Scrooge awoke to find that even though he had gone to bed after two o'clock in the morning, it was somehow twelve. It seemed as though no time had passed, but in fact time had somehow gone in reverse. He realized the first apparition was scheduled to appear at one, so he sat up anxiously waiting for the bell to toll. When it did, his visitor appeared, right on schedule, looking young and literally glowing from a light that shone out of the top of its head. The spirit announced, "I am the Ghost of Christmas Past." Scrooge asked what that meant, and the ghost responded that it referred to Scrooge's past, then asked Scrooge to stand and follow. The ghost led Scrooge to the window, which Scrooge was afraid to step out of. The spirit assured Scrooge that touching the spirit's heart would allow Scrooge to travel safely along.

They magically journeyed to the place where Scrooge grew up. He was flooded with memories, which made him cry. He saw the school that he attended and remembered being left alone there. They then appeared before a large house where Scrooge had lived while at boarding school. Scrooge saw himself alone on Christmas reading the book Robinson Crusoe, and suddenly the characters seemed to come alive before him. It made Scrooge think of the boy who had come caroling at his house, and how perhaps he could have shared such a book with him.

Once again the scene magically transformed to a later Christmas at the same boarding house when Scrooge's sister ran in to tell him their father had decided that Scrooge could come home. Then time jumped again to the warehouse where Scrooge was an apprentice. His boss, Fezziwig, told him to pack up early because it was Christmas. Then the Fezziwigs proceeded to throw a tremendous party for all their friends and family where Scrooge enjoyed drinking and dancing. The ghost pointed out that it didn't cost the Fezziwigs much to make the people they knew so happy. It made Scrooge think of his own clerk, wishing he could talk to him at that moment.

They then jumped ahead in time to a conversation he had with a young girl. Clearly, he had once expressed feelings for this girl when they were both young and poor, but as his ambitions and wealth grew, the girl could see that she was no longer enough for him, still poor and without a dowry. Therefore, she released him from their contract to one another. This memory upset Scrooge so much that he asked the spirit to stop, but the spirit forced him to view one more scene. This time Scrooge was looking upon that same young girl who had become a mother and was in her house surrounded by many children. Her husband came home bearing Christmas presents, which caused all the children to rejoice and celebrate. Once they'd gone to bed, he told his wife how he had caught a glimpse of Scrooge earlier that day through his shop window, all alone. Scrooge couldn't stand to hear another word, and begged the spirit to make it stop. The spirit put a cap on, extinguishing much of the light coming from its head and as Scrooge pushed down the cap to put out the light, he found himself back in his bedroom and softly fell asleep.