A Happy Ending

While growing up, every Christmas season I would watch one of the film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (I still watch and think that George C. Scott’s rendition is the best of the lot). The most frightening scene, regardless of the version, was always the Ghost of Christmas Future’s knurled finger pointing at Scrooge’s gravestone.

You know the scene: The Ghost of Christmas Future, looking much like the Grim Reaper, is the last of the spirits sent to haunt the calloused Ebenezer Scrooge. He is shown his death, and what a miserable death it is. The entire town is elated over Ebenezer’s passing and not a single person can utter a good word about his life.

This finally shakes the old curmudgeon, such as he is, to his foundations. He begs of the haunting spirit one question: “Are these the shadows of the things that will be, or…