simon turned around.
"Ah" Simon gasped. A tall figure in a black, murky cloth stood in front of Simon. His long blackened hands were in front of him. His face was hiding by the black material that covered his body. The frightened chipmunk slowly walked up to him.
"Am I correct when I say "You are the ghost of the Christmas events yet to come"?" Simon asked in a respectful tone. He kept his shaking voice under control.
The black figure nodded its head once.
"Spirit, I am ready to learn as much as possible from you" Simon said as he bowed his head a little.
The black figure nodded, again.
"Will you not say anything to me?" Simon asked the quiet figure.
The black figure pointed one of its long finger's to the right. Simon understood straight away.
"Ah, yes. We must be going. Of course. Lead the way Spirit, lead the way" Simon had said the same thing he had said to the ghost of Christmas present. The difference was.....Simon was afraid of what he will see.
At this point Simon and the black figured Spirit walked forward and as they did so, Simon could see that everything around them started to.....twirl? The whole scenery started to twirl and whirl; they had moved into a black hole. They walked for less than a minute and exited the black hole.
*
Wherever the black figured Spirit had taken Simon, it was raining. It was raining heavier than Simon had ever seen before. Dark clouds had covered the whole of London. Simon looked around at where he was. He and the spirit were standing on a street. That's all it was; a street. There was no life....no happy yells from children playing with their toys....no market with people buying gifts for loved ones....no people talking to friends on the street....nothing. It was like the whole street had been sucked from life.....from hope.....from happiness....from....love.
Simon turned and looked up at the none-talking spirit.
"Why are we here spirit?" Simon asked trying to look into the covered face.
The black figured spirit pointed forwards where a group of gentlemen were talking:
"Yes, I heard this morning" one gentlemen said. "I don't know how but it's true; he is, indeed, dead"
"Does anyone know how it happened?" A rather large man questioned wanting to know more.
"Well, the police believe it was suicide" A snooty man said. "I for one don't give a damn of how he died"
"Yeah" Another gentleman agreed. "Good riddance to him"
"Well, I for one would like to know what he did with all his money?" asked the large man.
"Don't we all!" replied the snooty man. "He never gave any to me and, I dare say he gave any to anyone else" All of the men laughed loudly as they walked down the street, umbrellas in hand.
"I used to know some of those men, Spirit" Simon said simply."What retched man do they speak of?" Simon already knew the answer. But he wanted some comfort. The black hooded spirit said nothing. So Simon went on: "I understand this retched man those gentlemen spoke of might be me. Please, Spirit. Show me some tenderness in this world.....please, Spirit" Simon was on the verge of tears.
The black hooded figure pointed to the right of the street and Simon saw a door he thought he would never see again: The Crachit's front door.
"The Crachit's! Oh, yes Spirit!" Simon was happy he had found a place of....kindness. "A place of happiness and hope. A place of family" Simon nodded his head. "Thank you for bringing me here Spirit"
Simon stayed quiet for a few seconds. He could no longer hear the yells of children, the happy voice of Little Alvie, the happy atmosphere that once filled the air was gone, forever.
"It's so quiet. Why is so quiet Spirit?" Simon asked looking up at the figure. It pointed to the Crachit's window. Simon poked his head at the window. He saw nothing inside. No-one was at home. Simon turned back at the black hooded figure.
"Where are the Crachit's, Spirit?" Simon did not like what was going on; he wished it was all a dream. "Can you take me to them?"
The black figured spirit nodded its head. The vanished....
*
Simon was standing not too far away from a small hill, the black figured Spirit by his side, talkless as always. They were in a cemetery (the same he had been in before) Gravestones were everywhere. Death was everywhere. It had stopped raining but dark and dangerous looking clouds still hung over the cemetery. Leaves were blown along the path.....
"Where are the Crachit's Spirit?" Simon asked the spirit again. The spirit pointed up the hill. Simon walked up the small hill. His heart broke at what he saw next:
Alvin Crachit, Brittany Crachit, Emily and their two sons Alvin. Jr and Alvin. Jr The Second were all standing around a small gravestone. They were all crying....they were all in a hug. Where was Little Alvie?
"C-Children?" Brittany choked as she spoke to her children. "I need to have a word with Daddy, OK?" They all nodded their little heads as they sat and sobbed in their hands. Brittany faced Alvin; Alvin faced Brittany. Alvin said two words:
"I know"
At this point, Brittany had flung her arms around Alvin's neck. She hugged him as she cried into his neck, not wanting to let go.
"I'm sorry" Alvin mumbled. "This is all my fault"
"No" Brittany whispered. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you for something you couldn't control"
"I love you, Brittany" Alvin whispered into her ear. Tears stung Alvin's eyes.
"I know" Brittany replied as she kissed him on the cheek. Alvin and Brittany went over to their children and told them it was time to leave. They all left the cemetery with broken hearts.
Simon walked over to the small gravestone and saw what was written on it:
R.I.P
Little Alvie Crachit
"Dear Son,
Loving boy,
Happiness"
1912 – 1918
Simon let the tears roll down his face. Little Alvie was gone off the face of the earth....forever.
*
The next thing Simon knew, he was down by the side of the black hooded spirit. The fog had grown strong now. The night air was cold....
"You summoned here, Spirit?" Simon could feel his heart beating ever stronger.
The black figured spirit nodded and pointed towards a grave in the distance.
"There something else that I should know. Isn't that true?" Simon asked his voice shaking, his teeth chattering. "I know what I will find! This will answer the question I asked earlier, would it not?"
The black figure did nothing but point.
"That grave...." Simon pointed to the same grave the black hooded spirit was pointing at. "...is the grave of the retched man that brought so much glumness to people isn't it?"
Black figure was still pointing.
"Answer me one thing!" Simon went up to the black figure and looked up into the covered face. Are these the shadows of what will be or out these the shadows of what will be only?"
The black figure continued to point.
Simon slowly walked up to the grave....the grave that could be his own one day....if he did not change his ways. His emotions were high....his heart was pumping too fast for him to catch up. He turned and looked at the hooded spirit.
"These events can be changed! They can and will!" Simon said strongly with a lump in his throat. He was closer to the greave that could hold his destiny.....
"A life can be made right!" Simon almost shouted at the spirit. The spirit merely pointed. Simon was a foot away from the grave. He got down on his knees and scrapped on the dirty surface of the grave. Simon was hoping with all might "I am not dead! I am not dead!" The gave read:
Here Lies
SIMON SCROOGE
Simon started to sob quietly. He was a dead man. He was already dead.
"Simon Scrooge!" Simon sobbed. Simon stood up and turned to face the black hooded figure. "Please, Spirit! Yes, I will honour Christmas! I will live in the past, present and future!"
Simon dragged his poor soul up to the sprit. "Why would you show me all this if I was beyond all hope? Why? I am a changed Chipmunk! I am! I will not shut out the lessons the spirit have taught me!" Simon was hysterical. The world had collapsed all around him. He was already dead....
Simon got down on his knees and grabbed the black material of the spirit, beginning for his life.
"Oh, Sprit! Please speak to me!" Simon sobbed has he but the material to his eyes. He dragged the material to the ground....
A/N:
Well, that's it! The end of that chapter! It took 2 hours to complete but it was way worth it! I stayed up till 4:00a.m to finish it. LOL!
Yes, there are a lot of references to "Muppet's Christmas Carol" movie if you didn't know.
I hope you reviewed for the last chapter! Please review on this one!!!
Thank you to all the lovely reviews I have received!
Only one more chapter to go!!! Yay!
The last chapter , Chapter 8 will be uploaded tomorrow.