"Through tinted windows Ebenezer Clinton Scrooge III watched the bustling sidewalk crowds slip silently into the waiting night like shadowy grey wraiths spirited away on a bitter December wind. The gaudy festive lights served only to emphasize their desperate anonymity. Scrooge leaned back into the plush leather upholstery of the limousine, comforted by the fact he no longer needed to mingle with the madding crowd."

 "Scrooge  gazed out of the window. Somewhere below, the river flowed blacker than the Styx through the city’s dark heart into the eternal depths of the poisoned oceans. But Scrooge’s eyes were fixed upon another river. The unceasing flow of humanity condemned as surely to follow the course of existence to its inevitable conclusion as the river was compelled to flow into the embrace of the blind and restless sea. Christmas held out hope that the journey was not in vain. That was one of the reasons he despised it. "
 

 “Aren’t you going to offer your old friend a drink? Sorry I‘m a bit late. You never could abide being kept waiting could you Ebenezer. Time was always too precious, your time in particular. Now, unlike you Ebenezer, I have all the time in this world and beyond.”  The creature doffed the fedora and bowed. Mercifully, long strands of matted wet hair covered its face. “The late, very late Jake Marley at your service.”

"New York  was infested with such hopeless individuals seeking solace and oblivion in alcohol or drugs, authors of their own destruction, and as such deserving of no sympathy or special favors. Still they never usually surfaced in this district preferring instead to haunt the more stagnant cesspits of the city. Perhaps the fact it was Christmas Eve had emboldened this particular specimen into venturing further afield in the false hope that honest citizens would be more inclined to lunatic displays of charity many being so imbued with festive spirits they would carelessly part with their hard earned dollars."

“Well?” Scrooge was relieved to recognize the man as an employee who worked somewhere in Accounts. Incredibly he thought he even recalled the person’s name, Bobby Scratchitt or something very similar. Hadn’t his brother died on Sept 11^th? He vaguely remembered a memo from Miss Perry regarding a sympathy card.

Given the circumstances it had been the politically correct thing to do so he had given her permission to go ahead on his behalf. He might even have actually signed it.
 

 “Were you thinking of going somewhere Ebenezer?
She inclined her head in the direction of his feet and for the first time he noticed the small battered brown suitcase lying by his bed.

“You’ll need a coat.” She plucked his jacket from the chair that stood by the dressing table and tossed it carelessly onto the bed.
“It’s started snowing.”

He stumbled striking his knees on the sidewalk. The taxi was waiting but he was no longer outside Scratchitt’s house. He stood and gazed upwards. The Interstellar Inc Building reached into the night sky as though grasping at the cold indifferent stars, bathing him in its monstrous shadow. 

“See Ebenezer, you have built your tower towards the heavens but what name have you made for yourself?” The creature moved towards the taxi and Scrooge made to follow but it held up a gloved hand.

“Farewell Ebenezer. Someone waits for you.”

“Who’s there? What do you want?

He peered intently into the gloom but the shadows flickered and shifted deceptively as an image on the screen began to grow and take shape.

“Interstellar Incorporated International regret to announce the death of their CEO and distinguished leader Ebenezer Clinton Scrooge III following a brief illness.”

Scrooge spun round facing the screen and stepped forward drawn like a moth to it’s shimmering brightness.
 

"A small boy sat on what appeared to be the corner of a bed. His head was turned away to his right. The likeness was uncanny, the pose all too familiar. Scrooge knew exactly where the stone boy would gaze down the long cold years. Not at the hard grey skies but out through an old wooden window suspended in time to the indifferent world that lay beyond.

Leah leaned forward and placed the roses at the feet of the stone child. He noticed that there were dead flowers spread around like a carpet of remembrance. This was not the first time Leah had visited this place."

"A Christmas Carol Revisited " by Phil Rowlands Is Available Now At Amazon in Kindle Format

                              
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"What a wonderful message to remind ourselves of...and to remind others of.  

It's just beautiful . . .

They adopted "because"....I don't want to ruin the story for new readers.

I love it ..."   Michele Vrabel 

Download Part 1 Here

"God Bless Us Every One This And Every Christmas."