Marley Laughed

Jacob Marley was dead, never to return. (Well, almost never.) Charles Dickens begins his tale of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge by letting us know this in no uncertain terms. Old Scrooge may have shed a singular tear at the news, but then, business was business after all. Let the dead bury the dead, life must go on.

So it did… for Scrooge. Marley was merely a footnote in the pages of history; an old friend, now best forgotten. Requiescat in pace.

Deep in the afterlife, however, Jacob Marley was resting in anything but peace. As an inhabitant of Hell, he was paying that well-known price that even Dante would have admired— chained to his ledgers and cash boxes by literal chains, exactly as he had been chained figuratively in life. How awfully fitting! Those chains were heavy and cumbersome, which made it difficult to sit down and impossible to recline.

Poor Jacob Marley. But let us not weep bitter tears for this deceased miser, for, as we know, he was reaping exactly what he had sown. The wheel of fate continued to turn, and turn, and turn.

But then, suddenly, it stopped spinning, and an attractive female apparition appeared, as though from out of nowhere. She stood in front of Jacob Marley and commanded him to stop and heed her request.

"Get out of my way!" snarled the miser. "My fate does not allow for idle chatter."

He tried to shoo her away —with his arms still laden with iron chains— but the young woman stood her ground. "You have no sway over me, Jacob Marley. You do not frighten me nor do you have the power to stop me…" and her voice took on a sudden mellow tone, "…from asking of you a great favor."

At this, Jacob came to a complete stop. Never before, in either his before-life or his after-life, had anyone condescended to ask of him any favor; nor would he have given it … unless there was a beneficial reciprocation. But now, at this most inopportune moment, a favor had been requested and Jacob, with an almost humane tear in his eye, found to his surprise that he was almost eager to grant such a favor… sight unseen.

Of course, he had his reputation to uphold, so he merely muttered "Bah!" and turned his back on the young female apparition.

But the spirit merely chuckled to herself and grinned. "You are indeed my brother's partner. That was one of his favorite expressions whenever things failed to go his way.

"But where are my manners; let me introduce myself. I am Fan and I was Ebenezer's sister. I died young while giving birth to my son, Fred."

"I remember that young whipper-snapper. Always barging into the office with a nauseating 'Hello, Uncle Ebenezer' on his lips whenever he wanted something. But you didn't stop me from carrying out my eternal penance just to pass the time of day. What in blazes to you want, Lassie? If it is within my power —such as it is— to grant, I will do so."

"It's very simple, Mr. Marley," the spirit responded, politely referring to her elder by his surname, "I want you to help me save my brother's soul."

"You might as well ask me to save myself. It's too late for Ebenezer, just as it's too late for me."

"Oh, no, Mr. Marley, I know that there is still some good lurking in those curmudgeonly depths of his, and together you and I must find a way to bring that good to the surface. Today is Christmas Eve. What better time of year to perform such a miracle?"

"I repeat: where do I come in?"

"I want you to go to my brother and talk to him. Tell him to mind his ways and inform him of the consequences awaiting him if he does not."

"Bah!" Marley repeated, primarily because he knew that his young visitor would be amused by this particular word. "It will take more than just a warning and some saber-rattling on my part to get him to repent." Then noticing the twinkle is her eye, he added mischievously, "What devious plan do you have up your sleeve, Lassie?"

"The most powerful persuader in nature, Mr. Marley: fear!" Then leaning forward with a conspiratorial gesture, she whispered, "Tell me, sir, does he believe in ghosts?"

Thom Hinks is a retired technical writer and an avid science fiction reader. This is his first attempt at writing a story for publication.

Find more by Thom Hinks in the Author Index.

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