MICKEY'S
CHRISTMAS STORY
It was
Christmas Eve and Ebenezer Scrooge was hurrying through the streets of London.
Scrooge did not like Christmas or helping the poor. He turned his face away
from a group of carol singers and didn't give a penny to anyone. And when his
nephew Fred dropped by his office to wish him a Merry Christmas, he
unceremoniously threw him out.
Later, at the
end of the day, his assistant Bob Cratchit got off his stool to go home.
I suppose
you'll want to have a party tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow you have to be
here bright and early!
____ Thank
you, Mr. Scrooge!" exclaimed Cratchit, "And a merry Christmas!
____ Bah! You
clapper! ____ mumbled Scrooge.
In the evening
Scrooge locked the office and went home. As he reached the door, he looked at
the knocker and gasped! It was in the shape of the face of his old partner,
Jacob Marley.
The face on
the knocker began to move in an unsettling way.
_________
Scrooooooge... ______ whispered.
Frightened, he
rushed in. But suddenly, before him appeared the ghost of Marley wrapped in
chains.
________
Tonight you will be visited by three spirits___ Marley announced to him. Listen to them and do as they say. Otherwise,
your chains will be heavier than mine. Farewell, Ebenezer.
Scrooge went
to bed, but in a little while he was awakened by a little fellow in a top hat.
_____ I am the
Ghost of Christmas Past ____ said to Scrooge. You must come with me. But
Scrooge laughed.
_____ You are
a dwarf," he said, "Go away!
____ Silence!
___ commanded the spirit ____. If men were measured by their kindness, you
would be smaller than a grain of sand. We'll travel back to the past, when you
didn't yet believe that Christmas was a claptrap.
When the
spirit told him to hold on to the tail of his coat, Scrooge remembered Marley's
terrible warning, and did as he was bidden.
The windows were thrown wide open, and the two of them flew over the
roofs and chimneys.
Soon they came
to a halt in front of a lighted house, where merry Christmas songs were
playing. Scrooge peeped through a window, and could not believe his eyes.
There's
Isabel! he exclaimed, suddenly remembering the girl he once loved.
But who is
that dancing so happily with her?
_____ That's
you, Scrooge___ whispered the spirit to him. Then you, too, were kind and
cheerful.
Then the
spirit led the man to another window. Inside, a young Scrooge sat at a desk
covered with money. Elizabeth stood behind him with tears in her eyes.
Why is she
crying?" asked Scrooge.
Then he
remembered that he had taken her cottage from her when he couldn't pay the
bills and that he had refused to marry her.
Suddenly
Scrooge was in bed again. He thought it had all been a bad dream, but then he
remembered Elizabeth again, and how his love of money had caused him to lose
his chance of happiness with her. Scrooge buried his head in his pillow and
burst into tears.
As he sobbed,
he felt the weight of a huge hand on his shoulder. He lifted his head and found
a terrible giant enjoying a feast.
I am the
Spirit of Christmas Present. There is no time to waste! ___ he bellowed.
The spirit put
Scrooge in his pocket, lifted the roof like a doll's house, and went out into
the street.
Scrooge peeped
out of the huge giant's pocket.
Where are we
going? he thought.
The spirit
took Scrooge out of his pocket, and with his other hand he pulled out a street
lamp to use as a lantern. Soon afterwards they came to a very old cottage.
What a
dreadful little house! exclaimed Scrooge; "who can live in such a place? a
wretched beggar, perhaps?
Look more
closely, and tell me whom you see," warned the spirit.
Scrooge
pressed his face against the glass. But it's Bob Cratchit, my clerk! __
he was surprised __ Does he live here?
The spirit
frowned.
He lives here
because of your "generosity".
Look at the Christmas Eve dinner the family has. It's all they can
afford.
The hungry
Cratchits sat down to the table, and partook of the smallest goose Scrooge had
ever seen in his life. Then he saw a little boy, Tiny Tim, limping into the
room, leaning on a crutch. When he heard him thank him for the food, Scrooge
felt ashamed.
Tell me,
spirit, what's the matter with that little fellow?
I'm afraid, if
things don't change, Tiny Tim's chair will soon be empty," replied the
spirit.
All was dark,
and Scrooge realised that he was alone. Bells rang out in the distance.
Just then, a
thickening cloud of smoke enveloped Scrooge until he was in darkness. A little
smoke entered his nose and he began to cough.
When the smoke
cleared, Scrooge saw that he was in a cemetery! Everywhere, there were
snow-covered graves.
Scrooge looked
up. He was not alone. A hideous dark figure, his face half hidden by a hood,
stood before him.
Are you the
Ghost of Christmas Future? Scrooge mumbled. Tell me, what will happen to Tiny
Tim?
The spirit
looked at Scrooge, raised his arm and pointed to something in the distance.
Scrooge looked
over and saw Bob Cratchit and his family gathered by a grave. Bob knelt down in
front of the gravestone and laid Tiny Tim's crutch on the grave as the tears
rolled down his cheeks.
Oh, no,"
exclaimed Scrooge. Spirit, I don't want this to happen; tell me it is still
possible to do something about it!
Scrooge looked
at two gravediggers who had just dug a hole.
He had never
seen a burial before, with no family, no friends to say good-bye to him.
Scrooge peered
into the grave, and asked the spirit to whom it belonged.
It's yours!
The spirit burst out laughing and took off his hood.
No! I'll
change! cried Scrooge. The tomb burst
into flames and the spirit pushed him down into it. ____ Let me out!
Suddenly,
another bell rang. Scrooge opened his eyes and cried out with joy. He was in
his room!
It's
Christmas! he shouted. After putting on his coat and hat, Scrooge went out into
the street.
He wished
everyone a Merry Christmas to everyone he came across, and gave two bags of
money to the people he passed. They were speechless, wondering what had
happened to the old curmudgeon.
Scrooge even
stopped his nephew when he saw him approaching his carriage. Fred was so
surprised at his uncle's cheerfulness that he nearly fell out of the carriage.
After bidding him farewell, Scrooge went on his way in the direction of Bob
Cratchit's house.
TOC, TOC!
Scrooge knocked at his clerk's door. When Bob opened it and saw who it was, his
smile faded.
Why, Mr.
Scrooge. Merry Christmas. Won't you come in?
Scrooge rushed
in and set a heavy sack on the floor. Then he smiled a huge smile, and told Bob
that he was raising his wages, and that he had brought him food and toys for
his family.
Cratchit
couldn't believe it.
Oh, thank you
Mr. Scrooge!
FROZEN AN OLAF ADVENTURE
Surprise!" exclaimed
Olaf as he jumped out of a kransekake and sent pieces of the
cake flying everywhere.
Olaf, not yet! said Anna.
The surprise party won't
start until the Christmas bell rings," added Elsa.
It was the first holiday
in Arendelle for years, and the sisters wanted to spend it with the inhabitants
of the kingdom.
The castle courtyard was
already full of people. Everyone was excited when they saw Kristoff and Sven arriving
with the Christmas bell.
Clong! Clong! Clong!
Clong!
However, after the bell
had rung, everyone started to leave!
Are you leaving already?
Anna asked them.
The bell has rung and now
we are going to celebrate our family tradition: kneading the doughnut cake___
explained a woman.
Afterwards, Elsa invited
the Olsens to the castle, but they both shook their heads.
____ Thank you, but we're
going to knit some socks for the grandchildren ___ they said with a smile. We
don't want to get involved in your family traditions.
When everyone left,
Kristoff saw the disappointed faces of his friends. To cheer them up, he played
them a traditional troll song and then taught them another troll tradition:
Flemmy, the troll mushroom!
_________ You lick his
forehead and make a wish! And he made them laugh!
Olaf followed the sisters
into the ballroom. He was eager to know what their family tradition was.
Do we have a tradition,
Elsa? Anna asked. Can you remember?
When the doors closed, we
were never together again," said Elsa. I'm sorry, because of me we don't
have any traditions.
Olaf ran to the stables.
Sven," he shouted,
"Anna and Elsa don't have any traditions they've ever seen, and we'll
bring them to the castle! Olaf tied Kristoff's sledge to Sven and the two set
off at once.
Olaf knocked on the door
of the first house they came to.
What is your family
tradition? he asked a boy and his mother.
We always make candy
canes," they replied as they offered him one. Olaf took off his carrot
nose and put on the candy cane instead.
Ohhh, sugar rush! ___ he
exclaimed
Olaf and Sven went house
to house to learn about different family traditions. They loaded everything
that people gave them into Sven's sleigh with the intention of taking it to
Anna and Elsa.
At the last stop, Olaf found
Oaken's whole family celebrating the holidays in the sauna. Olaf thought it was
a great tradition ... and added a portable sauna to the pile of stuff!
But the burning embers of
the sauna soon caused trouble. The sledge caught fire and all the traditions
started to burn! The sledge fell down a ravine and Sven and Olaf each landed on
one side of the cliff.
They had run out of
traditions! But Olaf did not lose hope when he saw that one of them had been
saved: the fruitcake.
Sven, however, was
worried. Wolf howls could be heard in the dark forest.
In the castle, Elsa found
Anna in the attic, looking for traditions. She was taking things out of a boot
containing her childhood memories.
What's in your boot? Anna
asked.
Gloves mostly --- said
Elsa.
But when she opened it,
there was a little bell. Elsa took a small box and held it out to her sister.
When Anna opened it, she could not believe her eyes.
Suddenly, the two sisters
heard a commotion in the stables and went over there. Sven was trying to say
something to Kristoff.
Olaf is lost! Anna
guessed.
And he's being chased by
hungry wolves," added Elsa.
Immediately, they decided
to gather all the people in the village to go and look for him.
Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and
Sven went into the forest with the search party. They all went calling for
Olaf.
Suddenly, the sisters saw
a carrot sticking out of a pile of snow. It was Olaf! Their friend explained
that he had lost all the traditions he had gathered for them. Even the fruit
cake, which had been taken away by a bird!
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You
still do not have a tradition... said Olaf.
Olaf, we do. Look __ said
Anna. She opened the mysterious little box and showed him its contents.
The box was full of
sketches of Olaf that Anna had drawn when she was a child.
I started drawing you the
first time we created you," said Anna.
While we were apart, you
were the one who kept us together, Olaf," added Elsa.
Every Christmas, I gave
Elsa a present. Elsa nodded. During those years of loneliness, we had you to
remind us of our childhood. And how much we still loved each other.
It's you, Olaf. You are
our tradition. Surprise!
Out of the dark forest
came dozens of lanterns. They were the inhabitants of Arendelle, who were
relieved to see that Olaf was well.
Then Elsa had a great idea.
As this was Anna and
Elsa's first party in a long time, they wanted it to be special. With the help
of the villagers, they organised a big party right there in the forest!
Best of all, Anna and Elsa
had revived their Christmas tradition and created a new one for Arendelle.
And all thanks to little
Olaf!