Finding Father Christmas

1

re.'

'I do not wish to see it.'

'Conduct me home

and haunt me no more.'

'Scrooge, what you see

are only shadows'

of the things that have been.

They are what they are.

Cannot be changed.

Scrooge turned

to look at the ghost.

He could see..

...that they were parts

of all of the faces

that had shown him

from his past.

Spirit, remove me.

I cannot bear it.

Soon, Scrooge was conscious

of being exhausted and..

(Eve on PA)

'And overcome

by an irresistible drowsiness'

'and further of being back

in to his own bedroom.'

'He barely had time to reel

to his bed before he sank'

'into a heavy sleep.'

Awaking later to the sound

of his clock as it struck 1:00.

(Eve and Miranda)

Scrooge could see

a ghostly light

from the adjoining room.

'He got up softly'

'and shuffled to the door.'

Peeping around the door,

he heard a blooming voice.

I am the Ghost Of Christmas

Present.

(Miranda)

Come in and know me better, man.

[audience gasping]

[intense music]

Mom?

Mom?

The snowflakes

are on the ground

And Christmas

is in the air..

(Miranda)

'Yes, the furniture

will be on the truck'

first thing in the morning,

we'll have the units staged

and ready to show by lunch hour.

People will be standing

in line to sign a lease.

Great, great.

I'll have my assistant e-mail

over the contract.

No, thank you.

And call Kevin in the warehouse.

Make sure there's

a truck standing by

first thing in the morning.

Where is he going?

Garber's new building on Fifth.

I just closed the deal to stage

all three condo floor plans.

I thought he already

turned us down.

Annie, what's the first rule

of staging any new home?

Let the potential buyer

see themself in the home.

Which is why I told Garber

we will put a Christmas tree

in all the model units.

Nothing says

welcome to your new home

like that fresh holiday smell.

[chuckles]

Nice.

Oh, could you ask Mr. Turner

if we can push back that meeting

by a few hours?

The folks from Portland

are in town

and I told them

we could have lunch.

Speaking of Mr. Turner,

he wanted me to remind you

about his Christmas party

on Saturday.

- Is that this Saturday?

- Well, yeah.

I mean, with Christmas only

a week away and all.

Um, tell him

I will let him know.

The Sandlers called again about

Christmas dinner at their house.

I will let them know.

Your building super

wants to know

what you're gonna bring

to the holiday potluck

this year.

You'll let him know. Right?

Hey, I will let them know.

I just, I have a lot

on my plate right now.

It's Christmas, Miranda.

Y-you're supposed to celebrate.

Give thanks, exchange gifts, eat

too much, wear ugly sweaters.

Annie, I appreciate

what you're trying to say

but I have work to do.

Speaking of which,

are there any messages

that aren't about Christmas?

Um, a guy named

Rick Torrance called.

He said it was important and

wants to talk to you right away.

Doesn't ring a bell. If he calls

back, find out what he wants?

Will do.

And so there I am with

a room full of third graders

so distracted, they can

barely stay in their seats.

Not that I can blame them.

- It's almost Christmas.

- Yeah?

Thank goodness, there's only

one more day to the break.

Though, I'm not exactly

looking forward

to flying for the holidays.

No, you'll have a good time

with your folks.

What about you?

Any plans this year?

Um, yeah, yeah.

Um, I'll-I'll probably

just catch up on work.

You mean, like last year.

And the year before that.

Okay, why is everyone

suddenly so concerned

with my Christmas plans?

Because, my dear,

we care about you.

Being alone for Christmas

is hard for anyone.

But for you..

...I can't imagine

how it must feel.

I don't know

what's wrong with me, Blair.

I mean, it's been 20 years.

She was your mother.

You lost her at Christmas.

Yeah, but she loved

being an actress

and to go that way,

on-on the stage

performing "A Christmas Carol,"

she's probably still smiling.

That doesn't make it

any easier for you.

No.

But I am not

a little girl anymore.

I have stability,

I'm not wandering in the country

the way we used to.

But it's the same thing

every year.

All this, the music,

the lights, the smell.

[sighs]

It just reminds me that

maybe she would have eventually

told me who my father was

but she never got the chance.

She must have had her reasons.

Maybe.

[cell phone ringing]

[sighs]

[instrumental music]

[telephone ringing]

Annie, are you out there?

Turner/Dorset, this is Miranda.

(Rick)

'Miranda Chester?'

- Yes.

- 'Great.'

Hi, uh, look, you don't know me.

My name is Rick Torrance.

I'm sorry, Mr. Torrance

whatever you're selling,

I'm really not--

'Your mother was Eve Chester,

the actress?'

Hello?

Um, yes, my mother was Eve.

This is gonna sound strange

but I found something

that belonged to her.

'I think you might want it.'

[instrumental music]

Hello?

Miranda?

- Mr. Torrance.

- No, it's Rick.

- Hi.

- Hi.

Sorry about the mess,

everybody's at lunch.

Come on up.

Watch your step.

'It's right back here.'

I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking.

Oh, it's alright, I just..

I haven't been back

since that night.

I remember your mother

real well.

Eve was a wonderful person.

You know, always said hello

and asked about my family

and an amazing actress.

- Yeah.

- I remember you too.

Yeah, the way you'd run around

here sayin' her lines.

I figured you'd

follow in her footsteps.

Nope.

I suppose not.

I was here that night.

It was..

- Sure, I'm sorry.

- Thank you.

Anyway, uh, when I found this,

I remembered Eve had a daughter.

And I thought

if I could find you..

...you might like to have it.

Are you alright?

Yes.

Thank you so much.

Oh.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[sighs]

[music continues]

What..

Miranda.

And who are you?

"Carlton Heath, Vermont."

[instrumental music]

"Carlton Heath, Vermont."

[music continues]

[sighs]

He's still there.

Merry Christmas..

"Carlton Heath."

Yeah, it's a small town

in Vermont.

I looked it up. It's beautiful.

It's like a Christmas card.

Maybe when your mother

was on tour.

I thought of that.

In all of her years of touring

she was never in Vermont.

- "The Tempest."

- Mm-hmm.

When I was a little girl, I

asked her how she chose my name

and she told me she did a

production of "The Tempest"

in San Francisco.

She played Miranda.

And she always loved the name.

Well, if she had such

fond memories of the show

why hide the program?

And what does a little boy

in Vermont

have to do with Shakespeare

and California?

There could be a dozen reasons

she kept that picture.

But why keep it hidden?

Maybe she wasn't ready

to talk about it?

No, she could talk to me

about anything.

She was always honest with me.

The only thing she didn't talk

to me about was my father.

Miranda, you don't know

that this has anything

to do with him.

This was hers.

I remember.

She wore it all the time.

The only time she ever took it

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