I always thought this story would make a great little sex tale.  But haven't 
found it on the net yet.  So why not put my story, where my need to read one 
was.  It didn't quite finish like I wanted it.  It sort of staled out at the 
end.  Well, there's always next Christmas.
Anyway, Merry Christmas.  E-mail me if it hits the right groups.  I like 
e-mail,A LOT. (munster@eden.rutgers.edu)
			"Thank You, Mr. Dickens..
		   A Slightly Sexier Christmas Carol"
				By El Sol
Stave 1 -- Marley's Frustration
Marley was dead.  Let's get beyond that point, but make sure that you don't 
misunderstand.  The death certificate was signed.  A factual, if not much else.
obituary had been published.
Old Marley was as dead as modern medicine would allow him to be.
Mind.  Modern medicine can do wonders, especially when a rich man is willing to
spend millions of dollars to delay the inevitable meeting with his Redeemer.  
Now, you might be thinking, "There's dead and then there's D*E*A*D."  But when
doctors, making that much money from one patient say he's beyond the reach of 
their money-grubbing hands, I can emphatically assert the man was dead as a 
doornail.
Eben knew he was dead.  Of course, he did.  I mean, Eben and Marley had been 
full partners for 5 years.  Eben was his CEO, the hand-picked heir to Marley's 
business (even if it was Eben that made the business what it was at Marley's 
death), his only friend, his sole mourner.  Eben wasn't really very sorrowful 
at the sad event though, but he was an excellent man of business on that day 
but probably only because the business was his alone now.
Oh yeah, that brings us back.  There is no more dead than Marley was.  You must
accept this or you really won't be able to go much further.  And there is ever 
so much wonder from here.  Let's face it if we don't accept that Hamlet's Daddy
is really gone, then there wouldn't be anything all that great about his being 
out and about at night.  You might as well find something remarkable about six-
year-olds getting dirty when you let them play around mud.
Eben never renamed the company even after being told by everyone he should.  It
stood as it was even after Eben moved them to a modern office building: Marley 
Security Specialties.  The firm was known as Marley's.  Sometimes high profile 
customers called Eben, Eben (if they knew who the man behind the best security 
consulting firm was), others called him Marley.  He didn't mind either.  
Probably even preferred Marley.
Oh, but he was a workaholic at the grindstone.  Working, shaping, molding, 
finding new niches for his firm, traveling to be sure every detail was taken 
care off when many of his staff could have accomplished the job as well.  Hard 
and sharp, that no competitor would find merciful nor could they get ahead of 
him and his firm; secretive, unyielding to any challenge business or personal, 
an island unto himself.  The cold inside hardened his features, his lips an 
unmoving line, and he spoke commandingly in a voice echoing the deep timbre of 
drums.  Snow prematurely flecked brown hair, ice-blue eyes showed no warmth to 
the world.  He carried the hardness around him like a blanket preventing anyone
from attempting to cross that barrier.  And for Christmas the blanket seemed 
thickened.
He ignored the elements.  The sun could not force the suit-jacket from his 
shoulders, and the cold could not make him grimace.  No winter wind could cool 
a room like his implacable stare, no fire more heartless about its purpose, no 
tide less caring of who it drowned.  Foul weather didn't know where to have him
. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail and sleet could boast only one 
advantage over him.  If you were caught in one of them, the warm confines of 
your home could protect you.  Eben followed you inside.
Nobody ever looked at him across a conference table and with gladsome looks 
said "Mr.  Razz, wonderful to see you.  When will you come to see the family?" 
No charity came to his door without a financial report of the deductions he 
would receive for signing a check to them, no babies crawled to be taken into 
his lap.  Even seeing-eye dogs appeared to understand him, and moved their 
charges from his path as if to say, "A runaway bus would notice you under its 
wheels more than this man, my master."
But what did Eben care.  It was the very thing he wanted.  To tread his way 
through the crowded path of life if need be, warning all human warmth to stand 
to the left or right or be mowed down, was what the knowing ones call nuts to 
Ebenezer Razz.
Once upon a time -- of all days not to be, on Christmas Eve -- Eben sat busy
in his corporate office planning the move of his company into providing
Internet security.  The windows at his back were battered by the cold, bleak,
biting weather.  Through the open door of his office he could hear the muted
enjoyment of his employees at the necessary, if foolish annual Christmas
office party.  The black clock on the wall chimed three, but outside the dark
struggled to douse the light shining from the building.  From the windows
could be seen the valiant battle other offices' lights fought to bring the
gaiety of Christmas parties to the darkening city.  The night fought back with
fathomless dark that obscured sight giving other buildings and their lights a
touch of fey.  To see the black clouds lurking above, hiding the stars, one
would have thought that Nature lived hard by, and birthed something darker
still.
Through the open door he could hear the swelling and ebbing of the party;
making sure his personal secretary stayed at her desk typing up his most
recent proposals.  Eben worked day and night, and his secretary had to follow
at his pace.  She couldn't slow down for Eben never did and the stare Eben
gave when he had to wait for her was as close to real anger from him as she
ever wanted to see.  Wherefore she squared her shoulders, and tromped along in
a race she couldn't win or even compete in.
"Mr.  Razz, I'm sorry.  She..." came over the intercom seconds before a
bright, if well-covered tornado exploded into the room.
"A Merry Christmas, Eb.  God keep you," cried a muffled cheery voice.  A voice
that was the torment of Ebenezer's soul.  His foster sister, born after her
parents had given him a home.
"Yeah." said Eben softly, "Right."
She had so covered herself that it took a comical struggle to unwind the
lengthy scarf from her face.  Her clean complexion came into view, as she
slowly defeated her adversary.  The heat of battle flamed her pretty face, and
sparked in her blue eyes.
"Come on, Eben," she said as she threw her defeated opponent down.  "You might
as well play the part to the hilt and shout from the rafters 'Bah..  Humbug."  
She laughed warmly taking in how he watched her.
"Yeah... Right" said Eben "Merry Christmas...  You have as little reason as I
do to be merry on that day...  more actually."
"Come, then," said Brenda Rollins shaking off the deep sadness that swallowed
the fire in her eyes for a long moment.  "What reason do you have to be so
dismal?  What reason do you have to be so morose?...  Less than me.  After
all, you're so rich most of my friends want your number."
Eben, having no better answer and not wanting to see the sadness again, said,
"Yeah," and followed it up with "Right."
"Not even one 'Bah..Humbug?'" she said amidst a giggle; almost a ghost of a
smile touched his face.  "Can't you even try even for me?"
"No, Brenda."  The ghost fled.  "I won't celebrate in remembrance of your
parents.  Maybe there's reason for them to overindulge, or overcharge your
credit cards on this holiday.  I won't stop you, or anyone else, Bren.  I'll
even let them throw the Christ mas Party and give them Christmas bonuses so
they won't be asking for advances come the New Year's.  I'll think hard about
your Christmas gift, because you are your parents' child.  But don't ask more
from me."
"But...Eben..." she almost pleaded as she had done for many years.
"No!"  The voice cooled the room.  "Have your Christmas, sister, but leave me
to my memories of your parents."
"They were your parents, too."
He nodded solemnly.
"But I'm not your sister," she said firmly and then smiling mischievously,
"Not where it would count anyway."
"Leave it, Bren." Eben growled, "That was a mistake.  It never did you any
good."
"Bah... Humbug!" she said in a strong voice.  "That was no mistake.  Maybe
you're right and I should be sad on the anniver sary of someone killing my
parents but it is the anniversary of some of my best memories, too...  My
first bicycle and how you taught me to ride in two feet of snow.  Remember how
you shoveled for three hours to give me enough space.  Both of us sitting
between Mom and Dad in church as I learned that Christmas wasn't about gifts.  
That memory got me through their deaths, Eben.  That they were in Heaven.  
Yeah! I spend too much, and so do a lot of people, but you're the only one who
doesn't give me a smile that says it was all worth it.  You know what?  
That's okay too, Eben.  No Christmas memory is ever going to compare to the
one we share.  So okay, my... our parents died on Christmas but every other
memory is happy so, 'Thank You, God.'"
The secretary standing at the door gasped in wide-eyed wonder.  Gasped again,
realizing her boss wouldn't appreciate an audience and fled back to her
typing.
Eben stared at his hot-blooded sister on the edge of showing emotion that only
she could raise in him.  The muscles in his jaw moved as he struggled to hold
everything inside.
She smiled innocently at him.
"Come on." she said.  "Don't be mad.  Come have dinner at my place."  She bent
down to pick up the scarf, bravely moved to his side, grabbing his arm she
started tugging him toward the party.
He stood up and let her drag him towards the noise.
"No, Brenda.  I don't think so."
"But why not?" she said as she passed the secretary's desk and winked at the
typing woman.  She moved around, circling the party to get to the elevators.
"Why?  Why do you date that empty-headed blonde girl?"
"Because it annoys the shit out of the only man I ever wanted... maybe he'll
try to save me from boring conversation.  Plus she's great in bed."
She froze as what she had peeked through an almost closed door registered.  
She took a step back, and in front of him to see through the crack.  He looked
over her head into the office of his new head of the computer security
section.  The man had the office manager back against his desk with his lower
body.  His hands were underneath her skirt pushing it up so that he could
caress the outside of her thighs.  The woman had her head back exposing a
wealth of skin at her neck for him to nibble, lick, suckle.  He was taking
full advantage as the occasional moan from her accentuated an especially
pleasurable touch from his mouth.
Eben tried to move Brenda past the door, but she backed up into him and
planted herself in place.  He reached around her to close the door, but she
put a death grip on the knob and fighting her would have gotten the attention
of the couple.
The man inside was good at his job, but was even better at getting the best
computer security people to come work for Eben.  Eben needed him for that, so
he allowed the man his liberties even at the office.
The woman inside pulled herself onto the desk.  When the man pushed her skirt
high enough, she wrapped a long leg around him, pinning him and the skirt.  
She began to use him as a living rubbing post.  The man didn't fight the
motion but mirrored it.  His hands pushed the skirt up higher.  They kissed
frantically, the pressure must have been building for awhile.  Eben knew they
had an active flirtation going, but hadn't heard that it had gone further.  
The pace they were using to drive themselves had all the impatience of new
lovers desperately wanting the wonder of that first completion together.
The office manager brought her hands around to grab him by the hair and used
that to pull his head back so she could bite into the juncture of neck,
shoulder, and shirt.  The man reacted as she meant him to.  He tried to shove
her skirt out of the way, trying madly to get to her core.
Eben felt himself get hard from viewing the scene.  He heard Brenda's
breathing deepen and briefly struggled for control of the door.  Brenda's grip
had not softened and when the door squealed he stopped.
The office manager had had enough.  She put her hands on the desk and used
them to hold herself off the desk.  The man immediately grasped the elevated
seriousness of the situation.  He pushed her skirt past her hips and onto her
waist, reversing the motion this time using his hands to strip her pantyhose
down.
She let herself down, watching him continue slowly down the incredible length
of her legs.  Eben could hear her ragged breathing as the man's obvious
enjoyment heightened hers.  The head of the computer section kept the
pantyhose moving downward slowly, enjoying the unwrapping, taking longer so as
to gain control of himself.
Eben recognized the deliberateness of the motion for what it was.  The man
wanted this woman satisfied completely.  Finally, he pushed her shoes off and
took the pantyhose completely off her body.  As he straightened, she held his
eyes with her own.  She reached out and pulled him between her legs.  They
shared a slow grinding kiss that promised an end to a lot of waiting.  She
pushed him away and started working on the buttons of his dress shirt.  The
man had taken off his jacket and tie before Eben and Brenda had started their
voyeur's adventure.
The woman started running her nails on his upper body taking the same slow
pleasure that the man had while removing her pantyhose.  The head of the
computer section reached between them and did something out of the view of the
watchers that propelled the office manager to the next step of anticipation.  
He continued to work furiously between her legs as she started to work on his
belt and slacks.  His pants dropped suddenly and her hands dove into silk
boxers.  He hit the next step of anticipation.  She reached to his waist and
lowered the boxers to give herself free access.  He reached down to take
another one of those slow grinding kisses.  They stopped for a second as she
whispered something to him.  He smiled beatifically and reached for an upside
down coffee cup on his desk.  He lifted the cup to expose a single condom.  
She stared at it for a second and dug a hand's worth of nails into his chest.  
He smiled down at her and ex tended himself far enough to place a bite between
shoulder and neck.  She reached over to the condom with one hand and tore it
open with her teeth.
Eben decided that was enough.  He put his arms around Brenda, lifted and
pulled her back.  Her grip on the door worked to close the door.  She started
kicking but stopped and just dropped her back onto his shoulder.  He put her
down slowly, stepping back quickly when she made a slow caressing motion with
her hips into his.
"But that was fun," she teased sexily.
"They deserve a little privacy," Eben said purposefully misinter preting what
she meant.
"Spoilsport!" she said pouting her lips and walking toward the elevators.  He
sighed and followed.
She pressed the button and waited pensively.  The elevator arrived and she
stepped inside.  She turned around and pressed a button.  He stood outside the
elevator watching her.
As the doors were closing, her face broke into a smile.
"By the way, I didn't take my Christmas present from your desk so you're just
going to have to bring it to me tomorrow."
He watched the elevator doors close and stood staring at the numbers as they
descended.  He shook his head and turned to walk back to his office.  He
considered reprimanding his computer section head but figured he would have to
explain how he managed to be standing outside the door.
He stopped at his secretary's desk.
"Are the charity people still here, Ms. Cratchit?" he asked.
"Yes, sir.  They're eating some of the party food."
"Ask them to come in," he told her as he walked into his office.
A couple of minutes later a man and a woman walked into his office.  The two
took a moment to study the man behind the desk as he stared out into the
darkness, caught in a rare moment of introspection.
Eben turned the chair to face them and nodded for them to sit.
The woman gave one meaningful look to her partner, that said quite clearly
that she would handle this.  The man nodded.  They came to talk to Eben twice
a year.
The first meeting had been nearly disastrous.  It was only the fact that the
woman had come to understand very quickly that for Eben this was strictly a
business transaction that had saved them from having a big contributor find
another charity.  The man had thought to appeal to Eben's softer side, and
when he had been rebuked had tried an eloquent speech that did nothing more
than try to shame Eben into giving charitably for the "right reasons".
Eben had sat through the entire speech watching the man care fully.  
Afterwards he had even given the man advice about how he should control the
raising and lowering of pitch to manipulate an audience better.  The man had
not taken that well, but took Eben's asking for the name of some other
institution that would deal with him as he wanted to be dealt with even worse.
The woman who had been the junior partner when the two came in for that
occasion immediately intercepted that movement.  She started to discuss with
Eben whether he wanted the publicity from his charitable contribution to be
aimed towards him or towards his company.  Eben had ignored the man for the
rest of the meeting while he discussed with the woman exactly how he wanted
things to be.  By the end of that first meeting it had been established that
the focus of any media attention would be on Marley's Security Specialties,
and that the woman would be the one to deal with Eben for as long as her
relationship lasted with her charity.
The man came to the meetings as window dressing.
The meeting went smoothly and the pair walked out with a very generous payment
for publicity rendered during the Christmas holidays.
Eben remained in his office even after the party had died down, and everyone
except he and his secretary had gone home.
Outside the windows, the clouds hung even more threateningly.
Ms. Cratchit finally gave up on outlasting her boss.  She walked into the
office with the work he had wanted done for the day.  He looked up from his
work.  She put the work down on his desk and stood back.
He nodded.
"Will you need me tomorrow, sir?" she asked trying to keep the hope that he
would say no out of her eyes.
He sighed to himself.  He turned the chair and tried to cut through the
darkness with a cold stare but it ignored him.
"No, Ms. Cratchit.  I'll get whatever I need done by myself."
She grimaced to his back as she realized that meant she would have not only
the 26th's worth of work to get done, but whatever he managed to produce on
the 25th.
"Thank you, sir." She said squeakily polite.
He nodded in dismissal.
He sat still staring out the window after she had gone.  He was trying to find
a way to avoid visiting Brenda tomorrow.  He knew he would not be able to
control his disapproval of her present lover.  It was not that she was female;
he cared too little about the rest of the world to care about what it thought
was proper.  It that was that the woman was malicious in a petty way.  Mali
ciousness with intent was one thing, but petty malice was a waste of effort by
Eben's standards.
He packed several things into his briefcase and walked past the janitorial
staff on the way out of the building without acknowl edging their existence.  
They, on the other hand, watched him carefully enough to be sure they were not
in his way as he left.
It was bitterly cold outside and he made a quick decision on the way to his
car.
He drove to a small restaurant he frequented.  No one of the staff was
surprised to see him.  They sat him down where he usually sat and the waiter
took a quick order.  Everyone at the restaurant knew only a select few waiters
were allowed to serve him.  It didn't have to do with any preference on Eben's
part.  It was that he tipped well over even a generous amount as long he was
served efficiently with no problems beyond the normal human control.
He asked the waiter if he could use the restaurant's phone for a local call.  
The waiter went to get the phone for him.
He dialed a number from memory.
"Good afternoon?" a husky feminine voice.
"Hello, is anyone available?" Eben asked as businesslike as any other
transaction.
"And who may I ask is speaking?" the voice asked.
"Eben."
"Yes sir.  A few people are available.  Any preference, sir."
"Is Asa available?"
"Yes sir.  At your domicile or should we have her meet you elsewhere?"
"My penthouse is fine."
"The normal billing procedure?"
"Yes."
"A tip?"
"The usual."
"Thank you, sir."
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye, sir."
Eben hung the phone up.  The waiter was there to take it out of his hand.  
Eben ate without tasting his food.  He looked out into the night trying not to
think about Brenda's teasing but unable to stop.
He finished, paid and walked out to his car.  He drove home mechanically,
still trying to avoid thinking of things in his life by not thinking of
anything.
Suddenly a luminescent shape floated out of the darkness and smashed into his
windshield, dissipating.  He had turned the wheel to the right trying to avoid
it but ducked as it hit the windshield.
"Jacob!?" he exclaimed as he reacted to get his car back on the road.  The
apparition had seemed solid enough.  It had glowed slightly as if from a
distance, the fog it was made of had a bright light shining through it.
He shook himself as he pondered what he had seen.  He looked at the rearview
mirror.
The apparition had looked like his deceased partner, Jacob Marley.
He shook himself again.  When he had to stop for a red light, he rubbed at his
eyes.
"Next, I'll be seeing him on my door knocker." he whispered sarcastically.
"Oh, wait.  I don't have a door knocker."  He laughed for a second.
The light turned green and he finished the drive home.  He parked his car in
building parking lot, walked inside and took the elevator to his penthouse.
It had been Marley's penthouse but as with everything else, Eben had inherited
it.  It was a large place that had plenty of space for decorating but Eben
kept it Spartan.  The only distinctive ness to it was that it was done
completely in black and glass with surgical white walls.  Every room followed
the same austere, modern coloring from the deep black bathtub, to glass top on
the table next to his bed.  No splash of color marred the entire place.
He removed his coat and put it into the closet in his bedroom.  He took off
his suit and walked into the bathroom off from his bedroom to take a quick
shower.
He got out, put on a black bathrobe and mixed himself a drink in his
livingroom.  He stared out into what little he could see of the city as he
waited.
Few men and women in the city knew the number he had dialed and even fewer
could afford to use it often.  Jacob Marley had introduced him to it saying
simply that some things you were better off not fighting but deflecting the
pressure worked just as well.  Discreteness was not a way life for the people
on the other end of the line, it was life.  At several thousand dollars per
visit they had to ensure non-disclosure no matter what the circumstances.  
After ensuring himself of their reputation, Eben had made use of them in
situations like tonight.
Brenda had teased him but the damage was done with the reminder of a long-gone
Christmas night.  The spectacle of his computer section head and the office
manager had only added to the pres sure.
The doorbell rang.  The agency's discreteness was matched only by the building
doorman's.  He called ahead to warn Eben of Brenda's "surprise" visits but
never bothered him past the initial expla nation when a woman fitting a
particular mold came to visit.  It was of course a sign of the amount of money
that Eben doled out for services efficiently rendered.
He opened the door.  The woman gave him a warm smile as he stepped aside for
her to walk in.  She removed her coat and dropped it on the couch.  The
movement spoke of understanding this man's need.
She was Asian.  He never found anything else about her national ity.  She was
short with curves proportional to her size.  Most people would not have looked
at her and thought she was paid thousands for what she did, but most people
could not afford to find out why she was.  She was Eben's choice at the agency
and rarely cared for anyone to take her place.  She was not beauti ful, only
slightly above pretty.  Makeup only added a touch of false class so she never
wore it especially when it was Eben.
He turned around as she motioned for him to sit on one end of the couch.  He
smiled at the efficiency of services rendered.  With one look, she had
understood his needs.
He moved to the end of the couch, sat down and leaned back against the corner.
  
She was wearing a black mini-skirt and top.  She hiked the mini-skirt out of
her way and knelt between his legs long enough to undo the robe and spread it
open.  He was already semi-hard and the immediate full hardening when her hand
encircled him told her everything else she wanted to know about what he
wanted.
She moved away from him and as her body descended to lie on the couch on her
stomach, she took him completely into her mouth at the end of her motion.
He moved his hips up trying to drive deeper, she had him com pletely inside
her but moved her head up to give his hips room to move.  She had been here at
times when he wanted to take his time, she had been here at times when he
wanted her to scream in the wild abandon of pleasure, and she had been here at
times like this when he needed a vehicle for release.
She brought one hand up to caress his balls and ball sac.  He was driving and
she allowed him to.
He dropped his hips down to the couch, but she kept her head in place.  Only
when he did not immediately plunge upward into her mouth, did she move her
head to take him completely out of her mouth.  She held him towards the top of
his dick to allow her thumb movement on the underside of the head of his dick.
  
She moved down to place small licks on his balls.  She used her forefinger to
rub against the underside of his crown.  He reacted to that so she moved up to
take him into her mouth, when she had him in place she took her hand off him
and allowed a full range of movement.
He immediately drove up into her mouth and dropped his hips again.  This time
as he held himself away from her, she used her tongue to bathe the head of his
dick.  She felt the bunching of effort, relaxed as he drove into her mouth
again.  This time he pumped three times before settling back down.  She waited
to ensure he had stopped, took him in an inch, ran her tongue hard against the
bottom of his dick, took another inch, repeated the tongue action on the
bottom of his penis, took him another inch, the hard caress with her tongue...
  
She continued this until he was fully embedded in her mouth again.
She unwound herself from him, only to receive a thrust into her mouth from him
as he surged.  She waited patiently allowing him freedom to thrust in and to
the edge of her mouth and back in again.
He started to press up and moved onto her knees leaning forward.  He got up
but continued to guide her back with his dick still inside her mouth.  She
looked up at him and he nodded for her to lay back.  She released him and
moved her legs around and lay back with her head propped by a corner cushion.  
He moved towards her until his dick was pointing at her mouth.  She opened her
mouth and received him.  She got as comfortable as she could, reached up to
rake nails as far up his torso as she could reach.
Eben dropped his back and began a slow deliberate in-and-out pace that would
carry him slowly over the edge.  He wanted nothing more than to thrust
viciously but he let her get used to him being completely in charge of the
pace.  She would use her nails on his stomach and rake them down as if driving
the pressure toward his dick, guiding it slowly where it could get release
into her mouth.  He picked up the pace slowly, she moved her tongue on him as
much as she could as he withdrew and accepted thrusts into her mouth.  She
reached up and fondled his balls as his thrusts became more purposeful and let
him use her mouth to relieve his need.
He withdrew himself almost completely from of her mouth and with one final
thrust growled as he buried himself.  She accepted him that final time, and
started to furiously work on the sensitized head of his penis as he finished
coming.  He tried to move away but she wrapped her arms around his thighs
giving him no movement except forward into her mouth.  He leaned over her, but
she continued to overload the nerves on the crown of his dick.  He fought her
but it only added to the sensations as she had to continuously adjust to keep
him in place.  She continued her licking, sucking, rubbing until his
nerve-endings shut down.  She felt him relax above her and just caressed him
with her mouth and tongue.  She waited to see what he would do now.
He climbed off her and sat back on the other end of the couch.  His breathing
started to slowly even out.  He didn't move so she got up and walked to the
nearby bathroom.
She came out moments later.  Eye contact told her she could leave.  She
allowed him to assist her putting on her coat and allowed him to walk her to
the door.
He closed the door behind her.  He walked to the phone and dialed the number.
"Hello."  A different voice, not as husky as the previous one.
"Eben"
"Yes sir."
"Everything was satisfactory."
"We were happy to help."
He hung up the phone knowing it would show up on his next charge card
statement.  He reached for his liquor glass and took a careful sip.
"That was beautiful."
He turned around as the voice came to him from the door to his bedroom.
He blinked.
Blinked again.
He looked at his liquor glass and at the door to his penthouse.  He looked
back at the man he refused to believe was standing at the entrance to his
bedroom.
"No, I'm serious Eben.  That was truly beautiful.  Is she one of Malorie's?"
Eben nodded as Jacob Marley, his dead, very dead, partner walked toward him.  
He took a step back.
Jacob wave his hand at him, chiding him for that step.  Jacob sat down on one
of the seats that matched the couch.  He looked around the living room before
he spoke again.
"God, man.  What's with the black and glass? Even I had enough class to go for
antiques."
Eben sat down heavily on the couch.  He looked at his liquor glass again.  He
shook his head briskly and looked at Jacob again.  Incredibly, enough the
thought that Jacob had never looked better flashed through his mind.
Jacob was looking much better than when he died or any of the years that Eben
knew him.  He seemed vital again.  Eben could not quite see through him but he
could make out the black of the couch through Jacob.
"Well, boy.  You gonna continue fucking your life up?" Jacob asked in a
frustrated but still friendly voice.
"Fucking up? The business is doing much better than when you died."
"Ah, to the hell with business.  Well, not totally to hell.  I mean it's a
nice way to make money, no matter what anybody says."
"And you certainly made a lot of it."
"Yeah, but not much of anything else," Jacob lamented.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Well, I'm fucking here talking to you," Jacob replied.  "That's not all too
wonderful compared to the alternative."
Jacob raised an eyebrow slowly beginning to accept the whole thing as a
hallucination.
"You don't believe I'm really here, son?" Jacob said suspi ciously.
"Not at all," Eben replied honestly.
Jacob laughed at that.  "Too bad, kid.  Cause I am and I got some shitty
news."
Eben leaned back waiting.
"You're fucking your life up according to the powers that be.  And I'm
supposed to help you get a life." Jacob said.
"Get a life.  I have a life," Eben replied heatedly.
"No, Eben.  You have an existence, just like I did."  Jacob turned his head
but not before Eben saw the wave of sadness that shadowed his eyes.
"What's wrong with that?  You did well enough.  Look at you now.  You look
better than you ever did.  You can't tell me that's too bad."
Jacob turned around and his eyes burning with pain.
"That's the worst part."
Eben waited, not so sure it was all a dream again.
"They let you look into the other side.  They let you see every thing that you
could have had if you had lived and then they take it away and they let you
go."
"What's so bad about that?  At least you're not on fire.  If I have the 'who
they are' part of this right."
"Yeah, I'm not on fire.  But now, I'm alive and I get to watch life pass me by
as I did when I was flesh."
"Pass you by?"
"Yes, Eben.  I get to watch people live.  I get to want to be a part of their
life.  I get to remember perfection.  I get to remember love and I get to
watch it.  But I can't touch any of it, ever."
"Hmm...  I still don't see what's wrong with that."
Jacob sighed quietly and stared at the only person he had ever been close to.
"We weren't evil, Eben.  We just weren't good."
"I give to charity!"  Eben defended himself.
"No, Eben.  You buy good publicity for the company.  You don't actually give
anything."
"What's the difference?" Eben asked sarcastically.
"Living and living like me." Jacob answered.  "You know I'm not the only one
that gets to do this."
"I'm still not clear on what this is." Eben replied.
Jacob shook his head, "This is being horny like a 14-year-old boy, being able
to watch someone get what that woman just gave you and only having it build
more.  You can't complete anything on this side, Eben.  You just get to feel
it build.  Sometimes it subsides, but it all comes rushing back the next time
you walk into someone having sex.  It all just gets to build and build, until
you go crazy.  Then you go sane again, and find out none of the incredible
pressure ever went away."
Eben shuddered remembering what that had been like, being 14 and the mindless
horniness that came with some physical maturity.
"It's like that with everything.  We can't ever escape that we didn't live
life, Eben.  They make us continue to live the exact same way, but they open
up whatever that place in your soul is that you hid what the rest of the world
should have been able to touch."
Eben sat quietly listening.
"You know we can do anything."
Eben shook his head again.
"Yeah, I walked up into the clouds one time and watched the sun that way, kept
walking.  Never got tired, only bored, and then I came back.  I think I could
have walked to the sun.  Imagine how long that would have taken."
"You can't move faster?"
"No.  I can only move faster if I'm with someone moving faster than I can
walk."
"Why are you here, Jacob?" Eben asked.
"I told you.  I have to help you get a life."
"Why you?"
"I don't know, beyond being the only one you know on this side that can still
interact somewhat with you."
Eben nodded.
"I guess I have to give you a real warning about what's on this side."
"You're not doing a very good job."
"Can you see how much I hurt every now and then."
"Yeah."
"How do you remember me, Eben?"
Eben froze.
"Yes, Eben.  It's that bad.  Worse even."  Jacob lifted his right arm exposing
his wrist.  Encircling it was a rusty bracelet.  "It's the only thing I can
feel physically.  The weight of my life and how worthless it was to other
people.  Supposedly when it gets lighter my penance is being relieved bit by
bit."
"Has it gotten lighter."
A tear seemed to form and move down Jacob's cheek as he replied, "I don't
know.  I can't remember how much it weighed, ever.  I don't even know if it's
true.  Maybe it's not.  Maybe it's a hope they dangle in front of you like
everything else.  You wait and wait, hoping for something that's never going
to come."
Eben looked away.
"You have to change, son.  They gave you this opportunity because there are
people that will be here like this if you don't move because they needed you.  
They are more than happy to punish you, but not if it means taking down
everyone that needs you too."
"So how does one change?  Give a little more to charity?" Eben smirked.
Jacob stared at him until Eben looked away again.
"You'll be visited by three spirits."
"You gotta be fucking kidding me.  What is this?  A remake of The Christmas
Carol starring Ebenezer?  Does this have something to do with your name?"
Jacob surged up from the chair.
Eben stood up to face the challenge but Jacob just watched him.
"Three spirits.  You know the deal.  One at midnight, one at the stroke of
two, one at four.  Change or live wanting to touch and being unable to.  
Change or watch the people whom you hid your soul from live like this with
you."
Jacob waved for Eben to follow.  Eben shook his head but his legs were moving.
  
Jacob walked to the window and opened it.
He stepped up to the sill and stepped into air.  As he did this, the window
was hit with a wave of painful sound.  It struck Eben full on and he fell to
his knees as the sound washed through him.  It was a chorus of uncounted
millions crying incoherent sounds of inexpressible sorrow, self-accusation,
lamentation and regret.  It was all mindless.  Millions of souls driven to
insanity and beyond by viewing everything they could have had and denied
themselves.
Eben covered his ears and the sound lessened, but not because of his hands.  
The sound lessened of its own volition.  He could still hear the loss but it
did not attack him.  He looked up at Jacob who was watching him.
"Three spirits, Eben.  Joke about it if you will, but each is a lesson about
the path back.  Learn each one well.  You're not the only one you have to
bring back."
Jacob then screamed his own pain at Eben.  The voices rose again assaulting
Eben.  His mind tried to rebel against the sound, but the emotions that
battered at the place where he hid his own.  He covered his ears again but
they continued mercilessly driving every ounce of sorrow and pain into him,
driving into him, digging for the core of his soul.
He blacked out as the chorus reached the natural crescendo of touching the
living wound on his soul.Stave 2 -- The Boy in the Past...
Eben woke up on the floor.  He had the echo of pain still float ing through
his brain.  He sat up slowly, looking around.  The window was open, the cold
of the evening taking advantage and entering his room.
He stood up carefully and walked the three steps to the window.
"No fucking way," he whispered to himself as he looked outside for something
he refused to accept he might see.
A heavy bell from somewhere in the night struck eleven times.  He turned
around to stare at his own clock.  The thought that he would know the truth
soon flashed through his mind.
He reached out to close the window, still struggling with his disbelief.  He
thought, and thought and thought it over; fighting with his rational mind
against the echo of sorrow that was dancing in his soul.  The more he thought,
the more the confusion built as the echo became more noticeable and the
headache more pronounced.
He sat down on the edge of the bed holding his hands to his head.  He started
screaming inside himself letting rage drown out sorrow.
Rage won, shouting down the accusation in the chorus of voices.
He lay back, determined to win a thorough victory.  He resolved to wait for
whatever demons his mind cared to throw at him.
He was sure none of it was real anyway.
The alarm clock woke him up.  He smiled before opening his eyes, relieved.  
He opened his eyes to realize it was still dark in his room.  He slept with
the shades open so his room should not have been so dark.  He looked over at
the alarm clock next his bed.
12:00 AM.
He didn't remember setting the alarm for that time.
The door to his bedroom opened.  His eyes snapped to see who could be opening
the door; another demon had come.  A boy stood in the doorway, just above the
height that said he should be a teenager but too underdeveloped to look like
one.  His face shone with innocence.  Light brown hair fell past his shoulders
as he looked at Eben.  His eyes were cloudy blue that spoke of sadness for the
things that have come and gone.  He stared at Eben before he stepped inside.
"I expected a little more light," Eben said as he stepped away from the bed.
The boy smiled which suffused his entire body with a soft light.
"Like that?" the boy asked.
Eben sat down on the bed, and shook his head.
"I'll take the non-nightlight Ghost of Christmas Past," Eben said to the boy.
The child laughed as the light around him died.
Eben stared at the boy for a second.  He was dressed in red shorts, with
bright green trimmings: an escaped elf from Santa's workshop.
The boy smiled again as if he could read Eben's mind.
"So you are the Spirit of Christmas past."
"None other." the Spirit answered.  He made a leap across the room, over
Eben's head, and onto the bed.  The Spirit started a spirited bed bouncing
episode.
Eben got off the bed quickly and turned to face the boy.  The boy was laughing
freely as he sat down hard and allowed the bounce in the mattress to bring him
to his feet again.
Eben watched him for a moment again, before speaking.  " I forgot my next
line." he said.
"Long Past?" the boy giggled out.
"Huh?" Eben said confused.
"You're supposed to ask me if I'm the Spirit of Christmas Long Past, or is it
the Long Spirit of Christmas Past."  The spirit took a powerful bounce and
jumped towards Eben.
Eben reached out to catch him.  The child looked with those sad blue eyes into
Eben's own.  The child wriggled and Eben let him go.
Eben watched as the Spirit began to pick up different things in the bedroom
and toss them aside when he saw they were things only adults could be
interested in.
"So are you?"
"Am I what?" the spirit asked not looking at Eben but with mischief lacing his
voice.
"Are you the Spirit of Christmas Long Past, or is it the Long Spirit of
Christmas Past?"
The child turned around, pulled his shorts from his waist, and looked inside.
"Well, not the Long Spirit..." he replied.  "Not yet anyway."
Eben broke into a second's worth of laughter.  The child smiled peacefully.
Eben stopped his laugh, and tried to look down at the boy.
"Your Christmas past."  Green eyes turned sadder as he approached Eben.
"What?" Eben asked.
"I'm here to try to help you, Eben.  Not everything that can help you, but a
small part."
"What part do you serve?"
"Memory."
Eben nodded, trying to understand the cryptic remark.
The spirit walked to the open window, and reached a hand back to Eben.
"Do we really have to do the whole flying-through-the-night thing?  I'm not
really all that into heights without parachutes."
The spirit laughed, walked back to Eben and took him by the arm.  Eben felt
warmth spread to his extremities as the child's hand touched him.
"You are going to hold me up, right?  No letting go, and then flying down to
catch me.  'Cause that's definitely not a thing to do."
"You weren't that type of child," the Spirit replied.
The child stepped up to and over the sill.  Eben followed absent- mindedly,
trying to figure out what the child had meant by the last remark.
They were soaring through the night air before Eben started to pay attention.  
They moved into a low level cloud.  On the other side everything below them
had changed.  There were fewer lights and none had the harshness of city night
lights.
They came down onto a porch.
"I haven't been here in a while," Eben said quietly.
The Spirit nodded.  He pulled Eben toward the door, and passed with him
through it.  They should have entered into the front hallway, with the steps
to upstairs directly in front of them.  Instead, they entered the kitchen.
"Mom!" Eben exclaimed as soon as he saw the couple standing in the kitchen of
his old home.
"They can't hear you Eben, or see you."
Eben stared at the woman leaning against the sink.  He turned to look at the
man sitting down at the table looking up at the woman.
"You never called her mom before," the boy said coming to stand by Eben.
"Did you tell him?" the woman said walking to the oven.  She opened the oven
door and looked at a sheet of Christmas cookies.
"Yes, I did," the man replied standing up and pacing around the kitchen.
She closed the oven door slowly, straightened up, but kept her back to him.  
Eben smiled as he recognized her reaction to having to ask questions she
didn't want to.
"What did he say?"
The man sat down and looked at her back before he replied, "He asked if he
would be moving out now."
Her head dropped.  She reached around behind her.  Her hand touched one of the
kitchen chairs and she collapsed into it crying softly.
The man shot to her side, and started to stroke her hair.  "It's not us, babe.
  
You know it's not us.  His parents died a year ago...  He doesn't
understand...  He's only six."
Eben turned toward the door to the living room.  He knew it would be open.  
Not a lot, just enough for a six-year-old face to watch the man and woman that
had taken him in crying over his loss.  He knelt down so he could look at the
face.  He remembered every emotion and watched them color his young face.  
The shock that these people cried over him when their own child was going to
come into the world, the guilt of feeling for someone when he could still
remember his own parents, the acceptance that his parents weren't going to
come get him; he watched emotion fight emotion.
The door closed.
Eben knew the child would go up his room, and cry a last time for dead parents
before burying them in his heart.
"Come," the child said to Eben taking his hands.
"Wait!" Eben said staring at his foster mother.
"No, Come!" the boy insisted dragging Eben to the door leading out into the
living room.
They walked through the door into a spacious living room.  Eben knew they were
in a different time in his past.  Memories flooded him threatening to
overwhelm.
"No!" he exclaimed angrily.  He ripped his arm from the boy's gripped.  He
turned to walk back into the kitchen but the door swung open and he was
beaten.
A teenage girl walked through the door carrying a small tray of cups smiling
at someone in the room.  Eben heart skipped beats as he saw the excitement
shining in her eyes.  It was Brenda at sixteen.
He turned to see himself at 23 sitting on the floor in front of the couch.  
The younger version of himself was staring at the tree, unsuspecting of what
his foster sister had planned for him.
Brenda sat down next to the younger Eben putting the tray up on the couch.  
She handed Eben a cup.  The older Eben smiled as he remembered that first
taste of alcohol in the eggnog.
The younger Eben reacted as he remembered.
"Bren, what the hell did you put in this stuff?" he asked, a hint of laughter
was in his voice as he took another careful sip.
"I thought you needed to relax.  I mean you've been all studying and stuff,"
she whispered.  The older Eben saw everything he should have noticed at the
time.  How she watched him drink carefully (he had not had much experience
with alcohol), how she didn't drink but only used the cup to warm her hands,
how her breathing had nervous hitches in it, the shining in her eyes as her
decision solidified the more and more the alcohol hit the younger Eben.
The scene blurred and he knew that time had passed.  He took a step back not
wanting to relive what was coming but he felt a wall behind him.  He turned to
look but there was nothing behind him.  He scanned the room and saw the Spirit
sitting on the back of the couch watching the two people on the floor.
Eben looked down at himself and Brenda.  She had taken off the sweater and was
dressed in only jeans and a t-shirt.  He remem bered his own surprise when he
noticed she wasn't wearing a bra.  His hands itched as the old blast of pure
lust hit him again.
Brenda reached up and started running her hands along the younger Eben's face.
  
Eben knew what the younger version of himself was thinking.  The alcohol had
fuzzed the thinking process.  He had known what was happening but was
rationalizing that it was just a sisterly touch, just holding onto that
thought until it was too late.
And by then it would be too late.
She started tickling him.  That started a wrestling match, he knew how much
she didn't like to be tickled so it was a fight to make her stop without
retaliating.  She ended up on top of him, their faces inches away.
Too late.
The first kiss was a tentative touch of lips, a suggestion, a hope.  The
second deepened the hope into prayer, as long built-up pressure came out.  
Eben admitted to himself that he had wanted her.  She had been his in a
special way from her first day.  He had protected her, cared for her more than
himself since he could remember.  He had never loved her as a sister; this was
what he had felt for her.
The kiss deepened as tongues fought to say more than they could with words.  
The younger Eben's hands came around to caress her ass through her jeans.  
The hands touched, cupped, became more insistent as the clothing kept them
away from skin.  Eben pulled the t-shirt from her jeans and let his hands run
along her lower back.  She started grinding her hips into him.
The older Eben saw what he had denied afterward that he had not hurt her.  
She had wanted this, probably more than he had.  He felt his knees buckle.  
He sat down with his eyes frozen on the couple.
She disconnected their lips long enough to take the t-shirt off.  She was
coming back down but was stopped as Eben brought his hands around to hold her
breasts.  His thumbs began a light pass over nipples.  She groaned at the
initial contact, and her breathing deepened as he continued the pass.  She
gasped as Eben reached up to capture one nipple in his mouth and applied
gentle suction.  She grabbed his head lending him support, needing him to
continue.  He switched breasts and she gasped at the assault of sensation from
a different place.
Eben knew what was about to come; maybe it would have been better if he had
been more careful.  He shook his head, no nothing would have dimmed the guilt
he had felt at betraying his foster...  No.  his parents.
The younger Eben sat up holding Brenda in place and turned so she was on her
back.  He reached to her jeans undoing the belt and buttons of her jeans in
frantic motions.
Eben shuddered as he saw the loss of control the younger man was going
through.  But he saw why he had been so successful.  She was just as frantic
to remove her clothing.  It was her who started pushing her jeans and panties
down her thighs, he started helping but she was still the lead in that portion
of her disrob ing.
The younger man hesitated when she lay naked beneath him.  It was only the
older Eben that saw the victory in her eyes.  The younger man dove to the
juncture of her thighs, as the older man remembered how badly he had wanted to
taste her.
The victory fled from her eyes, as pleasure flooded her body from her center.  
Eben wasn't being careful or giving, he was there for himself to drink from
her but the results were the same.  She had been waiting since her first
knowledge of the difference between men and women for him.  She gasped and
reached down to run her fingers through his hair.  The older Eben watched her
face as lust continued to overpower him.  He remembered.
"Eben!" she nearly screamed as she went over the climax of pleasure.  Her toes
flexed attempting to make themselves fists, her hands tried to get a grip on
the carpet, her thigh muscles began to vibrate as she reached the apex of
sensation.  She bit her lips to stop from screaming but as her eyes rolled
back she couldn't control the mindless chanting of her lover's name.
She had just begun to come down again when the younger Eben knelt between her
legs using his to keep them spread.  He was taking off clothing as fast as he
could.  She had not completely drifted down when he was naked with a rampant
erection pointing towards her.  He reached down to grip her just below one
knee.  He pushed her leg up and reached with his other hand to get a grip on
himself.  He placed himself at the entrance to her pussy.  She gasped as the
hard warmth bumped her clitoris, it stopped her downward movement from
pleasure.  She opened her eyes to look at him; her hands moved to grab him at
his hips to pull him into her.  It was unnecessary, a small adjustment had put
his dick- head in a position to open her pussy lips with the very tip of his
penis.  Her hands touched his hips but the forward movement into her had
already begun.  She dug her nails in as he moved inexorably forward.  It was
one unstoppable thrust to sink him completely inside her.  Her cry of pain
jolted both the younger and older Eben.  The older came out of his trance as
guilt assaulted his lust, but the younger man didn't understand.  His eyes
looked lost as he looked down.  He needed completion; of the act, of every
fantasy he wouldn't admit, of love he couldn't admit.  The guilt was enough to
buy her a small reprieve to give her body time to accept him.  She dug her
nails into his hips and began to slowly gyrate her hips, much faster than the
older Eben remembered.  He remembered it as a small eternity where every part
of his body wanted to pull out and thrust back in but he had to wait for her.
The younger Eben pulled out slowly and thrust back inside.  He had wanted it
to last to give her pleasure beyond what any man ever could.  She had
different plans as nails scored his side spurring him faster.  He could have
held against that but she started helping by moving her hips the two inches
that she could move them; trying to ride him from beneath.  Eben's head moved
back as he started pistoning both of them into climax.
This time there was no loss of volume as she screamed his name at the
beginning of her orgasm.  He leaned down to kiss her to take her screams into
himself as he exploded inside her.  He ground his hips releasing into her body
as her arms came around him to bring him tighter against her body.  They lay
shivering in pleasure for a long moment.
The Spirit came to stand in front of the older Eben blocking his view.
Eben stood up and let the Spirit take him by the hand.  He refused to look
back at the couple intertwined as sleep slowly overcame them.  The spirit
turned him toward the door.
Eben felt them shift as they touched the door.  The office party of his first
job.  It had been a good experience.  He had met one of the firm's best
client's Jacob Marley, at this party but somehow he didn't think that would be
what he was here to see.
He saw her.
Sylvia.
Blonde hair streamed down her back as her blue eyes searched the people for
the only face that she would recognize here.  He had met her in their freshman
year at law school.  He had been purpose but she had been passion.  She
defended every one of her beliefs with a passion he could not match with cold
logic.  They had been friends but in the time after his sex with Brenda she
had become more.  He still didn't know if it had been because he wanted
someone between him and Brenda or because he had touched something in those
few moments and knew he could have the same with this attractive woman.
"We don't have to be here," he told the Christmas Spirit.
"Yes, we do, Eben."
"Fuck!" Eben said knowing what was coming.
Sylvia finally found saw another version of Eben in a corner talking to Jacob
Marley.  The two men were engrossed in a conver sation.  The older Eben
couldn't remember exactly what; consider ing what happened he should have.
Sylvia walked towards them.  The older Eben followed as if he could stop what
was about to happen.
He watched as she politely said hello to Jacob but motioned for Eben to talk
with her in the conference room.  The older Eben was already moving in that
direction.
He was inside the room when the younger version of himself slammed the door
closed.
"Sylvia, what are you doing? I needed to talk to that man."
"Why?  Is he going to fund your first grab at a million dollars?" she yelled
at him.
Both Ebens turned to look outside, but no one had noticed her voice raising.
"Goddamit, don't yell!  You know I hate that."
"So what? Am I supposed to accept that you don't have time for anything but
work anymore?  That you fucking treat me like I'm like a sex-stop on the way
to your success."
"You know it's not like that, Sylvia," he said losing some of his temper.
"I know it's not like that, Eben.  But that's how you make it feel."
"If you know it's not like that, then what is this about?"
The older Eben winced at the stupidity of that remark.
Sylvia froze looking at him.  The older Eben could see the pain in her eyes.  
The younger man did not.
"Why did you cancel our Christmas visit to your house?" she asked simply.
The older Eben nodded, this had been the one thing she couldn't understand.  
The breakup had been his fault, but the last straw was not something he could
have ever avoided giving her.
"I need to work on the 26th," the younger Eben said simply.  The older man
watched as the young woman searched for an opening that wasn't there in the
younger man's face.  His face had shut-out all emotion; he stared back at her
eyes that said nothing.
That gave nothing.
"You know it's over, right?" she said as tears started to fall out of her
eyes.
The face still gave nothing.
She nodded, squared her shoulders and walked out of the room proudly.  The
older Eben watched her smiling that she had not left defeated even though he
knew, as he had known then, that she had truly loved him.  They had both known
the relationship was collapsing, the younger Eben could not give enough.  
Neither the older or younger version blamed her for leaving.
The younger Eben stared out the window for a few minutes.  There was a knock
on the door.  Both Ebens turned to the door.  Jacob Marley stuck his head and
smiled.
"Women problems, son?"
The younger Eben smirked confirmation.
"Well, here's as good a solution as I know," Jacob said lifting up a bottle of
Jack Daniels.
The younger Eben smiled and nodded, walking towards his future.
"That's the end of my painful Christmas pasts.  We can go home now."
"No." the Spirit said.
Eben nodded, steeling himself for what was coming.
The Spirit took his hand and walked him to the door.  Eben felt himself
shutting down inside.  This part he did not need to remember, every part was
burned into his soul.
They walked through the door, and onto the porch of his parents' home.  They
waited, Eben saw the police cars in front of the house that he hadn't noticed
at the time of the scene.  He turned to look up the street just as the taxicab
made the turn.  It stopped in front of the home.  Eben stepped out of the cab,
paid and started up to the door.  The older version remembered that he had
been thinking about the goals for Marley's firm for the next year.  He rang
the doorbell, he had his own keys but never used them out of respect for his
parents.
The door opened and a tall black policeman was stood staring at Eben.  Eben
took a step back to look darkly at the uniformed cop.  Brenda came to the
door.
"Eben!" she cried before jumping into his surprised arms.  They had not
touched since two Christmases ago.  She started sobbing uncontrollably.  She
was gasping words between sobs but both Ebens only heard the important ones.
"Mom... Dad... mugger... dead!"
The older Eben shut his eyes in pain, as Brenda fainted; the assault too much
for her.  The younger Eben fell onto the porch, his eyes empty again; the
child inside resurged as a remembered pain was echoed by his new life.
"We leave, now!" Eben said to the Spirit.
He turned to confront the boy, but behind him was his bedroom.  He turned back
to look at the younger Eben and Brenda, but all he could see was the other
half of his bedroom.
He looked around the room.
Nothing.
He reached up to wipe the tears that had bled out of his eyes as the loss of
his second mother and father had come back.
He turned and lay on the bed.Stave 3 -- Three Lost Women in the Present
The light woke him up.
It was pouring from underneath the door to the living room.  He thought for a
second to stay in his bed.
"Eben!!! GET IN HERE!!" an exuberant male voice shouted from the other side of
the door precluding any further thoughts in not heading in that direction.
He stood up angrily, stomped toward the door, and threw it open.
The tableau in front of him nailed his feet to the ground him in place.  The
light was coming from a massive Christmas tree with lights festooned on every
branch and a torch beside a throne-like chair.  There were thousands of gifts
around the bottom of the tree.  Eben thought that was impossible but he
stopped counting at one hundred and hadn't made a dent into the stacks of
gifts they spread out from the tree in an ocean of wrapping paper washing over
every piece of his furniture.
He looked to the chair to see a giant of a man sitting with three sprite-like
versions of women kneeling at his feet.  They were attacking a penis
proportionally sized for a man Eben thought had to top 7 feet without a
problem.  The sprites were wrestling the massive dick from each other for an
opportunity to lick it.  One won out for a second and managed to get the head
in her mouth, Eben moved unconsciously to get a better view and she tried to
impale her head onto the penis.  He knew it was impossible and so did she but
she tried anyway.  Her cheeks collapsed as she gave up and started suckling
him.
Eben looked at the women again and realized they weren't really tiny.  Just
small for women, but beside the man they seemed to be children.  The man
reached down with one hand to caress a well- developed breast and as the one
of the women climbed onto him to share a kiss, the other hand moved to cup her
ass.
That left two women at his dick and they seemed to have decided to share
pleasures instead of fighting over them.  One had begun a vigorous licking of
the man's ball-sac as the other one treated his penis to the same.  They
switched but this time, a woman took one of the man's testicles completely
into her mouth as her companion did the same to the bulbous head of the man's
penis.
The third woman seemed to have gotten tired of just kissing, she put one foot
on one woman and pushed her off the man's penis.  She did the same to the
other woman.  She straddled the sitting man, reached between them to place the
huge head between her pussy lips.
"Not a fucking chance!" Eben said as he compared the size of the woman, and
the man's cock.
She was determined though.  She hyperventilated and pressed inexorably
downward, her pussy lips spread obscenely, as she dropped her head back and
gasped in a mixture of pain and plea sure.  She held each millimeter she
gained for a length of time before dropping another millimeter onto the man's
dick.
"Not a fucking chance!" Eben said as she accepted more and more of the man's
penis inside herself.
It was obvious that each tiny bit gained only heightened her pleasure.  She
finally hit bottom and orgasmed with only about half of the man's penis inside
her.  Her body trembled uncontrol lably as the man reached to hold her weight
up so she wouldn't collapse; her weight driving him farther than she could
take.  She regained control and began a slow trip up, at the apex she began to
move downward again.  The pace that her pussy allowed her to move had
increased with the wetness caused by her orgasm but it would have driven a
normal man crazy in its slowness.  The giant seemed unconcerned, pleasured by
it, but not driven mad by her slow travel up and down his dick.  It was having
an effect on Eben and the other two women, though.  One stood up and moved
determinedly toward Eben, he backed up but his movement had taken him from the
door so he hit solid wall.  The third woman had climbed the throne and dropped
her pussy onto the man's face.
The woman hit Eben low, dropping him sideways beside the wall.  She sat on his
thighs and loosened the robe around his waist.  She smiled gleefully at the
erect penis.  There was no real foreplay, no hesitation.  She looked him in
the eyes, and crawled into position.  She crawled to where her pussy was just
beyond the head of his penis.  She then dropped her hips onto his stomach and
started sliding backward.  The angle was wrong for penetration, but she was
obviously being driven, driving them both upward.  She moved down until his
penis stood up against her pussy.  She took a playful bite at his nipples
looking up at him, smiling sex.  She moved towards him, his dick sliding lower
and lower.  She gasped as the alignment became right, she hitched her hips to
capture the head of his dick just inside her pussy lips.  She smiled sex at
him again as he pushed up with his hips to lodge the head of his penis again.  
She stopped smiling as pleasure moved through her body when Eben gripped her
shoulders and slid her completely onto his dick.  She sat up and began to
rotate her hips; she leaned forward until she seemed to get the right amount
of contact between her clit and him.  She began to grind again.  He lifted his
hips and dropped letting her weight drop her forcefully onto his penis again.  
She grunted as the sudden drop drove her higher on her trip to orgasm.  Eben
knew this position left him in a great deal of control as her grinding
stimulated him but didn't make him climb towards orgasm.
He had not counted on her need for more stimulation when her orgasm hit.  It
began with her grinding her hips on him madly, but when orgasm hit, her pussy
began to flex and unflex uncon trollably.  She wanted to stay in the middle of
orgasm, wanted that one more unreachable step higher in pleasure.  She began
to do everything she could to reach it.  Everything included moving up and
down on his penis while flexing as tight she could.  He grabbed her hips
trying to stop her but that little bit of extra girth his dick gained as he
approached his own cuming drove her that half-step higher and she needed more.
  
She began to pump harder, until he joined her motion with the force of his
own.  He came and she reached that next level at the same time.
"Fuck!" he shouted as he felt a wave of dizzyness hit him as she continued to
stimulate his dick while smaller waves of pleasure crashed into her body.  
Finally as he thought he might have to forcibly remove her from his dick to
survive, she collapsed onto his chest breathing heavily.  He looked up at the
ceiling trying to control his own breathing.  He didn't even know how long it
had lasted.
"How you doing there, Eben?" the giant asked as he came to stand at Eben's
head.  He had put on a Christmas-green robe with fur trimmings.
"Oh, it's pretty good," Eben answered trying to get out from underneath the
woman.  The man knelt down and spanked her but tocks firmly.  She snapped up
and looked at the giant with playful anger seemingly prepared for round two.  
The giant laughed heartily as he shared a distracting kiss with her.  Eben
stood up and tied the robe around himself.
The giant stood up, too.
"Thanks, Eben.  I mean I can handle one or maybe two of them.  But three well,
I ain't got THAT much dick." the giant laughed at his own joke.
Eben nodded his head being pretty sure one of these three women would have
been more than he could handle to begin with.
Eben stuck his hand out to be shaken, "The Spirit of Christmas Present?" he
asked.
The giant wrapped his massive hand around Eben's own, "Yep, that's me.  Got a
present for me?"
The giant collapsed in laughter again.
Eben couldn't help smiling.  The man had life and the joy of it pouring out of
him infectiously.
"Well, I guess you know the story, right?  The scary ghost, past, present, and
then hoodoo-voodoo future."
Eben nodded.
"Well, come on, let's go.  I'm the nice one."  He stopped.  "I'm sad but I'm
not, you know, heart-wrenching the way the other two are."
Eben thought about the people he knew.  "There's no Tiny Tim so how will you
really affect me?" he asked.
"Child, there's always a Tiny Tim in someone's life.  They just don't pay
enough attention.  Just like you haven't," the ghost replied seriously.
The Spirit stuck his arm toward Eben.  "Grab my robe, and we can get this show
on the road."
Eben shrugged and grabbed the robe.  At his contact the room flowed and
solidified into a living room he had never been in.
"Roberta?" he asked the Spirit as he noticed his secretary with a teenage boy
and a younger girl decorating a Christmas tree.  There was an older woman that
resembled Roberta sitting on a loveseat near the tree giving a running
commentary on uncovered spots.
"Tif, why don't you come help us," Roberta said towards Eben and the Spirit.  
Eben turned around to see a girl looking out the window.
"Tiny Tim?" he asked the Spirit without turning away from the girl.
"Yes."
Eben walked to get a better look at the girl.  She was beautiful in the same
way her mother was beautiful.  Raven hair, the same green eyes, every feature
in her face saying she would grow up to be a twin to her mother.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked the spirit while continuing to admire her.  
He knew he was attracted to Roberta but had never done much about it,
believing their working relationship was too comfortable to put pressure on
it.
The girl's eyes stared out into the road.  He moved so he could look deeply
into her eyes.  He could see a spark of life but it was so deep and as he
watched it grew dimmer.
"It was an in-house robbery," the Spirit said.
"What?"
"They broke into the house in the middle of the day.  Tiffany was with her
father.  They killed her father."
Eben nodded, with the understanding of one who has lost parents too.  "Did
they hurt her?" he asked.
"No, the killing of her father surprised them just as much.  They fled."
Eben watched as Roberta walked over to the young woman.  She sat next to her
and started stroking her hair.
"Honey, Peter and Michelle would really like you to help decorate the tree.  
Why don't you come and join them?"
Tiffany turned to look at the two children still decorating the tree.  Eben
saw the flash of need in her eyes, before loss overwhelmed it and she shook
her head.
Roberta nodded, "Maybe later, baby?" she asked.  It was obvious to Eben she
was trying to keep desperation out of her voice.
Roberta got up and walked to a door, opening it she stepped into that room.  
The older woman followed Roberta into the next room.  Eben did the same.
He walked into Roberta's kitchen.  She was sitting down on one of the chairs
with tears obviously threatening to escape.  The older woman sat next to her.
"Baby, I know you don't want to, but we might have to.  It's beginning to
affect the other children.  Peter has been in two fights over Tiffany,
already."
"I know, mother.  But I don't want to hospitalize her.  She should be in
college, not in a mental institution."
"We don't have a choice.  She's going in deeper, and we can't stop her."
"But if we leave her, she won't have any reason to stop herself, mother."
The older woman nodded and sat back.  It was obvious to Eben this was an
argument they had gone over quite a few times.  It was tougher on both women
because a part of them agreed with the other's argument.  Tiffany's mother
having to deal with Tiffany's problems affecting her other children, and being
unable to stop her downward descent.  Tiffany's grandmother not wanting to let
the girl go.
"So have you asked that Scrooge of a boss of yours for a raise?" the older
woman asked with a smile on her face.
"Mother.  You know he pays me enough for being a personal secre tary."  
Roberta defended her boss, "He pays all of his people a lot."
"Bah.  You're not his secretary.  By now, you can run that place on your own
like clockwork."
"It really helped in my management classes."
"Bah, again."
"Come on, mom.  He's a machine when it comes to business.  You can't look at
what he's doing, you always have to see why he's doing it, and then you
understand how."
"Still for everything he has you doing, you should get more money and one of
those fancy titles," the older woman insisted but more weakly.
"Mom, you know he pays me enough to pay the bills and a lot more.  After all
I'm a secretary."
"But you have that fancy piece of paper.  You could get better."
"Better for my ego, but not better for my family.  Plus maybe someday I'll
tell him about my "fancy piece of paper" and see if he gives me a different
position, but once the kids are all taken care of, mom."
"But..." the old woman began
"No, mom." Roberta replied.  "I get paid much more than the entry-level
management, believe me.  We don't need the pay cut right now."
The older woman nodded.
Roberta looked around the room for a minute.  "Can you take care of the kids
for a bit, mom.  I need to lie down."
The older woman nodded and walked into the living room.  Roberta waited a few
minutes and then walked into the living room also.
"Come on," the spirit told Eben.
"What?"
"Come on," the spirit said following Roberta through the living room, up the
steps and into what seemed to be her bedroom.
"What are we doing?" Eben asked as he trailed behind them.
"You need to see this," the spirit replied.
Roberta closed the door, but the spirit and Eben just walked through it.
She sat down on the bed for a few minutes just staring.
"What am I supposed to see?"
"She's got a lot of nervous energy building up," the ghost said.  "The kids
are about to drop but her energy is different.  She is stressed and hasn't
been with a man since her husband's death."
"This is about to get perverted," Eben said.
"No, Eben.  It's about to get human.  You better see that other people have
needed you for years now.  This is one of them."
"You want me to sleep with her!?" Eben exclaimed surprised.
"Yes... no.  That's up to you, but she needed a friend as much as you did.  
You could have been a lot to each other if you had let someone else in.  
Maybe not for sex but you should have been there for her." "Fuck!" Eben said
realizing that she had worked for him for years and he hadn't even known her
husband had been killed.  She must have used sick days or vacation to mourn.
She stood up and walked over to the mirror.  She began to remove clothing.
"Shit!" Eben said as his eyes became glued to her.  He walked over to get a
better view, forgetting that he had argued against it.
She took off all her clothes and stood naked looking at herself in front of
the mirror.  Eben did a lot of looking himself.
Her body was obviously not the one that her daughter had, but it was mature,
womanly.  The slight sag in her breasts made them seem fuller, her hips more
capable of cradling a man.
She seemed to make a decision as she cupped her breasts.  She went to lie on
the bed on her back.
"She's not going to!..." Eben said as he followed.  He felt himself get hard
again.
She spread her legs a comfortable amount but didn't begin at their juncture.  
Eben stopped to study her.  She began to run small circles around her nipples
not quite coming into contact with their tips.  Eben felt a shiver run down
his spine from the base of his neck.
She ran her fingertips on her stomach, and up her legs as far as she could
reach without touching.  She started to play with her pubic hair.
"Man, she has really needed a man for a long time," the Spirit said clinically
as he came to stand by Eben.
"This was a mistake," Eben whispered mesmerized by Roberta as she reached
between her legs after one long sweep of her hands through all the skin she
could touch.
"What was a mistake?" the spirit said smiling.
"Me and her not...  That was a huge mistake," Eben admitted as Roberta made
contact with her clitoris with the pad of one finger.  Her hips reaction to
the contact was paralleled by a pulsing in Eben's penis.
The contact also ended Roberta's playfulness with herself.  She got down to
business rubbing her clit in small circles, every now and then changing the
direction of the circles.
"She knows what she wants, doesn't she?"
"You hired her for that very reason, didn't you?  Pay her well because she's
so... hmm... efficient."
The pressure must have been immense inside Roberta because after only a few
minutes her hand motions became just a straight up and down, rubbing on her
clit as her hips came off the bed to grind at her hand.  Eben felt his dick
get even harder.
She grabbed a pillow and bit into it to stop from yelling as her orgasm broke
on her body.  She kept rubbing through it trying to maintain it; Eben felt his
hands began to itch with the need to keep her on the orgasmic high.  Finally,
her hips dropped onto the bed and she let the pillow go, slowly drifting down.
"Dammit!" Eben said as he looked at the Spirit.
"Hey, you're the idiot.  I would have been waiting at her door after the year
of mourning passed.  You could've been in her bed the last two years instead
of paying for it.  She would have given you more the first time than you got
all of the times you called that fancy little number."
Eben nodded accepting the truth of it as he looked down at Roberta.  She had
begun to fall asleep.
The Spirit dragged Eben to the door.
"Come on, it's time for our next visit."
"Brenda?" Eben asked looking back at the peaceful shape of Roberta.
"You have been a sore disappointment in the life of your women, my friend."
Eben blushed.
They passed through the door into a wide-open space that Eben recognized as
Brenda's living room.  She had too much space in her house for one woman but
Eben was generous with her making sure she had everything she wanted -- except
him, of course.
There was an intimate party going on.  He didn't recognize most of the 10
people in the room.  Just Brenda's most recent fling, and her two best
friends.  They were all sitting by the sofa, talking.
"So Brenda," one of the ones Eben didn't recognized said, "you ever going to
give one of us guys a chance with you?"
Brenda's best friends laughed.  It was obviously a joke as the man had his arm
wrapped around another man.  The other man acted jealous for a second but
smiled.  Brenda's fling didn't react well to the joke.  The malicious look in
the questioner's eyes said the question had been pointed at her anyway.
Obviously, Eben wasn't the only one present that didn't like the blonde.  It
would have been fine if she had just been stupid but she carried a grudge
against the rest of the world.  He didn't understand how Brenda got along with
her, never mind having sex with her.
Brenda smiled and nodded her head at the questioner.  She didn't look angry at
the question or that it was meant to needle her lover.
Eben saw his own coldness in her eyes toward her lover.  He blinked in
surprise.
He looked at the Spirit.
"You helped raise her, Eben.  Some of you rubbed into her, probably a lot of
you.  She finds the blonde attractive but understands her cruelty too.  It
won't last the night."
"I already gave my heart away, Michael.  You know that.  I have to be
absolutely sure he's not a factor before I try another... man."
Everyone in the room laughed.
"Why do you pine over him?  He's your brother.  That's disgust ing!" the
blonde spit out.
Several people turned toward Brenda with fascination in their eyes.
"He's not my brother."
"What is he, then?" one of the other men asked.
"His mom and my dad were very close in college.  Never lovers but really good
friends.  They died in an accident so my dad and mom took him in.  It was an
agreement between everybody; if either died the other's families would take in
any children.  Eben was five when they died.  Seven when I was born.  He was
never even adopted.  My mom and dad were just his legal guardians."
"They didn't want to adopt him?" one of the women asked disap provingly.
"They asked him, a lot.  But you haven't met Eben, Melissa.  Especially back
then, but if you met him now, realize that he's the same person at thirty-five
as he was at 9.  He's probably nicer now or at least more civilized.  He
always said no to them."
She looked at her lover with anger in her eyes, "So he's not my brother, by
blood or even legally."
"You were raised with him," the blonde retorted.
Brenda laughed.  "No, dear.  His body grew up while I was being raised.  He
helped raise me, but we weren't raised together."
"That doesn't say why he's the ONE." Melissa asked.
"You have a big brother, right?  Mel?"
Melissa nodded.
"I was six years old and I followed Eben around like we were attached by
leashes.  You know that he never said anything about it.  Even when his
friends wouldn't play with him because he insisted I had to play too.  He
would just nod, walk to a corner of the playground and play with me."
"Oh! Forget it.  She's gone." Michael's male friend said.  "She's been in love
with him since she could remember if he always treated her like that."
"He won't do anything with you?" Melissa asked.
"No, damn him!" Brenda said angrily.
"You're not still a..." Michael asked.
"Nope." Brenda said blushing.
"But wait, you won't let another man touch you, and Eben won't have anything
to do with you.  Did you just take some man one drunk night?" Melissa asked
curiously.
"I said he won't have anything to do with me.  I didn't say he didn't." Brenda
said triumphantly.
"YOU DID NOT!!" Melissa said eyes wide.
Brenda's lover sniffed, stood up and stomped to the kitchen.
"Damn right, I did.  Seduced him really good one Christmas night."
"On Christmas?!  Now, that's a Christmas gift," Michael said.
"Shut up, Michael.  So what happened?" Melissa asked.
"I don't know.  We were like just sleeping there.  I woke up and he was gone.  
He went back to law school.  I didn't see him the next Christmas.  I tried to
talk to him but he always had a reason to cut me off as soon as I started
talking about us.  The Christmas after that my parents were murdered and I
needed him too much to push him," Brenda said as she looked off into space.
"And now?" Melissa asked.
"I'm trying to get through to him.  Every now and then I can see I'm getting
to him but then I lose him," she said sadly.  Melissa walked over to sit next
to her; she took Brenda's hand in her own.  Both women smiled at each other
leaving all the rest of the people in the room out of their communion.
"Come, Eben.  It's time to go," the Spirit whispered.
Eben nodded as he turned from the two women.  He looked at the Spirit as he
seemed to think for a moment.
"Are we done?" he asked.
"Unless you can think of something else," the spirit said looking at Eben
curiously.
"Sylvia?" Eben asked quietly.
The Spirit looked at Eben for a moment and nodded.  He extended the edge of
his robe for Eben to grab onto.  Eben grabbed it.
The room blurred for a moment and they were in a child's bedroom.  Eben looked
around confused.  There was a sleeping girl on the bed.
"This isn't what I..." he started but the door to the bedroom opened and in
walked an older Sylvia.  She was everything he remembered; the long blonde
hair, the eyes.
She walked over to look at the little girl.  She moved the covers to better
keep the little girl warm.  She smiled down at the child as she caressed her
cheek for a moment.  A man walked into the room.  Sylvia looked up to smile at
him.  The child on the bed resembled the man much more than Sylvia but Eben
could see Sylvia's cheekbones on the girl's face.  The man hugged Sylvia as
she stood up.
"Merry Christmas, baby," he said kissing her hair.  Sylvia leaned into him
comfortably.
Eben nodded to himself and turned to the Spirit.
"We can leave now," he said.
The Spirit nodded, and extended his robe again.  The room blurred again and
Eben was back in his own bedroom.Stave 4 -- A Lonely Woman in the Future
Eben did not look around his room.  He stood facing the wall.  He prepared
himself for the next Spirit.  He knew what it would be about.  He already knew
some things in his life that had to change but others didn't have to.  He
would not move on those.
He felt the door open behind him as a breeze entered the room.  He turned to
confront the dark Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come.
She wasn't dark.
Eben took a step back as her unearthly beauty hit his eyes.
She glowed, she was so beautiful.  She was an albino.  White hair, white
eyebrows, he could see white eyelashes.  She was so beautiful it took him a
minute to realize she was naked.
He finally noticed and backed up all the way to the wall.  If her face was
unearthly, her body was divine.  Proportional breasts that would convince men
they were fake, and to make women hope the same.  Her hips had the right dip
and spread for a woman her height.  Her legs shouldn't have been that long but
even when he shook his head their length remained the same.  Her pubic hair
was the same white as the hair on her head.
He looked at all of her for a moment.  She seemed to stand in a wind tunnel,
her hair blowing behind her in a wind he couldn't feel.  He had been expecting
a dark spirit but this woman was nothing like he imagined until he saw her
eyes.
She was worse.
Her eyes were the pink of a real albino, but the perfection of her body was
rivaled by the emptiness in her eyes.  He saw nothing.  Not the nothing of a
dead person eyes: the eyes moved, the pupils dilated, they stared at him with
life but utterly empty of emotion.  They saw him, took notice of him, but were
not moved by him.
He turned from her eyes, wishing that Scrooge's robed Spirit had come instead.
  
The woman pointed to the door.
Eben nodded.  He waited for her to stand aside before he walked through the
door.  He tried not to make it look like he was trying to avoid her touching
him but he was sure her touch would burn like ice.
"Shit!" he said angrily as he saw the girl hanging from the roof.  It was
Tiffany.  He was in what looked to be her bedroom.  It didn't have the
hospital feel, so he was sure they had not committed her.  He looked around to
see if Roberta was in the room but she wasn't.  He knew it would destroy her
when she saw this.  Every doubt she had about not institutionalizing the girl
would return to haunt her as guilt.
He heard the door opening and he moved to block the view of the person coming
in, forgetting they couldn't see him.  He was too late as Roberta's scream of
loss washed over him.  He turned from the pain that echoed through his body as
he remembered the losses of his parents.  He heard movement on steps as older
versions of Roberta's children and her mother came to look into the room.  
The grandmother also sobbed her pain.  The children looked lost as tears began
to pour down their faces.  The older women were not in any shape to comfort
them so the children were swamped by their sorrow.
Eben turned from them.  He could see the Spirit staring from him to the girl
and back.
"I would have tried to fix this," Eben said angrily.  "You didn't have to
bring me here.  I know I could help her.  I didn't need anymore convincing."
The Spirit just stared at him with unfeeling eyes.
"Bitch!" Eben said with feeling.  The Spirit gave him a small smile that had
no more emotion to it than her eyes.
The Spirit waved her hands and the colors of the room flowed and changed.  
They solidified and Eben smiled.
He looked at the Spirit knowingly as he took in the cemetery.
"Seeing my own grave site won't affect me you know," he said knowingly.  "I'm
not exactly afraid to die."
The Spirit pointed behind Eben.  Eben gave her an insouciant smile as he
already knew what he would see.
He turned to see his own gravestone.  The date surprised him; he had lived
longer than he expected.  The grave site didn't touch him as he looked at it
with coldness that matched the Spirit's emptiness.  He looked around the grave
site and felt relief that there were no other grave sites near it.
He turned to the Spirit, "I died, so what?  Scrooge's fear was that he died
with no one caring.  It's not the truth, Brenda cared about me.  He died
alone.  But it was always what I wanted; to leave no one behind alone.  Like
my parents did to me.  It wasn't their fault, I've always known that, but I
was alone."
The Spirit stared at him.
"We can go.  I'll change what I have to change to save Tiffany, to help
Roberta, to make Brenda go on with her life.  But I won't crawl for you in
fear.  I died with few mourners and leaving behind those who knew me better.  
Brenda will have my money and be happy for it."
The Spirit smiled again, and pointed towards an approaching figure.
Eben felt a fist wrap around his heart and squeeze.
It was a much older Brenda that walked toward the grave carrying flowers.
She walked alone.
The Spirit and Eben waited for her to reach them.  She stooped slowly to
remove the flowers from his grave and replace them with new ones.  She sat
heavily beside the grave site.
She started telling him what her week had been like, and that she was sorry to
be late.
Eben walked around her to kneel by her.
"No.  Goddamit, Brenda.  Don't do this," he said quietly to her unhearing
face.
"I played with Melissa's grandchildren, today," she said.  "Sometimes I wish I
had had children, but .."
"Fuck!" Eben exclaimed standing up, and kicking the gravestone.  "You fucking
waited.  How the FUCK could you wait for me, Brenda!?"
Eben knelt by her again, getting close to her face.  "I am not so special that
you have to give up your life -- everything you want -- to wait for me."
She kept talking about Melissa's grandchildren.  Eben sat down next to her.
"You're supposed to be happy, baby.  Get married like Sylvia.  Have children.  
I'm supposed to be their disgustingly generous uncle.  They give you
grandchildren that I spoil too.  You're not supposed to become a shadow of me.  
You were never supposed to become me."
He sat by her with tears for her on his cheeks as she continued her litany to
the grave.
The Spirit came and put her hand on Eben's shoulder.  Her touch did burn cold.  
Eben tried to shake it off, but the grip would not relent.  He looked up at
her.  There was feeling in her eyes as she used her hand to cover his eyes and
push him back.Stave 5 -- An End.
The alarm woke Eben up.  He turned to read the numbers.
11:00 am.
He had overslept.  Somehow, it did not surprise him.  He lay in bed staring at
his ceiling feeling the plates that made up his personality shifting.  He
sighed to himself.
He smiled as he wondered who the changes he meant to implement in his life
would surprise the most.
He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom.  As he did his morning wash and
showered he began to plan.  Obviously, the Christmas presents he had bought
were woefully inappropriate for the new Eben.
He shrugged; he was rich enough that a few of his clients would be happy to
open their doors if he made it worth his while.  Actually, he only really
needed one, and the man had a family who were all miserly enough to make
Scrooge's heart cringe.
He got out of the shower, put on a bathrobe, and walked to the phone.  He
opened his personal phone book and dialed the proper number.  He spoke to the
man on the other end.  The other man sounded extremely unappreciative until
Eben started naming things he planned to buy for people.  He could feel the
false wattage across the phone line as a greedy smile split the other's man
face.  Eben gave him a half-hour to get to the shop before he would call
someone else in his phonebook.
He continued to wonder who would be the most surprised on the drive to the
store.  Finally, deciding on Brenda for the obvious reason that she probably
hoped he would change but knew exactly why he wouldn't.
He parked his car in front of the jewelry shop.  The owner was waiting by the
door and happily held the door open for him.  Eben saw the man's wife standing
behind the jewelry case.  She gave the fake salesperson's smile to Eben as he
approached.
"We have a few things to show you." the wife said anxiously.  They both knew
that Eben spared no expense when he moved, so they knew even their greedy
hearts might be impressed by Eben Razz's shopping spree.
Eben waved the woman's suggestion away.  He walked through the jewelry cases.  
He stopped at the bracelets.
"The diamond tennis bracelet." he said.  "Wrap it."
He thought for a moment.  "The emerald one also; they almost compare to
Tiffany's eyes."
He continued walking through the cases.  He stopped at the necklaces.  He had
seen it before and had wanted to buy it for her, but didn't think it
appropriate.  It was even more perfect now.
"The half-diamond, half-ruby heart charm..."
He started thinking about Roberta's second little girl.  He didn't know what
she liked but he had a few innocent suggestions that would impress most little
girls.
He walked to the case of earrings and pointed imperiously at the most
brilliant of the diamond studs.  Completely inappropriate for her, but it
should make her heart sing.  He figured diamonds couldn't hurt any, plus he
would make sure she could return and use the money for anything else she might
want.
The boy was harder.  He couldn't really buy anything for him here.  He tapped
the inside pocket to his jacket.  Season tickets to the local football team,
with a man willing to take him to every game should do it.  He remembered at
the last moment as he left the apartment the young man had been wearing the
jersey of the starting quarterback.  It wasn't diamonds but he smirked at the
concept of what young boys thought was the best.
He handed his American Express to the man, as his wife was busy humming
Christmas carols as she wrapped his gifts.
"Shit!" he said.  "The grandmother..."
The man smile widened if that could be believed as Eben turned around and
started walking through the aisles again.  He didn't know the woman well so he
settled on a beautiful yellow and red gold herringbone necklace.
The wife rushed over to take it out of the case, and hurried to finish his
wrapping.
Eben signed for everything and barely noticed that the man went over to his
wife to hover.  They finally finished and gave Eben a bag.  He nodded and
thanked them as he opened the door and walked to his car.
Brenda had planned for him to come over at this time.  He knew most of the
people he had seen would be there, but that was better.
He rang the doorbell at her door.  The door opened.  He looked inside; Melissa
had been the one to open the door.  He could hear laughter in the livingroom.  
He smiled at Melissa.
"The brother?" Melissa asked.
"Nope.  I was never adopted," he replied stepping past her.  He heard her
intake of breath.  She understood the significance of his words.
He walked into the livingroom with purpose.  The room froze as he stepped into
it and towards Brenda.  He had separated the gifts in the car so he had hers
in his hand.  She looked at him, her eyes hopeful.  He stopped and stared at
her blonde lover.  The woman stared back at him challenging him.
He smiled at her dismissively.  The people in the room who could see his smile
came near to gasping as they also recognized the significance of it.  He
looked at Brenda, looked at her lover and stood still.  His eyebrows rose in a
question to Brenda.
Brenda looked at her lover, but her choice had been made too long ago as tears
wet her eyes.
Eben nodded and finished his walk to her.  He stopped in front of her letting
only inches separate their lips.  He put the package into her hand, and took a
step back.  He looked at the people around the room.  They were still staring
as if nothing could possibly make them look away.
He took a step back to let her open the gift.  She still looked at him with
questions in her eyes, but he just nodded at her present.  She shredded the
paper and managed to get the box open in record time.  She gasped at the
charm.  He took a step toward her, reached into the box, pulled the charm out.
  
He opened the clasp and reached behind her neck to put it on her.  She
shivered in pleasure at his touch.  He smiled at her.
"It's not what I wanted to give you, but I thought something material is
customary." he said.
"What did you want to give me?" she asked quietly staring up at him.
He shrugged as he used his arms to bring her close for a kiss.  It was like
that first kiss.  A gentle touch, a question asked.  Lips touching in wonder.  
The second kiss was stronger.  Passion, love in questing tongues.  She leaned
against him when he broke the kiss.  He leaned into her too.
Taking her hand, he took a step back.  "Want to introduce me around?" he
asked.
She nodded still wondering what was going on.  They walked around the room
hand in hand making small talk with everyone; after a half-hour it was obvious
that she just wanted to corner him but he wouldn't let her.  The people in the
room watched them with great amusement as they danced around each other.
He pulled her to the door.
"Listen, Brenda.  I have to stop at Roberta's house."
"No," she said.
He kissed her, "I have to, baby.  I really need to talk to her and her
daughter."
"Eben!..." she complained.
"Stop by my place tonight, okay?  We'll celebrate privately." He kissed her
again with a promise that nothing would change.
"I'm the one that waited.  You come by here," she said.
He smiled, kissed her hard.
"Come by my place, Brenda.  Tonight."  He turned around and walked to his car.  
As he drove away, he could still see her in the doorway watching his car.
The drive to Roberta's home was uneventful.  He had already made a few
decisions in her direction, but what seemed to be a future with Brenda more
than solidified the belief that he would have to extend Roberta's influence.
He parked the car in her driveway.  He got out with the bag of gifts in one
hand.  He had wanted to stay with Brenda but there were people here that
needed him, too.
He rang the doorbell.  Roberta's mother answered; it was obvious she didn't
recognize him.
"Hello.  Eben Razz," he said extending a hand to her.
She looked at him coldly as she took her hand.
"Mother, who is it?"  He heard Roberta's voice from inside the house.
"It's your boss, dear," she yelled into the house.
Roberta showed up at the door.  "Mr.  Razz.  Is something wrong?  Do you need
me for something?" she asked nervously as she saw that her mother was not
kidding.
"I believe that it is customary to exchange gifts on Christmas day," he
replied.
She blinked.
Her mother blinked twice.
Eben lifted his bag of gifts.  "May I come in?" he asked.
Roberta got out of his way automatically.  Eben walked into the house looking
around.  Roberta's younger child stood in the doorway to the livingroom
looking at Eben.
"Hello," Eben said to her.
"Hi," she said brightly.  "I'm Michele."  Eben stretched his hand out to shake
her hand seriously.
"That's Peter," she continued pointing to her older brother sitting by
Tiffany.  The young man looked over at Eben curiously as he tried to get his
older sister's attention.  Eben smiled at him.
He put the bag down.  The little girl looked into the bag curi ously.  She
looked up at Eben in severe curiosity as she saw the small gift-wrapped boxes
inside.  Eben started laughing at her avid wanting to destroy wrapping paper.
Roberta and her mother came to stand by him.
"Actually, Roberta," Eben said looking at her, "I do need to do some business
while I'm here."
Roberta nodded knowingly.
"I'd like you to help me find your replacement."
Roberta's eyes widened fearfully.  Her mother's face reddened in anger.
"I've been thinking," Eben continued staring at Tiffany.  "You do much more
than a secretary.  You know more about the whole company than most of my
department heads.  I still need you as an assistant but most of your
secretarial duties can be done by someone else."
He turned to look at her before he continued, "You're much more of an
executive assistant anyway.  We'll just use that as a way to get you into
running the everyday things at the firm.  I'm tired of that anyway, especially
since you've been doing it for the last six months, anyway.  I figure
eventually we'll just make you the CEO.  After all, I own the place.  Why not
reap some of the benefits?"
Her mother's face had blanched, but Roberta's face framed a smile that
accepted the new Eben.  He had guessed right; Brenda did have a harder time
accepting the changes he had to make for her.
He reached into the bag for a small box to give to Michele.
"They are a bit expensive, Roberta.  But it was a last-minute thing.  If you
don't approve next time I'll spend less money."
The girl nearly squealed at the perfection of the diamonds.  Roberta smiled at
her, but looked into the bag worried.  Eben saw a flash of Christmas greed,
too.
"You should see what I got you," he said.  "Much, much more beautiful, but
then again she's just a girl."
He laughed when Roberta fought to keep control.  Peter had come to investigate
after the cry of wonder from his little sister.
"Hi, Peter.  I'm your mother's boss," Eben said.  He extended his hand out to
the young man.  Peter shook it firmly.
Eben reached into his pocket and pulled out the tickets.  He passed them to
Peter seriously.  Peter's eyes widened as he read them.  He looked at Eben.
"I had those lying around.  I don't really know much about football.  But
since you're a fan I figured you might want to drag me along and teach me a
thing or two."
Peter's head nearly fell off in vigorous nodding.  He stopped the motion for a
second remembering his mother.  He looked at her, pleading with his eyes.
She relented instantly.
Eben reached inside and pulled out the boxes for Roberta and her mother.  He
handed them over.  They ripped them open as anxiously as the children,
exclaiming just as much.
Eben studied Tiffany.  He knew what he had to do to pull her out of her shell.  
He just doubted he could actually do it.
"Roberta?" he said.
She looked up at him.
"Do you mind if I take Tiffany for a drive?  I'd like to talk to her."
She looked at Tiffany and then at Eben, "I don't think that would be a good
idea."
"Honey, let Eben do it," her mother told her studying him.
"But, Mom..." Roberta protested.
"No, honey.  I see it in his eyes."
"What?" Roberta asked studying Eben as he looked at her daughter.
"Remember how you felt when your dad died?" her mother said.
Roberta nodded.
"Tiffany hasn't let go.  But this man hasn't either," her mother declared
moving toward a closet to get Tiffany's coat.  She walked to Tiffany and
helped her into it.  She stood her up and delivered the young woman to Eben.
She was young, but obviously over eighteen.  He knew that from the records he
kept on his employees.
"Do you know my home phone number?" he asked.
Roberta nodded.
"I don't really know how long this will take.  She and I have a lot to say to
each other," he told Roberta.
Tiffany looked up at him.  The emptiness was not like the one he had seen in
Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come.  It wasn't even close.  She looked at him
curiously but shrugged her shoulders.
He took her arm, walked her outside and to his car.  He waved at the family at
the door.  Roberta's mother nodded at him, as he got into the car.
He drove.  He didn't know where they were going.  He was just driving to hold
off the onslaught of demons he would have to resurrect to give Tiffany someone
to hold onto.
He stopped the car on the water's edge.  He had not really come here.  He got
out of the car and walked to open her door.  She looked at him with a spark of
curiosity.  She was not far gone; he knew that.  She just couldn't hold on
alone.  Her family tried but it wasn't what she needed.  She moved to take it.
  
She hadn't done as much for her family but the newness of the experience was
garnering some reaction.  He walked with her to the front of the car.  He
still held her hand.  He also needed her as something to hold on to.
The day wasn't as cold as it should have been or he would have picked
someplace else.  They sat watching the water for minutes on end.
"I lost four parents violently," he said finally.
He could hear her head snap towards him.  He turned to look at her.
"Yeah, four of them," he answered her unspoken question.
"My real parents died in a car accident."  He turned to look at the water
moving back in time inside his emotions.  "We were just driving along.  No bad
weather, no drunk driver, no nothing.  The car just spun out of control.  It
was a back road.  People knew it was there, but most of the time it was faster
to use the main road.  We just slid off the road and into a ditch.  We weren't
even going that fast but the car flipped over a couple of times.  It landed on
it's top.  We were all pinned.  I ended up okay.  Too small for the car to
hurt me seriously.  My parents weren't so lucky.  They died by inches.  Right
in front of my eyes.  Pain does nasty things, and when I close my eyes I can
still hear them crying.  Children aren't supposed to hear parents crying.  
You can see them teary eyed at your graduation, or wedding.  But they were
sobbing from the pain.  I couldn't cry, I couldn't make a sound.  I was that
scared.  I wanted to help but I was just as pinned.  I thought hearing them
crying was the worst, but it wasn't.  Hearing them stop breathing.  That was
the worst."
He reached up to wipe tears out of his eyes.  Tiffany stood in front of him,
she reached to grab his other hand in support.  She looked at him.  "I can't
read the police report.  I always wanted to know what happened but I can't
make myself read it."
He took a deep breath.  Tiffany leaned her forehead against his chest.  He
could feel her begin to sob.
"My second parents were Brenda's parents.  You don't know Brenda but you'll
like her.  You know I didn't call her mom, until last night.  I mean they took
me in, dealt with my pain when most people would have passed me off.  I never
said that I loved them.  I just... I just... Well, they were murdered by a
mugger.  He was so fucking high that he didn't know he had killed them.  They
were gone on Christmas day and I never said thank you, or I love you, or
nothing.  I didn't have to watch, but I lost them just when I thought they
would always be there.  I hated him.  The fucker that killed them.  I wanted
to kill him too, I wanted to go back and tear apart that section of road.  
But they were still gone."
He moved down as Tiffany collapsed into grief-stricken sobs.  He held her
tightly against his chest as his own pent-up sobs escaped into her hair.
                              * * *
He was staring at the fire in his livingroom later on that night.  He had
moved out here at the phone call from the doorman.  He was in his robe again.  
Most of the day seemed like a dream except for the weight that wasn't on his
chest anymore.
He heard the key turn in his door.  He looked at it smiling.  Brenda was the
only one with his house keys.  She opened the door and walked inside.  She
looked at him sitting leaning against the bottom of his couch.
"I've been waiting," he said to her.
"So have I.  Did you enjoy it?" she asked as she moved to stand at his feet.
"I'm more imaginative than you are, baby.  I just let myself fantasize about
the next few nights.  I hope you've exercised frequently."
"What's going on here Eben?" she asked suddenly.
"Take off your coat -- and some clothes -- and maybe I'll tell you," he
replied.
She stared at him for a moment.  She took off her coat and scarf and threw
them on the couch.  She put her hands on her hips.
"Come on, Eben.  What's going on here?" she insisted.
"Let's say that it was pointed out to me that as things stand I would be dying
alone." he said simply.
"That bothers you?" she asked surprised.
"Nope." he said.
"Then?"
"Ah, you see the cruelty of the whole thing is that I might want to die alone
but you would wait for me to live."
She looked at him, not understanding his point.
"Baby, if you wait for me, and I die alone, you die alone," he whispered.
She moved and straddled his thighs to look at him.
"You were mine.  You were always mine.  I waited for you when mom and dad told
me you were going to be born.  I knew you would be a girl.  No doubt in my
mind.  I would have given everything to make you smile from day one, and I
did.  But how am I supposed to let you die alone, because I can't give you
this."
Her eyes were wet with tears as he confessed.
"What I did with you was wrong, Brenda?"
She shook her head, but he stopped her by touching her chin.
"No, baby.  You were too young.  In our parents home.  No matter, how much we
both wanted, how much I needed you.  It was a be trayal of mom and dad.  A few
years and they would have been happy to see us together.  It would probably
have meant the world to them.  But we were still wrong."
"But, Eben..."
"We were wrong, Brenda," he insisted.  "But that doesn't matter.  What matters
is you need me, and I can't go on like this if it hurts you like that."
She reached down to silence him with her lips.  They kissed for a long moment
before she put distance between them.
"So what now?" she asked.
"Well, I'm naked underneath this robe so the obvious would be to make love,"
he said hopefully.
"No, Eben.  Not after that."
"Uh, we... do it... again, more slowly?" he asked even more hopefully.
She kissed him hard.
"Stop that, Eben.  You know I mean the more distant future," she said when she
broke the kiss.
"Marriage, kids, grandchildren, much sex in between," he said as he reached up
to bring her back down for a kiss.
She let him take a slow deep kiss from her lips before she struggled against
him.
"What's wrong?" he asked concerned.
"I waited.  I'm in charge."
"I don't like that all too much," he said.
"I know, but I didn't like waiting.  Plus you got to be on top last time.  
It's my turn."
"I meant the whole lack of foreplay," he said.
"I've waited 12 years!  We can have foreplay afterwards."
She pulled the t-shirt off to quiet him.  She wasn't wearing a bra again.  He
reached up reflexively to caress her breasts.
"Oh, God.  It wasn't a dream," she said as his thumbs passed over her nipples.  
She moved her hands around him to untie his robe and push it out of her way.  
Her hand went immediately around his erection.  He gasped as she encircled it
in her grip.
She let go of his penis and stretched languidly down to kiss him.  He
remembered his role in this situation, and his hands went around to cup her
ass.  He took a firm grip to stop his inclina tion of repeating the movement
of their last lovemaking by flipping them over.  Every second, she held the
kiss, moved her ass in his hands he thanked and regretted his strength.  She
bit into his chest on the edge of painfulness.  His hands reached between them
to play with nipples as she tried to deepen a kiss too deep for their own
good.  He reached between them to cup her pelvic mound and rub his hands on
her denim covered pussy.
"More!" she said into his mouth.
"I'm the naked one, Brenda," he said as he plunged his tongue into her mouth.
She got off him for a moment.  She pulled her belt off her jeans, attacked the
button and zipper.  He looked at her, taking the seconds to gain a modicum of
control.  She took the jeans off finally, and remounted him.  The initial
warmth of her body touching him almost snapped his control.  She started
kissing him and rubbing her crotch on him.  She knew what she wanted, and even
knew the mechanics but it was different to be faced with the reality.  He
reached between them again and cup her pussy.  She melted into his mouth in
reaction.  He ran one finger, splitting her pussy lips with it in one up
motion and then brought the finger back down.  She was wet, he didn't remember
anyone becom ing ready for sex that fast.  She became unreasonable on the
third pass of his finger.  She reached between them to grip his penis.  Her
touch was inexperienced, frantic but uncontrolled.  She placed his head at the
entrance of her pussy but could move no further.  He moved his hips towards
her pussy seating his head inside her.
"Go slow, Brenda.  You haven't done this in years." he managed to get out as
his dick head was surrounded by warm, wet velvet.
She was beyond reason, though.  She sat up and dropped herself on him.  He
penetrated her fully.  He heard her small gasp of pain, and a sigh of
acceptance as her body spread to accept him.  She held him inside her moist
warmth for the longest time before she started moving.
He smiled to himself, put his head back and reached up to touch any skin he
could reach.  It felt good to be inside her.  Her tightness caressing every
inch of his penis.
She was too inexperienced to know how to drive him towards the edge.  Her
motions sought her own pleasure but she couldn't recognize his.  She ground
her hips into his, making contact with her clitoris on his body, driving
herself higher into pleasure but it just stimulated him.  It didn't drive him.
  
Anytime that she found an up and down rhythm on his hard penis, he would lift
her from the floor with his legs and hips, taking away her leverage.  She
would start to grind again.  He felt her orgasm hit her, and she screamed her
release.  He pumped in and out of her to keep her from drifting down.  She
came down slightly but his motion took her back up again.  He stopped but she
was already on the way up so she started her inexperienced motion again.  He
reached up to take one nipple into his mouth and suckle on it.  He licked it
and traded it for the other nipple.  He didn't want it to end, but his pumping
in and out of her had brought him too close to the edge.
He dropped his head back down and waited as she moved her hips back and forth,
and in circles trying to reach her orgasm.  She started small panting breaths
that told him she was close.  He began his own motions up into her and
dropping out of her letting her weight impale her on his dick.  She understood
what he wanted and began to mirror the motion.  Neither had to move much, but
the contact at the depth of her was with force.  She moved up as he moved down
and both drove to get him inside her.  He grabbed her hips suddenly and ground
his hips into her.  It forced her over the edge, as he shot into her body.  
She scratched his chest as he continued to grind his hips overstimulating
himself but unable to control his need to spend himself inside her.
The drop from the top was fast for him, slow for her.  They lay like that
until his penis softened enough to slip out of her.  She was dropping small
kisses onto his chest mewling her pleasure at the skin to skin contact.
Brenda jumped as a third hand joined both of Eben's in caressing her back.  
She looked beside her, and just behind her.  She saw an attractive
raven-haired, green-eyed woman, green flashing on the woman's wrist.
"What the?..." she said fighting the pleasure the three hands were giving her
to let surprise show.
Eben opened his eyes.
"Oh, Brenda meet Tiffany; Tiffany, Brenda.  You two will like each other, at
least you seem to share the same interest in being on top."
Tiffany was wearing one of Eben's robes.  She wasn't really wearing it; it was
just kind of draped on her.
Eben looked between both of them.
Brenda looked at him curiously.
"Well, see.  You like women and I like women, so I thought the whole sharing
option was open.  Plus I didn't really plan it, you know.  I think women have
a thing for this whole 'big brother the way big brothers are supposed to be'
sexual thing.  It's kinda perverted, if you ask me."
Brenda bit him in the chest.
Tiffany reached down and pulled her mouth off Eben's by playfully tugging on
Brenda's hair.  Brenda looked up as Tiffany pulled her head up.
"No fighting," Tiffany said smiling at her.
"So how are you going to stop me, little girl?" Brenda challenged.  Eben could
see the sexual electricity between the two women.  He laughed as Tiffany
tackled Brenda off his body by kissing her hard.
He looked at the two women as they warred for control of the kiss and settled
on just experiencing it.  He felt motion in his dick.
"Not a fucking chance," he said out loud.
Brenda started to struggle to take the robe off Tiffany.  His penis started to
gain girth.
"Not a fucking chance," he said even more loudly looking at himself and at
them as they settled into a slow pace of exploration.
Tiffany looked up at him.  He saw blue eyes and green eyes staring at him
hungrily.
"God bless us every one," both women said as they moved towards him to share
in their pleasure of discovery.
index