By Avery
It was the night before Christmas and Chrissie not being a perfect angel as you would say. Quite frankly, she was being a brat. She was refusing to do anything her mother or father said. Her mother said, “Do your homework and then you can set up for Santa.” And you know what Chrissie said? Well, she just snapped back and said, “I don’t care what you say. I am going to set up for Santa now and do my homework when I want to.” Chrissie’s mother and father got so angry. They decided that Chrissie would not get any of their presents for her until she learned how to behave.
That night, Chrissie put on her pajamas and then sat in bed. About an hour later, a light yellow mist showed up. It brushed up against the sleeping Chrissie’s cheek. Chrissie is a light sleeper so she immediately woke up. She was surprised with a ghost. I know, I know, this sounds silly, but it’s the truth. A small, innocent little girl. The exact image of Chrissie when she was a girl. Chrissie, of course, thought she was dreaming. So, she closed her eyes, rubbed them, shook her head, and then opened her eyes again. The sweet little girl didn’t leave. So, Chrissie spoke.
“Who are you? I mean, I know you’re me when I was like 4 but, why are you here? Are you real? Why am I talking to air. You’re just a figment of my imagination,” she said.
“I am when you were 4. I am you, Chrissie Lincoln. But, the only difference is, I am the Chrissie your parents want back. Or at least I’m the sweet, nice, caring Chrissie your parents want back,” the ghost said.
Chrissie didn’t like that answer. She didn’t like it at all. In fact, she hated it, she wanted to kill that ghost. But that would mean she’s killing herself and you can’t kill a ghost. So, Chrissie decided to ignore the ghost’s comment and went forward with the conversation taking it in a new direction. She said that she doesn’t want the ghost to be anywhere near her. She kept resisting when the ghost snapped her fingers, and Chrissie fell right asleep.
Before Chrissie knew it, she was wide awake, and in a small little house with a small tree. The tree had one ornament on it and a paper star painted gold. There was two small presents each wrapped in red and green paper and a pink ribbon. And there was a family of three in the room…..All of the sudden, Chrissie gasped. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was her when she was 3 and they were in the old house. Chrissie’s eyes started watering and after a while, she found herself sobbing. She remembered how happy she was. She didn’t expect anything expensive, or what she really, truly wanted. She was just happy with anything. This was before her dad’s dream of making his own franchise of ice-cream became a reality. Her family was pretty poor, and she didn’t care whether she got any presents…She was just happy that she was with her family. And now, she’s just a brat most of the time. Once she realized that, the ghost explained why she was there.
“I brought you here because I wanted t show you how your life used to be. Selfless, caring, sweet, and innocent. And now, you’re selfish, careless, mean, and totally bratty. And, the only wish your parents have made ever since the ice-cream franchise started, is that you’d be as nice and caring as you were when you were little. Before the money came,” the ghost explained.
Chrissie didn’t understand. She thought she was the most selfless person she knew. Whenever one of her friends needed to borrow a dollar, she gave it. If someone needed a hug, she recommended someone who is great at hugs. And every once in a while, when she and her friends have their weekly shopping spree, she buys each person one thing under $15. She’s totally selfless and caring….Isn’t she? Well, according to this scene and the ghost, she isn’t. But, Chrissie didn’t want to believe it. She wasn’t going to believe it. Her parents would’ve told her if she was selfish or not. Her parents would totally tell her and the ghost is totally lying. That’s all she said to herself while she watched that old, old Christmas.
After maybe 20 minutes of solid staring and thinking and explaining, Chrissie was out cold. Once again. Because of the ghost snapping her little fingers. Once again, before Chrissie knew it, she was at another house. This one is the house she lives in now. So she assumed that the ghost had left and she was back where she was supposed to be. But, boy was she wrong. In one part though. She wasn’t wrong when she thought the ghost left. The ghost did leave. And she was in her normal house now. But she wasn’t in the right time period. And she wasn’t alone. There was yet another ghost. But this one wasn’t Chrissie when she was younger. It’s Chrissie when she’s older. When she’s about 19 to 20. Chrissie didn’t recognize this person….Or rather, figure. A misty, blue-ish figure.
“Who are you? I don’t believe I know you,” Chrissie asked.
“I’m you. In the future. I know that you saw another version of you earlier. But, that was when you were 4. I am when you are about to turn 20. You don’t know what your life is going to be like yet, but you will soon,” said the new ghost.
Chrissie was confused and wanted to know more. She did everything willingly and asked no questions….Well, maybe one or two. But it was just about what was going on. Besides, the new ghost didn’t answer anyway. So, it was a silent ride. Especially cause Chrissie had to be put to sleep for the third time that night.
As soon as Chrissie awoke, she was in a dorm room. She thinks. It was loud and there were a lot of people in the hallway. Now she was sure she was in a college. But which college. She looked around the room and at the pictures. She expected there to be some pictures of her mom and dad. But there weren’t. And she was pretty scared at that point. So, she went over to the doorway and watched for a while. She was surprised at the behavior going on. And, she noticed that it was mostly girls…..But, she didn’t know why. At first she thought it was an all girls college. But then she looked around a little longer and realized that it was a sorority. Wow, she always imagined that she would be part of a sorority. A popular one preferably. The last three questions she had left were what college this was, what sorority this was, and why there weren’t any pictures of her and her family. She decided to pick the one that was the most important. She picked the last one, why weren’t there any pictures of her and her family.
“Why aren’t there any pictures of us and mom and dad? I mean, we’re still in touch right?”
“No….Sadly, we’re not still in touch. We lost touch after we wanted a car for your 18th birthday and our parents wouldn’t get it for us. We got angry and said we’d never talk to them again.”
“But, there isn’t anything we can do to save that? We can’t call them and say we over reacted and that we’re sorry? Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“No, I’m sorry. Actually, there is one way. But this way requires you to go way back. Back to when you were in 7th grade. You know, where the 4-year-old you took you from. You have to go back to your time period and change all of this. Starting with the way you treat mom and dad. They get you everything and you just act like a brat. Well, no more. If you want this to change, and you want your future to be different, you have to change.”
“I will, I promise. I want things to be different. I want to be selfless and caring again. Not selfish and careless. Will you bring me back now?”
“Yes, I will. Ready?”
“Ready.”
“Alright, here we go…”
And for the fourth time that night, Chrissie was fast asleep. But this time, she didn’t wake up….I mean, yes, she woke up eventually. But when she woke up, it was morning. Christmas morning. And she smelled eggs and bacon and the waffles with a hint of cinnamon, just the way she liked them. At that moment, she truly knew that she was so lucky to have her parents. She welcomed them both with a big hug and kiss and didn’t open her presents until her mom and dad opened theirs first. From then on, that night of adventure. Of not knowing where she was most of the time. The mystery and the excitement. Chrissie was almost a perfect angel. Except for the times when she was angry is she got a bad grade. But otherwise, she was completely calm and serene.
The moral of this story is, be grateful for what you have. Because one day, it might be gone and you’ll want it back. We can all be bratty sometimes. But, a good trick to try and not be bratty is to close your eyes and count to 5. You’ll calm down and you’ll probably realize how lucky you are. So remember, you get what you get and you don’t get upset.
