Marley is alive, helping Scrooge to be meaner than ever. A prayer from his deceased sister gets noticed in heaven but it does seem hopeless. And Tiny Tim has a plan.
THE SWEET, SOFT CRYSTALLIZED SOUND of wind chimes slipped through the air.
A long white hall adorned with beautiful paintings appeared to be painted with the whitest white that one could imagine. Only heaven could produce such luminosity, and yet it wasn’t hard on the eyes. One canvas showed the blue ocean with waves rolling onshore, a boy and a man fishing from a small blue boat. The youngster was pulling in a large salmon, and the father showed joy at his son’s luck as they would soon have full bellies.
A door opened at the end of the hall; beyond it was a summer scene of beautiful flowers and a female figure that walked into the doorway and stopped. She took a deep breath and prayed that this would work; otherwise, there was no hope. She moved forward with the sound of her shoes hitting the hard floor that echoed off the walls, tok, tok, tok. Scrooge’s sister Fannie, attired in a white dress highlighted in yellow trim, looked almost regal. She too glowed as she headed for the door on her right, admiring the works of art as she went. Fannie knocked and waited patiently. The door slowly opened, and she entered. She had prayed a lot lately and had to admit to herself that she was anxious. Hopefully, this was an answer to her prayers. The things that she was hearing about her brother would make one’s hair stand on end.
“Have a seat, Fannie,” said the bass voice. The man in the chair swiveled to face her; he was brown and handsome, had been a warrior back on earth eons ago, but this was just a temporary position. He was filling in for a good friend that had gone off to see a relative. “I’m Adair. You’re here seeking favor for a family member?” He shifted through some papers and stopped. “You have sent many prayers, and believe me when I tell you that they do not go unnoticed. But as you can imagine, there are plenty of them and always extenuating circumstances that swirl around such requests. There is a policy not to interfere with the lives of mortals, in general, but there are exceptions occasionally. Free will is what makes us all original.”
“Yes, I understand that. I am here for my brother Scrooge.”
Adair’s eyes widened. And then his eyebrows slowly tightened. It couldn’t be that Scrooge, could it? Not the Scrooge that had a one-way ticket straight to hell? “Wait; what? Are you Ebenezer Scrooge’s sister?”
“I am.”
“Oh, dear.” Adair shook his head repeatedly as he had not expected that. This gig was supposed to have been smooth sailing. Had he been deceived? Probably not, but it did make him wonder. It was discombobulating to a degree because Scrooge was beyond help; everyone knew that. When the Devil got up in the morning, he sang the Scrooge song of joy; he couldn’t wait to get his hands on him. How in Heaven was he to handle this?
Adair tapped his fingers on the desk. He hadn’t felt this much discomfort in eons. How should he proceed? “See this small file?” He tapped the file with his right hand. “It contains all the wrong things that you have done during your life on Earth. Look behind you in the corner. That record belongs to Ebenezer Scrooge, more than five feet tall, and that’s not all of it. It’s unfortunate, but Scrooge is headed straight to hell, and there’s not much we can do. A leopard doesn’t change his spots, as they say, and I don’t see any chance whatsoever of him taking a different path now.”
A tear went down Fannie’s face. “He was good once, you know.”
“Really? Probably when he was three weeks old. After that, I wouldn’t hazard to guess. At four weeks, he most likely h
Genre: General Fiction
THE SWEET, SOFT CRYSTALLIZED SOUND of wind chimes slipped through the air.
A long white hall adorned with beautiful paintings appeared to be painted with the whitest white that one could imagine. Only heaven could produce such luminosity, and yet it wasn’t hard on the eyes. One canvas showed the blue ocean with waves rolling onshore, a boy and a man fishing from a small blue boat. The youngster was pulling in a large salmon, and the father showed joy at his son’s luck as they would soon have full bellies.
A door opened at the end of the hall; beyond it was a summer scene of beautiful flowers and a female figure that walked into the doorway and stopped. She took a deep breath and prayed that this would work; otherwise, there was no hope. She moved forward with the sound of her shoes hitting the hard floor that echoed off the walls, tok, tok, tok. Scrooge’s sister Fannie, attired in a white dress highlighted in yellow trim, looked almost regal. She too glowed as she headed for the door on her right, admiring the works of art as she went. Fannie knocked and waited patiently. The door slowly opened, and she entered. She had prayed a lot lately and had to admit to herself that she was anxious. Hopefully, this was an answer to her prayers. The things that she was hearing about her brother would make one’s hair stand on end.
“Have a seat, Fannie,” said the bass voice. The man in the chair swiveled to face her; he was brown and handsome, had been a warrior back on earth eons ago, but this was just a temporary position. He was filling in for a good friend that had gone off to see a relative. “I’m Adair. You’re here seeking favor for a family member?” He shifted through some papers and stopped. “You have sent many prayers, and believe me when I tell you that they do not go unnoticed. But as you can imagine, there are plenty of them and always extenuating circumstances that swirl around such requests. There is a policy not to interfere with the lives of mortals, in general, but there are exceptions occasionally. Free will is what makes us all original.”
“Yes, I understand that. I am here for my brother Scrooge.”
Adair’s eyes widened. And then his eyebrows slowly tightened. It couldn’t be that Scrooge, could it? Not the Scrooge that had a one-way ticket straight to hell? “Wait; what? Are you Ebenezer Scrooge’s sister?”
“I am.”
“Oh, dear.” Adair shook his head repeatedly as he had not expected that. This gig was supposed to have been smooth sailing. Had he been deceived? Probably not, but it did make him wonder. It was discombobulating to a degree because Scrooge was beyond help; everyone knew that. When the Devil got up in the morning, he sang the Scrooge song of joy; he couldn’t wait to get his hands on him. How in Heaven was he to handle this?
Adair tapped his fingers on the desk. He hadn’t felt this much discomfort in eons. How should he proceed? “See this small file?” He tapped the file with his right hand. “It contains all the wrong things that you have done during your life on Earth. Look behind you in the corner. That record belongs to Ebenezer Scrooge, more than five feet tall, and that’s not all of it. It’s unfortunate, but Scrooge is headed straight to hell, and there’s not much we can do. A leopard doesn’t change his spots, as they say, and I don’t see any chance whatsoever of him taking a different path now.”
A tear went down Fannie’s face. “He was good once, you know.”
“Really? Probably when he was three weeks old. After that, I wouldn’t hazard to guess. At four weeks, he most likely h
Genre: General Fiction
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