A Christmas Carol
Retold by: Athena

      Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits

     Something made Lee Jordan awaken from his brief 
rest. He glanced at his clock on the nightstand by his 
bed, 12:58. With growing dread, Lee remembered what 
Maelstrom had told him, "The first spirit will arrive 
when the clock strikes one."  

     12:59. In silence, Lee waited until the digital
display read 1:00. A small wooden bird popped out of 
the vintage cuckoo clock Lee had stolen in Switzerland.
Jordan muttered some obsinities under his breath then
closed his eyes and kept repeating that it was all a 
dream.

     The flash of blue light that appeared in his 
bedroom wasn't a dream though. Neither were the two 
figures that stepped from it. 

     Lee Jordan opened his eyes and looked around his
dark bedroom. The absence of the recent blue light made
the dark seem even darker, and Lee didn't notice the 
to forms watching him from the shadows.

     "Hah! It must've been a dream. Maelstrom's ghost!
What was I smokin'?" Jordan laughed at his stupidity.

     "I'm not sure, Lee. You tell us," said a boyish 
voice from the shadows.

     Lee screamed. "Ahhh! Who are you? You better get 
outta here, I got a gun."

     "No you don't," replied the other figure. Lee could
have sworn it sounded feminine.

     Jordan finally found the lamp by his bed and turned
it on. "You?!?!" 

     Now in the light, he could clearly see the two 
figures. One was a rather short boy of about 14 or 15 
with shaggy blond hair, blue eyes, and loose fitting 
clothes. The other was a young woman about 18 or 19 
with short red hair, green eyes, and an obvious temper
to match.

     "We are the ghosts of Christmas past," said the 
girl.

     Disgusted, Lee answered back, "No you're not. 
You're those two detectives from Acme, Zack and Ivy."

     "No, we're REALLY the ghosts of Christmas past. We
just look like them so you wouldn't be frightened by 
our appearance. We're here to help you, Lee Jordan, see
the error of you ways, so that you'll turn away from 
your criminal behavior," the boy "sprirt" answered.

     "And start shaving, again," the girl added under 
her breath. 

     Zack jabbed her in her ribs. "Ivy!"

     Lee Jordan hadn't heard him though. He seemed to be
deep in thought. A picture of Maelstrom flashed through
his mind. THAT part was real. 

     "Okay, what do I have to do?" 
     "Just come with us, but you might want to close 
your eyes. It gets kinda scary."

     Lee did so, thinking that it was only a dream. What
he did not see was Zack pull out a Chronoskimmer and 
program it to land them in the middle of Lee's childhood.

     There was a flash blue light and Zack and Ivy - I 
mean the ghosts of Christmas past - lead Lee Jordan 
through the C-5 corridor and back into time.  

     They landed on a deserted street in front of an old 
boarding school in up-state New York. Snow was falling 
on the ground, and the school was decked out in holiday
decorations. Lee looked around in amazement.

     "This is where I spent my childhood! That's my old
school before I moved to San Fransisco and became a 
detect- Nevermind." 

     He opened the school's gates and ran up to the main
building. The two "spirits" stayed behind.

     "Little bro, I don't see why the Chief just won't
let us arrest him now. It'd save a lot of trouble."

     "I know, Ivy, but the Chief wants to give him one 
more chance to come back to Acme. Think of it as a 
Christmas bonus for Lee."

     "What about us? I think I'd like to spend MY 
Christmas Eve any other way than trying to help LEE
JORDAN!"

     "Ivy, shhhh. He'll hear you. Besides we're not the
only ones. And remember, Ivy, the Chief let us go first
so we could be home before Christmas morning."

     Lee ran back up to the detectives, acting very much
unlike himself. "Can I go in?"

     Zack and Ivy looked at each other. "Uhhh, sure."

     The building was empty save for one lonely boy of 
twelve tinkering with a toy at a desk in his dormatory 
room. The child had brown hair and eyes; his mannerisms
the same as Zack and Ivy's "guest."  

     "Who- " Ivy began but was cut off by the tears 
welling in Lee's eyes. TEARS?! She looked again. 
Sure enough, Lee Jordan was crying. The boy WAS Lee 
Jordan.

     Jordan felt a pair of eyes watching him, then two. 
He wiped his face with his shirt sleeve. "It's just 
dusty in here. Can we leave?"

     "No sooner said than done, Lee," Zack replied, and
in an instant, thanks to the Chronoskimmer, the trio 
found themselves back at Acme with a very young, clean-
shaven Lee Jordan putting up Christmas decotations in 
the main computer room. 

     "This was my first Christmas at Acme. It was right
after Helen...." 

     "Helen who?"

     "Helen Shaw. She was my sister. The only person in
my family who really gave a care about me. She died a
couple months after I went to work for Acme." Ivy again 
noticed the misting in Lee's eyes. 

     Lee spoke again, softly, "I kinda wish now...."

     "What, Lee?" 

     "My nephew, Helen's son, he asked me over for 
Christmas dinner tomorrow. I wish I hadn't refused. He
looks a lot like Helen did. His step-mom is pretty nice,
too, I guess. She invited me, really. Hmmmmmm...."

     The past Chief popped into the room on one of the 
monitors. Decked out in a red Santa hat. "Merry 
Christmas, Lee! Is everything ready for the party?"

     The past Lee Jordan climbed down the ladder where
he was hanging garland. "Yeah, it's almost seven o'clock."

     No sooner had he said those words than a crowd of 
detectives burst in the doors. Eggnog was running like 
water and the room seemed to glow with excitment. Zack,
Ivy, and Lee watched the entire party from a hidden 
corner. Both Lees were enjoying themselves imensly, 
laughing, talking, and, later in the evening, dancing.
Neither Zack nor Ivy had seen this side of Lee before,
but that still didn't change the fact that he was a 
criminal. The three left only after the last guest did 
and went on to their last stop in Lee's history.   
      
     They ended up on a lonely strip of a tropical beach.
"Why would the Chief tell us to come here?" Ivy 
whispered to her brother. "There's nobody here."

     "I don't know. Shhhhh!" 

     A very handsome, almost grown Lee Jordan in swim 
trunks and an Hawaian shirt led a young woman with long
brown hair and eyes, wearing a Bikini top and a floral 
skirt. Lee walked her down the sandy strip.

     The three time travlers were spellbound.

     Zack was looking at the girl; Ivy couldn't help 
herself but to look at the younger Lee Jordan, and Lee
himself watched the entire scene, secretly praying that
it might somehow end differently than the way he knew.

     "Lee, we need to talk."

     "Sure, that's why we're out here, right? You know 
how I feel about you," the young Lee slid an arm around
the girl's waist. She pulled away as though from 
a slimey eel.

     "That's just it, Lee. I don't know! You haven't
been yourself lately."

     "What're you talking about?"

     "You've become obsessed! You spend all your time at
Acme. Why don't you grow up?"

     "What?"

     "Lee, I don't know why you changed. I just know 
that you have."

     "Gina-"

     "I can't take it anymore, Lee. We're through!" She
began to walk away.

     "But, Gina-"

     Turning to face him, tears glistened in her 
clear blue eyes as she said, "I thought you cared about 
me, but I guess I was wrong. Goodbye, Lee 
Jordan!"

     She walked down the beach in the direction only 
moments before they'd walked from as a couple. The two
Lees stood in shock watching the girl's form until she
disappeared over a sand dune.

     Zack readied the Chronoskimmer. "Come on, Lee, 
let's go."

     Lee stood still a moment, muttering to himself. "If
only I'd-"

     Suddenly, Lee found himself back in his bedroom in
San Fransisco, alone. "What the-" But he didn't have a 
chance to finish. The events of the night had exhausted
him beyond words. Images of his travles played in his 
head. He greatfully sank into his bed and into a 
troubled sleep.          

	To be continued...