“I suppose you lot want to go home early tonight as it is the last working day before Christmas. I am afraid that this cannot happen. Christmas Day is on Tuesday and you have the Wednesday off. Fiddle it all, all I think of that it is one gigantic drinking session. After the office party five years ago, we stopped having parties. Everyone was sick the next day and I lost a fortune in lost earnings. If you want Christmas Eve off, you may take it as one of your holiday days, although I don’t see why I have to pay you, or take it off unpaid. But leave the letter requesting it off on my desk before you go home. I am off to my club now. I have put CCTV in to see who is malingering. If we have to lay anybody off, they will be the first to go. Good day to you all. I will be back later, but if you have gone, I say “Merry Christmas to you now”.

Ebeneezer walked out of the office wrapped up well against the cold. He could not understand what all the fuss about Christmas was. Pulling his heavy overcoat collar around his neck against the sharp wind that was blowing down the road, and tipping his hat forward, he headed for his club. He would get a taxi, but that costs money. Besides he wanted to hep the planet and cut down on carbon emissions. That is why he turned the heating down in his office. The girls complained because he will not let them wear trousers. He told them to put on an extra pair of tights if they were cold. Not only that, if they worked faster, they would not be cold. He looked at the ideal of walking as his exercise.

It took him twenty minutes to reach his club. He removed his overcoat and handed it and his hat to the doorman. He walked into the lounge where they had a roaring log fire. He warmed his hands on the fire and stood with his back to it. He thought he must get a pair of warm gloves to save his hands getting cold. He had dropped enough hints; maybe his staff would have a whip round and buy him a pair. He would have bought some himself, but they cost money, plus it meant going out to get them.

He took his brandy from the waiter. It was only then that someone spoke to him. A gentleman sitting in an armchair looked over the top of the Times and asked how his firm was getting on these days. “My staff keep moaning that they want Christmas off separate from their holidays. They want more pay, the cost of heating and lighting keeps going up, so what am I to do? I can’t keep this going all the time. I am not a charity. That is another matter. Everywhere I go, there is someone asking for money for some charity or other. And those people selling the Big Issue, well, I have no time for them. They should get a job, the lazy good for nothings. Bone idleness I call it. Lazy good for nothing layabouts” He knew full well they cannot get a job. They have no registered address and therefore cannot get a job. Without a job, they cannot afford a home. It was catch twenty two for them.

He warmed himself on the fire and sat down. His brandy turned up and he sat gazing into the fire as he drank it. In the back of the room several embers of the club were discussing him. “Why is he like this?” “He used to have some lovely girl friends, but his meanness drove them all away” “I heard he has not had a girlfriend for some years” “That is right. He has no family either. He used to have a partner, Jacob Marley, but he died. Ebenezer got the lot. Jacob’s family got nothing. He had got a solicitor to write the agreement that if one died; the other would get the lot. And he took it” “They tell me that he spends all Christmas in his office to save money on heating his own house” “I bet he only reads his bank statements” “He won’t go on a holiday as that costs money”.

He heard it but took no notice of it. He has heard it all before anyway. Why should he worry? He is filthy rich. He will not spend a penny if he can help it. He even robs the local recycling bags for newspapers to burn on his fire. He didn’t get where he is by being a spendthrift. He is only a member of this club as it is paid for out of the business and therefore is liable to be classed as an expense against the tax.

But this is the Friday before Christmas. Only four days to go. He was dreading it. Probably on the Saturday, the little brats will come round carol singing again. Every year he chases them away, but they always wish him a very Merry Christmas. Bah! Humbug!

He decided to have a few more brandies, just to keep out the cold on the walk back to the office. But after his seventh double brandy he decided it was time to leave. He got his coat and hat and put them on. Now he has to brave the cold air. He looked at his watch. This used to belong to Jacob. His family wanted it, but as the company had paid for it, why should they? It belongs to him. The agreement said so. The surviving partner gets everything. Jacob was not married at the time, but was in poor health. He married and kept trying to get the agreement changed, but Ebeneezer would hear nothing of it. An agreement is an agreement and that is the end of the matter.

As he left the club, it struck him the temperature had plummeted. His breath was obvious in the cod air. He resented even letting the heat go, but it had to be. He had only been walking a few moments and he was feeling bitterly cold. He saw a church. That would be warm at least. He can dive in there to keep warm. As he got closer, he heard this heavenly singing. “Ah, free entertainment” he thought.

He walked into the church and sat down. He was in the sixth row from the front. Right in the middle of the middle row. It was warm at least. There were quite a few people in the church. But he had to admit the choir was beautiful. Their voices were crystal clear. And then he spotted them. His first girlfriend, one he had dumped last week and a girl who he had nodded to a few times. She is beautiful, but she had to be a gold digger, so he was not interested. He knew she had a large family and lived in three rooms with her mother and father and her five brothers and sisters. They had spoken a few times, but he was wary of her being out to grab his money. But he had to admit, the girls looked lovely in their long flowing white dresses. The choirboys and men in their cassocks really were turned out resplendently.

There was not that many people in the church and the sweet melodic voices reverberated all around the building. The echo that came back from the back of the church lulled him into sort of daze. The young choir boys with their voices not yet broken, complementing the girls’ voices made them sound like a host of angels. The baritone voices of the men contrasting gave it a feel of warmth. Ebenezer decided that when the time comes, he would have a large memorial to himself put up in the church. He said he would be visited by three spirits, Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future. Ebenezer murmured “Humbug” in his sleep and the people round him shushed him.

Gradually Ebenezer felt himself nodding off to sleep. But he did not sleep well. He had the strangest dream. In it, his old partner Jacob Marley was telling him to change his ways and help people and they would remember him. They would wish to remember him and not be forced to think of him. He was troubled. He had not seen Jacob’s family since Jacob had that unfortunate car accident and died a few days later in hospital.

Ebeneezer woke to find the vicar shaking him violently. He blinked and realised everyone else had gone home. It was time for him to leave. He pulled his coat collar up once more and put his hat back on. Stepping out into the street and finding it had gone dark and the street lights were blazing away, their stark white light broken by the multicoloured lights of the decorations of the shops, Ebenezer realised that London is a lonely place even though people were crowding by laughing and joking and full of Christmas cheer.

Ebeneezer decided that he would go straight home and sleep off the effects of the brandy. He looked up at his offices and saw that the lights were out. He looked at his watch. It was seven thirty two. It took him nearly an hour to walk home. He thought the fresh air would clear his mind, but it didn’t. If anything it made it far worse. He got home and sat in his chair. He had another coupe of large brandies. “Why not?” He thought, “It is Christmas after all, and it is costing me a small fortune”.

He dozed off in the heat of the meagre fire made of old newspapers scrunched up to make logs. Ebenezer woke to find the fire had gone out and he was cold. Quickly he got ready for bed and was soon asleep in the warmth of the thick duvet covering his large four poster bed. It is an old fashioned four poster bed with thick posts at each corner. Not like the modern ones with the spindly posts they put on today. These posts were made to last.

A church bell rang and it disturbed his sleep, he mumbled and soon dropped off o a sound sleep again, but not for long. He was dreaming that there was an eerie blue light in his room. The room was shrouded in mist. Out of the mist came an angel all dressed in white, her face a deathly pallor with large wings that were folded behind her. He pulled the duvet up over his nose so only his eyes were poking over the top of it. The angel spoke to him. She looked like his first girlfriend “I must be dreaming” he thought, but the angel said, “Ebenezer, I am the spirit of Christmas past, why do you forsake all pleasure? Why do you ignore the pleas of others? Ebenezer, what ties you to this world if you cannot enjoy it?” With that, she turned and left him. The mist swirled around her.

Some time later, he saw another angel, her wings spread but her arms by her side. She looked like the girlfriend he had dumped earlier in the year. This time though, the mist was yellow, “Ebenezer, I am the spirit of Christmas present, why do you not enjoy life? Ebenezer, why do you forsake all others? Beware Ebeneezer or no one will remember you” He was shaking with fright. The first angel was bad enough, but this one had hit a nerve.

A little while later, out of a red mist came a third angel, her wings spread and her arms outstretched. She looked like the girl who had tried to get to know him. “Ebenezer, I am the spirit of Christmas to come, why do you turn away those who love you? Ebenezer, will you change your ways?” “I will” came back a screech from his mouth, “I will change, I promise I will change” “Ebenezer, why do I doubt you? I see a grave in the corner of a church yard. No one goes to this side of the church yard. You will be on your own forever”

“If I change, will the outcome be different?”

“The future is not yet set, you have time to change your ways Ebenezer”

“So there is time yet. What do I have to do?”

“Ebenezer, in order to change things, I must call up the spirits of Christmas past and present”

Do it, do it. Please I beg of you, do it. Please help me change”

The blue and yellow mists started to flow once more and all three mists mingled. The first two angels appeared. “Ebenezer, in order to throw off your shackles, we must tighten the bonds for a while” the spirit of Christmas to come said.

“What do you mean?”

“Ebenezer, if we tie you up and you suffer in your bonds, when we release you Ebenezer, you will have changed the outcome of your future. If you escape, nothing will have changed.”

“Please, I beg you, tie me up. Make me suffer; make it so I cannot escape. I must change the future”

The three angels removed his duvet, looked at his nightshirt and quickly tied his ankles to the bottom bed posts. One of the angels tied one wrist to one of the top bed posts and the other one tied his other wrist to the other bed post. He was now spread eagled to the four post of his bed.

“Thank you for helping me” Ebenezer whispered. He was feeling rather happy that his life was about to change. The spirit of Christmas past gave him a drink and after he had drunk it, she gagged him. They pulled the duvet up once more. “The spirit of things to change will be here tomorrow. She will release you. Once you are clear of your bonds, you will be free and things will be different”

The three spirits disappeared into the swirling mist, which in time receded. There was no sign of the three angels. Ebenezer suddenly started to think he had been caught and started to struggle against the ropes, but he knew he could not escape. He had been tied up like a Christmas turkey, All day long, he struggled. His cleaner was not due until Monday so he would have two whole days with no one knowing or caring where he was. He could die as far as anyone was concerned. He recalled the conversations in the club. He needed to escape, but he couldn’t. He had willingly let them tie him up. But before he could think any more, he started to doze off. The drink had been drugged.

He was out for the count all day long. On the Saturday afternoon, Ebenezer woke up and lay on the bed rather fed up. He was worn out by the struggling against his bonds. The mist got up once more, thicker than before. Out of the mist came another angel. But she looked rather warm and human. She was not white and pale like the first three angels. She released the gag and gave him a drop of drink. “Ebenezer, have you changed your ways, or is it still the corner of the graveyard over run by shrubs and bushes for you?” Before he could say anything, Ebenezer was asleep once more.

The angel untied the ropes holding him. She removed all traces of the ropes and quickly stuffed them into a bag. She changed her clothes and rushed out of the house. It was time to get ready for the party in the bar.

The church clock struck ten before Ebenezer showed any sign of life. The girls he had dumped and had her eyes on him were sitting at a table talking about things in general. With a sudden whoosh Ebenezer rushed in and bought everybody a drink. The girls looked at him. “Have you gone mad or something?”

“No, I have finally found the spirit of Christmas. I spent an hour transferring one thousand pound bonuses into my staffs’ bank accounts. They should be getting an invite about now to join me on a cruise. We are off round the Mediterranean. They take there families of course. Will you come with us? I have booked a lot more cabins than we need. It sails on the tenth of January”.

The girls looked at him as though he were mad. But they agreed. At that time, Ebenezer’s staff were staring incredulously at the invites to the cruise and the note that told them they have a thousand pound bonus as well. They were busy phoning each other up. Ebenezer’s mobile phone rang. This had been the only luxury he had allowed himself. He sounded extremely happy as he confirmed the bonuses and the cruises to whoever it was. They could pass the message around to confirm it.

Ebenezer told the girls he had something to do and he would be gone for a half hour. They were to get the drinks in. He rushed off out of the door. It did not take long for him to get to the church. The vicar was in the church counting the pennies for the roof restoration fund. Ebenezer gave him a cheque for the final five thousand pounds. He could not believe it. What generosity this man had.

“The only thing is, can you get your choir to sing on Christmas Eve?”

“Of course we can. They will be overjoyed at this wonderful news” Had Ebenezer looked, he would have seen the posters advertising the Christmas Carol Concert on Christmas Eve.

He rushed towards the door like a whirlwind shouting, “thank you. You have made me so happy”

Back in the bar, the girls were talking. “It is a good idea to have worn those dresses to visit Ebenezer. How did you get a key?”

The girl who played Christmas past said she doubted if Ebenezer would have spent the money changing the locks after he had dumped her and he had forgotten she had given her a key. “It was laugh though wasn’t it? I a glad we managed to borrow those wings from the local amateur dramatic group. I wonder what has happened to him that has made him this happy. I expected the police to have been called by now”

The girls laughed. Ebenezer came rushing back. “Everything is in order. I am off to my club now. Have a nice time” he gave them two hundred pounds that he had withdrawn from the cash machine. It was the first time he had ever used it. He handed them each an envelope and left.

Each of the girls opened their envelope. In it were two tickets for the cruise for them and a friend. And there was a note. They each read the note in their envelope.

Ebenezer had written, “Thank you girls for all the fuss you made of me. You looked lovely dressed as angels. The effects were marvellous. I have never had so much fuss and attention in all my life. Here are your tickets for the cruise. Please bring those dresses and the ropes. I don’t want to be knocked out next time. I want to stay awake and relish the thought of you three holding me helpless. I did wake a few times and enjoyed the fact I was tied up. It would have been nicer to have been awake all day to enjoy it. But there is plenty of time on the cruise for that. Have a nice day”

The girl who played the ghost of Christmas present was the first to speak “It looks like he has finally got the Christmas Spirit”

“He has got something, I’ll be bound” another replied. There was silence for a few seconds and then they burst out laughing. She continued, “Or rather he will be bound!”