OOM post: The Christmas Ghosts

[scots_wolf]

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?

Comments

[christmas_past]

"Let's take a closer look," she says.

And they've moved, though it might be difficult to say just how they managed that.

[scots_wolf]

Urquhart opens the door.

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.

[christmas_past]

"Yes, I know," the Ghost says gently.

"Watch."

He has, after all, come all this way to see it.

[scots_wolf]

The boy dances away from the woman with the broom, and the dog follows, jumping excitedly around his young master. The woman looks at them, already appeased, grinning fondly at the boy, and shaking her head.

"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."

[christmas_past]

"Not a feeling everyone gets to have," the Ghost says, just as quietly.

"Even at that age."

[scots_wolf]

"We were a family," Urquhart says. "More, we were a clan, with all sorts of relatives, relations, and dependants tagged on, and we all stuck together. Look, over there, sorting the good goblets, that was my great-aunt Oonagh who'd come from Ireland to marry one of my grandfather's younger brothers. He died in a duel, and she just stayed on and helped to raise my father and his siblings, and then us. We didn't leave anybody out in the cold that we considered ours."

[christmas_past]

The Ghost nods.

"You were fortunate."

Some might even say blessed.

[scots_wolf]

"I know," Urquhart says. "And I left it all behind. First I went to study in Paris for years, then I went on crusade and never came back."

[christmas_past]

"That, I fear, is my keeping. The things you leave behind."

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.

[scots_wolf]

Urquhart looks around once more.

"It was good to see them again," he admits. "Yes, let us go."

[christmas_past]

They start walking and maybe they step from one to the other or maybe the world around them simply shifts, but they are back in his room.

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.

[scots_wolf]

Urquhart looks around, sighs, and sits on his divan, somewhat overwhelmed.

[christmas_present]

"You look like you're having an interesting night," a friendly voice says.

The Ghost is accompanied by a glow, warm like that of hearth-fire.

"My sister can have that effect," he adds with a smile.

[scots_wolf]

"Good evening," Urquhart says. "Yes, what I saw made me a bit wistful."

[christmas_present]

"The Past does often have that effect," the Ghost says.

"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."

[scots_wolf]

Urquhart stands again, and takes the Ghost's hand.

"Let us see where this leads us, indeed," he says, now thinking he has understood how these ghosts work.

[christmas_present]

"Let's see what the view looks like in this direction, shall we?" she says, leading the way toward the window.

And out the window.

To a new place.

[scots_wolf]

And an old familiar place - it's what's actually there, the lake shore under snow, the hills and glens, and Urquhart's dog, roaming ahead.

It looks a lot like Castle Urquhart, and Loch Ness, generically.

[christmas_present]

The Ghost looks over the scene with well-bred interest.

Waiting to see what manner of scene will unfold.

[scots_wolf]

Surprisingly little happens. There are people in the background, and warm lights in the windows of the bar.

"I guess that's all for the present," Urquhart says. "The universe has given me an odd little nook for an afterlife, complete with dog and friends and even friends with benefits."

[christmas_present]

"More than many get from the present," the Ghost observes.

In an afterlife or otherwise.

"We can walk on. See if there is anything more to see."

If there is not, they're steps will take them back to Milliways.

[scots_wolf]

Suddenly, it is summer, and day, in the same place -- and they are standing in the middle of the garden, and there are some young women going about their business in the background.

"It reminds me I belong here now," Urquhart says, quietly.

[christmas_present]

It's rare that he sees such contentment in those he escorts on this night.

That's not a bad thing, though.

The Ghost nods.

"There is a great deal of peace in knowing where one belongs."

[scots_wolf]

"I had not belonged anywhere, for years, before my death," Urquhart adds.

[christmas_present]

She nods.

"Perhaps we should walk on," the Ghost says.

To see if the path will take them to a new scene or return them to Milliways.