Disclaimer: I do not own The Nightmare Before Christmas or its characters. This was done purely for my enjoyment of writing it and for the non-profit reading enjoyment of others. No copyright infringement is intended
Sally's Creation
(A story based on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Chapter One
It was Halloween Night. As he watched the festivities go on in the macabre town far below him, Dr. Finklestein, the town's resident mad doctor, sighed.
He had been alone too long.
Sure, he had Igor, his hunchbacked assistant who lived with him and helped with his experiments. He was good company, but he had gone insane from being the guinea pig from one too many of the doctor's experiments. He spoke in the third person and was always cackling over something.
Igor just wasn't what the doctor needed in his life.
He needed the care of a woman.
Dr. Finklestein was growing old. In his eighties, he had long since lost the feeling in both legs, and never could stand up without assistance, due to his small feet. He was going blind. The black spectacles that he had made himself helped him see just enough to get through his day, perform his experiments, build his ingenious contraptions. Without the glasses, the doctor was almost completely blind. He needed the care of a female.
But in Halloween Town, there were no females to be had. The two resident witches, both almost as old as the doctor, were constantly occupied with their small shop, where they sold strange objects for magic spells and ingredients for different soups and potions.
There was a female creature similar to a mermaid, but she lived in the town's murky, swampy lake, swimming into the town fountain on special occasions. With her fish's tail, she would be of no help to him.
There was a Corpse Woman, but she had a Corpse Son, and the last thing the doctor wanted was the responsibility of a child. Besides, the Corpse Woman was married to the Corpse Man.
The doctor sighed again. He watched as the citizens of Halloween Town celebrated the holiday. The doctor almost never was part of the celebration. The only time he would be part of the celebration was if the Pumpkin King needed some scary contraption built.
Dr. Finklestein smiled to himself. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, was the most popular citizen of the town. He and the Mayor planned the festivities every year, and every celebration was superb because Jack had a really good knack for scaring people.
Jack was like a son to the doctor. He regularly visited him, and was always fascinated with the doctor's inventions. He even came to the doctor for some ideas for a really good Halloween.
Recently, though, the doctor began to think that maybe Jack was as lonely as he was. Jack was a bachelor skeleton who lived alone in a towering house in the middle of town. Even though Jack was handsome and popular among the citizens of their town, he never married. The doctor found that strange.
"Mashter?" said a voice from behind Dr. Finklestein. He turned his motorized wheelchair around and saw Igor in the doorway. He was holding the doctor's dinner, a bowl of his favorite Worm's Wort soup.
"Just set it on the table, Igor," the doctor said, gesturing towards the lab table.
"What is Mashter thinking, Igor wonders?" asked Igor, hobbling over to the lab table, looking at the doctor curiously.
"Oh, I was just thinking of how we need a woman's touch around here," Dr. Finkelstein said, sadly staring out the window. "Someone to care for me and to help you around the tower."
"No woman in town for Mashter?" asked Igor.
"None," said Dr. Finklestein. "I need a young woman, one old enough to care for me and do chores, but young enough so that I could consider her my daughter and teach her the ways of life."
"Why does Mashter not build woman then?" suggested Igor, the first sensible suggestion he'd had in a long while. "He got all parts, can bring her to life, happinessh for Mashter."
Now why didn't I think of that, The doctor wondered.
He had done it before. He'd brought life back to the Corpse Son's dead dog after it had been run over by the Mayor's car.
He wasn't so sure he could build a woman with all the parts of a living person (bones, organs, etc.) but he was certain that he could bring something like a dummy or a rag doll to walk, talk, think, feel for itself.
Chapter Two
The doctor got right to work. After finishing his bowl of Worm's Wort soup, he sent Igor into the forest surrounding Halloween Town to gather leaves. Because it was late fall, there would be plenty of dry leaves lying around. He then gave Igor instructions to buy plenty of thread from the Witches' Shop, thread that was sturdier than normal sewing thread. He warned Igor not to tell anyone what they were planning to create, for the doctor would reveal her when she was ready.
After Igor had left, the doctor began to sketch his woman out. He couldn't actually begin to create her just yet; the leaves and thread were the most crucial things for his creation. On his sketchpad, the doctor drew out a tall lady, in her twenties, with a beautiful face, and a sturdy body, great for physical labor. The doctor's favorite feature of his lady was her hair, which he had decided would be red and would cascade down her back like a waterfall.
The doctor looked at the sketch of his woman, and his tired old face softened. Oh, she was going to be beautiful. He loved her already.
But what was he to name her? Oh, well. There would be plenty of time for that.
Meanwhile, Igor hobbled through Halloween Town, heading for the cemetery. With the celebrations over, most citizens had gone home. Here and there a citizen stood, either talking with someone else, or just enjoying the clear Halloween night. The citizens called out to Igor as he passed by. They wanted to know what Igor was up to, as he rarely left the tower.
Of course, he didn't tell them what the doctor had planned. The doctor had given him strict orders not to tell anyone.
Soon, Igor reached the gate that led into the town cemetery and stepped through it. He soon found himself on the edge of Halloween Town Cemetery, one of the main features of the town. The sloping hills stretched out for several acres. Old tombstones peppered the cemetery, coming up out of the dirt like crooked old teeth.
Spiral Hill stood opposite of Igor. Spiral Hill was the only way to get into the woods surrounding the cemetery. He had to climb up it and let the hill's spiral uncurl so he could get into the woods.
True, not too many people had gone into the woods. The resident werewolf lived in those woods, and he was prone to attack anyone who strayed across his path. The werewolf was harmless during the day, but at night he tended to give in to his animal instincts.
The only one who would go into the woods was Jack Skellington. Like everyone else in town, Igor greatly idolized Jack.
Just then, Igor heard a howling not too far from where he stood. With amazing speed, Igor quickly gathered four large sackfuls of dried leaves, more than enough for the Doctor's creation. He then scuttled as fast as he could back up Spiral Hill and bolted through the cemetery, heading back to the town.
Once through the Main Gate, Igor leaned against it, panting, clutching the sacks full of leaves. All he needed to do now was to get the thread from the Witches' Shop, as it was called in town. The thread they sold there was used for sewing thicker things together, like burlap or some other heavy material. For
Dr. Finklestein, the thread was going to be used to sew the woman together.
Igor started to make his way to the shop when he heard a splashing sound. He looked up and saw the mermaid-like creature staring at him from the town fountain. The creature looked more like the Creature From the Black Lagoon, but everyone called her the Undersea Gal.
"Happy Halloween, Igor," the Undersea Gal said softly. She flicked her fish's tail, splashing fountain water. "What business brings you out into this night?"
"Igor cannot say," Igor said defiantly. "Igor promished Mashter Igor wouldn't tell."
"A secret, huh?" the Undersea Gal purred. "I love secrets."
She looked directly into Igor's eyes. She may have been a hideous creature, but she still had the hypnotic powers of a mermaid. Igor quickly looked away.
"Shorry," Igor said, backing away. "Igor promished."
"Promised what?" asked another female voice.
Igor turned around and saw the Corpse Mother, and her husband and son. The Corpse Mother was a fat, bespectacled woman with tears in her dress, the Corpse Father was a thin, balding man, and their son was a bald, chubby child. His eyes were sewn shut, but somehow he managed to see where he was going. As usual, a leather leash was around his neck, the other end in the hand of the Corpse Mother.
"Igor is hiding something from us," the Undersea Gal said. "The doctor has something planned that Igor's been forbidden to tell us of."
"Igor not hiding!" Igor shouted. "Igor must go now. Must get to Witch Shop to get thread for Mashter's creation."
"Creation?" drawled another voice in a Transylvanian accent. "Vhat creation?"
Igor looked up and saw the Vampire Brothers coming towards them. A crowd soon began to form as the Evil Clown pedaled up on his unicycle, as the Cyclops was dragged over by Mr. Hyde, as Behemoth, the dead lumberjack who spent his days working in the Halloween Town pumpkin patch, waddled over.
All too soon, what seemed like the whole town was crowded around Igor.
"Come, Igor," said Mr. Hyde. "What is the doctor making?"
"Igor cannot say!" Igor moaned, his head in his hands. "No bishcuit for Igor if he tell!"
The townsfolk grinned slyly at each other. They knew what spell needed to be cast to get Igor to cave, and he had said the magic words. Biscuit.
Bone biscuits were a popular snack in town, and Igor's favorite food. They were in the shape of bones, and were made of sort of a thick cracker. Dr. Finklestein usually gave Igor bone biscuits as rewards, and the townsfolk knew that they could also be used to bribe Igor.
"Iiii-gooor," the Corpse Son called in a singsong voice. He pulled a bone biscuit, his last one, out of his pocket and held it out to Igor. "I'll give you this if you tell us."
Igor looked longingly at the biscuit, and, his mouth watering, was in the agony of decision. Finally, he caved. Nothing was worth the torture of not having a bone biscuit. He grabbed the biscuit out of the boy's hand and began to munch it hungrily.
"Mashter ish building a woman," Igor said between bites. "A woman to help him. Igor is gathering leaves for woman, and Mashter ish putting her together with thread."
Everyone was shocked. Building a person was something the doctor had never done. None of them could wait to see how this woman turned out.
Igor, ashamed of himself for telling, quickly got away from the crowd, bought several spools of thread from the Witches' Shop and bolted back to the doctor's tower.
He wasn't going to tell Dr. Finklestein he had told. It wouldn't do anything but make him angry, and it wasn't a good thing to get the doctor angry. Being locked in his room several times for as long as a day had proven that to Igor.
Chapter Three
Several days later, the Great Day had come.
It was time to bring life to Dr. Finklestein's woman.
He had spent the last week working almost nonstop in his laboratory, constructing a metal frame skeleton, sewing the woman's artificial, yet genuine-feeling skin over the frame, and then finally stuffing it with leaves, making the woman look as though she had muscles. When not doing the bodywork, he had constructed a head, putting a real brain inside a real skull.
Finally the woman was finished.
"Igor!" Dr. Finkelstein excitedly called from the lab. "It's time!"
Igor then hobbled into the room and over to the table next to which the doctor sat, and on which the woman lay. Igor, peering through his good, saw the finished woman for the first time.
She was a carbon copy of what the doctor sketched out. Crudely made, but still beautiful. The woman had long red hair, full red (crooked) lips, perfect legs, and long eyelashes.
However, the doctor had not done a very neat job sewing. The woman was covered in crooked, disfiguring blue stitches. Stitches went up and down her legs and arms, and criss-crossed her beautiful face. The stitches that held together her right arm were not even with the stitches that were in the same places on her left arm.
With her patchwork dress, black-and white-striped socks, and small black shoes, the woman really did look like a life-size rag doll.
"Oh, Mashter!" Igor cried. "She ish beautiful!"
The doctor smiled for the first time in a while. "I know she is. She's perfect."
"Hash Mashter decided on a name for woman?" Igor asked. "Mashter should give woman a name."
"Yes, Igor," the doctor said. "I've decided to call her Sally."
"Pretty name!" Igor said. "Perfect name for Mashter's perfect woman."
Again, the doctor smiled. "And now it's time to bring her to life."
Excited, Igor bounced up and down. He knew what to do.
On the ceiling in the middle of the room, just above the table where Sally lay, were two large orbs that produced mass amounts of electricity. When a lever was pulled, huge bolts of electricity would come out of the orbs and go down into the table, bringing life to whatever was on it. Dr. Finklestein had used the electricity to bring Corpse Boy's dog back to life, and he would use it to give Sally a life of her own.
The doctor positioned himself by the table.
"Ready, Igor?" the doctor called.
"Yesh, Mashter," Igor called from the machinery on the other side of the room.
Dr. Finklestein counted backward from ten, and then brought his arm down, giving Igor the signal to pull the lever. With a grin, Igor pulled the lever down.
The effect was instantaneous. Large, pale blue crackles of lightning came out of the orbs and went down into the lab table. Sally's body began to spasm as electrical currants went through it. Dr. Finklestein, overcome with the emotions of power and happiness, miraculously stood up in his wheelchair in an "It's alive!" pose. The electrical currant then stopped when Igor pulled the lever upwards a few minutes later.
The room was silent as Dr. Finklestein and Igor watched the still body on the table.
Just then, one of the fingers on the body twitched. The doctor looked on in shock.
"Ish she alive, Mashter?" Igor asked quietly as he came over.
The doctor didn't answer. He continued to stare down at Sally as her hand moved slightly.
Just then, her big eyes flew open.
"She's alive!!!" the doctor cackled in triumph.
Sally blinked several times, taking in her strange surroundings as she moved her head. The doctor looked down at her, and gently took one of Sally's hands into his black-gloved ones.
"My dear?" the doctor gently asked. "Can you hear me?"
"Y-y-yes," Sally stammered. The doctor melted. Her voice was soft and beautiful. "Where am I? Who are you?"
"Sally, I am your father, the man who made you, Dr. Finklestein." The doctor gestured towards Igor, who was approaching the table, wide-eyed. "This is Igor, my assistant. He helped create you."
"Create me?" Sally asked.
"Yes, you're created of artificial skin, a metal body frame, and leaves, sewn together with thread. You are a living rag doll. My daughter." Dr. Finklestein explained.
With the sound of leaves crackling, Sally raised herself in a sitting position. She looked around at the laboratory with wide eyes.
"What is this place?" she asked.
"My laboratory. Your home," said the doctor.
"Home," Sally said to herself. Very carefully, she swung her legs over the side of the table and looked down at them. She looked surprised when she saw her stitches. She then heaved herself off the table and onto the floor. Unsteady on her legs, Sally crashed to the hard metal floor.
"Easy, my dear!" Dr. Finklestein said kindly, wheeling over to her. Igor came over to her and helped her to her feet. "You have just been built. You need to get used to walking."
Holding her hand, Igor led her around the room as Sally took uneasy steps. Finally, she began to walk on her own, her steps still unsteady and slow.
"You'll be all right, my dear," said the doctor. "It takes time getting used to. Igor will show you your room. I'll check on you in a minute."
"Come, Shally," Igor said excitedly.
Sally uncertainly looked back at the doctor, and he nodded to her. Sally then followed Igor out of the room, following him down a winding ramp staircase. As they passed different rooms, Sally looked each and saw hideous half-finished creations, and several inventions that looked almost finished.
"Thish one'sh yoursh," Igor lisped, pulling over a heavy metal door.
Sally stepped into the room. It had a huge window with a great view, but other than that, the room wasn't much of anything. A bookshelf with some books stood in a corner. A hard-looking bed with a threadbare blanket sat across from it. An unusual-looking sewing machine sat next to the window. A shelf holding bottles of liquids sat above a table next to the sewing machine.
Looking around, Sally stepped into the room and sat on the bed.
"Good-night, Shally," Igor said as he left. "The mashter will come to shee you shoon."
Igor left, leaving Sally alone. She sat on the bed, and looked at her surroundings again. She wondered why she was with the doctor. The doctor made her for a reason. What was it?
Her answer came a few minutes later. The room's heavy metal door creaked open, and Sally looked up as Dr. Finklestein wheeled himself into the room.
"Well, my dear," he said. "I've come to say good-night. Is there anything you need?"
"Yes," Sally said. "I do have one question. Why did you build me? What's my purpose?"
The doctor paused, trying to find the right words. He could tell Sally was a sensitive person, and he didn't want to bluntly tell her that the reason for her existence was to wait on him.
"My dear," he began. "I'm growing old. My sight is going, and what little strength I have goes into my work and moving around. I have no wife, no companions except for Igor. As you may have noticed, he's not all there. I built you because I wanted a real companion, a sensitive woman who can take care of what I can't. You were not made to be my servant, but my daughter. Do you understand, Sally?"
"Yes, I think I do," Sally said, looking down at the hard metal floor. "I hope I don't disappoint you."
"You won't, my dear," the doctor said. "You won't disappoint me. I'm just pleased with the fact that you're alive, you're here. Well, goodnight, my dear. I show you around the tower tomorrow morning, and Igor will show you how to cook and sew. I know you'll be a natural at sewing."
He smiled at her, and then left the room. He shut the door behind him.
Sally, not feeling at all tired, got up and went to her window. Looking down, she was shocked to see the town below. Excitement flooded through her. She couldn't wait to explore the town.
A light suddenly went on in the house across from the tower. Sally looked up and saw that the house was a thin structure. It seemed to Sally that the front door was on the ground level, and a person would have to climb a long flight of stairs to reach the house, which was the circular structure that was eye-level with Sally.
A person appeared in the window across from Sally. Sally, looking closely, realized that the person was a very tall, very thin skeleton wearing beige striped pajamas. As Sally realized just how handsome the skeleton was, a warm, bubbly feeling went through her body. Sally had fallen in love.
She didn't know who this handsome person was, but she'd ask the doctor tomorrow morning. Kicking off her black shoes, Sally slid under the threadbare blanket and fell asleep, dreaming of the handsome stranger.
For the next few weeks, the doctor kept Sally busy with her training. Igor showed her the laboratory's kitchen and within days, she could make Worm's Wort soup better than Igor.
In her room, she could not keep her hands on her sewing machine, always trying out new sewing patterns. She was constantly mending the doctor's clothes and any tears that Igor's might've sustained.
With all her household duties, Sally still hadn't gone into town, or "Halloween Town" as the doctor called it. She had only set foot out of the tower to collect any herbs that she needed for her soups and potions, and that wasn't beyond the high stone walls that surrounded the tower.
She asked Dr. Finklestein why she wasn't allowed outside. He had said that she wasn't ready.
Sally started to become restless.
She wanted so badly to go beyond the walls surrounding the tower. While in the doctor's dying garden, she could hear the voices of the Halloween Town citizens gossiping to one another. She didn't understand the gossip, but longed to meet the people who she would listen to.
She would just have to wait until she was "ready", as the doctor put it.
A few days later, Sally was in the kitchen, making soup for the doctor. She wanted to make a different flavor for him. She knew the Worm's Wort recipe by heart.
Sally pulled a cookbook off the shelf and began to flip through it. It wasn't long before she spotted a recipe that the doctor would surely love: Frog's Breath.
The recipe said to add various herbs and spices to any kind of broth, and then add the breath of a frog as the soup simmered.
That sounded easy, and tasty.
Sally rummaged around the kitchen cupboards for her herbs and spices. She sprinkled them into the cauldron. The hot broth's scent drifted up to her nose. She smiled. The bat-based broth surely did smell good.
She reached up, opened a cup, and took out a jar. Sally untwisted the cap and looked down into the jar. A pair of jewel-bright eyes stared back up at her from the bottom of the can.
Sally put a hand inside the jar and pulled out the live frog, one of the ones that the doctor bred on the lab grounds. She positioned the frog over the cauldron and gently squeezed it. It opened its mouth and out spewed a green smog of breath.
Oh, it smelled terrible. Sally doubled over and began to cough. The frog fell from her hand and hopped away.
Eyes watering, Sally straightened up and looked into the cauldron. The broth had become thick and turned pea-green. The soup gave off the smell of a algae-filled pond. Sally's stomach cramped at the smell. Oh, the doctor would surely hate this.
Sally looked back at the recipe, hoping that the recipe would contain some ingredient that would take away the pond smell. She looked down at the bottom of the page and saw a footnote: See "Deadly Nightshade, pg. 102".
Sally flipped to page 102. She read the caption aloud.
"Sleeping Soup."
As she read through the recipe, Sally realized this would solve at least two problems: it would make that travesty of a soup taste actually pleasant, and it would make the doctor go into a deep sleep, allowing Sally to slip outside and explore the town.
The key ingredient was a plant called Deadly Nightshade, a poisonous plant that Sally remembered picking earlier that day, at the time thinking that it may come in handy for some potion.
Sally pulled the jar of crushed Nightshade out of a cupboard and carefully poured a certain amount into the cauldron. Instantaneously, the soup bubbled and simmered, but stayed that same shade of green. Through the steam issuing from the cauldron, Sally thought she saw the misty image of a skull.
"Sally! Is dinner ready, dear?" Dr. Finklestein called from upstairs.
"Coming, doctor!" she called back.
Picking up a wooden ladle, Sally spooned some of the Frog's Breath/Nightshade concoction into a cracked soup bowl. She set the bowl and a spoon onto the tray. She picked up the tray and carried it up to the doctor's laboratory. On the trip up, Sally thought that the soup smelled like Worm's Wort.
"Dinner's ready," Sally called, pushing her way into the room. The doctor was sitting at the lab table, tinkering with a strange metal contraption.
"Mmmm!" the doctor said. He set down his tools and adjusted his wheelchair as Sally set the tray down in front of him. "What's this, my dear? This looks different."
"It's Frog's Breath, Doctor." Sally said.
"Frog's Breath? That's sounds tasty."
Sally watched as the doctor picked up the spoon and dipped it into the soup. She couldn't wait to see Dr. Finklestein go out like a light.
The doctor put the spoon in his mouth. Sally knew something was wrong when the doctor's eyes widened. In disgust, Dr. Finklestein dropped the spoon and spat the soup onto the metal floor.
"What's wrong, Doctor?" Sally asked, alarmed.
"What in the world is in that soup?" the doctor asked, spitting and coughing. "Is Deadly Nightshade in that soup?"
" Um, yes, sir. A couple of tablespoons. I thought it would make a nice flavoring "
"Foolish girl!" the doctor yelled, grabbing Sally's arm. "That plant is poisonous in such a large dose! Do you want to kill me?"
"I-I'm sorry," Sally stammered. Frightened, she tried to tug her arm out of his grasp. For such an old man, Dr. Finklestein had a vice-like grip. Her arm didn't budge.
"Come to me, Sally," the doctor said softly. "I want you to taste this. Maybe that will help you to make it right next time."
"Let go!" Sally cried. "Let me go!"
Sally pulled on her arm as the full soup spoon came closer to her mouth.
Suddenly, there was a metal clink and a ripping sound. Sally felt her arm go slack.
She looked down. Her arm was still in the doctor's grip, but the stitches holding it to her upper arm had strained and broke. Her arm had parted company with the rest of her body. Dead leaves began to seep out of the open "wound".
Now free, one word echoed through Sally's head: Run.
And run she did. Sprinting from the room, she ran down the ramp stairway at such a speed that the doctor couldn't have ever caught her.
"Come here, you foolish girl!" the doctor yelled after her.
Sally didn't answer. Reaching the front door, she pulled it open with her remaining hand and ran out into the night.
Cool night air met her. The wind blew her red hair behind her as she ran to the gate at the front of the property. She dashed through it and shut it behind her.
Sally leaned against the gate, panting. The doctor had never gotten that angry before, and now she'd be in even more trouble for running away.
"Do you need help, dearie?"
Sally looked up and saw two witches, one tall and one short, standing in front of her. They both were holding oddly-shaped packages.
"Goodness me!" said the taller witch, the one who had spoke. She had gray flyaway hair and a long, warty nose. "This cannot be!"
"What is it?" the other croaked. A little younger than her comrade, she had black hair and a small round stub of a nose that was just as warty.
"This is the doctor's creation!" the tall witch said. "The young woman Igor had told us about!"
"You're right!" The smaller witch stood on tiptoes in order to look into Sally's bright eyes. "The doctor did a wonderful job."
The tall witch took Sally's hand into her own. "Welcome to Halloween Town," she said kindly. She then noticed Sally's missing arm. "My child, where is your arm?"
"Um…um…"
"I wouldn't be surprised if the doctor has it," the small witch said. "The poor girl's trembling. She must've had a fight with the doctor. A terrible temper he has."
"Please don't tell him I'm out here," Sally begged.
"Of course, dear," the tall witch said. "You'll return when you feel ready. Well, we must be off. Good night, dear, and good luck to you."
Together, the witches hobbled away. Sally watched them disappear into the shadows.
"Sally? Where are you?"
Sally heard the doctor's voice coming from the tower. Terrified he would find her, Sally sprinted away towards an elaborately-carved gate to her right and slipped through it.
She kept running. She didn't stop until her legs gave out and she collapsed onto a patch of dead grass. Panting, she looked up at her surroundings. Her mouth fell open in shock.
She was just outside the gate of a large cemetery. Slowly standing, Sally pushed open the gate. It swung forward with a rusty creak. She stepped into the Halloween Town graveyard.
"Wow," Sally mouthed to herself. She had never imagined such an amazing, secluded place.
Sally began to walk among the graves, most of them very old. Many of the stones were large, with some sort of demon or scary face on top. Many of the graves said "R.I.P."
Sally sank down beside one large grave and began pushing dead leaves back up into her shoulder. It was amazing to be out in town, finally, but she knew that she had done wrong by running away from her creator. Going back would be the best thing to do right now.
Sally looked up and gasped. A huge hill hovered in front of her, the end of it shaped like a spiral. Pushing herself to her feet, Sally walked over the base of the hill, her black shoes clicking against the cobblestone path.
She soon found herself at the top of the hill, and saw she had a view of the entire cemetery. She could see the lights of the town beyond the boundaries of the cemetery.
Fascinated, Sally walked to the curve of the spiral. To her amazement, the spiral uncurled, giving her a walkway that led into the woods beyond the cemetery. Curious, Sally followed the path down into the woods. With any luck, she'd end up in a completely different world.
All she met was dark dense woods. Her skin began to prickle. She suddenly didn't feel safe.
Suddenly, she heard a growl coming from in front of her. Eyes wide, Sally backed away as a dark shape came out of the shadows. It was a werewolf. He wore a torn plaid shirt and had long sharp teeth.
"Ah, fresh meat," the werewolf growled, not taking his eyes off of Sally.
"Excuse me," Sally squeaked, terrified.
"No human or demon comes into these woods past dark," the beast growled. "This is my territory."
"I'm very, very sorry," Sally said. "I'll just…..leave."
"Don't go," the wolf-man said. "I'd love a toy to play with."
With a roar, he dove at her. Sally shrieked and bolted back through the woods, the werewolf in hot pursuit. While she could run fast, he could run faster. With the werewolf snapping at her heels, Sally ran up Spiral Hill and down into the graveyard.
Soon, her shoe hit one of the smaller graves. With a shriek, she fell flat and slid forward. She turned around quickly and saw the werewolf charging at her. She raised her remaining arm in front of her, her only protection. She felt the werewolf's claws snag on the stitches on her arm and felt leaves leak out through the open skin. Sally raised one foot and attempted to kick the werewolf away, but Sally felt the stitches pop when they made contact with the werewolf's other paw. Sally raised her ripped arm and waited for the wolf to rip her to shreds.
Just then, Sally heard another roar, and felt her attacker back off. She heard the wolf whimper and heard its footsteps on the dead grass as it backed away. Taking advantage of this, Sally stood up and staggered to a large grave a good twenty feet away.
"Sorry, Jack, so sorry," she heard the werewolf stammer.
"Be gone," a voice said. "We don't come into your woods, and you don't come into ours."
"Again, so sorry, Jack, it will never happen again." the werewolf said, clearly groveling.
Sally heard the werewolf run off.
"Good riddance," the voice said. "What goes through his head sometimes, I'll never know."
She heard footsteps coming toward her. Fearing she would be caught, Sally crawled to another grave, hoping the stranger wouldn't spot her. Trembling, she pulled her knees up to her chest and prayed for the stranger to leave.
"Are you all right, Miss?"
Sally jumped and looked up. In shock, she simply stared at her rescuer. It was the handsome skeleton she'd seen the night she was created. The skeleton knelt down beside Sally and smiled at her.
"Don't mind the werewolf," he said. "He's harmless most of the time. But at the full moon…… well, you should stay away from him."
Sally gaped at the skeleton. Up close, he was even more handsome. Sally felt that bubbly feeling her stomach again. She smiled awkwardly up at him. He stood up and held out a bony hand. Sally took it and felt him pull her up.
"I'm Jack," said the stranger. "Jack Skellington."
"My name is Sally," Sally stuttered.
"Sally? That's a beautiful name," Jack said kindly. He did not let go of her hand. "Do you want me to walk you back to the doctor?"
"How did you-?" Sally asked as they walked back through the cemetery.
"Dr. Finklestein's been talking about you constantly. He's so proud of you." He smiled at her. "I've been wanting to meet you. The whole town has."
"The whole town?"
"Oh, yes. The doctor has never created a person before." He paused, studying her. "He did a wonderful job."
Sally blushed. They walked back towards the tower in silence. When they reached the tower gate, Sally paused at the door. Jack gripped her hand tighter.
"It'll be all right," Jack said. "Just come with me."
Sally let Jack lead her up to the tower. She looked up at the lab window. The light was still on.
Jack reached the door and knocked on it. The door immediately opened to reveal Dr. Finklestein. Sally's arm lay in his lap. He looked relieved when he saw Sally.
"Oh, my dear, thank goodness you're safe," the doctor exclaimed. "And thank you, Jack, for finding her and bringing her back to me."
"It was no trouble at all, Doctor," Jack said. "This is quite an amazing young woman you've made."
Sally smiled at him, the bubbly feeling intensifying.
"I quite agree," the doctor turned to Sally. "Sally, why don't you go up to the lab and wait for me to come up? I'll help you with your arm."
Reluctantly, Sally let go of Jack's hand and walked up the ramp, smiling to herself the whole away.
About ten minutes later, the doctor wheeled himself into the lab. Sally stood by the lab table.
"Onto the other table, my dear," Dr. Finklestein said.
Sally lay on the narrower table in the corner of the room. This table had body straps on it and could be tilted.
"I'm sorry for shouting, Sally," the doctor said, tightening the straps over Sally's body, binding her to the table. "You didn't know any better."
"I'm sorry,"
"It's all right," the doctor said. He pulled a spool of blue thread out of his pocket and strung it through the head of a needle. "From now on, just realize that Deadly Nightshade is for more potent potions and such."
"Yes, sir."
Dr. Finklestein began to sew Sally's arm back. She watched as the needle wove in and out of her skin. She wanted to watch him so she'd be able to do it herself if she were to ever fall to pieces again.
"So you met the Pumpkin King," the doctor said after awhile.
"The Pumpkin King?"
"That's Jack Skellington's nickname," the doctor said. "He can scare the life out of anyone. He and the Mayor always plan the Halloween celebrations every year. He's greatly idolized."
"I can see why," Sally said.
"Jack seems to have taken a liking to you," the doctor said.
"Really?" Sally asked, trying not to sound to eager.
"Yes," the doctor said. "He wants you to participate in next Halloween's celebration. He and the Mayor have already planned it out."
"Oh, may I do it?" Sally asked excitedly.
"Oh, I don't know, my dear," the doctor said sadly. "October's really not that far away, and I think that you should stay home anyway. You're not really fit for that kind of excitement. Well, there you go, Sally."
With her arm now firmly back on and the ripped stitches repaired, Dr. Finklestein undid the straps binding Sally to the table. She stood up and flexed the hand of the newly sewn-on arm.
"Now, off to bed, Sally. It's been a long night for all of us."
"Yes, sir," Sally said. She walked to the laboratory door and began to walk down the ramp.
"Good-night, Sally."
"Good-night, Doctor."