The 27th Annual

A CHRISTMAS CAROL WRITING CONTEST 2015

www.greatlakestheater.org

The Twenty-Seventh Annual “A Christmas Carol” Writing Contest Every year since 1989, Great Lakes Theater has partnered with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in producing our annual “A Christmas Carol” writing contest. Over sixteen-hundred CMSD students per year, in grades six, seven, and eight compose original stories inspired by the universal themes in Charles Dickens’ timeless classic. Then, each school selects one winner per grade level to submit to Great Lakes Theater for judging. Of these submissions, a panel of judges vote for the top six grand prize-winning entries. Grand prize-winning student writers attend a reception attended by GLT staff, their teachers and CMSD representatives, where their achievement is celebrated and they receive awards of recognition. In addition, these students are interviewed by Dee Perry, host of WCPN 90.3 FM’s award-winning arts and culture program The Sound of Applause, and their stories read by members of the acting company from Great Lakes Theater’s production of A Christmas Carol, for broadcast on the program. While their stories were edited for broadcast, these six grand prize-winning stories appear in this booklet unabridged. These 2015 grand prize stories are:

“A Sad Marley Tale” by Dean Iannaggi – page 2 Grade 6, Riverside K-8 School; Teacher: Joe Gilbert Read by Lynn Robert Berg “The Winter Storm” by Brenda Gomez – page 4 Grade 8, Douglas MacArthur Girls' Leadership Academy; Teacher: Veronica Wessel Read by Lynn Robert Berg, Cassandra Bissell, Clare Howes Eisentrout & Dougfred Miller “A Misbehaved Christmas” by Donovan Reed – page 16 Grade 7, Whitney M. Young Gifted & Talented Leadership Academy; Teacher: Carol Underwood Read by D.A. Smith “A Christmas Carol of Some Sort!” by Alana Johns – page 22 Grade 7, Douglas MacArthur Girls' Leadership Academy; Teacher: Michelle Lopez Read by Laura Welsh Berg “Redemption” byNayeli Cruz – page 33 Grade 8, Scranton K-8 School; Teacher: Tracey Evensen Read by Lynn Robert Berg, Laura Welsh Berg, Cassandra Bissell & Clare Howes Eisentrout “The Gift of Giving” byShakee-Ra Durham – page 37 Grade 6, Newton D. Baker School of Arts; Teacher: Tamara Blair Read by Cassandra Bissell, Dougfred Miller & D.A. Smith

Great Lakes Theater “A Christmas Carol” production photography by Roger Mastroianni.

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A Sad Marley Tale By Dean Iannaggi A grumpy old man, that’s who everybody knew Jacob Marley to be. They didn’t know about his earlier life. He was actually a great man, until one incident. We’re not going to start there, though. One windy, fall day, a baby boy was born as Jacob Andrew Marley. It may be surprising but, he was a happy baby. He didn’t cry much when he was born. His first year in life seemed fun to his parents. He would laugh at most anything. When he turned two, his parents told him that he would have a sibling. He was excited about this news. He could have someone to play with all the time. His brother came in late December His name was George Harold Marley. Over the year, Jacob had fun with his little brother. He made hi smile and laugh. Their mother thought they would have a great relationship. They seemed as if thy were best friends. When Jacob was six and George was four, something happened to their friendship. George was always mocking and making fun of Jacob. Jacob would try to be nice and play with his brother, but George would always find a way to hurt his feelings or tear him down. He had turned into a demon brother.

Dean Iannaggi at IdeaStream

You might think that was what made Jacob mean, but not really. Jacob didn’t let his mean brother tear his life apart. He was still a jolly child. He was always happy and smiling no matter how much his brother made fun of him.

In school, his teacher adored Jacob. He always got good grades and turned in his homework. Jacob was a shy child, though. For these reasons, the kids at his school bullied him. They punched, kicked, and pushed him and called him names. No one did anything about it, though. He didn’t trust people from that point on. Why would he? No one helped him. Books became Jacob’s friends from then on. Books never teased him or hurt him. So Jacob studied and became a very smart young man. He became an accountant and eventually started his own business. Jacob made a decent living for himself. His father liked to take advantage of Jacob’s success, which made Jacob upset. One day, Jacob’s father came to his house asking for a large amount of money. When Jacob asked why, his father told him it was an emergency, because he had lost his job. Jacob gave his father quite a bit of money because he didn’t want his parents to be poor. A few weeks later, Jacob went to visit his parents and smelled a foul odor. He found his father passed out. Jacob shook his father until he woke up. When he asked his father why he was drunk, he just denied it. Jacob left the house angry. He then asked

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around and found out that his father had been in trouble at his job for years because of his drinking and had lost his job many months ago. He had left tabs at pubs all around town and was n danger of losing their home. Jacob couldn’t believe it! He realized he would probably never get his money back from his father. When he questioned his father about what he had found, Mr. Marley pretended that he didn’t have a problem and that he’d stil had his job. Jacob tried to get his father to admit his problem, but he just denied it, and told Jacob to mind his own business. And Jacob’s mother didn’t want to admit the problems either. Jacob realized that if he couldn’t trust his own father with his money, how could he trust anyone else with it? This wasn’t the only disappointment he faced with his parents. Years later, Jacob got news that there had been a tragic accident. His parents had been walking one evening after his father had been drinking. Mr. Marley had accidently fallen into the river while walking on the docks. Mrs. Marley had tried to save him, but they both drowned that night.

Lynn Robert Berg as the Ghost of Jacob Marley in Great Lakes Theater’s A Christmas Carol

Jacob became the saddest man in the country. The only people he had loved were dead. He was so depressed, he knew he would never let himself love anyone again. He would never have a wife, and he would never have children. Money became his true love, because money never disappointed him or hurt him. Money was good to him.

So he grew his business. One day, he met a man who was as mean and greedy and he had become. His name was Ebenezer Scrooge. The too grumpy old men decided to share a business, because it gave them tax breaks and they could save money on their building. The called their business Scrooge and Marley, and they both cared about money and nothing else. Jacob Andrew Marley died on December 24, 1836 of a sudden illness. Ebenezer Scrooge was the only person at his funeral. Jacob Marley’s story shows how life’s events can affect how you live and who you become. You can let things affect you negatively or positively. You can decide to make the best of things or make the worst o things. A negative life can be a coldand lonely life. And who really wants that?

~ End ~

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The Winter Storm By Brenda Gomez It all happened in the middle of winter. There was a storm coming and everyone knew it, but they weren’t going to let some lousy old storm ruin their Christmas joy. The Wright family was throwing a holiday party on Christmas Eve, which happened to be the night the storm was the strongest. But there was something different about this storm, other than the fact that it was the largest storm the town had seen a very long time. It was eerilyquiet outside besides the strong winds. The wind wouldn’t just blow from one direction; it would blow from all— North, South, East, and West. The rain was so heavy it felt as though you were being pelted with marbles and you could barely make out any street signs through blinding snow. Though oddly enough none of these things were the strangest to occur that night. The strangest thing to occur was all the lightning, but no thunder. The only thing to be heard that night was the downfall of rain and the sound of the trees swaying as the wind blew hard. This storm was unlike any other. It was fascinating, intriguing, almost magical On the night before Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge was just closing up the shop after a very busy and successful day when a man in a long black coat and a little girl who looks at the age of seven in a red coat came to a halt in front of the store. Scrooge who was very cold that night made grunts and complaints as he made his way to the door. He opened the door just a crack to say, “We’re closed, come back tomorrow.” Just as he was about to close the door and lock up the little girl spoke. “Wait! Wait, Mr. Scrooge! We would like to invite you to our party tomorrow night.”

Aled Davies as Ebenezer Scrooge in Great Lakes Theater's A Christmas Carol

“Mr. Scrooge, I’m sorry. My daughter doesn’t know you...er...prefer to keep to yourself,” said the man in the long black coat. He spoke as though he feared Mr. Scrooge. It would make sense seeing as the whole town secretly despised him. Mr. Scrooge isn’t the most jovial man; in fact, he usually loathes other people. Some people blame his past while others just think he was born with his cold heart. Either way Scrooge didn’t really care for other people. “Come on, Sweetheart, let’s not impose on Mr. Scrooge.” “Wait, Daddy, you said we were inviting the whole town. Mr. Scrooge is in the town,” she said tugging on his coat.

“Susan, I don’t think, Mr. Scrooge would like to attend our party,” he sighed. “I don’t want you speaking for me Mr. ...? Eh...What’s your name?” Scrooge asked indifferently. Despite the fact that the man has worked across the street for years, Scrooge never bothered learning his neighbors’ names. “James. James Wright, sir,” he spoke timidly “Well, James,” he sneered his name as if it were something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. “I don’t think you want me to attend your party, am I correct?

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“Oh, no, Mr. Scrooge! I would be honored if you attended our party,” Mr. Wright gulped. “-I j-just assumed-” “You will not assume anything, you hear?” hollered Mr. Scrooge. “Now get! I’m standing here wasting my time in the freezing cold,” and with that Ebenezer Scrooge slammed the door shut and locked it After preparing the store for the following day, Mr. Scrooge ade his way upstairs to his living quarters. As he was just about to get into his bed, he saw something. Something he was not expecting. Across the street in the shoe store window, he saw the little girl in red coat– Susan, as James had called her. She looked as though she were staring right at him. She looked almost bereaved. Scrooge couldn’t help but feel a bit poignant as he realized he was the cause of her sadness by declining the invite. Scrooge then experienced a feeling he hadn’t felt in a while. It was as though the situation provoked an emotion to awaken inside him. His heart felt as though i dropped to his stomach, and he found it hard to look the girl in her piercing green eyes. “What is this feeling?” he wondered to himself. “Guilt? Perhaps remorse?” Whatever it maybe Scrooge detested it. So to save himself from staring into those emerald green eyes that looked as though she knew all his secrets, he got up from his bed and made his way over to the window to close the curtains. Scrooge found it rather hard to sleep that night. Every time he closed his eyes, he still saw those gree eyes burning into him and every time a shiver went up his spine. He eventually was able to get some sleep, but not enough to satisfy him In the morning, the first thing he did was open the curtains back up see if the little girl in the red coat was still watching him from next door. After his eyes wer adjusted to the little sunlight peeking from the dull grey clouds he was able to see that the little girl wasn’t there. “Was it a dream?” he mumbled. With one last glance out the window he went to get ready for his day blaming his drowsiness on what he saw last night. Mr. Scrooge isn’t one to dilly-dally so he is very diligent Brenda Gomez (right) with WCPN's Dee Perry. when it comes to his shop. After brushing his teeth, getting dressed, and eating breakfast he opened up t shop almost immediately. His two employees were quick to get inside the warm and toasty shop after standing in the freezing cold, waitingfor Mr. Scrooge to open. However, Mr. Scrooge wasn’t happy to have a huge gust of wind blow right in his face as his workers made their way in. Each bid Mr. Scrooge a good morning — which he replied to with unintelligible grunts - and scurried to their stations

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As the employees dealt with the customers, Mr. Scrooge made his way to the back of the shop to work on yesterday’s profits. However, just as he was pulling out some paper from his bottom drawer of his wooden old desk, he saw two bright green eyes looking right at him from across the street. He slowly moved closer to the window, squinting through snow as it fell harshly, to see a small figure looking out the window. It was Susan. Her eyes were brighter than ever before, as the cried a silent plea to Scrooge. Scrooge determined her eyes looked like glowing pools of sorrow and he couldn’t help, but fall to his knees at the girl’s pleas. It was then he classified the emotion he felt last night. It was indeed remorse. Mr. Scrooge didn’t know how long he stayed in that position, but when the girlturned around and walked away slowly, he was pulled back to the present. He was on his feet the second he came out of his trance-like state and came to some conclusion. At eight o’clock tonight he would attend the Wright’s party. As eight o’clock drew closer and closer, Scrooge became more and more anxious. After closing up the shop early; much to the benefit of his employees; and getting dressed in a more appropriate attire, couldn’t assuage the apprehensiveness that had slowly crept up on him. Nonetheless, as eight o’clock came he found himself on the doorstep of the Wright’s home. He could easily make out the sound of Christmas music and laughter inside. Reminding himself that he wasn’t here on the account of the girl, but to get rid of his remorse, he composed his expression; which he was sure showed hesitation; and knocked on the door Mrs. Wright opened the door with a smile on her face, but quickly changed to a scowl as she saw who was knocking. “What are you doing here?” she inquired while glaring at him. “I was invited,” Scrooge stated firmly, but Mrs. Wright saw the wary look in her eyes. Mrs. Wright scoffed at his statement. “By who?” she asked irritated. “By me,” chirped a peppy littl voice from behind Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright turned around to see Susan standing there with a hopeful expression, despite looking as though she was on the verge of despair earlier. “I invited him, mommy.” Hesitantly, Mrs. Wright opened the door wider for scrooge to come in, sighing in defeat. As soon as Scrooge was completely in the house, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him. They were practically gawking. Scrooge started shifting uncomfortably, but it quickly turned to annoyance Mr. Wright who was talking with a friend noticed Scroog getting upset and quickly spoke trying to avoi an altercation

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“Alright everyone, why don’t we bring out some cake!” he suggested trying to distract the guests from Scrooge. It seemed to have worked because immediately everyone went to the table with the extravagant Christmas cake on it. Sighing with relief, Scrooge made his way to an empty corner already regretting this decision, o attending the party As the night ascended, the storm grew harsher. Outside a blizzard formed and Mr. Wright turned on the news. Mr. Scrooge seized the opportunity to leave, but as the front door came in sight, he found the little girl with bright green eyes standing directly in front of the door She appeared to be almost guarding it. When she spotted Mr. Scroogeshe walked up to him and handed him a note. Before he could ask anything about it the girl turned on her heel and walked towards the group of guests talking to one another. Confused, Mr. Scrooge opened the note and read: Two thunderous sounds will be heard, Each unique in a way that’s absurd. One, setting eyes on what has transpire Going through a pain that maybe required. Two, consider it a warning, Of what could happen by ignoring. Scrooge reread the note multiple times tryg to understand, but couldn’t. “Why would she give this to me?” was the only intelligible thought he could gather. Just then, he heard complaints coming from the guests in the living room, breaking him from his thoughts. He shoved the note in his pocket and made his way towards the guests. Just as he entered the room, he heard the news reporter say all the roads were blocked off. Mr. Scrooge, thinking it would not affect him because he lived across the street, looked out the window to see that the snow was almost five feet high, meaning he couldn’t get home. “Now what?” thought Mr. Scrooge. “There is absolutely no way I could get home through all this snow. I should never have come to this foul party.” “Mr. Scrooge?” said a small voice. Scrooge turned around to see Susan, bringing back the thought of the note she had given him earlier, “If you would like to take a rest, I could show you to a guest bedroom, considering you can’t get home.” Scrooge was very reluctant to say yes, but was indeed exhausted from the day. “Right this way,” said Susan after he had agreed The seven year-old girl led Mr. Scrooge down the hall to the last door on the right. The interior of the room was fairly ordinary; average sized room, white bed spread, and a small closet. Nothing more, nothing less. It was rather dull, but Scrooge accepted it since he really had no other options. He turned around to thank the girl, but saw she wasn’t in sight and the door was closed. Scrooge furrowed his eyebrows and found it rather strange how mysterious this girl has been acting. Deciding it was nothing, he made his way to the door. About to cross the hallway to get to the bathroom Susan had mentioned, only to find that the only door to this small room was locked.

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Thinking it was a simple malfunction, Scrooge tried and trie again, but with each twist of the knob; he grew more and more panicked. “Help!” he bellowed now pounding on the door. “Help! Someone please, the door is locked!” However, his pleas couldn’t be heard over the loud noise of Christmas music. Giving up after a few minutes, Scrooge backed away from the door with a sigh of defeat. He figured in the morning, when the music was off he would call for help again. Mr. Scrooge reluctantly made his way over to the dull bed and lay down. He stared at the popcorn ceilings for what seemed like hours, waiting for slumber to come. Finally, after ten more minutes of lyin there, Scrooge started to slowly drift off, his eyes about to be completely closed when— HISSS... A loud and menacing sound startled Mr. Scrooge. He sat bolt upright and frantically looked around the now gray room. The only light to be seen came from the moon that could just be seen through the dull blue curtains. Mr. Scrooge stood up, drowsily walked to the window and yanked open the curtains, hoping to find the cause of the noise that startled him, only to be taken aback by the blinding light of the blizzard outside. He could barely make out the shapes of buildings over the paper white snow. Squinting, Mr. Scrooge closed the curtains and went back over to the small bed. Just as he was about to get settled, a loud and booming thunder roared so loud the floorboards beneath his feet vibrated. Mr. Scrooge, thinking nothing of it, decided to ignore it and make his way back to sleep, but as he was losing consciousness, he was yet again, interrupted. This time by a voice, speaking a language Scrooge couldn’t decipher. “Surge! Surge lapide Adiutorii!” spoke the cold and deadly voice. (Latin Translation: Stand up! Ebenezer, Rise Terrified, Scrooge slowly started to look around the room, trying to find out where the voice had come from. As his eyes scanned every inch of the small bedroom, Scrooge spotted in the corner, the silhouett of a man. With his heart pumping fast and sweat running down his back, Scrooge spoke. “Who’s there?” No answer. “Show yourself!” he tried again. Silence. Hesitantly, Scrooge got out of the bed and slowly walked closer to the silhouette. When he was just a foot away, the cold chilling voice returned. “Do not come any closer unless you wish to die a painful death.”

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At the sound of his words, Scrooge stood as stiff as a board, afraid that if he moved the slightest bit, he would indeed drop dead. “So I see you listen out of fear, but not respect. Susan did say you could be selfish at times. Before he could stop himself, Scrooge let one word slip. “Susan?” Scrooge didn’t know why, but for some odd reason it bothered him slightly that Susan thought of him like that. He had never cared what someone thought of him before. Why should he care now? Stepping out of the shadows, the man replied. “Yes. Susan, the Messenger. She did give you the note, did she not?”

Great Lakes Theater company members Cassandra Bissell, Lynn Robert Berg and Dougfred Miller read A Winter Storm

Mr. Scrooge was taken aback by the man’s appearance of a scarred face and subconsciously stepped backwards. The man’s appearance had clearly frightened him. He was dressed in ragged old clothes and looked as though he’s been in lots of fights. It took a moment for Scrooge to register what the man had said, but once he did, Scrooge nodded wordlessly. Though he was still confused as to why he called the seven yea-old girl the Messenger and as to why an innocent young girl such a Susan would socialize with a man like him. Not to mention the fact that they were talking about him. “Ah, good; that saves time. Now–” he clasped his scarred hands together, “— have you figured out the clues yet? With furrowed eyebrows, Scrooge shook his head, trying to forget why a dangerous looking man would be talking to Scrooge in a foreign bedroom with the door locked. “Well, that’s quite alright, it’s a bit of a doozy. Let’s take a look at it shall we?” said the man. He snapped is fingers and with the blink of an eye, the crumbled note lay folded in the man’s palm. Ignoring the incredulous stares from Scrooge, he contnued. “Ah, let’s see here: ‘Two thunderous sounds will be heard, Each unique in a way that’s absurd, One, setting eyes on what has transpire Going through pain that maybe required—” he stopped suddenly. “That’s all I’m going to be covering.” He folded the paper back up and handed it to Mr. Scrooge. “Alright, now what did you get out of that?”

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After composing himself from his shock, Scrooge cleared his throat to speak, but nothing came out. Mr. Scrooge didn’t understand any of it. The strange man notiing his confusion tried helping him. “Let’s break it down,” he said. “’Two thunderous sounds will be heard / each unique in a way that’s absurd.’ Well that obviously means that you will hear two thunders from the storm outside. However, what they are trying to say is that each storm will bring something with it. I won’t tell you exactly what they bring, that’s what the clues are for. The first clue states ‘One, setng eyes on what has transpired / going through a pain that maybe required.’ Well something, that has already transpired...” Scrooge thought to himself. “Something that had transpired. Something that has already happened.” Scrooge gasped in horror as it final struck him. “My...past? You’re showing me my past?” “Indeed I am and from the sound of it, it’s a painful one. ‘Going through a pain that maybe required.’” “You-you can’t be serious. That’s absolutely absurd!” “Which is why the clues state ‘Each unique in a way that’s absurd,’” The man interrupted. “But-but it’s impossible!” Scrooge exclaimed. “Besides even if it was, why would you take me? I don’t know you and I don’t want you seeing my past!” “Well, if that’s all you’re worried about you have nothing to fear. My name is Praeteritum (Latin Translation: Past and I am the Keeper of all Pasts,” said the man with a proud expression. “Now, we better get moving or we won’t have enough time “But-but-” “No ‘buts’. We have to go,” Praeteritum interrupted. Then, as quick as a flash he clasped a hand on Scrooge’s shoulder and they were off. Scrooge could barely see anything, all he knew was that he felt sick. He felt as though he was being flipped inside out and back together again. His head was pounding and gave the impression that it would explode, but before he knew it Scrooge was on his hands and knees panting “Wh-What, what just happened to me?” shouted Scrooge. He looked up expecting to see him and Praeteritum still in the small bedroom in the Wright’s house, only to find he was alone in a dark alley. Terrified, he quickly stood up. He had no idea where he was. “H-Hello?” he called into the misty air. There was no response. Scrooge was absolutely nonplussed. One second he was in the Wrights’ home, the next he’s lost. Where had Praeteritum gone? Had he just thought him up? No, Scrooge was very sure he was real, beside it didn’t explain how he was in one place and now he’s in another. Scrooge’s shock slowly started turning to panic, he was lost, as much as he hated to admit it, but it was true. Ebenezer Scrooge was lost and disoriented. Then, before he even registered what he was doing, he

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was running. He didn’t know where or why he was running, but for some odd reason, he couldn’t seem to stop. He was like a puppet and was tied to strings Scrooge turned the corner of the gloomy old building and came to a sudden stop. There in front of him was a group of men that looked strangely familiar, though he didn’t know why. Scrooge was about to speak up to ask for help when he heard a booming voice. “They won’t be able to hear you, Scrooge. This has already happened. Now, watch.” It was Praeteritum. Confused, Scrooge obediently stayed quiet. Scrooge decided to get closer to the men to see what was happening when he saw something glimmer from the streetlight in one of the man’s hands. It was a knife. Not just any knife, this knife had a chipped blade, leather handle and a torn strap. This was the knife used to kill Scrooge’s sister, Elizabeth. Scrooge recognized it at once, for he was with her when the incident happened, although he was just a boy. To his horror upon the sight of the knife all the memories of that night came flooding back to him. For fifty years Scrooge had been able block out these horrendous memories as if a mental wall had been built to neglect them, but now just the image of the knife broke them down. Fift-five years ago, Ebenezer Scrooge was eleven years old and admired his older sister. He thought she was one of the bravest people he knew. He would follow her around like a lost puppy and she didn’t mind one bit. On the contrary, Elizabeth loved her little brother with all her heart though she certainly didn’t think she was all that he made her out to be. Nevertheless, she would do almost anything for Ebenezer including take him to the park at midnight to try and count the stars. Of course, she knew it was impossible, but she simply couldn’t deny him, no matter how many tes she said it. She loved him too much. One night, as they were making their way to the small park a few blocks away from their house, something horrible happened. While they were laughing at something Scrooge had said, a man walked up to them asking if they had any money. “I’m sorry, I didn’t bring any money with me,” Elizabeth had replied suddenly looking wary. She was getting a very bad feeling about this man. She grabbed Ebenezer’s hand more firmly, afraid f her little brother and it turned out she had a right to be. Suddenly, Elizabeth felt hands around her neck and Ebenezer was yanked out of her grasp. “No!” she yelped. “Let him go!” But her pleas and begs did nothing. So with one last yell, she bit the man’s hand and dashed to her brother. Elizabeth pushed the man off Ebenezer and frantically clutched his shoulders, bending down to eye level. “Look, I need you to run now! You need to run, now!” He was shaking his head, vigorously. I’m not giving you a choice!” she shouted. The men were approaching quickly. Scrooge had never seen Elizabeth shout like that, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her. Tears clouded his vision of Elizabeth as she was shouting at him to move

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Then just like that he was running, he understood why he had to leave, but it still didn’t make the decision any easier. It broke him inside to leave her there, but she really needed him to leave. Ebenezer ran and ran as fast as he could, sadly leaving Elizabeth behind. A deep chuckle broke Scrooge from his thoughts. He felt something trickle down his cheek and when he went to feel what it was, he realized he’d been crying. Quickly wiping his tears, he looked back at the man who had killed his sister, he felt a sudden rage and wanted anything more than to get his revenge, but he knew he could do nothing now, it was in the past. The man had just seen Elizabeth and Ebenezer laughing and it brought another round of tears to his eyes. If only he didn’t insist on going to the park, Elizabeth would have a lived a long and happy life, but because of his selfishness she was dead. The men soon split up; two behind Elizabeth and him while the other started talking to Elizabeth. Scrooge saw now, why Elizabeth was afraid. The man looked absolutely deadly. Scrooge couldn’t bear to watch anymore. It hurt him too much. He didn’t have the strength in him to relive what horrific day. He had never properly mourned over his sister’s death. As a child his solution was to block everything out, he didn’t want to feel the loss, the grief, or the pain so he decided to feel nothing at all, because there’s always some pain when there’s happiness, that’s just how life was. But Scrooge realized now how cowardly that was, he was running away from everyone because he was afraid he would be hurt again. Scrooge turned around and walked away from the scene behind. He needed to get over his past once and for all, there was nothing he could do now, so he headed back to the alley, determined to leave the past behind him. Scrooge kept his head down as he was walking so it was a bit of a surprise when he walked head-first in to something very hard. He looked up to see a white wall like the one in the Wrights’ home. “Wait a minute,” he thought. Scrooge looked around and saw that he was indeed in the Wrights’ home. “Had I dreamt it all?” he wondered. Whether he did or didn’t didn’t seem to matter at the moment Scrooge was very exhausted and all he wanted to do was sleep. Though there was a slight problem with that. When Scrooge turned around to lay in bed a man in dark black robes was already there. Just then a roar of thunder bellowed into the night. “At quid ploras quem quaeris, Scrooge? Habemas facere,” said the man (Latin Translation: What are yo looking at, scrooge? We have things to do?) “Wh-what?” Scrooge asked, bewildered. The man sighed and Scrooge could have sworn he heard him say how mortals are clueless. “I said what are you looking at? We have things to do. My name is Futurum and I will be showing you your future as I am the Keeper of Futures.”

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He paused, letting Scrooge sink it in. “As it says in the clues that Susan gave you this is a warning. Th future is never set, Mr. Scrooge. Your whole life can change just by one decision. And you decision will be made today. Today I will be showing you your future if you stayed....er.... as you are now.” Futurum spoke as though he does this every night, noticedScrooge. It made him wonder if he did. Scrooge cleared his throat. “As I am now? What’s that supposed to mean?” Futurum sighed again. “You have to admit it, Scrooge, you aren’t the most...uh....friendliest man and that could lead the rest of your life downhill. I understand you don’t want to feel pain, but some things are worth sacrificing. Happiness, laughter, joy.” Scrooge looked down, fully grasping Futurum words. “Now, come on. Let’s go to see where your future is headed.” And just as before Futurum clasped a hand on Scrooge’s shoulder and they were off. Scrooge felt an awful sensation in his stomach again,but quicker than before it stopped, luckily. Scrooge was ready this time, instead o falling to his hands and knees he stumbled a bit, but quickly regained his balance. Before Futurum had a chance to leave, Scrooge clutched his arm. “Please don’t leave me, not like Praeteritum. I-I can’t do this alone,” Scrooge asked with pleading eyes. Futurum looked hesitant, but eventually sighed in defeat. “Alright,” he said, “come on, this way.” He gestured to the right and it was then Scrooge took notice of his surroundings. He seemed to be outside of his shop, except there was no snow whatsoever, nor was it cold, in fact it seemed rather warm. Scrooge figured it must have been summer. Scrooge looked to his right expecting to still see Futum only to find him walking away in the direction he had gestured too. Quickly he scrambled after him afraid of becoming lost “Where are we going?” he inquired breathlessly, trying to match Furturum’s long strides. Futurum stayed silent, wordlessly walking through the empty street. Noticing his reluctance to speak, Scrooge stayed silent as well, not wanting to drive him away Eventually, after a few more agonizing minutes of walkin, Futurum finally came to a stop, followed by Scrooge. Scrooge was about to ask what they were doing when he saw a man that looked strangely familiar sitting in a box directly in front of Futurm. The man was looking at them like they weren’t eve there, which led Scrooge to believe that he couldn’t see them. “Do you know who this man is, Scrooge?” asked Futurum. Scrooge took a closer look and upon further inspection saw that this man appeared to be homeless. He wore a ragged old -shirt with multiple holes in it and pale gray pants — Scrooge determined that they were once black — that came to just above his ankle, indicating that they were too small. Scrooge knows if he were ever to have an encounter with this man in the present, he would disdain him immediately; therefore, he looked back at Futurum and shook his head no. Futurum heaved a sigh and looked at Scrooge disapprovingly. “Mr. Scrooge,” he hesitated. “This man is you, in twenty-five years.”

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Scrooge’s eyes grew wide and he looked from the man to Futurum and back again. “H-How? I-I’m the richest man in town. How can I go from this –” he gestured to himself, “— to that?” he pointed to his future self. “One word: Greediness,” he said. “You are so greedy you drive everyone away. Though I suppose that’s what you wanted, so you wouldn’t get hurt, but sometimes, Scrooge, that’ what hurts you. If you don’t change your behavior soon, in ten years your employees will be fed up with you and quit. You try to keep your shop running, but eventually become bankrupt. You’ll lose all your money and sadly lose your house too. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, Scrooge, but this will be you in twenty years and there is only one thing you can do to change it. “Stop being afraid of pain. Yes, you may feel pain at times, but it always gets better. Maybe not righ away, but it will in time and when that time comes, you’ll be grateful and happy that you changed Scrooge listened to his words intently and it wasn’t until he finished that he realized he’d been crying. Scrooge took Futurum’s words to heart and wanted nothing more than to go back in time and start over. All the mental barriers he had built in him throughout the years seemed to have vanished. All his emotions that had been built up for fifty years flooded through him like a nev-ending waterfall. Scrooge collapsed to his knees, head in hands, and cried his heart out. He had wasted fifty years that could have been spent laughing, making memories, and having children, but he had been selfish, foolish, and cowardly, but for the first time in a long me Scrooge was sorry. Scrooge looked up to tell him how sorry and regretful he is, only to find he was back inside the Wrights’ guest bedroom, with Susan sitting on the bed looking at him with pity. “Ebenezer?-I-I need to tell you something.” She paused, hesitant. “I’m not who you think I am.” Susan suddenly stood up and walked towards Scrooge — who was still on his hands and knees — and right before his very eyes she glowed and morphed into something else. Scrooge couldn’t see clearly because of the light illuminating in the room, but he could just ake out the silhouette of a womn. However, as the light dimmed down, he saw that Susan wasn’t Susan at all. She was Elizabeth, looking exactly how she did fifty years ago “Elizabeth?” he gasped out. “How are you here? I thought you were d-de-” “Dead?” She finished for him. “I was, well I still am. I was sent back to help you find your way again. I’ve been watching you for years and it broke my heart to see you so stoic. So, I requested to come temporarily and, well you know. I really hope this experience has changed your ways because if it didn’t I don’t know what will. The Time Brothers and I – ” “Time Brothers?” Scrooge interrupted still trying to grasp everything she was saying “Yes, the Time Brothers; Praeteritum and Futurum. We came up with this plan in hopes to help you and I really hope we succeeded,” Elizabeth explained.

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Scrooge stayed quiet still trying to absorb everything that happened tonight. Then without warning, he launched at Elizabeth, clutching her as if she were his lifeline. “I’ve missed you so much, Elizabeth. I can’t believe it’s you. It’s really you! Thank you, thank you so much. I really have learned my lesson and I feel horrible that it took so long for me to realize it. I-I can’t express in words how sorry I am.” Scrooge wept. He wept and wept all the while, Elizabeth whispering soothing words into his ear. After about an hour more of hugging, Elizabeth reluctantly pulled backto face Scrooge. “Ebenezer, I have to go. This job was only temporary. I’m supposed to go back soon. I’m sorry. I’ll be watching you from the stars above, alright?” she said sadly. Scrooge slowly nodded and pulled back as well. “Thank you again, Elizabeth.” Though he didn’t want to depart from Elizabeth he understood and he knew now that she would never truly be gone. Elizabeth smiled almost as if she was reading his mind. “No problem, Ebenezer. Goodbye, I love you.” Scrooge smiled back, a real genuine smile and he couldn’t help, but notice that i felt right. “I love you too, Elizabeth.” He whispered and with that Elizabeth vanished before him, leaving Scrooge to think how wonderful his life will be now.

~ End ~

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The Misbehaved Christmas By Donovan Reed On Christmas Eve, I was preparing to lay my head on a pillow that I stole from my foolish sister. “Ha! She still hasn’t noticed that I took this pillow from her last month!” I thought to myself My family always tries to keep me from acting like a delinqent, but it ends up making me worse. So far, I’ve smashed a 5 year old’s snowman, locked my mother outside in the cold for an hour, scratched up my father’s car, and cut up my sister’s hair. After all these things, I still can’t believe I’ve never receiv a good old fashioned spanking. A delectable smell seeped through the cracks in my wooden door, twirled around my bed, and entered my nose. I shot my eyes open and rolled out of bed. Stomping through my hallway, I knocked over a lamp. I looked back to see broken glass and a flickering light. “Hmph”, I snorted. When I made my way into the kitchen, I caught my mom and sister baking cookies. My mother shifted her gaze up and at me and dropped her jaw. “Oh… Jack,” she stuttered. “Makin cookies while I’m asleep, huh?” I asked. “N-no… we were going to… um…”,she said as she looked over to my sister for help. “We were going to wake you up and give you some,” she said while making an artificial smile. Donovan Reed with WCPN's Dee Perry. “Yeah right”. I snatched the cookies from my mother and began to walk upstairs. I turned around and saw my mother with a look of disgust in her face. “What’cha gonna do?” I shouted while gritting my teeth. She turned her red face away and waed into the dining room. “Yeah,” I thought to myself, “I’m the leader here.” I took the cookies to my room and slammed the door behind me. I licked my lips, and grabbed the first cookie. It was still warm, and gooey with chocolate. I had a flashback of when my sister said he loved chocolate. I didn’t care, so I bit into the cookie. “Those two don’t deserve any cookies,” I said with my mouth full of the chocolate goodness. Hearing a faint squeaking noise behind me, I snapped my head around to see my nine year old sister behind me. “Hey Jack. I was wondering could I get one c-cookie?” she asked. This infuriated me. How dare she ask me for some of MY STUFF!?! “You wanna cookie?” I asked. She nodded as an innocent smile emerged on her face. “HAVE IT!” I shouted as I heaved a cookie straight at her face. The baked good landed square between her eyes. That innocent smile turned into a disconsolate frown. She ran down the hall so that I couldn’t hear her wail to her mommy. “Ha ha ha ha!” I bellowed. “What a cry baby.” I finally put my head back down in my stolen pillow and closed my eyes. They better have gotten me presents! Or I’ll show the just… how bad…I a

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I woke up in snowy field full of nothing but pine trees covered in Christmas lights. “This ain’t good,” I told myself. I started walking deeper into the field of snow. I continued walking for a good 30 minutes. Surprisingly, the cold was not getting to me“This has gotta be some dream, I said. “Correct your grammar young man,” a voice said. I twirled around and saw nothing. My heart began to pound from being alone, yet hearing voices. I squinted my eyes to see if I was missing something. The dark purple sky began to snow. The flutters of snow quickly turned into a blizzard of white. “Keep walking, naughty one,” the voice echoed. “What?” I shouted. “Walk forward,” the voice repeated. “Which way”? “This way,” the voice said. “I can’t see where you are pointing, dummy.” “I’m NOT a DUMMY!” the voice snapped. I took a step backwards and my leg fell into really deep snow. I fell backwards, and sunk into the snow. “Oh my goooosh!” I trailed off as I went deeper into the snow banks. I fell right through the snow and into some house. “My butt! I moaned. I noticed a glow of light tracing from behind a couch. “Come out!” A human-like figure stood up, and waved its hand. “Do I know you?” I asked. “Of course!” the figure said. “Everyone knows the Ghost of Christmas Past”! I tilted y head, puzzled as ever. “Who?” I asked. Christmas Past stopped smiling and said, “You know. Ebenezer Scrooge’s second paranormal encounter”? I squinted my eyes and said, “Didn’t I just say I don’t know who you are?” The Spirit levitated over to me. “I’m here to show you your past. How you became so… you,” she said. “What’s wrong with me?” I asked. She grabbed my wrist and yanked me into a new room. The room was golden, and with lights everywhere. I frowned because the lights hurt my eyes. “Look,” the spirit said. I opened my eyes to see a child. “That kid is ugly!” I ridiculed. The Ghost of Christmas Past began to laugh. “What’s so funny?” I asked. “That kid is YOU!” she cried. I widened my eyes and shook my head. “I was just kidding! That kid is super handsome!”

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“Whatever,” the spirit chuckled. My mother walked into the room younger me was in. “Say hi to your sister, Jackson,” she said. She put down a baby next to me. My dad walked in a smiled. “They are beautiful, he said. Everyone was smiling. Why were they smiling? I hated it. “Now, next year,” the spirit said. This time, little me was opening presents. He ripped through all th presents, but he still looked sad. “I remember this,” I said. “It was when I wanted to get my first phone ever.” That Christmas, I never got it. I remember the next Christmas I opened everyone else’s gifts, and threw the dumb ons away. The spirit looked at the clock propped the wall. “It’s time for me to go,” she said. I looked at her, and nodded. She waved goodbye. Me being the jerk I was, I turned my head and folded my arms. The Ghost of Christmas Past dissolved and floated away. The house around disappeared and I was back in the snowy field. “Can I wake up now?” I asked the world around me. The only thing I heard was the howl of the wind and the glow of the Christmas lights. “I take that as a yes.” I began to walk even further into the field. “You’re not going to wake up just yet sonny!” a voice bellowed from above. I spun around to be yanked up by a flying figure. “Hey!” I yelped. “I don’t wanna be touched by some weirdo!” “Too bad!” the voice pronounced. I was taken away from the field Great Lakes Theater company member D.A. Smith reads A Misbehaved Christmas and into a city. He dropped me into a shopping cart that broke when I hit it. The figure flew down and almost chuckled his eye’s out. “Ain’t funny you Big Fat Oaf!” I retorted. “You watch your language young man!” he pronounced through hid big red beard. “Or what?” I asked. “You gonna sit on me”? “Fix your grammar, child,” he said. I stroked my hair in confusion. I thought my grammar was fine. “Fix your abominable beard,” I snapped. “Respect your elders!” he said. “I ain’t gonna respect anything!” The man’s eyes told me that he was thinking: You asked for it. He surged up into the air. Oh no. He wouldn’t dare do what I think he’s going to do. “Geronimo!” he yelled as he plummeted down to earth.

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“Ah!” I screamed. He sat directly onto my back and relaxed. “Are you going to respect me?” he asked. “I ain’t gonna respect nobody!” I rebelled. He put more pressure on my back. “Ow ow ow ow ow ow Ow!” I yelped. “I’ll respect you… and fix my grammar!” I whimpered. “You sure?” he asked with a smirk I nodded while biting my tongue trying not to cry out in pain. The man got off me and yanked me up out of the snow. “I am the Ghost of Christmas Present!” he said. “I’m here to—” He was cut off by ringing in his pocket. “What!” he bellowed, shaking the town around us. He stroked his beard and stated, “Our time is already up.” “Maybe you shouldn’t have sat on me,” I vexed. “Why you little– ” the spirit said just as he began to dissolve away. “Bye you little snot! I smiled, because it felt like a compliment. The spirit floated away into the sky and the town flashed away from around me. I was back in the snowy field. I kept my voice low, and crept over to the end of the snowy field. “I’m going to escape from this screwed up dream!” I said to myself. Just as I stepped off of the snowy field, a shadowy figure appeared in front of me. “Um…” I muttered. The figure pointed his finger at me. There was no flesh on the hand! “It’s too late for Halloween!” I yelped. I turned around and began to run away. The shadowy figure teleported in front of me and continued to point at me. A faint howl of sorrow came from the figure. “Leave me be!” I screeched. The figure’s howl got louder and louder, as he inched closer and closer. I got on my knees and put my hands together. “Please don’t kill me!” I begged. The figure pointed to something behind me. A graveyard was about an inch away from me. I saw a tombstone, where my family stood there mourning. “Did I die?” I asked the figure. The spirit simple shook head as in a “no”. “Did I get buried alive?” I asked even more shocked. The spirit shook his head again. “What did happen?” I asked, puzzled. He pulled up a sign that said, “You just work here.” I shifted my gaze upon a 30 year old shoveling up dirt. He was fat, had a beard, and his skin was really pale. That ugly middle aged guy was me! “I don’t want to be a graveyard worker!” I cried. The Spirit pulled up a new sign that said, “Then change your mean ways.”

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That’s it! All these dreams! All these spirits! It was time to change my ways. The only reason I became a little nitwit was because I never got a phone. With my behavior, Ican see why. “Thank you, spirit! Thank you for helping me!” I praised. He simply nodded and gave me a thumbs-up. I returned the thumbs-up and smiled. With a flash of light, I woke up and fell out of my bed. I groaned, got up, and looked out of my window. It snowed overnight. “It’s so pretty!” I said. Then I remembered today was Christmas Day! I opened my door and ran into my mother’s room. “Mom! Mom!” I shouted. “It’s Christmas Day!” She got up and said “Yes dear.” I ran to my sister’s room. She was already awake. “Emily!” I called. “Don’t cut my hair again!” she yelped. I felt sorry for her. I ran over to my little sister, and hugged her. “It’s ok. I’ll be nice forever now,” She smiled and hugged me back.

D.A. Smith as the Ghost of Christmas Present in Great Lakes Theater’s A Christmas Carol

“Mommy! Jack is going to be nice forever now!” she called out. Mom walked into the room and asked, “Really?” Jasmine nodded with glee. We all group-hugged and ran into the bathroom, brushed our teeth, and headed down into the living room. I saw about fifty presents in the room. “Wow!” me and Jasmine said in amazement. Our dad walked into the room and said, “Merry Christmas!” Jasmine hugged him and walked back over to me. Dad stared me down, through my eyes and into my soul. “Bring it in, big boy!” he said smiling. I ran over to him and gave him a bear hug. We all tore into the presents. Jasmine screamed when she found a puppy in a box, Mom almost cried when she got a bracelet, and Dad jumped around in glee when we got him a watch. I was the only one who didn’t get anything. Everyone looked at me and felt really sorry. “It’s ok guys,” I said. “I’ll live…” A tear ran down my cheek as I began to wail. Then my dad walked over to me and said, “Here you go”.

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He had a box in his hand. I carefully grabbed the box and opened it. Inside was an iPhone 6s! I screamed, jumped around the house, and hugged everyone. “Thank you family!” I said. “And thank you spirits,” I told myself. That Christmas was my favorite Christmas of all. I learned about friendship, respect, and most of all, change. I hope you have a Merry Christmas too!

~ End ~

Great Lakes Theater’s A Christmas Carol company members Aled Davies (center) and Lynn Robert Berg (far right) lead student winners in a chorus of We Wish You a Merry Christmas on the stage of the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square at the first of two A Christmas Carol Writing Contes student matnees, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015.

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A Christmas Carol of Some Sort! By Alana Johns A majority of the people I know, such as Mary and Nicholas, are enormous fans of all of the holidays. When Valentine’s Day comes around, they are the first ones to give me a box of chocolates in the shape of a heart. When Halloween comes to town, they are the most terrifying beings on the block and somehow apprehend an unimaginable amount of candy from the neighborhood elders. But sadly, their most favorite holiday of all time happens to be the one I despise with a burning passion that’s so scorching that I’m surprised I haven’t caught on fire from my own hatred yet. Christmas, the day my parents died and left me here alone, is the one and only holiday that can make me want to plug my ears and spray my eyes with mace. Sadly this year, Nicholas and Mary are practically blackmailing me into helping them throw the Annual Down Town Christmas Ball since they know I will refuse to go with all my heart. And I can tell you one thing is for sure; I am going to run as soon as my old beat-up Converses touch the pretentous “Red Carpet” that Mary found on eBay. Just because they managed to find a baby photo of me nude in the bathtub when I was only three years old, does not mean I have to withstand their conjoined dictatorship over me. They clearly don’t really need my help at all in the first place. I mean, the whole town is helping to set it up and I am honestly slowing down the whole process by getting in the way and standin around like a haunting ghost “Ebony! Watch out!” Mary screams at me making me jolt out of my thoughts of how much I simply despise Christmas and anything to do with it. I move out the way as a can of paint explodes exactly where I was standing one second ago. Mary slides down the ladder in a haste and rushes over to me. Her extraordinary eyes are filled with apprehension and amusement all at once which I find hilarious since she find everything funny no matter how frightening. She knows how to find the bright side. I smile at her and she looks at me like I’ve lost my mind when in reality I did fourteen years ago, on that Christmas. “Don’t smile at me like you didn’t almost get knocked out by a can of paint. Alana Johns (right) with WCPN's Dee Perry. You could have been hurt!” she nags but by the end, she looks like she just saw Santa in a bikini. I begin laughing and she joins in with me. Soon I can see tears rolling down her freckled cheeks, which makes me laugh even more until I also have tears rolling down my cheeks. “Mary thanks a lot for not letting me not get bombarded with redaint. I don’t want to look like Carrie for the rest of the day and have everyone gawking at me,” I thanked once I managed to calm myself. She did the same and smiled at me with her pearly white teeth. She is my sister, not biologically, but she and I have been together since we were in diapers. We have been together, never leaving each other for anyone else, through all the first dates and to the tragic breakups that required hours of Titanic and Chocolate Chip Mint Ice Cream. “No problem, Sis! I’ve always got that awkward shaped back of yours.” She chuckled. She then turned around and bounced away. I watched her jet black hair sway with the rest of her movements. She

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walked over to a boy, Seth, I think is his name. He is quiet and keeps to himself, but I catch him staring at me sometimes with a knowing look in his eyes that for some reason always makes me remember how my mom used to hold me at night during the thunder storms or how me and my dad would drive all the way up to New York City on New Year’s Eve to see the ball drop since my mom was usually in London with my Uncle Mike. He seems to feel my gaze and looks straight into my eyes. A smirk makes its way onto his lips and I drop my gaze. Creep. “Hey Ebony!” I spin around coming face to face with Nicholas. He has a way of sneaking up on me without even making a sound that I find truly bloodcurdling. “Hello Nicky,” I say with a grin knowing he hates when I or anyone calls him that. He groans and rolls his eyes. “Whatever. You’re just jealous you don’t have a date to the ball,” he says in a cocky tone. I look into his eyes to see if what he just said is true. No offense to him, but he isn’t a lady’s man. I would know since I had to bribe a girl to go on a date with him in the seventh grade. His left ee didn’t twitch so he really did have a date. Wow. I feel bad for her. “I don’t need a date when I’m not even going to stay,” I respond with just as much cockiness in my voice. His eyebrows furrow and he kisses his teeth as if trying to figure out what to say. “You’re going to stay. I will make that my second priority,” he says in a confident tone. “And what’s your first, exactly?” I ask with a raised brow. “My date of course,” he says in a duh tone. “Prestine, my date, is not going to get away fromme like all those other girls did. I won’t let her,” he says with a sly smirk. He says that about every girl who is unlucky enough to catch the eye of Nicholas Matthews “I’m not staying. I don’t care how many nude baby pictures you and Mary find, you can’t force me to stay at this – ” I’m cut off by a girl with bouncy red curls and forest green eyes striding over. Her green sweater matches her eyes and her white jeans almost blend with her pale skin. She looks me up and down and smiles brightly. “Oh hey, Prestine We were just talking about you,” Nicholas says to the girl, who I guess must be Prestine “I know,” she says and her voice sounds a lot lower and stronger than I imagined it would. Her eyes widened as if she had just realized with she said and she let out a nervous chuckle. “What I mean was … Um. You know what? That rife over there looks really crooked. I’m going to go and fix that.” She said sounding like she had just confessed that she was a criminal who assassinated Katy Perry. That would be the worst crime to ever be committed. She shot me a fake smile and gave Nicholas a quick kiss on the cheek and scurried away. “You sure do pick the most ‘unique’ girls in the book,” I said with a snicker.

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“Shut up. Prestine is a good girl. She’s amazin,” he said defensively and looked around as if to see if anyone was listening. “But she can be a little creepy when she blacks out and starts to casually talk like she is having a conversation.” I laughed at him. If he thought a girl talking to herself was creepy then he must have never seen me trying to do my makeup. “Ok, if you say she is a creep then she must be a bundle of joy and rainbows. What time do you and Mary want me at the ball, have to be somewhere at twelve,” I said in a monotone. He knew that wasn’t true but he let it pass. “Well it starts at eight o’clock so maybe seven thirty so you can help with the finishing touches.” I nodded an ok even though we both knew I was going to be late.

Great Lakes Theater company member Laura Welsh Berg reads A Christmas Carol of Some Sort!

“Well it’s already five thirty and I just remembered I still don’t have a dress for this ‘thing’, so I’m heading out. Tell Mary I said bye, where ever she went,” I said and gave him a quick wave before making my way to the spiny doors that were in the front of the room. When I made it outside, I breathed in the fresh air. I haven’t been outside in hours and I really needed to get out of that stuffy building. I don’t get why I have to go to this ball anyway. Mary and Nicholas know how much I absolutely despise Christmas so why are they making me do this? Ever since the accident, they’ve never forced me to do anything like this so why now? I began my walk to the bus stop that was just down the street but I paused a bit when I heard a meow of pure pain and agony. I have a major soft spot for animals, especially cats. I whipped my head in the direction of the cry for help and of corse it had to come from down an alley. Luckily I have my mace plus six years of Kung Fu classes and a bright sun shining down on my skin. I let out a breath and began walking down the alley towards the sound of the cat. When I reached the sound, all I could see was a small box. Someone must have left it there not even bothering to open the box so that the poor guy could be free and roam. I reached down and lifted the box to come face to face with the most fluffy, squishy, adorable, lovable, looking cat I’ve ever seen. I just wanted to reach out and squeeze it to death but it did something no cat should ever do. It talked. It said actual words that a cat shouldn’t even no how to pronounce let along even try to say. “Ebony Scrunchin! Be prepared to meet three spirits tonight. Each will make you believe in Christmas again! You will first be visited by Seth, the spirit of Christmas Past at eight o’clock. Don’t try to run, he will find you. Next, you will be visited by Prestine, the spiit of Christmas Present at nine thirty. Again, do not try to run. And lastly, Tokata, the spirit of Christmas Future. Most certainly, do not run from him, no matter how terrifying” says the voice, the cat. It comes out minor, almost silent, but I scream. I’m in too much shock to even get up and run. I just stare wide eyed at this creature in front of me. It chuckles and stands on its hind legs. “You’ve been warned, Ebony. Be prepared for a ride you will never forget,” it says in a soft but threatening voice. I blink and when I open my eyes, it’s gone. Of course it is. Why would a talking cat

24

stay around for my panic attack? My breath is coming out in shallow breaths. What was that thing? I must have hit my head and imagined the whole thing. But what did I hit my head on. Oh my goodness! I’m going absolutely mad! I just imagined all of that. It was nothing but my insane mind playing tricks on me. Right? Yes! “I’m going crazy,” I muttered to myself “I can’t find anything,” I said with a sigh. “Well go into my room and find something! You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!”Mary shouted in to the phone. I winced and sighed into the speaker of the phone. “Don’t you think I did that already?! All of your dresses are pink and sparkly! You know how much I can’t stand pink!” It was her turn to sigh. “Did you look in the very back of my closet? You know that hidden closet where I put all my special dresses?” I shook my head no but then remembered she couldn’t see me. “Uh... no, actually, I didn’t,” I said a little embarrassed. Knowing Mary, she would have clothes in a secret closet. “That’s what I thought. There is a white dress in a box, the only box that is in there.” “Ok. Thanks,” I mumbled and hung up the phone. She won’t be annoyed. I do it all the time. I walk into her room and to her closet. When I open the door, I’m greeted with the monstrosities Mary call dresses. I shove them all out of the way and make my way to the back of the closet. There is a wooden door with a golden handle. I open the door and my jaw drops when I see that this side of her closet is as big as the kitchen. “Whoa,” is all I can get out of my mouth. I begin to look around for the box and when I see a silver box I walk up to it. When I lift the lid of, I have to blin my eyes, as the dress is too white for my eyes. My eyes adjust to the bright dress and I pull it out of the box to inspect it. It goes to the floor and has a diamond belt. It is strapless and the back is made of lace flowers. I smile at it and begin to put it on. Surprisingly, it fits perfectly on me and now all I have to do is my makeup and hair. Actually, I should leave that to Mary. If I did it, I would look like a frog did my makeup. When I get out of the closet I look at the time on my phone. Oh my goodness! It’s already seven fift-nine. I’m so late and Mary is going to kill me. I run to my room and slip my socks and gray Converse on. I’m so late! I’m almost out the door when I hear a smash in the kitchen. Ok, that was weird. I unlock the door and then I hear two more. Then another. And another. You’ve got to be kidding me! The house just had to be haunted! I let out a huff of frustration and looked at the clock on the wall and it was now eight-oh one. I walked to the kitchen slowly and grabbed a bat from out of the closet next to the kitchen entrance. I peeked in and saw nothing so I walked in. I looked on the floor and saw the shattered plates so I bent down to pick the larger pieces up. When I stood back up, I felt a hot breath on my neck. My eyes widened. “Boo.”

25

I screamed at the top of my lungs and the person started laughing like a maniac, which they must be. I gripped my heart and picked up my bat ready to score a home run with the intruders head but I noticed his golden hair and seemingly glowing skin. Seth calmed down a little and looked at me with his golen eyes that still remind me of my parents. I looked at him in shock. “How’d you get in here? What are you doing here?” I asked with a shaky breath. I honestly nearly had a heart attack He gave me a serious look, his amused eyes gone. “Why, I’m here to show you your past. Make you remember your parents and why you loved Christmas and most of all …” He took a dramatic pause and I looked at him with eyes I’m sue looked like gulf balls. “… Get some cake ‘cause I am starving. But seriously, give me your hand.” I looked at him like he was crazy, which he clearly was. I stepped away from him and tightened my grip on the bat “No. Why would I do that?” Every word out of my mouth was drenched with fear. He just huffed in annoyance and made his way towards me. I was too in shock to push him away when he went to grab my hand and when he did I gasped at the sight in front of me. We were in front of my old house. The one I lived in when my parents were still alive “W-what is this? How’d we get here?” I asked panicked. Seth let out a laugh and tightened his grip on my hand pulling me forward. “Well as I said before, I’m here to help make you love Christmas again, so I decided to bring you here to your first Christmas in your new house,” he said in a duh tone. “I knew it was your favorite Christmas, you can see it in your eyes,” he whispered in my ear as if he was telling me the secret of life. “So this is my past?” I asked and looked around the street to see all my old friends running around, throwing snowballs at each other. I noticed Mary and Nicholas seeming to be in a heated argument. Even when we were kids they couldn’t get along if the world depended on it. “Hey!” I yelled out to them but they didn’t stop shooting daggers at each other, no one stopped doinganything. I frowned and looked at Seth for an answer. He just shrugged. “They can’t hear you. Were in your memories and memories can’t change. No matter what you think you forget, your memories stay the same,” he explained and grabbed my hand again. This time we were in myliving room where my mother and I were opening the presents dad got for us both. This was a different Christmas, the one where he got me a Barbie doll that I had been begging to get for the prior months. My eight year old self squealed and jumped up and gave my dad an immense hug and then ran back under the tree to find more presents. He got mom a golden necklace that said Elaine in cursive. She jumped to her feet and kissed him very passionately. I made a face at them. “Ewe! My innocent eyes weren’t ready to see that!” I squealed. They broke apart and laughed together. It sounded like a lullaby. “Well E., mommy and I are sorry for your innocent eyes having to witness such a nightmarish scene,” my dad said with a chuckle. I stuck out my little tongue out at them. That made them laugh even more. They watched as I opened the rest of my presents.

26

I felt a tear slip down my cheek. I remember this. This was the second Christmas here. That was the Christmas when it happened. “Why’d you have to show me this?” I asked in a voice that didn’t sound like mine when it came out. “Because it’s my job to make you remember,” he responded in a voice just as small as mine. He grabbed my hand and my parents and the happy me disappeared from my sight. Now I was on the icy bridge where it all happened. “This is where they died,” I whispered. Seth hummed in agreement but didn’t say anything more as I watched the headlights of our black Punch-Bug approach the icy bridge. I wish I could warn my dad to slow down even though the speed limit said thirty-five. I wish I could tell mom to open her eyes and see the huge, already leaning tree drawing nearer to the car. I wish I could tell myself to stop going on and on about how my new Barbie could sing two different songs and let dad focus on the road one hundred percent. But I can’t because no matter how much I scream and cry, they can’t see me. In fact, they drove right through Seth and I. My mom screams first as the car swerves around and dad loses control of the vehicle. Then I hear the sound of the car hitting the tree and it falling into the windshield, shattering it into millions of pieces. hear blood curdling screams but I can’t find it in myself to look back at the wrecked car, my wrecked life. I hear me crying from the back seat, yelling for help. I also hear sirens in the distance. I hear me begging mom and dad to wake up, to tell me not to worry and that we are still going to grandma’s house to pick up Splotchy, our golden retriever. But they don’t respond to my pleads and that makes me cry louder until the firemen come and pill me out of the car. I finally turn and gasp as I see the stretchers carry away my parents and the little me tries to get to them but the nurses hold me down. “Seth? Can we please go? I can’t stand to look at this.” I beg. I feel him grab my hand and close my eyes, preparing myself for another tear jerking memories. When I open my eyes again I’m surprised to see that we are back in my kitchen, standing on the island counter. Seth jumps down first and puts his hand out for me to jump down as well. I take it and jump down, trying to avoid the shattered plates on the floor. I stare at them. Dd he really have to break them? They cost a lot of money. As if reading my mind, Seth quickly apologizes. “Sorry about the plates. This was my first assignment as a spirit and I wanted to make it as awesome as possible,” and then, as if by magic, the plates reconnect and fly into the sink where they would later be washed. I would be impressed but I’m to in thought to care about flying plates. “Oh! Well look at the time! It’s already nine twenty. If you would like, could escort you to the ball,” Seth says with a sly tone.

27

Oh yeah! I forgot about the ball Mary is so going to kill me. I’m two hours late! That’s unbelievable, even for me. He doesn’t give me time to answer and just grabs my hand and we end up at the end of the ‘Red Carpet’ that looks, in a way, almost real. Seth links our elbows and I notice for the first time that he is wearing a suit and tie. Was he alwa wearing that? I look down at my dress and see that it still looks the same as it did when I pulled it out of the box; beautiful “Why are you walking me down the ‘Red Carpet’, Seth?” I ask. “Because during all my ‘Mission: Get Ebony to Love Christmas’, I forgot to ask someone to the ball and I know you didn’t have a date since I basically stalked you for the past two months,” he admitted. Did he say he was stalking me? I go to ask him about that but as soon as my mouth opens he says, “Don’t question it. It was my job and not some weird obsession thing, so don’t get cocky either.” I roll my eyes at him though he can’t see me. We walk through the spiny doors and I feel like I’m in one of those cheesy movies where the girl walks in and everyone stops what they’re doing just to look at her. I don’t even have enough time to let my seed of embarrassment plant itself from all the attention when I hear Mary scream my name like a baboon. always knew that she must be their distant cousin of some kind. “Ebony Francis Flysan Scrunchin! You are two hours late! Prepare to feel my high heel’s wrath!” I can hear her death glare before I turn around and see it. I give her a fake smile and wave. “Oh hey Sis! How have you been? You know the weather outside is so nice! Is that snow I see?” I try to stall as I back away. Seth chuckles. “Good luck, E.,” he whispers and then vanishes making me gasp. I’m completely alone to face this animal now! “Oh look at that! I see Nicholas.” He is standing alone and doesn’t seem to notice one of his best friends about to murder his other. “Nicholas save me!” I shout and begin to run to him but I’m pulled back. She didn’t even give me a chance to run, Mary must be pretty upset “Look Mar – ” I stop when I see that it’s actually Prestine with a smirk on her face. I look around and everyone seems frozen in tme and then I look at the clock on the wall that says it’s nine-thirty. I look back into her green eyes and sigh. Here we go again. “Prestine! Where will we be going on this fine evening?” I ask as sarcastic as possible. She glares at m but doesn’t say anything. She reaches in her purse and pulls out a handful of what looks like glitter “Eat this. Ask no questins,” she says in a harsh tone but I do as she says and let her pour the glitter into my hand. I sniff it first and then throw my head back and swallow it all in one go. It tastes like peppermints and strawberries. I begin to feel a bit lightheaded and woozy but Prestine keeps me up straight. I feel a vibration underneath my feet. Is she casing an earthquake?

28

“Calm down girl!” She says the word like it’s poisonous. “We’re just visiting grandmother,” he says with a grin. I stare at her as the ground below us seems to break apart and rise in the air. All of the frozen people have disappeared somewhere, I don’t know where to though. Prestine doesn’t seem like the same shy, sweet girl she was not even four hours ago, she seems more fierce and commanding. Demanding respect where it is not given. It’s honestly a little scary “What do you mean we’re visiting grandma? I haven’t seen her in years.” I lost contact with her, with everyone, except for Nicholas and Mary, when I turned sixteen and moved in with Mary who was eighteen at the time. I don’t think she would want to see me anyway,” I mumble to myself but Prestine must have heard it. “Did Seth teach you nothing?” she snarls. “They can’t see you! So calm down, stop talking and let me steer this thing!” That hits me like a bag of bricks and a billion gunshots. I wish someone would have been there to tell the eight year old me that. As if realizing what she says, Prestine bows her head as shame washes over her features. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t even have a right to be mad at you in the first place,” she rushes out in one breath. I just nod and stay quiet and listen to the waves of the North Atlantic Ocean Grandma moved to London, with Uncle Michael, after I left. I never wt to visit anyone there or anything, but I knew they all knew who I was. ‘The detached cousin who lost her parents and thinks that she too good to hang with her family now.’ The reason I know that is because as soon as Prestine arrived at the Christmas Eve party Uncle Michael seemed to be hosting, I happened to be what they were talking about. “Why isn’t Ebony here mum?” a little boy with dark skin, bright eyes, and a curly jungle of brown hair asks. His accent, one I could easily have gained, mesmerizes me. Then everyone gets quiet at once. One of my cousins I do know walks up to him when his mother begins to open and close her mouth as if she doesn’t know what to say. “Samuel, remember I told you this,” Connie begins. “Ebony is no longer a part of this family. Bad things happened and she decided that she didn’t want us anymore and that she wanted to stay in Cleveland. We tried to convince her to come and stay here but she refused. I don’t ever, and I mean ever, want to hear you say her name again. She only causes heart break and sorrow.” When she finishes she gets up and walks away. Everyone else just looks at Samuel and nod in agreement with Connie. Is that really how they think it happened? They just lied to a child, every single one of them. It had been eight years, when I was sixteen that I had been living under my grandma’s rules and when you have to go by old people rules, you jump at the first chance to get away, and that’s exactly what I did. Mary told me her roommate had just moved out and she had to find another soon because she couldn’t pay the bills all by herself, so I offered to move in with her. She said of course I could and as soon as I got my last box out of grandma’s house, she was gone like a light. She didn’t even tell me she was moving and I had to find out from Uncle Michael.

29

I never visited because I didn’t exactly get enough money from working at a Starbucks to buy a two-way ticket to London every month. And out of the blue, everyone’s numbers stopped working! I had no way to connect with them at all. They abandoned me. They left me because I was broken and they ony wanted shiny pieces of glass. They clearly never watched Lilo and Stitc.” Ohana means family, family means no one gets left behind or forgotte “Ebony – ” Prestine starts but I cut her off “Why does my own family detest me? They’re the ones who kicked me out! I never did anything to deserve all of this hate,” I cried out. My cheeks are stained with tears and I can feel my throat tightening by the second. I let out another cry. I don’t get Prestine stands there, watching me cry like a crazy woman, but I’m not embarrassed. She ignored my wailing and reached inside her purse and pulled out her glittery stuff. She could tell I wasn’t going Laura Welsh Berg as Belle in Great Lakes Theater's A Christmas Carol to give her my hand so she sighed and blew it on me. I didn’t get woozy and light headed this time, nor did I taste peppermints and strawberries. I just felt plain and empty. I closed my eyes, hoping that when I opened them, that I would be back home, but when I did, I saw pitch black. I looked around and didn’t see anything but then I heard rattling from behind me “Prestine?” I called out. I heard more rattling and then whispering. All of a sudden two children pop ou of nowhere. One, a girl with long brown hair and sad green eyes, looks as if she is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. The other is a boy with jet black hair and dark brown eyes. He looks as if his phone died and he doesn’t have his charger with him. I can practically feel the sadness rolling off of him “Grief and Guilt.” I jump at the sound of Prestine’s voice. “Usually, i’s ignorance and want, but you aren’t like others. You don’t want the same thing as everyone else.” She says and walks up from behind the two children to right in front of me. “You just wanted to be happy but these two are holding you back aren’t they? You can’t move on because these two won’t leave you alone. They remind you every day that it was your fault your dad wasn’t paying attention and they remind you of your mom’s piecin scream and most of all they remind you that no matter where you go or what you do, you’re the reason your parents never got to grandmas,” she whispers into my ear and I feel frozen. “NO!” I scream at her. How can she tell me how it happened? She doesn’t know! Only Seth and I know exactly what happened. Her laugh feels my ears and I clutch them. The two children suddenly drop to the ground and she laughs even harder, louder. Her skin starts to turn into ash and blow away as she laughs. When only her lips are left she stos laughing. “Good luck to you Ebony. Tokata is not one to reckon with.”

30

Then she is gone and I’m left in the dark alone, again. I hear I slight creaking noise and suddenly, I’m falling into glacial snow. I groan from the pain of the fall and look up and around but don’t see any one. I get up and look around and notice that I’m in a cemetery How cliché. I walk over to the closest tomb stone but don’t see my name. I walk to the next one but still don’t see my name. I go on like this until I come across afamiliar name, or should I say two? MARY MATTHEWS 1993-2074 MAY HER SOUL R.I.P. So Mary and Nicholas end up together and she lives a good eighty-one years. Why can’t I find mine? I turn around and come face to face with a crooked, long finger. I look to the owner of the fingers face but there is nothing bur pure darkness and a hood. “A-are you Tokata?” I stumble on my words, a lot. You know how they say don’t judge a book by its cover, well I learned exactly what that meant when I heard a sweet voice answer but then curse its self for talking and simply nodding. Interesting He put his finger down so I could get closer now, and that’s exactly what I did. I looked straight into the blackness of his hood and kept my gaze there. As if my hands were lightning, they bolted to the hood and ripped it of revealing a young boy no older than sixteen. I looked into his surprised inhuman gray eyes and already pale skin get paler. His hair was white but not from a dye or age, it was natural. He finally collected himself and pulled his hood back on. “The scariest spirit of them all is scared of me? A twenty-two year old orphan who can’t even make a bowl of cereal without breaking something? Don’t worry, you only have to worry about my dead corpse coming back to life and trying to cook. If that happens then the world is most definitely doomed.” He chuckles a little but clears his throat to cover it up. Tokata sure is quie. “Well aren’t you going to show me some of my future and make me feel bad about myself like the other two did?” I ask a little annoyed that he hasn’t spoken even though he knows that I know he can speak “I have nothing to show. Your ashes are in the ocean most likely already eaten by fish. I mean your funeral was fift-two years ago.” Wait, what? “What year is this?” I ask him hoping it’s not the year that I think it is. Please don’t be. Please do— “2074.” Oh no. “So you mean to tell me I’m going to die in twelve years? I die when I turn thirty-two?!” I ask in a panic. How? Why did I go so soon? “Prestine told you already. Gief and guilt ate at you until your last second you became ill and died of Broken Heart Syndrome.” At least Mary and Nicholas knew I would rather be burnt than put six feet under.

31

“Don’t worry. Everyone you cared about were there. Even Seth and Prestine came. Your family didn’t come though, they never found out until two years after when you were mentioned in an article t said people can die of broken hearts. They all regretted what they did to you.” It took for me to die to realize that they were wrong? “So in the end I was loved anyway?” I ask Tokata and he smiles and nods his head or more like hood. “Good bye, Ebony,” he says and disappears. Everything seems to disappear with him. I blink once and everything is gone. I blink again and my eyes open to the ceiling of my bed room. I look around and see that I really am in my bedroom and let out a sigh of relief that I’m not still in some cemetery. I jumpout of bed and walk into the hall. It’s quiet, a little bit too quiet I the hear whispers coming from the living room, so I tip toe in that direction. When come to the corner, I look around it to see Nicolas, Mary, Prestine, and Seth are all whispering “She will think it was all a dream.” One of the girls says, “I’m gratified you guys managed to muster up the energy to do this for her.” “You better be! Do you know how hard it is to possess a cat these days? They’re just so small and feisty,” Seth says with a shiver and Prestine nods her head in agreement “Well we better be off. Tokata just fished up with her and she should be waking up soon so, bye.” And then they’re gone. Nicholas chuckles to himself. “They always have to rub it in our faces don’t they?” he asks Mary who nods to him.

At a Christmas Carol Writing Conteststudent matine, school winners are greeted on stage by Aled Davies (Ebenezer Scrooge) and receive a special gift

“Let’s go check on Ebony. I’m sure she is awake and wondering what happened last night.” I sure am. I rush around the corner and jump on Nicholas. He stumbles back and ends up falling on the floor with a loud thud. Mary laughs at us as he tries to pry me off of him so he can get up but I won’t let go. I will never let go of either of them because they’re the only family I have left And I know they would never let me go either. This and every Christmas to come is going to be better from now on because I had them and they areall the family I need.

~ End ~

32

Redemption By Nayeli Cruz I was talking to my crush and, of course, she was going to come over and say something mean like she always did. “Why would you want to talk to someone like her ugly self when you could be talking to me?” Taylor told Damian. “She’s not ugly and why do you have to hurt everyone? Just because you’re pretty doesn’t mean anyone else isn’t,” Damian told her and then she turned red. “Can’t you see she likes you! Oh my gosh, idiots in this world.” Taylor said angrily. As she said this I blushed and then he looked at me and embarrassed by what she said I ran and never again did I encounter him again because I decided to hide every time I saw him A couple weeks later I saw this little girl Kendra and it just felt right to be mean to her and her friends. “What do you guys think you’re doing walking like you own this place, you’re just little five year olds. You guys aren’t special because nobody loves you!” I told them furiously and then they left crying, almost running. The next day I did the same thing to Kendra again. “What are you Nayeli Cruz at IdeaStream looking at you worthless child,” I told her. I kept doing this for weeks and eventually I got caught and I had to go to the principal’s office where they called my mom. “Ms. Tazerov we called you to inform you that Nadine has been bullying other scholars, we recommend that you have a talk with her at home and Nadine you are suspended for three days,” he said “Nadine ...” she said with tears coming down her eyes. “What!” I said furious because the little twerps told on me “I thought I raised you better.” she said, he words barely coming out of her mouth. “Let’s just go home. Since I am suspended you could ground me or talk to me or do whatever you want,” I told her leaving her speechless with her head bowed down and a face that looked disappointed and embarrassed. “Thank you for calling me, I will definitely talk to her and I am so sorry for the trouble.” she said and then we left On our way home I put on my headphones so I wouldn’t have to listen to her nonsense.

33

When we got home she took my phone away and tried to talk to me but I left to my room and she told me that since I was going to my room that I am grounded. I was in my room for a couple hours but then I got bored and sneaked out the window and went to my friend’s house and then we went to the mall. “How about we steal those dresses.” Kylie said and I agreed but then we got caught and got sent to the nearest police station fo holding. When my mom came it was the usual she told them sorry and that it won’t happen again and that she will talk to me but I had to stay one day or pay seven hundred fifty dollars so that was basically the two days of my suspension. On the third day of my suspension I decided to go to the club with Layla, Kylie and my other friends and we took our fake ID’s to use. When my mom saw me with my short dress she asked me where was I going looking like that and I responded, “Nowhere you care about, now leave me alone and go back to being you,” then I left At the club Taylor was there with her little group on the dance floor acting like they own the place. So didn’t say hi. “Look who got here guys,” she said. “Just leave us alone,” I said “Oh I am going to leave them alone but not you,” she said and then her friends started laughing and my friends told me that we could go somewhere else but I told them I wasn’t going to let her ruin our night so we started dancing. “Look the little crook idn’t want to leave if she didn’t have enough money to buy a dress and just steal it what is she doing here,” Taylor said. This really hurt me so I told my friends that I had to use the bathroom, but when I got the chance I just left and caught a cab hom. I figured it was pretty late so I just sneaked in my window so I didn’t have to hear my mom’s voice The next day I woke up and had to go to school so as usual I wore a black t-shirt and a black mini skirt and then I left When I got to school I saw Kendra and I was angry because she had told on me but when I walked up to her to say something, obviously mean, she stopped me. “Why do you hurt me like you do? Why do you choose to be so wicked? Does it make you feel better when you do? Does it make you feel stronger or more powerful? Do you want to break me because you’ve been broken because you are not going to?” she said rather courageously because I really wanted to slap her but I didn’t. I just slammed my fist against the locker and went home. At my house the questions Kendra told me really started getting to me but I tried to shake it off but t more I tried to forget them the more they came back to me, so I started thinking. I mean yeah I am being bullied but they didn’t break me. I just thought the girl was in my head so I just went to sleep.

34

When I woke up the next day and went to school I had to go to detention in the morning because I skipped school so I put my head down for a few moments and then I started to see a girl that looked like me but when I was a bit younger with colorful clothes on and a big smile on her face looking all confident and beautiful and for a second I thought she was real but I was just hallucinatin When I got home I went to the mirror and took a good look at myself and remembered the girl I saw which was me. A while after looking at myself I started crying and realized someone and something did break me. I totally blamed no one but myself, I had let Taylor break me and then I became her. I am even more disappointed in me because I let the past catch up to me. Instead of forgetting that I was a criminal and that my mom alway chose her boyfriends over me I kept that memory with me and I let myself think that I was worthless and that nobody loved. But someone did love me and I was making her suffer. I determined myself to change. I marched myself to my mom’s room and that’s where my change started. Great Lakes Theater company member Clare Howes Eisentrout reads Nadine in Redemptio

“Mom I am truly sorry for all the pain I have caused you I put myself to believe I was worthless and blamed on you I blinded myself and made me a horrible person and I hope you forgive me,” I said — me on my knees as she started crying.

“Yes, daughter I forgive you,” she said with a smile I haven’t seen since long ago came across her face. “Thank you mom. I love you and I promise I’ll change. I will. You will see,” I said feeling like somehow weight has been lifted off my shoulders That same day I threw away all my black clothes and went up to the attic and got all my colorful clothes bac In school I told my friends I can’t be friends anymore because they are a bad influence and that they are the reason that I am always getting in trouble and they just left and the group kind of campart as if I was their leader. Then when I saw Taylor I marched up to her. “You can’t break me anymore than you already have and I won’t give you the power to hurt me because anything you say won’t affect me,” I said rather courageously because I couldn’t have done this before and then her face was red and I could tell she was furious. As much as it hurt me to do it I told Kendra and all her friends that I was sorry and then I thanked Kendra for opening my eyes. I told her I was lost and put down and that without her I could’ve never picked up the pieces and put myself together and she just said, “You’re welcome.” “We should be friends maybe catch a movie one day?” I asked her. “Yes,” she said. So when school was over I went to my room put my headphones on and started listening to music and then my mom called me to dinner.

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“Mom,” I said. “Yes honey,” she responded. “I feel for the first time in a long time free and have pride in myself because I feel I have foun redemption by correcting my mistake” I said. “I’m very proud of you sweetie I have seen your changes,” she said. That day was the happiest day I have had since forever and then I went to sleep happily knowing that I put myself together.

~ End ~

Laura Welsh Berg as Mother Cleaveland in Great Lakes Theater's A Christmas Carol

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The Gift of Giving By Shakee-Ra Durham Once upon a time there was a guy name Michael who was homeless and poor. People would walk pass him like they didn’t care. Sometimes people would take pictures ofhim with their phone and laughed about how he looked. Others would throw things at him like rocks or old trash. Somehow Michael retained faith in people and that someone would help him, but nobody ever came to his rescue ... so this led to him to the point of becoming a criminal. He would steal from people things like expensive jewelry and credit cards. He was disappointed in himself that he turned to crime but could not endure the suffering anymore. One day he stole from the “wrong person.” He saw a huge corpulent lady holding a purse. He grabbed at her purse but she grabbed back and got a hold of his neck. She twisted him around and held him still by sitting on hi The woman out of breath asked “Why were you trying to steal my purse?” Michael gasped and was having difficulty breathing because she was sitting on hi The woman got up and pulled Michael up by his collar. He then responded to her questio, “I have nowhere to go and no one to help me ... l am homeless and that’s why I went to steal your purse.” The woman stared into his eyes and said, “You should wash your face.”

Shakee-Ra Durham at IdeaStream

Michael replied “There is nowhere for me to bathe.” The lady then said in a matter fact wa, “Then you will come with me to get cleaned up.” Michael looked at her nervously and thought, I just met this woman and tried to steal her purse. He was unsure why he accepted the offer of this lady. So after a short and silent walk they arrived at her ouse. Before going in the house the woman said “My name is Sherry and your name is?” He replied, “Michael”. Sherry then gestured where the bathroom was and he proceeded to clean up. Sherry left him a clean set of clothing for him to change into which odly fit him perfectly. Sherry and Michael had a very short and uncomfortable but hearty meal that she made for the two of them. After dinner she said “It is time you get a real night’s sleep, so please take the guest room. Michael was stunned with the suggestion but also couldn’t say no Sherry wished him, “Good Night and tomorrow you will have a proper job interview.”

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Michael still dazed collapsed in the bed andfell soundly asleep. Michael woke up to the aroma of a delicious breakfast being prepared by Sherry. After breakfast Michael’s stomach was full of food and his spirit full of delight. As the two of them approached the job interview, it was obvious that Michael was nervous but Sherry reassured him that he looked good and could do the job. She was right, he got the job. So for six months Michael faithfully went to his job from Sherry’s house and he paid what he could for rent and board. Around the seventh month Sherry began to get sick and Michael tended to her like she had taken care of him.

Great Lakes Theater company member Cassandra Bissell reads Sherry in A Gift of Giving

Though Michael was taking care of her each day her illness became so serious Sherry had to go to the hospital. Michael made sure that he would visit her daily and take care of her house while she was in the hospital. Sherry’s condition worsened. She called Michael to the hospital and sai, “Michael you have been so devoted to me but I am not going to be around much longer.” Michael said “Sherry you will get better...” Sherry cut him off by saying, “Please keep my house and belongings and make my home your home.” Michael was sad and shocked, how could this be happening. How did this happen, just a year ago he was trying to rob this woman and now she was dying and giving him everything. Sherry realized that Michael was overwhelmed, so she said, “Michael you are kind and caring, so I ask that you take this gift of mine.” Sherry then died Michael overwhelmed with grief and astonishment walking home from the hospital stumbled upon a homeless teenager named Shakira. He bent down offered her his hand and said “Come with me and share my friend’s warmth and richness.” Michael then becomes the guardian for Shakira who grows up to be a generous and caring person like Michael.

~ End ~

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The 2015 “A Christmas Carol” Writing Contest is made possible through a leadership grant provided by The Abington Foundation. Additional support provided by:

John P. Murphy Foundation  Harry K. and Emma R. Fox Foundation The George Gund Foundation And more than 500 generous individual contributors including Matinee Idols and Raise Your Paddle donor at Great Lakes Theater’s THE SECRET GALA (2015) Benefit. Special thanks to all participating CMSD teachers and staff, and to our reader-judges: Chennelle Bryant-Harris Kelly Schaffer Florian

Chelsea Cannon David Hansen

Beverly J. Coen

DeLee Cooper

Gail Cudak

Carol Dolan

Khaki Hermann

Diane Hupp

Mary J. Mayer

Shaun O’Neill

Lisa Ortenzi

Stephanie Reed

Editorial contributions to this booklet byHeather Cochran.

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