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Ebenezer Scrooge was a lonely man. He was lonely before, but since the death of Jacob Marley, he has been as solitary as an oyster. There was no light or warmth inside the rich man, only a darkness that would forever remain.
Not many people entered Scrooge's mansion, let alone the top floors where he currently resides in bed, staring at a blank phone that would never light up with a message. There was no one that would message him.
As he lays there, he hears a bell. That’s odd, he thinks, for that bell has been still since before Marley’s death. The sound gets louder and louder; then stops. No lingering noise, almost as if it had never sounded.
Then comes the footsteps, as if they were taunting Scrooge, making him believe he’s imagining it all. And they stop as well. Scrooge lays there wondering if it's a hallucination.
And he finally sees it, a tall, dark, ominous figure stood in the corner of his room. Staring over him, not moving.
“What the hell...?” Scrooge whispers. He goes to grab his phone to use the torch on there, but he can’t seem to move.
“Ebenezer Scrooge.” The apparition speaks. It takes a step forward as Scrooge remains still on the bed. He stares at the ghost, a slight tremble runs through his body, he feels a familiar feeling in him.
The ghost lets out a chuckle like noise and steps closer to Scrooge’s bed. “Don’t you recognise an old friend?” The apparition tilts its head, the sound of bones cracking accompanying the horrific movement.
Scrooge is stunned, for the ghost is no normal ghost, no, it’s the Ghost of Marley.
“No, no this is not real, Marley is dead, he has been for seven years.” Scrooge says and yet he can’t drag his eyes away from the ghost of his only friend.
The ghost looked like Marley and wore the same clothes he died in but there was a heavy chain made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. It looked as if it was weighing him down.
Marley’s ghost subtly smirks when he sees Scrooge gawk at the chains.
“Ah yes, you see my dear old friend,” he says as he steps closer, he was at the end of the bed now, staring down at Scrooge with mock and pity. “For I wear the chains I forged in life. These are the consequences of my actions, our actions.”
Scrooge starts to subtly tremble. Marley was bound by his actions of avarice and faces a punishment of imprisonment. Scrooge and Marley were so much alike in that sense, only Scrooge is not yet facing the consequences.
The ghost of Marley continues to speak. “You will be visited by three spirits; each one will help you.” The ghost starts to back into the corner. “Listen to them, Ebenezer.”
He then disappears, leaving Scrooge trembling in his bed. He lays back down and shuts his eyes, perhaps it was just a terrible dream. Or maybe he’s just going insane.