A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Sourced: Barnes and Noble, downtown Chicago

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It was December of 2020 and I was doing my best to have holiday cheer. This would be only the second Christmas of my life not spent with my family, and the last one did not go so great (drunk and lonely with a Gilmore sized portion of Chinese takeout). I wanted to go home and my family was blessed with good health but I didn’t want to tempt fate by getting on an airplane before we all got vaccinated. Instead, I was staying in Chicago to have my very first Christmas with my cat, Rowena. I bought her a collar with jingle bells (which she did not enjoy) and she repeatedly threatened the Christmas tree (which brought her incomprehensible levels of joy). We watched all my favorite Christmas movies and Rowena watched me dance around to all my favorite carols.

I usually buy my novels from used bookstores, but I wanted something beautiful and well made to crack open for many Christmases to come. The employee who helped me track it down first suggested a larger volume that contained several other short stories. I considered it closely before telling him “I was hoping to find something….fancy.” The sentence sounded dumb as soon as I heard it but the man nodded, guided me to a different section of the store and handed me a beautiful red book with gold coating on the page edges.

“The other one is cheaper. And contains other stories.”

“Thank you. I’ll take the fancy one.”

Though I had seen multiple interpretations of the story (“We’re Marly and Marly WOAoAOaOAoAOaOA!!!”), I had never read A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. I decided to make it extra special by waiting until the night of Christmas Eve. After showering and slipping on my pajamas, I created an atmosphere. I opened my bedroom window to let the chill in and turned off all my lights, save the Christmas tree and my reading lamp. I jumped in bed and buried myself under blankets and Rowena to stay warm. I read my ghost story and enjoyed the novelty of the dark and cold. The story was grimmer than I had remembered. When I found a part I particularly liked, I would re-read it aloud, doing the character voices for Rowena (who was asleep and did not care).

Thankfully, the story ended about 15 minutes before midnight. Rowena and I had just enough time to turn out the light and fall asleep so Santa wouldn’t pass us by.

If you would like to read A Christmas Carol, please check your local public library.
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