A Modern Carol

Charlotte Jancey is a lonely young black college graduate with no sense of a family to call her own, no friends to support her, and no hope to help her through her physical and mental illnesses. She has exhausted all the few resources she has been able to use and struggles with her dark past and present struggles with finances and health. With these circumstances, her world grows grey, time becomes stagnant, and as she is brought to the emotional difficulty around the holidays, she attempts to end her life days before Christmas. With no person alive to stop her, she is brought to face her true desires for her future when a miraculous spirit calling himself the Element of Love visits her while she is dying. In her swan song, she joins the stranger in a colorful, constant, complex adventure where he attempts to let her leave end on a better note than it would have been originally and, in some way, make up for all the good she was separated from growing up. Additionally, the element gently sets her up in realistic actions and steps just in case she chooses to stay. As the two grow ever closer throughout this journey, the element pushes Charlotte to expand her thinking past all of her logical conclusions and embrace the insanity that comes with unbreakable hope and stubborn endurance.

I drew slight inspiration from Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol. I cannot go without saying that, but as I scrawled down notes and ideas for this short story, everything took off and as you shall see holds only a few remaining resemblances to the inspiration material. As a Gen-Z'er with a hard past, I truly put my persona into Charlotte in writing her background and demeanors.