October 1st
I found this book under my bed. I don't know how it got there. I thought it was going to be a storybook; but no, I open it up and it's empty! So many empty pages. So I guess I'll be filling them in with MY story…
Hello, I am Jack Skellington. If you were real, I wonder what your name would be. But if you were a person, I don't think you would be under my bed. Also, I would not be writing in (on?) you. That would be quite rude of me, I think.
I am the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown!
I think you can grasp what "Halloweentown" is just by its name. We plan Halloween here every year. We're the ones scaring you all night long! Screeches are musical here.
I don't think I will be writing to you much, at least this month, since it's October and that means Halloween is right around the corner.
But – if I may tell you a secret – I'm growing a bit weary of Halloween. Quite weary, actually. There's a hollow emptiness inside of me where the excitement of each passing holiday used to live. Screams are no longer my muse. Monsters and ghouls don't delight me as they used to. Of course, I could never tell that to the people of this town. They know nothing but Halloween. But is there more out there?
October 12th
Today I went over to Doctor Finklestein's so I could see how his contraptions for this year are coming along. They are quite terrifying – not to me of course. Hardly anything terrifies me. I know they will horrify the boys and girls out on Halloween, though. That's good, I suppose.
He was busy when I first arrived – one of his "projects", Sally, tended to me while I waited. She's very kind. I've known her for long time. One thing I like about her is how quiet she is. She's not kissing up to me like a lot of the other women here do. She's also a nice break from all the scary people here. She's not scary at all. This is a good thing!
October 25th
Halloween is only a few days away now and I'm not buzzing with excitement like I usually am this time of year. The rest of the town is, though. Every single home here is riddled with decorations and everyone's out and about all day plotting. I've been busy with The Mayor at Town Hall finalizing our plans and getting ready to put them into action. I wonder who will be the easily scared this year, and who will be tough to intimidate. The latter is always screaming by the end of the night!
November 13th
I'm sorry I did not write on Halloween! But I do have lots to tell you about!
Halloween night was okay, I suppose. It was definitely our most horrible Halloween yet. I even saw Sally out – she must have snuck away because The Doctor doesn't seem to like to come out for celebrations. So many bloodcurdling screams my ears are still ringing.
But, enough about Halloween! What I must tell you about is Christmas. It is this wonderful holiday, so different from Halloween! It's bright and happy and warm and joyful all at once – oh, my heart just leaps at the thought of it!
It is run by a man named Sandy Claws. He is fat and round and jolly. He brings presents to every boy and girl in the world – in one night! – depending on whether they were naughty or nice that year. What a kind old man to do something like this!
So, I have decided! Halloweentown will be running Christmas this year – with me as Sandy Claws, of course. I want all those girls and boys to think of me as something other than scary. Why, I can just imagine their happy faces when I hand them their presents…
It will be delightful to finally do something new here!
November 15th
Christmas is coming along wonderfully! Everyone's doing their share of the work, and getting it done quite fast! Christmas is December 25th – it's not far away at all! So we must get everything done by December 24th, also known as Christmas Eve when Sandy Claws brings all the presents to the boys and the girls. I'm so excited!
Sally warned me that this Christmas thing is a bad idea. She told me she had a vision and saw fire and disaster. That's not my Christmas! My Christmas will be full of joy. I think she is just worried about me, which is nice… but there's no reason. She is making my Sandy Claws outfit. She's a good seamstress. I can't wait to see the final product!
December 1st
Sorry I haven't written in a while. Time is ticking. It's the month of Christmas! 24 days! We are working very hard. The townsfolk each have a project. I saw my Sandy Claws outfit today. I love what Sally's done with it! The trim is so soft!
She warned me again about Christmas. I don't know why she's so worried; it'll all be fine. I'm absolutely ecstatic about this holiday! I cannot wait!
December 5th
Only a few weeks left. I must admit, I am growing tired of Sally's warnings. However, she is finishing up the top part of my Sandy Claws outfit and it is beautiful! As much as I am growing tired of her words I am enjoying watching her and the citizens work. I am envious of Sandy – he probably takes this for granted.
December 22nd
Only a few days!
Today Sally made the final adjustments to my Sandy Claws outfit. Then I tried it on! I looked very handsome, if I do say so myself. She told me again not to do this. She also jabbed me with a needle – on accident, of course. I wonder if she is just anti-Christmas.
The outfit is very comfortable. It is soft and warm. I hope we got it right. I tried to tell her what it looked like the best I could. She's a good listener, unlike most people in this town. She made the outfit exactly what I wanted it to look like.
Speaking of which, I finally met Sandy Claws today! Boogie's Boys Lock, Shock and Barrel (Why do they call them all "boys" when Shock is a girl, I wonder… she is a girl, right?) caught him and brought him over here. He was very surprised. I thought he would be. He let me borrow his hat. Like I said before, he is very kind. I told him I would be taking over this year so he should go on "vacation." Then Lock, Shock and Barrel took him somewhere to make him more comfortable. I am sure a sack is not very roomy at all for such a fat man.
December 23rd
Tomorrow I will be off! Sally warned me one last time to not go through with it. Even if I thought she was right there's not much I can do at this point. Everything is set and ready to go. I am very, very excited. Doctor Finklestein built my sleigh and reindeer, my clothes are all set, and I have my "ho, ho, ho" down to a T! If everything goes as planned I will be back in Halloweentown before dawn Christmas morning.
To think, just a few short weeks ago I was bored out of my skull. Now I am like my old self again! I have not felt this excited about anything in years! Oh… I think I must go make more decorations, I'm so excited!
December 26th
Have I got a story to tell you!
Christmas Eve was going along swimmingly until suddenly a fog sprang out of nowhere. I was distressed – I couldn't see two inches in front of me. Luckily, my dog Zero has a really shiny nose so he was able to step in and save the day! He led the sleigh. So I was off on my merry way. The first child I gave a present to woke up and was surprised when he saw me. Oh, you should have seen his face when I handed him his present! I handed out gifts for a few hours before I started hearing shooting. At first I thought they were firing off fireworks to thank us for doing such a great job! That sounded dangerous, though, especially when one nearly hit us.
Then another one almost hit us. And again.
They were aiming for us, I realized. They were NOT happy! Oh, what had I done! Or, I should say, what was I doing? I didn't know what I was doing was wrong then.
It also turns out that Boogie's Boys brought Sandy Claws to Oogie Boogie himself! Oogie Boogie is notorious for "gambling" away his victim's lives.
The whole town was watching me in the fountain crystal ball thing they had set up (still have no idea how they did that… we are not very tech-savvy here, unfortunately!) and cheering. Sally heard that the news casters saying the townspeople were angry about an "imposter" Sandy Claws (HMPH!). She went to go find him.
She did, and snuck in to try and rescue him by distracting him with her legs (I guess Sally has sexy legs! I never noticed before…). But Oogie Boogie caught her red-handed and tied her up with along with Sandy Claws!
Around this time one of the shots finally hit us. We tumbled to the ground into a graveyard. I can't even begin to tell you how horrible that felt. I was just trying to bring joy to everyone and I ended up ruining Christmas! I found out later everyone saw this and thought I was a pile of dust and bones. Please… you can't kill a Pumpkin King that easily!
I realized that I needed to save Christmas – I couldn't just leave it in ruins. So I scurried back to Halloweentown as fast as I could.
I snuck down to Oogie's lair, where I saw Lock, Shock and Barrel in a cage giggling as they watched through a window. I scared them away and then I looked in the mirror myself. Oh, my heart sinks as I think of my dear Sally's screams! I felt so horrible. But I ducked in and hid as Oogie began to pull the lever, which would dunk Sally and Sandy Claws in a huge pit of boiling stew…
I knew I had to be quick, so I swiftly jumped on and tossed Sally and Sandy to a safer place. Oogie, confused since he didn't hear a splash and one last scream, tore the lever back up. His face, I must confess, was quite comical when he saw me.
He used all his machines to shoot at me and dry to dice me up, but he "undid" himself when one of his strings caught onto a button and began to tear away. He jumped away, leaving the string dangling in front of my face. I pulled it and off came his potato sack material, revealing a now-naked pile of bugs. They shrieked as they fell into the pit below, and Sandy Claws squashed the last one with his foot.
I apologized profusely to him for ruining his holiday, but he grunted and told me to listen to Sally next time! Then he flew off to save Christmas. I stood there gravely until I felt Sally's hand on my shoulder.
"He'll fix things, Jack," she said with a small smile. "He knows what to do."
I asked her how she got down here. She blushed and wrung her hand, stuttering out, "I, uh, well, wanted to…"
"To help me," I realized.
"I couldn't just let you…" She turned away. I placed my hand on her shoulder.
I looked into her eyes and it hit me. She wanted to help me not because she was my friend or because she wanted to be the town hero, because she, well, loved me.
Loved me.
And I, my heart told me, loved her.
"Sally, I can't believe I never realized…" I began, before being interrupted by the shrieks of Mayor and Boogie's Boys.
The townsfolk were very happy to see me alive and well! They sang and cheered. Then, suddenly, a flurry of snow began to fall from the moonlit sky. I looked up to see Sandy Claws in his sleigh, waving and yelling, "Happy Halloween!" I hope that means he's forgiven me!
I watched as the town played and flourished in the fresh snow, until I saw Sally sneaking away quietly to the graveyard. Her face was sad.
I went to the gate and watched as she walked up Spiral Hill and sat in the snow, a Forget-Me-Not in her hand. Then I slipped in and called up to her. Her face lit up and she stood. I walked up the hill singing to her sweetly and enveloped her hands in mine.
Then, in the pale moonlight and cool air, I kissed her. And my heart leapt as she kissed me back.
She came home with me that night. I knew everything in Halloweentown had changed. They were more knowledgeable of the world surrounding us and knew not everyone loved tricks and being afraid; on Halloween maybe, but sometimes it's just not right. Christmas was an example.
Oogie Boogie is gone.
And, as far as I am concerned, they now have a new Pumpkin Queen.
I think I'm done writing in this for now. Maybe someday I'll pick it up again, but for now I want to relish my time with Sally and Zero, and start this new chapter in my life.
Also, I have Halloween plans to tend to!
The End. Written out of boredom at 1 in the morning. =P Hope you liked!