A Christmas Carol--The 21st Century Tale by Jacqueline Maylor

Author:Jacqueline Maylor [Maylor, Jacqueline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780648949640
Publisher: The Book Reality Experience
Published: 2020-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

Christmas pudding round and bright,

Grace our Christmas table tonight.

Full of fruit and spices too,

Boiled then cooked for me and you.

Bless our family upon this day,

With thankful hearts, we stop and say,

Christmas blessings and all that’s good,

We wish to everyone as we eat our pud.

The whole family clapped and cheered Tim, who looked pleased as punch and sat down beaming. Now they could dig into their bowls, the children, who ate it with extra custard, yelling gleefully as they found the pound coins Mrs Cratchit had slyly pushed in as she served each bowlful.

Abigail enjoyed a bowlful of custard.

And so, the afternoon passed. The mountain of dishes were washed, dried, and put away amongst wistful talk of one day owning a dishwasher, and the gas fire was lit in the sitting room. It was a small fire, but if the doors were kept closed it could warm that room well and it was here the family had gathered, sprawling on an assortment of easy chairs and on the carpet as they peeled and ate the chestnuts cooked while the dishes were done. The whole family now sat in a semi-circle around the fire, as Bob served his famous mulled wine to everyone, mixed with varying quantities of lemonade depending on their age, and when they all had a filled glass he called, “A Merry Christmas to us all, God bless us.” Everyone raised their cups and glasses in a toast and cried, “Merry Christmas” while Tim shouted, “God Bless us all, everyone one of us!”

The room was warm and comfortable, and Scrooge noticed that Tim sat very close to his Dad and that Bob, for his turn, was always in physical contact with his son. Either by holding his hand, or an arm around his shoulder or Tim just leaning against his father. It was as if Bob knew that Tim’s time was short and so dreaded the idea of losing him that he needed to continually make sure his son was still by his side.

Scrooge turned to the Spirit and asked, “What’s wrong with the boy? Is Tim going to be okay?”

The Spirit closed his eyes briefly, then shaking his head no, he said, “I’m not able to see far into the future. That’s not within my province. Nevertheless, I can see the family in dreadful sadness and tears, mourning his loss, with visitors dressed in black, his photograph carefully preserved on the mantle for everyone to see. He’s going to die if there are no changes in the future.”

Scrooge was jolted, feeling an emotion almost foreign to him, and urged, “Spirit can’t YOU just change the future?”

“No Ebenezer,” it replied. “Neither I nor my family have any power over the future. My time is here and now. We are not magicians. We cannot say a few words of incantation and set the world to rights. Only people can change human destiny. The future can only be altered by what’s done in the present. If the present isn’t changed, he will die.

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