The Spirit didn't show him ghosts of his past. Instead, it touched the stone walls of the manor. Suddenly, the walls became transparent. Silas saw the town below. He saw the baker giving away the last loaf of bread to a family with less. He saw the widow Miller lighting a single candle for her late husband. "They are freezing," Silas muttered, his breath hitching.
It was a stone-cold Christmas, but as he dropped the first bundle of wood at a neighbor's door, Silas felt the first stirrings of a thaw. A Stone Cold Christmas
Silas sat in his manor, the hearth cold. He didn’t believe in wasting wood on warmth he didn't think he deserved. To Silas, Christmas was a ledger—a day where people spent money they didn't have to buy feelings that didn't last. The Spirit didn't show him ghosts of his past
The wind didn’t just blow in Oakhaven; it bit. It was Christmas Eve, but there were no glowing windows or sounds of caroling. The town was under the rule of Silas Vane, a man whose heart was rumored to be carved from the very granite of the mountain he lived upon. Silas saw the town below
He woke up on his floor, the morning sun reflecting off the frost on his windows. He wasn't transformed into a saint overnight, but the "stone" had a fissure in it. Silas walked to his woodshed, loaded a sled with every log he had, and began the long trek down the mountain.
"They are alive," the Spirit countered. "They crack, they bleed, and they heal. You, Silas, are merely preserved."