If it weren’t for the peculiar, more colorful altercations in the décor and vegetation of her estate, Scroogette would have assumed a return to present-day normality. However, given the odd, yet intriguing happenings of the past few hours, she wasn’t so naive.
Scanning her colorfully-warm, inviting property for any trace of her final visitor, her eyes met a sassily dressed, middle-aged woman puffing a long, skinny cigarette on her front steps.
“They save the best for last, isn’t that what you humans say?” cackled the woman, revealing herself as the Ghost of Christmas Future. “By the way, I like what you’ve done with the place.”
“But I didn’t do any of this,” answered Scroogette in earnest.
“You will,” returned the woman, confidently exhaling a puff of smoke.
Scanning over the fresh renovation, Scroogette focused in on the dining room window, framing the scene for a boisterous, festive gathering of dozens exchanging gifts. She zeroed in on a happier, healthier version of herself, the center of attention, unwrapping a KiKi Bling, the timeless and stylish blinged-out vibrator from PicoBong, now the largest company in the entire world.
“You probably never thought you had it in you, eh?” asked the woman, admiring the porch’s Christmas lights with a childlike obliviousness.
“But…how…,” murmured Scroogette, stuttering her way out of speechlessness.
The woman bunny-hopped down the front steps, joining Scroogette outside the dining room window. “Drops of water fill a bucket they say. One little bit of open-minded curiosity led to another and voila!”
Scroogette continued to scan the scene, lost in the joy radiating from the faces in her dining room. And just when she thought her smile couldn’t stretch any closer to her ears, a tall, mildly-built man, whose face was blocked by the hanging mistletoe, wrapped his arms around her future self’s waist and kissed the top of her head.
Rousing Scroogette from her daze, the woman squared Scroogette’s shoulders, bringing them face-to-face. She smiled, and before snapping her fingers said, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, honey. You gotta start somewhere.”