Ebenezer Scrooge awoke, but found that he was fully dressed, and not in his bedroom at all. After what the Ghost of Jacob Marley had told him, we was expecting to be visited by another ghost – or was that all just a dream? Yet here he was, fully dressed, and walking down a street he did not recognize. And it was warm, with the trees in full bloom. The buildings were unfamiliar, with exotic shapes and cupolas. There were statues, as well, but Scrooge had the feeling they were following him around.
Despite the warmth, the buildings were decorated with holiday bunting and holly, indicating the season. Music was playing from somewhere. In fact, it seemed to be coming from everywhere, but Scrooge saw no band, or even other people. Here and there, leaning against stands, he saw an odd style of velocipede, the front wheel larger than the back.
All at once he heard a screem and a clanking of metal, and he saw a man dressed as he was, but dragging a chain, as in the vision of last night. Despite the chain, the man was attempting to run away from something. There was an ominous rumble, and a bubble of water in the fowntain appeared to grow larger, becoming a huge red bauble, like an oversized decoration for a German Christmas Tree. It rolled out of the fountain, but instead of breaking into shards it bounced and proceeded after the running chained man, catching up with him in a few bounces and apparently smothering him into submission.
In desperation at all the strangeness, Scrooge closed his eyes and yelled at no one in particular “Bah! Humbug! Where am I?”
As with the music, a deep melodious voice seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere.
“Ho, ho, ho! You’re in Santa’s Village!”