We're up to Stave Four with a peek into the future as we gather the elements from "A Christmas Carol" that I would like to see in a short-form adaptation.
In an audio adaptation, I can understand having the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come speak, but I'd prefer that it did not. I'd have Scrooge act as the de facto narrator, reacting to the ghost's gestures and such.
We need the businessmen talking about Scrooge (without saying his name so he's unaware), but we don't need the other two talking about "Old Scratch," so we save a bit of time there.
The business in Old Joe's shop is important, but we need to move that along. Definitely want the bed curtain business to reference how the Ghost of Christmas Past had opened them upon its entrance.
And we want an indication that Scrooge's body is lying unattended in a creepy room, again without him realizing it's his own body. This scene is not always included, but I feel it's important as we'll soon find out!
I do really like the seldom used scene of Caroline and her husband feeling relief at Scrooge's death, but that can be awkward to describe without using a lot of time, so I'm OK without it.
But we do need to spend some time at the Cratchit house and find out that Tiny Tim had died.
At this point as Scrooge starts pleading for another chance, it's important for him to ask the ghost whose body they had seen earlier, as the answer is his name on the gravestone. I think too many adaptations have the ghost show the grave, but without this context, it would just seem that Scrooge will die at some point in the future, which, like it or not, will happen to everyone someday.
A little more repenting from Scrooge and we're ready for the narrator to tell us that the spirit has dwindled into a bedpost!
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