A Christmas Carol
Retold by: Athena

        Stave Three: The Second of the Three Spirits

        Lee Jordan awoke as the coo-coo clock downstairs
chimed the hour of two, but no spirit arrived. Lee 
waited until two-fifteen and still no second spirit as
foretold by Maelstrom. 

        As Lee pondered the situation, he noticed a
light shining under the door to his bedroom. Curious, 
Lee tracked the strange glow to its source in his 
sitting room. 

        Suculante holiday foods of all sorts were piled 
high to the celing. Christmas decorations adored the 
walls. But when Jordan reached out to touch the 
trimmings, his hand passed through them. They were all
holograms. In the center of it all sat, or rather 
floated, a bodiless head crowned by a red Santa hat.

        "Chief?" 

        "No, Lee. I'm the ghost of Christmas present. 
And I'm here to help you-"

        "Yeah, yeah, I know, turn from my criminal ways.
The ghosts of Christmas past told me."

        Even though he said it sarcastically, Lee was 
thinking about changing, but the thought was only 
present for a fleeting moment. Then he muttered to 
himself, "First Maelstrom, then Zack and Ivy, why 
shouldn't this ghost look like the Chief?"

        The Chief - I mean the ghost of Christmas 
present - ignored Jordan's remark, and shouted, "Come 
with me!" 

        "Where are we going?"

        "I am going to show you that Christmas does 
indeed exist, eventhough you might want to think 
otherwise." With that the C-5 portal opened and Lee 
was practically pulled through it to...
        ...to an empty street in San Francisco that 
seemed very familiar to him.

        "What the-"

        "Does this street seem familiar?"

        "Yeah but I don't know how...."

        "Go look in the window over in there," said the
Chief nodding toward a brightly lit row house on Lee's 
right.

        Peering into the window, Lee saw his nephew and
brother-in-law. They were sitting next to the Christmas 
tree. Lee's nephew was trying to bribe his father into 
opening "just one" present before dinner, but Lee saw 
the persistance that the father had in answering no.

        Jordan walked to another window as Lee's nephew
and his father left the family room with the Christmas
tree. This window was slightly cracked open to allow 
some of the heat from the working kitchen outside the 
house. With the heat came the smells of roast goose, 
fresh baked bread, and Christmas cookies. 

        "Let's play a game," a woman in her early 
thirties said as she came into the room. Lee didn't
recognize her.

        "That's a good idea, Sasha. We'll play until 
dinner is ready. What do you want to play, Kent?" the
father asked addressing Lee's nephew.

        "The guessing game!"

        "All right. You go first, Kent."

        The boy's face twisted in consentration while he
pondered something for his father and step-mom to guess.
Then it lit up as he had an idea.

        "Okay, I'm ready. Guess."

        "Is it an animal," Sasha asked.

        "Hmmmm, yeah."

        "Is it a nice animal," the boy's father inquired.

        "No way."

        "Does it live in the forest?"

        "No."

        "In the country?"

        "No."

        "In the city?"

        "Yup, San Francisco. Oops, sorry, I could only 
say yes or no."

        "Is it a pet?"

        "No."

        "Does it live by itself?" Lee asked, joining in
on the fun, unaware that they couldn't hear him through
the window.

        "Does it live with others of its kind?"

        "No."

        "Give us a hint."

        "Hmmmm.... Okay, it hates coming outside."

        "I don't know what it could be," said Lee to no
one in particular.      

        "We give up son. What is it?"

        "Uncle Lee! He's mean, he lives by himself, and
he hates to come outside!"

        "That wasn't a very nice thing to say about your
uncle, Kent, but you have to admit that it's true.
        "Oh, I think dinner's ready."

        The family left the dining room where they had 
played the game, leaving Lee with a raw empty feeling.

        "Well, I don't need them, either. What else did
you want to show me, Spirit?"

        "Come on."

        Again the same thing happened with the C-5 
corridor opening, but this time Lee found himself in the
main computer room at Acme, watching a very angry Zack
and Ivy sitting at the computer. 

        "Why does this have to happen on Christmas!"
Ivy yelled.

        "Yeah, even Carmen takes a day off on Christmas,
except that one year...," Zack replied calmly, though
obviously just as mad as Ivy.

        "If I get my hands on Lee Jordan, he'll be VERY
sorry he ever left Acme."

        "How do you think the Chief feels. It seems like
all of Acme's best detectives eventually turn on him
and the agency."

        "Yeah, but at least Carmen never tried to kill
anybody. Arrgggg!!! I HATE Lee Jordan!!!"
 
        "Ivy...."

        "Little bro, why do we have to work on this? Why
not someone else?"

        "Because the Chief asked us, Ivy."

        Ivy smashed the mug she was drinking hot cocoa
out of on a computer terminal.

        "Hey, watch it, sis. These things aren't cheap."

        "Sorry, litte bro."

        The Chief and Lee left after that, finally 
ending up in a darkened churchyard.

        "Where to next?" asked Lee.

        "Nowhere. This is the last stop, at least with
me. By the time the bell tolls three I'll be gone."

        The first bell chimed. "But wait, will any good
come of this? Do I have to visited by another ghost?"

        "Yes, you do." The second bell chimed.

        "What will it be like?"

        "You will lastly be visited by the ghost of 
Christmas yet to come. Heed the lessons you learn, Lee
Jordan; your life depends on it."

        The third bell chimed, and the ghost of 
Christmas present disappeared. Lee looked up and saw 
through the thickening mists a heavily cloak figure
silently approaching him. 

	To be continued...