scots_wolf (
scots_wolf) wrote2012-11-27 01:18 am
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OOM post: The Christmas Ghosts
Urquhart does not care for Christmas.
He has not for years, and despite recent events, he still doesn't.
All the cheerful people make him feel like the devil in a midnight mass, apart and angry.
That entire religion is a sham, and the holiday is just a case of whistling in the dark to make the sun come back, when science clearly says that the sun will come back anyway.
Urquhart is sitting in his room, the snoring dog by his feet, drinking scotch and reading a book about sharks.
Science. Yes.
Then, he looks up. There is somebody in his room that shouldn't be there.
A woman?
He has not for years, and despite recent events, he still doesn't.
All the cheerful people make him feel like the devil in a midnight mass, apart and angry.
That entire religion is a sham, and the holiday is just a case of whistling in the dark to make the sun come back, when science clearly says that the sun will come back anyway.
Urquhart is sitting in his room, the snoring dog by his feet, drinking scotch and reading a book about sharks.
Science. Yes.
Then, he looks up. There is somebody in his room that shouldn't be there.
A woman?
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But if he has to have something to call her "a woman" works as well as some things, better than others, if not quite as well as the one she'll offer.
"Hello, Urquhart.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.
"And I am concerned with your welfare."
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The dog doesn't even wake up, let alone bark.
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"Now do pay attention, because I only to this speech once.
"I am the first of three Spirits who visit on this night to assist you in your assessment of your own past, present, and future. My siblings and I . . . take an interest, in certain people. You're one of them. We are concerned with your welfare, we have much to show you, and our time is limited."
She holds one hand out to him.
"Rise and walk with me."
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He cannot not do it; the state he is in feels somewhat dreamlike, or trance-bound.
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Trust her on this.
"Let's see where your past takes us, shall we?" she asks, and leads him straight through the wall in front of them.
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It looks rather like the Milliways outside, but not quite.
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He looks around.
There is snow on the ground and in the air, the sky is grey, and the mountains around the loch are dark and forbidding.
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And they've moved, though it might be difficult to say just how they managed that.
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There's a lot of people inside, a cheerful family, servants, big wolfhounds, a large roaring fire, a long table that is being set by servants, and there is a blond boy with a big dog a woman chases with a broom away from the platter with the sweetmeats.
"Oh, that was when I was twelve," Urquhart laughs, then he sighs wistfully.
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"Watch."
He has, after all, come all this way to see it.
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"I just love your mince pies, mum!" the boy says, grinning at her winsomely.
"Tomorrow," she declares.
"Angus!" somebody calls out, and then two mince pies come sailing from the table, and the boy -- Angus -- catches them, the woman shrieks, a blond girl about a year or two older than Angus jumps out from behind the table, dodges the woman, and follows Angus, who is already running towards the door of the great hall. When the woman almost catches up with the girl, the dog crosses her path, and she stops, and shakes her head, and watches them leave.
"Scoundrels," she calls after them, fondly. "You'll eat get one less tomorrow, then."
Laughing, the children run from the hall, followed by the dog.
There are a big burly older man, and a broad strong younger man (who almost looks like Urquhart, but not quite) by the fire who had been talking, and watching the children pinching the mince pies. They are laughing, and the woman walks over with a jug of something, fills up their cups, and sits, pouring one for herself.
"They're true Urquharts, aye," the older man says to the woman, proudly. "You have no chance against my brood, Mary."
They all laugh.
"I was happy then," Urquhart says, very quietly, to the Ghost. "I belonged. We were all one and stuck together."
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"Even at that age."
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"You were fortunate."
Some might even say blessed.
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Otherwise, there'd be no need of her siblings.
"But to see what which you have found, or that has found you, I must turn you over to my middle sibling."
And that means first returning him to the bar.
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"It was good to see them again," he admits. "Yes, let us go."
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The Ghost of Christmas Past releases his hand, and immediately begins to dim, growing fainter and weaker, like the last seconds of a candle flame before it burns itself.
"My siblings will be along soon.
"I wish you well.
"Merry Christmas."
And then she's gone.
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The Ghost is accompanied by a glow, warm like that of hearth-fire.
"My sister can have that effect," he adds with a smile.
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"I can as well, I must say, though it is not always a given. It can depend on the person."
She holds out her hand.
"Walk with me. We shall see if it's so in your case."
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"Let us see where this leads us, indeed," he says, now thinking he has understood how these ghosts work.
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And out the window.
To a new place.
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