Christmas

Enter Mark. 

Mark: There won't be any Christmas this year until my son, Mr. Dylan starts believing in the spirit of Christmas. People who don't have the spirit don't understand why we want to celebrate Christmas. Maybe they think that people get so caught up in the Christmas frenzy that they neglect the people who are close to them, or there could there a different reason. Would my daughter come here? Enter Susan. 

Susan: What can I do for you? 

Mark: Do you have any suggestions on how we can teach Mr. Dylan the true meaning of Christmas? 

Susan: How about sending ghosts to Mr. Dylan to renew his faith in the spirit of Christmas? 

Susan: Mr. Dylan forgot the joyous experience of celebrating Christmas with your loved ones, so if we can make him see why people want to celebrate Christmas then we can be a family again. 

Mark: Susan, can you send two ghosts to my son? Wait for a day to send them, through. 

Susan: Yes, I can do that. Exit Mark and Susan. Enter Mr. Dylan.

Mr. Dylan: I run a major multinational corporation, so I don't have any time for the Christmas frenzy. If Christmas didn't exist, people wouldn't have to run from one store to the next trying to find perfect gift for their families before Christmas. Enter Homeless Man. 

Homeless Man: Sir, can you spare some money for me? 

Mr. Dylan: Beggar, why don't you go be a nuisance someplace else? Homeless Man: But Sir, Christmas is the time for giving. 

Mr. Dylan: Be quiet and don't ever mention Christmas in my presence again. 

Homeless Man: Well then, do you have any warm clothes you can spare? I'm cold.

Mr. Dylan: I told you to be quiet, and if you stay warm you should get off the street. 

Homeless Man: I guess I'll have to ask someone who treats poor people with kindness and respect.

Mr. Dylan: I don't do business with poor people; I only have time for people who have money. Exit Homeless Man.

Mr. Dylan: Now that homeless person isn't pestering me I can get back to being rich and important! Exit Mr. Dylan. Enter Mark and Susan.

Mark: I think my son needs a visit from the two ghosts to teach him a lesson in life. 

Susan: Would the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas Future come here? Enter Ghost of Christmas Past and Ghost of Christmas Future. 

Susan: Ghosts, I want you to visit Mr. Dylan one at a time, to teach him the true meaning of Christmas. Ghost of Christmas Future, when Ghost of Christmas Past is finished with Mr. Dylan, you can pay him a visit. 

Ghost of Christmas Past: Will do. Ghost of Christmas Future bows. Both ghosts exit.

Mark: Do you have another suggestions if these ghost can't do the job? 

Susan: These ghost are good at renewing the faith of any person, no matter how intransigent. Exit Mark and Susan. Enter Mr. Dylan and Homeless Man. 

Mr. Dylan: What are you doing back? 

Homeless Man: Mr. Dylan, it's time for you to meet the Ghost of Christmas Past. 

Mr. Dylan: I'm not afraid of ghosts! 

Homeless Man: You should be of afraid of this one!

Enter Ghost of Christmas Past. 

Mr. Dylan: Ghost, if you're trying to change my mind about Christmas, you're wasting your time. 

Ghost of Christmas Past: Why do you hate Christmas so much? Ghost of Christmas Past gives Homeless Man enough money to stay warm. 

Mr. Dylan: Why did you give money to that beggar? It could encourage him to be lazy! I'm not going to talk to a ghost about this Christmas nonsense! 

Ghost of Christmas Past: People keep Christmas in their heart because Christmas is a time for giving, celebrating the day with their families, and showing everyone close to you that you care about them and love them with all your heart. Christmas only happens on December twenty-fifth, but what if people celebrated Christmas every day? Well to completely understand why people want to celebrate Christmas, first you have to see what kind of effect Christmas has on people's spirits. Christmas makes people feel wonderful when they spend time with their whole families. It doesn't matter if you're poor and don't have enough money to buy special food and presents for the people that you care about, because your family and your friends don't care how much a presents cost as long as it comes from your heart. 

Mr. Dylan: I will not give anything to a poor person. The poor deserve to be put in the workhouse where they belong. 

Ghost of Christmas Past: It's time for us take a trip to a part of your past. 

Mr. Dylan: I'm not going anywhere with you! The Ghost of Christmas Past touches Mr. Dylan, and they are ten years in the past when Mr. Dylan was a teenager. Enter Mark, Mr. Dylan father. 

Mark: Thomas I want you to protect your youngest brother from anybody who treats him badly. 

Thomas: Okay, dad. 

Mark: Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so it's time to get cleaned up. Thomas gets clean up for dinner then sit down at the table. 

Mark: It's just going being us for dinner, because I need to talk to you about what you're going to do with your life. 

Thomas: I haven't really decided what I'm going to do. 

Mark: Well, when you decide, let me know. Mark and Thomas finish eating then exit. 

Mr. Dylan: What are we doing here? 

Ghost of Christmas Past: Your father was poor, but every Christmas your family always had enough food on the table and still have enough money left over to buy one present for each person. So, if we're going to understand why you treat poor people with disrespect we need to get to the core of the problem. 

Mr. Dylan: The day I started make money, I left my family and never looked back. 

Ghost of Christmas Past: That homeless person you pushed away was your youngest brother that you defended against any bullies. 

Mr. Dylan: That was when I was in high school. Times change, and so does the way I deal with people. What happened to my youngest brother that he is out on the street? 

Ghost of Christmas Past: After the day you left home your dad quit going to work, so he didn't have enough money to pay the mortgage. Your parents were busy trying to get enough money to buy back their house. Your sister were busy working two jobs to help with the loan, but your youngest brother didn't have anywhere to go but to the street. 

Mr. Dylan: How much do they need to get their house back? Not that I'm necessarily going to help! 

Ghost of Christmas Past: Even with your sister helping, it will take them five years. You could easily pay the whole mortgage off for them, but seeing how your family is poor, you would be going back on your decision not to give anything to poor people. 

Ghost of Christmas Past: Let's visit one more Christmas before I get too old. The Ghost of Christmas Past touches Mr. Dylan and they're at another Christmas. 

Mr. Dylan: This is was one of our family Christmases. Our mom was busy volunteering at the homeless shelter. 

Ghost of Christmas Past: So someone in your family cared about the people who are poor and homeless, but you chose not to follow in her footsteps. 

Mr. Dylan: I don't get how seeing this Christmas is going to help you to change me. 

Ghost of Christmas Past: Just watch! Enter Mark, Thomas, Susan, and Martin. 

Thomas: Dad, where is mom? 

Mark: She has to volunteer at the homeless shelter because all of the volunteers took the time day off to be with their families. Susan: Do the people who own the homeless shelter pays the volunteer anything to working there? 

Martin: I own the homeless center, and the volunteers work for free. When the volunteers come to work at the homeless shelter, they also bring food to give to the homeless.

Thomas: Why do people volunteer and bring food? What's in it for them? 

Mark: They just want to make sure that homeless people have food and a warm place to sleep. 

Susan: I will be taking over for mom in an hour. 

Mark: Let's celebrate Christmas while most of us are here. Mark, Thomas, Susan and Martin celebrate Christmas then exit. 

Ghost of Christmas Past: I need to go back to my slumber, because I can only keep up this appearance for a short while before I start aging. You will meet one more ghost, then you have to decide what kind of a person you're going to be for the rest of your life. 

Mr. Dylan: What's going to happen to my youngest brother? Couldn't Martin stay at the homeless shelter instead of being out in the cold? 

Ghost of Christmas Past: You will find out very soon. Martin can only afford to keep his homeless center open on Christmas. The rest of the time, people who are homeless have to stay at another shelter that can afford to stay open all the time.

Exit Ghost of Christmas Past. Enter Ghost of Christmas Future. 

Mr. Dylan: You must be the second ghost who is going to talk to me. What do you have to say? Ghost of Christmas Future touches Mr. Dylan and they are at the hospital. 

Mr. Dylan: What are we doing here? Ghost of Christmas Future points to Mr. Thomas's family. Enter Mark and Susan. 

Mark: Susan, is there any change in Martin? 

Susan: There was nothing the doctors could do to save him. He died half an hour ago. 

Mark: Where is mom? 

Susan: Mom blame Thomas for Martin's death, so she is trying to find Thomas so he can make his peace with Martin. 

Susan: Thomas, swore he was going to take care of Martin. Why did he go back on his word? 

Mark: I just got a letter from Thomas saying he was sorry about breaking his promise, but he needed to make a name for himself and he couldn't do it living in this house. 

Susan: We just got this house back five years ago with Thomas's help. If we had brought Martin in from the cold before he got hypothermia, we could have prevented his death. 

Mr. Dylan: I find it interesting that the Ghost of Christmas Past was right about when my family would get their house back. Does that mean the Ghost of Christmas Past could see into my family's future? Ghost of Christmas Future nods his head. 

Mr. Dylan: Ghost, I can't watch this anymore! Can you bring me back to the present? Ghost of Christmas Future touches Mr. Dylan and they are back 

Mr. Dylan: Ghost, if I change my ways, will Martin not die? Ghost of Christmas nods his head. 

Mr. Dylan: I will change my attitude about the spirit of Christmas, and I will treat poor people with kindness and respect. Exit Ghost of Christmas Future. Enter Mark. 

Mr. Dylan: Dad, how is Martin doing? 

Mark: He is doing fine. If we don't pay off the mortgage, the bank will take our house and Martin will have to go on the streets. Mr. Dylan hands Mark a check for the whole mortgage 

Mark: Why are you giving me a check? 

Mr. Dylan: Give it to the bank, so that we can keep the house. 

Mark: Thank you! 

Thomas: You're welcome. Exit Mark. Enter Susan and Martin. 

Susan: Thomas, when we were younger you weren't interesting in Christmas. What is do you think about it now? 

Thomas: Before, I didn't get why people thought Christmas was so wonderful; but now I can see why people want to celebrate Christmas. Susan: What changed your opinion? 

Thomas: Well, part of what Christmas is about is celebrating with your loved ones. I didn't understand that, so I had to have a change of heart before I could appreciate Christmas. Enter Mark. 

Mark: Glad to see you decided to make something better of your life. Thomas: How did it go with the bank?

Mark: It went fine, and we got the house back. 

Thomas: I'm going to buy house for poor people to live in free of charge, and I'm going to provide food and clothing, too. 

Martin: Be merry with your family and friends, and do something good for a person you don't know. Mark, Susan, Thomas and Martin hug each other then exit.