God Bless Us, Every one: A Christmas Drabble

Leaning back, Bob Cratchit drew on his cigar and exhaled a wreathe of pungent, bluish smoke:

“Oh, course it was wonderful them first few years. Coal for the stove all winter, pay rises and fantastic Christmas bonuses, but then Mr Scrooge got rather carried away with ‘is philanthropy. Word soon got round ‘e was offerin’ the best terms to anyone, regardless o’ circumstance

Then there was the crash of 1852 when the sub-prime ‘ovel market collapsed. Luckily my lad Tim was just set up nice for the ‘ostile takeover, ‘ad Ebeneezer out by Christmas ‘53. We ain’t looked back since”