An American Christmas Carol

Mr. Brewster:
When the day of quality ends in this country, we'll all be in great trouble indeed.

Benedict Slade:
[after watching his younger self make a deal with Jack Latham] Yup, that's me! I always moved in when the moment was good. I could always smell a good business deal.

Ghost of Christmas Past:
So could Latham. Look where he ended up.

Benedict Slade:
I know this place. I've never been here before. Why does it look so familiar?

Ghost of Christmas Present:
A picture, maybe?

Benedict Slade:
On my office wall. My... employee... over his desk...

Ghost of Christmas Present:
Your former employee. Remember?

Benedict Slade:
He deserved to be fired. Disagrees with everything I do. Conspires with others to pull money out of me. Who needs someone like that around?

Ghost of Christmas Present:
There are three in here who do.

Benedict Slade:
[seeing an overgrown gravesite] Wait, wait. There is something about this place. Something draws me right to it. The monument looks fairly new, and yet, neglected.

Ghost of Christmas Future:
No one visits that grave.

Benedict Slade:
Not ever?

Ghost of Christmas Future:
Not ever.

Benedict Slade:
To lie in a grave, un-loved and un-remembered, is as if the life was never lived.

Ghost of Christmas Future:
That is the only... real death.

Ghost of Christmas Present:
If? That word can be found on dry river beds and trails overgrown by weeds. What's more important are the paths we follow now...