The setting is mid 19th century London. 

Ebeneezer Scrooge, was a heartless, mean old man who cared about nothing but money. His place of business was a financial institution. His work was to force debtors to pay their bills. Those who didn’t, would have their property taken. Even if you lost your job you still had to pay your debt or Scrooge would take your house.

Scrooge was rich, but you’d never guess it by the clothes he wore. He hadn’t bought a new business suit since his partner Marley died seven years ago. His house was big, like a rich man’s, but it was a run-down ugly old place because Scrooge was too cheap to pay for it’s upkeep.

Scrooge had one employee, a clerk named Bob Cratchit, and he paid Bob a meager salary, barely enough to keep his family fed and clothed. He made Bob work in a cold room in the wintertime—because heat costs money.

Scrooge never gave to charity, not at Christmas, not ever. He would rather the poor go to the workhouses, which were like prisons where you worked hard for ten hours a day just for a place to sleep and eat.

It was Christmas Eve and Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, his only living relative, came by his place of business to wish him a merry Christmas and to invite him to Christmas Dinner. Scrooge mocked Fred, telling him Christmas was a waste of time and money. He also made fun of Fred for getting married, saying that love isn’t real.

Scrooge locked up his business at closing time and ventured home alone on a dark and cold Christmas Eve. Once home, he sat down to eat a meal of broth and bread. Scrooge began to hear noises which were getting louder and louder. Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door. And just as suddenly, someone came through the door.

It was Marley. But he looked different. He was a ghost, a spirit in pain, and he wore heavy chains that were weighted down with chests of money. He tells Scrooge that because of his greed in life, he is forced to wander the earth with this heavy burden, and without rest. He is forced to watch the sufferings of humans because he did nothing to help the needy when he was alive. 

He points his finger at Scrooge and warns him that he will face the same fate, only much worse, if he doesn’t change his ways. Marley tells Scrooge that three more ghosts are coming—one  each of the past, present, and future—and that he better pay attention if he doesn’t want to lose his soul to hell. Then, Marley disappeared.

Scrooge wasn’t sure what to believe. He thought maybe he was hallucinating from bad food or something. But then, out of the blue, the ghost of Christmas past appeared. She showed Scrooge his past youth and how happy he was when he was young, when money didn’t matter. 

She then showed Scrooge the time that he once fell in love with a woman and how Scrooge became a good businessman so he could save up money to take care of his fiance after marriage. But Scrooge became too focused on money and had forgotten why it was important to him in the first place. So his fiance left him and married another man. This is when and how Scrooge had become bitter.

The ghost of Christmas present soon arrived and showed Scrooge all the happy celebrations happening at the current Christmas time. He saw Fred and his wife having a great party and soon began to wish he hadn’t turned down Fred’s invitation. 

He saw Bob Cratchit and his family celebrating a happy Christmas together even though they were so poor and could hardly afford any dinner at all. He also see’s Tiny Tim, Bob’s son, for the first time. He is a poor crippled child, and the Christmas Ghost warned him that Tiny Tim would die before the next Christmas if no one could pay for his medical treatment, and Bob certainly couldn’t afford to pay.

Finally, the ghost of Christmas Future came and showed Scrooge his dark fate. That Scrooge would die alone and that no one would miss him after his death, except for some of his debtors, who will be happy that he died.

He also sees the deep sorrow of the Cratchit family over their loss of Tiny Tim, who indeed dies before Christmas. Scrooge begs the ghost to let him live, to give him another chance.

Scrooge, still crying, wakes up and realizes all the ghosts are gone. He rushes to the window to look out and see it is Christmas day. He buys a Santa suit and lots of toys and runs around town giving gifts to everyone he meets.

He shows up at the Cratchit family’s house and gives them a giant turkey and promises he’ll take care of Tiny Tim. He goes to Fred’s house and apologizes for his past behavior and he joins in on the Christmas festivities and has a great time. He lived this way, a generous and happy old man, for the rest of his days.

[the end]