As the days were slowly getting longer, one would think the weather would be turning warmer. However, January was still the heart of winter and it was going to get colder before it got warmer. Already there were plenty of people complaining about the cold. Even Animalians were finding it a bit too nippy for comfort. The only ones who were thriving in the iciness were those who were arctic species or those who became Ice Age mammals through Project Pleistocene, which was receiving larger amount of volunteers now.
The reptiles in particular were not liking the winter. While not completely cold-blooded, they were still very sensitive to the cold. The trolley service was used almost all the time to prevent their scales from touching the frozen ground. The Brumation House was in full-service, snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, and various amphibians coming in to warm themselves up with hot beverages and use the saunas and steam rooms.
Of course, the Brumation House wasn't large enough to house every reptilian and amphibian, especially with their numbers growing. So a lot of them ended up going down to the Cavern Spa, where the hot spring lake was warm enough to revitalize them. The Dinotopians were becoming frequent visitors there. And there were a few incidents of Dinotopians intimidating the smaller visitors.
Heather making Mary ditch her towel was a particularly noteworthy incident. Heather laughed as she made Mary squeal and swim away from her. Mary Piper may be a very large rat, but that still made her small compared to Heather. Even Mary's Amazonian muscles and curves were easily overshadowed by Heather's own, though it was mostly a matter of relativity and body size. Heather was still smirking to herself as she laid back in the hot water, letting the heat work its way through her skin.
Eventually, she became aware of someone swimming up to her. She looked to the side to see Sabine making her way towards her. A desert snake like a spitting cobra rarely swam, but the serpentine method of swimming worked for every species, though some better than others. Once Sabine was close enough, she asked, "Why do you torment her like that?"
Heather snorted and said, "She deserves it. She kidnapped my mate and threatened him. Then she threatened her sister and my friend. She got off too easy for what she did."
"A lot of people have said the same thing about you," said Sabine pointedly, "You were actively trying to kill people and you weren't so driven to desperation."
Heather glared at Sabine but she couldn't offer a rebuttal. She did feel a lot of regret for the way she acted when she first came to Lyre. Her psychologist would tell her she's projecting her own self-loathing onto Mary. So Heather tried to change the subject instead. "Sure is a good thing there's a lava flow close enough to fuel this spring," said Heather.
"Yes, this place would be almost uninhabitable this time of year if it wasn't here," said Sabine, "I'm starting to think that Sylvia had the right idea of going to Mieni instead of staying here for the winter."
"But if you had gone, we woudln't have seen your performance in the play," said Heather.
"You saw it?" asked Sabine.
"Not in person, but I watched it from home," said Heather, "Not really a lot of seats in a theater were a dinosaur can sit without blocking someone's view."
"There were a lot of people watching," said Sabine, thinking back.
==========
'An Animalian Christmas Carol' made several modifications to the original story. Not just because so many of the cast were Animalians, but because of the settings update to make the play more modern. While there were several parts of the story that had to remain, there was plenty of room for alteration.
After the ghost of Marley departed, Scrooge was ready to dismiss the whole thing as a hallucination brought from lack of sleep and stress. He put off counting the rest of his money for tomorrow and went to his bed. However, when he got to his bed, someone was lying on top of it. Sabine was not dressed for bed. She was waiting patiently while wearing an old-fashioned white dress. For a bit of irony, it was a Victorian-era type dress, such as would have been worn in Dickens's time. "Retiring so soon, Ebenezer?" asked Sabine, "The night has barely begun."
"I suppose you're one of those so-called spirits who are to visit me tonight," sneered Scrooge, "Well, I don't care what you have to say to me. I've had enough of this Christmas humbug for one day."
Sabine slithered off the bed and towards Scrooge. Scrooge seemed unnerved by the way the big snake was coiling around him. "Was Christmas always a humbug to you?" asked Sabine, "There seemed to be a time where you loved Christmas as much as anyone."
"I don't know what you're talking about, madam," snapped Scrooge.
"Is that so? Let me refresh your memory," said Sabine. The scene darkened, just leaving her and Scrooge in the spotlight. When the light came back, they were no longer in Scrooge's bedroom, but in a modest farmhouse.
Scrooge looked around in bewilderment. "This house. I haven't seen it in decades. This is where..."
"Where you and your family lived," said Sabine. At that point, a family came into the room. Scrooge seemed to particularly shocked to see a young opossum boy. The boy was the other son of the actor portraying Scrooge. He wasn't selected for this part just because there weren't many possum child actors, but also to make Scrooge's past self similar to Tim and make Scrooge identify with him more.
"That's me," said Scrooge in surprise.
"That was you," said Sabine, "These are just shades of the past. They cannot see or hear us and you cannot do anything to change the outcomes."
Scrooge watched as his past family have their Christmas dinner and open their presents. It was simple fare and the presents were cheap if not secondhand. And yet each member of the family was perfectly happy with what they have. "We...we were such simple country folk," said Scrooge, "We didn't have much. Just our farm and what we've been able to get from it."
"But you were happy then," said Sabine, "You didn't care you didn't have much because you still had each other."
"We could have had more," said Scrooge, "There were better ways to live than this."
"Yes, you certainly thought so then too," said Sabine, "Let's see how well that turned out."
The scene darkened and when it came, an older opossum was busy working on papers in his office. Eventually, the door opened and an older version of his sister walked through. The younger Scrooge held the papers down and said, "Close the door, Frannie. You're letting out the heat."
Frannie closed the door and said, "Ebenezer, you can't still be working. It's Christmas."
"Exactly," said the younger Scrooge, "And I've got less than a week to finish these reports before the year ends."
"Ebenezer, take a break from your work and celebrate with your family," said Frannie.
"Out of the question," said the younger Scrooge, "If I do, I'll lose too much progress. Simply not worth the setback."
"But you know our Ma and Pa don't have many Christmases left," said Frannie.
"They've had enough with me," said the younger Scrooge, "They can get along fine without me."
"But you haven't come back to the farm in-" started Frannie.
"Gone back? Why would I want to go back?" snapped the younger Scrooge, "Back to being considered a country bumpkin? A stupid varmint who doesn't know how to count? Do you have any idea how long it took me to rise above that image? And you want me to throw it away just for some stupid holiday?"
Frannie looked visibly hurt. "You didn't use to care about that," she said sadly.
"I didn't use to know I was poor and ignorant either," snapped Scrooge, "I suggest you learn to better yourself if you ever want to be anything better than a farmer!"
The scene darkened again, the older Scrooge looking shaken. "You don't know how difficult it is...to be the son of a farmer..."
"Is that really a great shame? To have humble origins?" asked Sabine, "You made something of yourself, but you lost so much doing so. The real tragedy is that you didn't see it as a loss then or the other times."
The next scene was a slightly older Scrooge working at his desk. He seemed annoyed when his phone rang and he answered, "Hello? Oh, Frannie. Yes, I'm still busy. No, I don't think I'll be over this year. Perhaps the next year. Look, I cannot leave this work to anyone. I know it's been a while, but you've seen me often enough. I'm sure the baby you're having will be fine. It hasn't been born yet, why would I want to see it? Look, I have other calls coming and I need to keep the line clear. I'll see you some time later. I don't know when, I'll have to check my schedule. Alright, goodbye." Scrooge hanged up and went straight back to work as if nothing happened.
"You never made time for her, even when it looked like she might not live past your nephew's birth," said Sabine as the scene grew dark again.
"There was never enough time," protested Scrooge.
"Time? You've always had time. You just chose not to waste it on people who would cut into your profit," said Sabine, "See how well it was wisely invested."
The scene was nearly identical to the last one, excepting the photo of Frannie on Scrooge's desk and an even more somber air than before. When the phone rang, Scrooge answered and said, "Look, I told you I won't be able to make it. It's just too busy. What do you expect me to do? Talk with the baby? Tell him how I knew his mother? He wouldn't even understand me. Look, it's just a waste of effort. When he's actually old enough to understand me, I'll come." He hung up without another word. He went right back to his work, only to pause a bit to look at Frannie's photo. After a moment, he put it face down and continued his work.
Scrooge was covering his face with shame as the scene darkened. "No more, spirit. No more."
"But it was such a wise business plan, wasn't it?" asked Sabine, her tone becoming sharper, "All that success and wealth. All it cost you was the family you had. You're lucky your nephew still thinks well."
"Please, I can't stand the sight of it," said Scrooge, "No more."
Sabine slithered off into the darkness. But as she went, she asked mockingly, "But aren't you proud of what you've done? It's what you who you are today." The scene brightened again to show Scrooge back in his bedroom, looking visibly shocked but trying to dismiss what he saw as another hallucination, but not so effectively.
==========
"Aren't you proud of what you've done? It's what made who you are today," said Sabine.
"Excuse me?" asked Heather with a growl.
"I'm just saying that you've had to go through a lot to redeem yourself, more than what Mary has to go through," said Sabine, "She has to earn her forgiveness, but that doesn't mean you should be that hard on her. And Jack has to suffer more than she does>"
"What?" asked Heather, sounding puzzled.
"Think of it. He got off because he was half-feral when hew as Subject Zero. But he still remembers what he did and the guilt was eating him up," said Sabine.
"He doesn't seem...that bad," said Heather hesitatingly.
"Because he's working on atoning for what he's done and had to earn Mary's real affections," said Sabine, "Neither of them are proud of what they were and they want to make up for it. And you, of all people, should appreciate people not getting on your case for what you're sorry for and not torment someone who's trying to make themselves a better person."
Heather let out a low growl, but she could see Sabine's point. If their positions had been reversed, Heather would have acted as desperately as Mary. And her tormenting Mary made her no better than the people who were crying out for her to be put down after she attacked Roland. Eventually, Heather sighed and said, "You're right, I should lighten up on Mary. You're a pretty good actress."
"I don't just spend my time at the Modeling School learning how to pose for Olay commercials," said Sabine.
"Speaking of Olay, what did they think of you acting in that play?" asked Heather.
"Who do you think partially sponsored for it?" asked Sabine.