Once upon a time there was a rich old man who was called Ebenezer Scrooge. He was greedy and very stingy. Nobody liked him. His clerk Bob Cratchit had to work long hours in the cold. Scrooge hated Christmas because he couldn’t make money on that day.
One Christmas Eve a ghost appeared to him. It was the ghost of his business partner Jacob Marley who had died seven years before. Marley wanted him to be nicer to people. He also told Scrooge that three ghosts would visit him on the next three nights.
On the first night the Ghost of Past Christmas came. He took Scrooge to a Christmas party where he was a child. There were many old friends and the young Scrooge. They all were having fun dancing and eating a good dinner. Scrooge saw his old master who was happy and merry. The Ghost then showed him his girlfriend. She was very unhappy because Scrooge loved money better than her.
On the second night the Ghost of Present Christmas came. He took Scrooge to his clerk’s home. Bob Cratchit’s family was very poor. They wore old clothes and shoes. They had to work hard and had a poor dinner. They didn’t like Scrooge. Their youngest son, Tiny Tim was a cripple, but they were happy because they loved each other. The next stay was the home of Scrooge´s nephew. He had invited Scrooge to the Christmas dinner but Scrooge didn’t come. They all were very merry and made fun of Scrooge.
The third was the Ghost of Christmas Yet to come. Scrooge saw himself dead and saw his own grave. Nobody cared for him and nobody was very unhappy because Tiny Tim was dead. Scrooge was very sorry and he wanted to change his life.
On the next day he bought the biggest turkey and sent it to Bob’s family. He also visited his nephew and had dinner with him. Scrooge became a different man. He was a good man, a good master ad a good friend to everybody. He helped the poor and was a second father to Tiny Tim, who didn’t die, and he loved Christmas ever after!
© 2024 Petra Yvonne English – English online