The light faded, leaving only a brightly wrapped gift. Babbit approached the gift and picked it up.
"I bet it's a fruitcake," he grumbled opening the box. "Why do people send them to me, I hate fruitcake!"
At that moment, a figure popped out of the gift.
"Who are you calling fruitcake?" said the figure.
Babbit took a closer look at the figure. It turned out to be a young man, dressed in peddler type clothing, and looked familiar to a person that Babbit knew.
"Dolenz! What do you think you're doing at my house at this hour?! As a matter of fact, what are you doing in my house in the first place?!"
"I'm the ghost of Christmas present, that's why I hid in this present, get it?" The spirit began to laugh, but Babbit didn't find anything funny about the situation at all.
The spirit then stopped laughing and began to speak, "I've come to show you what's happening right now."
The spirit snapped his fingers and the two of them were no longer in Babbit's house but in a different place.
"Where are we?" Asked Babbit, "What a minute, this place looks familiar to me."
"Of course, we're in the home of your employee." said the spirit.
Just then, someone entered the room where Babbit and the spirit were standing in, and walked right through them.
"Say, who's that honest looking, handsome face person?" asked the spirit.
"That's my worker Dolenz," said Babbit.
He noticed that Micky's friend and band mate Mike was taking a plate out of the oven that contained a scrawny looking turkey.
"What the heck is Nesmith planning on doing, carving a canary? Surely they must have more food than that." Babbit noticed a pot on the stove.
"Why don't they eat what's in the pot?" he asked.
"They can't." said the spirit.
"And why not?"
"That's their laundry."
Just then, Peter, another person who lived at the house, came downstairs.
"How's Davy doing there, Peter?" asked Mike.
"Not good I'm afraid," sighed Peter, "His temperature keeps rising."
"What the matter with Davy?" Asked Babbit, "Not that I care anyway."
"A few days ago, Davy saved a child who fell into the lake. It was a real cold day, and Davy came down with a terrible cold," said the spirit.
"Can't he just go to a doctor?"
"They can't afford it."
Babbit was silent for a moment as he thought about what the spirit told him. He then looked at the spirit.
"I'm paying Dolenz more than he's worth." Babbit said, but without much conviction. He slowly realized the men in that room couldn't afford a doctor because he wasn't paying Dolenz enough and said nothing more.
"You got kinda quiet there, Ebenezer." The spirit said after a minute or two had passed.
"Just thinking, that's all." Babbit replied.
A few minutes later, Mike called Peter and Micky to the table, and they sat down to eat their scrawny turkey.
"I wish Davy could join us." Peter said sadly.
"Yeah, poor Davy." Mike replied, "He's never been a healthy person in the first place. In fact his grandfather sent him out here in the hope that the ocean air would help him, but it hasn't. Now this had to happen."
"But he saved a young boy's life." Micky added.
"True, but did he have to get sick? Is that his reward for doing good?" Mike replied, getting a little angry.
"I'll be alright, Mike. *cough*" Davy said as he slowly came down the steps.
"Davy! What are you doing up? You should be in bed!" Peter said, rising from his chair.
"I should be here celebrating Christmas Eve with you three." Davy said with a cough.
He walked over to the table and took his seat. The other three looked at each other, but said nothing. Mike cleared his throat.
"Well, let's have a toast, then." He said, raising his glass of milk. The others joined him. Peter poured a glass for Davy.
"What shall we toast?" Peter asked.
"A toast for Ebenezer Babbit, the founder of this feast!" Micky exclaimed.
"WHAT?!" The others shouted at him, especially Mike.
"You would toast that mean, tight-fisted old man who can't pay you a decent wage?!" Mike almost shouted at Micky.
"Why you..." Babbit started to say, but was restrained by the spirit's hand on his shoulder.
"Well, yeah, Mike." Micky said with a shrug, "We haven't been getting many gigs, so my paycheck was used to pay for all this."
"Besides, Mike," Peter said, "It is Christmas."
"Alright, then," Mike said, "I'll toast him for Micky's sake, but not his. To Ebenezer Babbit, a long and happy life to him."
"To Ebenezer Babbit." The others said, not very happily, then they took a drink of milk.
"A *cough* toast to all of us." Davy said, "Friends through and through!"
"To all of us." The others replied and drank again. Then they started to eat their supper, laughing and joking with one another. The spirit looked at Babbit.
"Interesting how they can be so happy with so little, isn't it, Ebenezer?"
"Bah! Davy's sick and with little food, they're just deluding themselves!" Babbit said with a sneer.
"But they have each other." The spirit replied, "Their friendship is something you can't put a price on."
Babbit just sniffed, but his eyes were thoughtful.
Soon the meal was over and the four of them went over to the small Christmas tree they had in the middle of the room. They sat down in front of it.
"Well, fellas," Davy said, coughing into his hand. "Let's sing some Christmas carols."
"Feel up to it, Davy?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, I'll be ok."
So Mike brought over his guitar and began to play 'Silent Night' and other Christmas tunes. When the next song was 'Jingle Bells', Davy got up, went over to the bandstand, and picked up his tambourine.
"Can't have 'Jingle Bells' without some bells now, can we?" He asked with a smile as he sat down. The others smiled in return, but were worried that Davy was looking worse than ever. Still, they all started to sing;
"Jingle Bells, jingle Bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, eh!" As Davy banged on his tambourine.
Babbit and the spirit watched all this in silence. Finally, Babbit looked over at the spirit, his face puzzled.
"What's wrong, Ebenezer?" The spirit asked.
"I can't understand this. How can they be so happy?" Babbit asked quietly. "Why did Dolenz stick up for me earlier?"
"A little something called the Christmas spirit." The spirit answered him, "Plus something called kindness and understanding...oh, and love."
Suddenly, in the middle of 'Jingle Bells', Davy slumped over in a faint. Mike immediately picked him up and carried him back up into his bedroom. Micky and Peter followed him, fear and concern clearly showing on their faces. Babbit looked over at the spirit once again.
"Tell me, spirit. Will Davy live?"
The spirit's face took on a far-away look for a few seconds, then he looked somberly at Babbit.
"I see an unused tambourine and a pair of maracas sitting on the bandstand."
"No, oh no!" Babbit exclaimed, "Do something for Davy, Spirit!" Babbit shouted at him.
"Why?" The spirit retorted, his face angry, "Let the less fortunate die, and decrease the surplus population!"
"You...you're using my own words against me!" Babbit said, his voice shaking.
"Now you know the folly of such words, don't you, Ebenezer?" The spirit asked, still a little angry.
"Yes, yes!" Babbit shouted, "Oh, please, just leave me alone! Just go away! GO AWAY!"
The spirit snapped his fingers and Babbit found himself all alone in his bedroom once again. The clock showed that it was almost three o'clock. Babbit sat down on his bed and tried to think about all that he had just seen.
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
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