Chance and Hope: Jacob Marley’s Ghost Story©

Chapter Five

Jacob had been coerced to continue his journey immediately upon the departure of the messenger. However, there was something different now, something unexpected and horrifying. Instead of wandering in random directions with nothing but his exhaustion for company, he was compelled to travel to specific locations. At each location, he would find a person with the familiar aura around them and have to relive the memory of where he had forged the link upon his chain.

As he would relive the memory, he would often find himself begging the personage for forgiveness. Just as often he would find anger and resentment as if the person was somehow at fault for Jacob’s actions. Almost immediately after the memory left him a new destination would tug at his soul, yet the pull brought no relief from the crushing weight of his sins.

This continued for months on end, traveling to destinations all across the globe with his exhaustion and chains. He would travel to one side of the globe to relive the memory of a man whose family he had evicted. He had never met the man himself, the property was purchased as part of a foreclosure auction and was a heavy gamble for their firm. Yet the property value of the homes increased, just as Ebenezer and Jacob had predicted. Then they used loopholes in their contract to increase the rent, ultimately evicting the family when they could not make the higher payment.

Moments later he was destined for London to see an orphan he had slapped for begging at his doorstep. What was odd was that he had slapped the lad decades ago, yet the boy did not appear to have aged. Jacob realized that all of the torturous memories he relived followed the same pattern. He knew some of the memories he relived were decades apart, and some of the people would have been deceased long before Jacob had passed away, and some still living, yet they all appeared as if it was the same day he had created his offense towards them.

Jacob also realized that something was different about distance and time as he traveled the globe. His torment was not lessened in the slightest, yet he seemed to be traveling long distances far faster than the pace of a walking man, and he felt no increase or decrease in movement as he traveled. And occasionally the opposite was true; he would travel what he knew was a short distance between two towns, and the journey would stretch on for weeks. Sometimes he would spend an entire day pushing down a single street, dragging his burden behind him.

Jacob was also having to relive memories more than once whenever a family or group of people had been impacted by his action. He did not know if he had multiple chains, or if it was a single chain that weighed more than others. He often wondered if such concepts as quality and quantity applied to sin and transgression. The only answer he had was his own, that the torment felt the same regardless of how many times he had to relive it.

Jacob thought often of the questions the messenger had asked of him. What was the purpose of the questions? Was there a right or wrong answer? Was there a punishment or reward for being right or wrong? Would he see him again on the next anniversary of his death?

The questions in Jacob’s mind were pointless as he had no answers, and they offered absolutely no distraction from the torment he endured. In fact, the more he thought deeply of anything at all, the more his chains would drag, making them heavier to bring his mind out of his stupor of thought. He supposed becoming enthralled in a daydream could be a form of relief from his torment. When his torment allowed; he would consider what questions he would ask of the messenger, if the opportunity afforded itself to him.

Jacob found himself speaking more and more to the strangers around him. Commenting on their appearances, seeing moments thought hidden, watching as others forged their own chains. Those souls Jacob spoke to the most, begging and pleading with them to change their ways, to lessen their torment.

Yet that was exactly what the messenger had spoken of; limiting comparisons to prevent pride in damnation. It was then that Jacob remembered there were no perfect souls in this world. All people must have a chain about them, yet the image of the sailor being cut free of his bonds was puzzling to Jacob. The man must have forged a chain in life, if even a single link, yet why did he find salvation? Ebenezer had forged as much just by lying to escape a cab fare that cost less than a meal, so how was a sailor of all people able to escape the chains that all mankind must forge in life?

“You speak down to this humble sailor, yet it is you who are accursed and not he,” a voice said from behind him.

Jacob had not realized that he had been speaking his thoughts. He had been alone for so long that he spoke most of his thoughts out loud just to hear a voice. Jacob turned around to see who it was who could hear him in his grief and misery. He half expected to find the messenger from before, yet instead of a tall man in white robes, he found a boy of about twelve years of age wearing a simple, yet well-made suit. The young man had light hair that was parted to one side and carried a wide book in his left hand with the image of a candle snuffer on its cover. There was nothing remarkable about the boy. He did not glow, or appear transparent, or heavenly in any way. One would think he was a normal, living, child speaking to a chain-laden aberration.

“Hello, Jacob. My name is Andrew. I will be accompanying you for a time.”

Jacob tried to respond but had to turn away from the boy as the urge to move suddenly grew too much for him to resist. He continued his journey, and after a moment the boy fell into step beside him. Jacob’s fatigue and weariness seemed to increase now, so much so that Jacob felt it impossible to speak to the boy, to ask him the questions that were floundering about his mind. If Jacob had been still living, the fatigue would have caused him to collapse from exhaustion.

So, the pair marched on in silence. Andrew walking upon the ground, yet passing through people and objects the same as Jacob. Days went by as the boy observed Jacob reliving his memories. Seeing his anguish, hearing his laments of sorrow, his anger, and his pleads for a pardon from those he injured. Jacob felt his exhaustion increase whenever he tried to speak to Andrew, even thinking of speaking to him brought more fatigue, so he put the boy out of his mind.

Andrew never spoke, never deviated from his observation, and did nothing to distract Jacob from his eternal pursuit. So much time passed that Andrew became much like an extension of Jacob’s chains. He was a lingering burden that was always present but could not be altered or removed. He became recessed into the shallows of Jacob’s awareness.

It was then that the boy knew his presence held no sway over Jacob’s actions, that his observations were undiluted and pure. He observed the laments, the pleads, the anger, and the encouragement to be righteous that Jacob called to others.

Eventually, Andrew spoke.

“Jacob …” the boy said, pausing for Jacob to turn his surprised face to him, giving him time to remember that the boy was present. “I have finished with my witness, and have need to report my findings. I have asked no questions of you, so there is none that you may ask of me. However, I will make you aware that today is the second anniversary of your death.”

And with that the boy was gone, leaving Jacob to wonder in amazement.