Babbit slept peacefully. However, he was soon woken by a glowing blue light. Babbit became frightened of the glowing blue light that shone around his room. He pulled the covers over his head and began to shiver. Suddenly, the covers were gently pulled off his head. Babbit slowly opened his eyes.
What he saw was like nothing he had seen before. It was a young man with blond hair standing calmly before him. He wore a white robe and had a crown of leaves on his head. In his hand he held a small torch, which gave off a blue flame, the source of the light in the room.
"Hello, Ebenezer." The man said softly.
Babbit looked intently at the man's face; he'd seen that face before. Then it dawned on him. Whenever he went to pick up the rent money from his employee Dolenz, he would often see this man there.
"I know you!" Babbit exclaimed, "You are Peter..."
"I am the ghost of Christmas past, Ebenezer." The spirit said to him.
"Long past?" Babbit asked.
"No, your past." The spirit said, "I am the first of the three spirits that will visit you tonight."
"Bah, humbug!" Babbit shouted, getting over his fear quickly, "You were sent as a joke by Dolenz to scare me!"
"No, I was sent to help you." The spirit replied, "Come, I don't have much time. I have much to show you." He glided over to the window.
Babbit could see that the man's feet were not touching the ground and he became frightened again.
"But it is late, and I'm not properly dressed." Babbit said.
"Just touch my robe and you will be safe." The spirit replied, "Have no fear of me, but we must be off."
Against his better judgment, Babbit got up, put on his slippers and walked over to the spirit. Slowly, he reached out and touched the sleeve of the spirit's robe. Instantly the blue flame grew even brighter and suddenly they were no longer in Babbit's house. In fact, it seemed they were no longer even in California.
Babbit and the spirit were standing on a sidewalk across the street from a large old school. A light snow was falling and they could see several boys playing in the snow in front of the school. There was a large pile of luggage sitting off to one side, as if meant to be delivered to a bus. After several seconds, Babbit let out a gasp.
"What is it, Ebenezer?" Asked the spirit.
"This is my old school!" Babbit exclaimed. "Richland Boy's Academy! But it's been closed for years!"
"True, but we are in the past, Ebenezer, your past." The spirit said, "Let's go and get a better look. Don't worry, they cannot hear or see us."
Babbit and the spirit walked across the street and watched as the boys threw snowballs at each other. Babbit recognized several of the boys, but they did not hear him as he shouted their names. After awhile, a large bus appeared and the boys all shouted and ran off to collect their luggage.
"Ah, they are going home for Christmas break, I imagine." Babbit said with a slight smile. He watched as the boys excitedly climbed into the bus after stowing their luggage and then the bus driving away.
"Not everyone is going home, Ebenezer." The spirit reminded him. "Let's go inside to one of the classrooms."
Babbit and the spirit walked inside the school and into the first classroom they came upon. Inside was a young boy about thirteen years old standing there, looking out the window at the falling snow. With a shock, Babbit recognized the boy.
"That's me!" He shouted.
The spirit said nothing, just nodded his head.
Babbit walked over to his younger self and noticed the young man was crying. The spirit joined Babbit.
"Yes, Ebenezer, is seems your father has chosen to let you stay at the dormitory instead of coming home for the holidays."
Babbit looked at the spirit. "Yes, my father always held a grudge against me, he never wanted me around."
"Because your mother died giving birth to you." The spirit nodded sadly, "As if that was your fault."
Babbit's eyes narrowed in anger at the unjust treatment he had been given as a youth. The spirit put a hand on Babbit's shoulder.
"But time has a way of mending hurts, Ebenezer. Look who's coming now."
Babbit turned to see a young woman of about sixteen run into the room. He knew instantly who it was.
"Bess! My sister Bess!" Babbit shouted happily.
But of course Bess couldn't hear or see Babbit and she simply ran over to the younger Babbit standing by the window.
"Ebenezer!" Bess exclaimed.
The younger Babbit turned at the sound of his name.
"Bess, oh Bess!" The younger Babbit shouted, giving his older sister a big hug. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, I have great news, Ebenezer!" Bess said, "Father has softened much over the last several months, and so I took the chance to ask him if you could come home for Christmas, and guess what? He said you could!"
"Oh, that's so wonderful, Bess!" The younger Babbit said happily. "I so much miss our family!"
"Even better news, Ebenezer!" Bess continued, "After this coming semester is over, he has agreed to put you in a regular school close to home, so you can come home everyday!"
"Oh, Bess!" The younger Babbit said, giving his sister another hug. "That's great!"
"Yes it is!" Bess agreed, "We can start to be a family again! Now gather your things, I have a car waiting for us!"
The younger Babbit took off at a run to his room and soon he and Bess were roaring off back to their home.
"What a great girl is Bess." The spirit said to Babbit.
"Yes, yes she was." Babbit agreed, "I miss her so much! But not too many years later, she married..." He trailed off, the memory too painful to continue.
"And she died giving birth just like her mother before her." The spirit said sympathetically, "Giving birth to your nephew Fred, and you hold a grudge against him for that."
Babbit just hung his head. "Take me out of here, Spirit. It's too painful for me to be here any longer."
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
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