Dream a Little Nightmare
By: Laney Sanchez
Synopsis: About five years later things are back to being as normal as things can be in Halloween town. Jack and Sally now have one child (courtesy of Dr. Finkelstein): Poe. While doing a routine scare on Halloween, something goes terribly wrong that could possibly tear Halloween Town apart forever. Now it is up to Jack, Sally and Poe to save the day.
( \/ ) Chapter One ( \/ )
o The Plan o
"Jack!"
"One moment, one moment!" Jack Skellington cried, sifting through his black bag. It had to be here somewhere! Where was it?
"Jack, I beg of you! The crowd is getting restless!" a familiar, panicked voice rang throughout the room.
As if on cue, Jack pulled a long roll of dirty parchment from his bag. "Aha!" Just the item he had been searching for. His skeletal face lit up among the shadows of the room.
"Did you find it?" a younger voice floated over, riding on the wind.
Jack peered over to the younger voice that had addressed him. He smiled widely, quite pleased with himself. "Yes, I did as a matter of fact," he said with a smirk, triumphantly holding up the parchment. The younger voice belonged to that of a younger skeleton. In fact, it looked like a miniature version of Jack himself, minus the striped suit which was replaced by one similar, yet all black with a small pumpkin brooch.
He smiled widely at his son, Poe. "Yes, this year you'll learn the TRUE art of scaring, my boy!"
"JAAAACK!" the Mayor's deep voice bellowed from beyond the door. Poe shot the door a look of annoyance. He didn't care for the Mayor of Halloween town. Not one little bit. In Poe's opinion, he was a short, incapable, stupid little ghoul. Poe realized that his father had been watching him. He promptly snapped out of his reverie. "Let's go before he falls apart..."
Jack nodded and ushered his son toward the door with one bony hand on his shoulder. Jack opened the door and the Mayor almost lunged at Jack. "Jack, please tell me you have it! PLEASE tell me you have the plan! You've got the whole town in suspense and I'm not sure how much longer I can keep them calm!!"
"Relax!" Jack said with a chuckle. "Everything is right here..." he said with a small pat to the parchment. He held it down so the Mayor could see it.
The Mayor's eyes widened as if it were a precious stone. "Fabulous! You always come through Jack!"
"Are we leaving now?" Poe interjected, his annoyance growing by the minute. The Mayor looked over as if surprised to see him. "Ah, nice to see you again Poe! That suit is quite slimming on you!"
Poe gave him a look that was not unlike that you give somebody who has proved themselves to be an idiot by stating the obvious.
"Ah yes, time to go, time to go!" The Mayor said before Poe could respond. The Mayor quickly ushered out Jack and Poe. As the pair left the confines of their home, Poe began mentally prepping himself for yet ANOTHER Halloween which was sure to be like last.
***
"This is so boring!" Lock whined, sitting atop a low stone hedge with his short little legs dangling and kicking over the side.
"There's nothing to do..." Shock agreed, futzing with her hat, then twirling one lock of scraggly off color hair.
"This year, we could replace the candy with spiders!" Barrel, the smallest of the devious trio, suggested. He looked to his fellow comrades for support.
"We did that that the year before last, but with roaches..." Shock replied, not at all thrilled by Barrel's lame suggestion. Barrel seemed to ponder further, probing his own mind for possible solutions. "Well, okay! I know! We stick snails in kids' hair!"
"Snails are boring!!" Lock griped.
"Dead man's toes?" Barrel suggested.
"Their dead! What fun are those?!" Shock screeched, slapping Barrel upside his round little head. Lock shook his head. "You're so dumb..." he muttered giving Barrel a sour look out of the corner of his eyes.
"I am not!" Barrel shot back, rubbing his head.
"Shut up! You're not helping me think!" Shock snapped at the two, who promptly shut up. "We need to do something that EVERYONE will notice. Something that will cause lots of trouble!"
"How about we feed the Mayor to the Griffin!?" Lock suggested, rather enthusiastically.
"No."
Barrel looked over. "We could go visit the place where we found that big bunny lookin' thing! Then REALLY mess stuff up there!"
"No! Stop giving suggestions!"
Lock and Barrel then made nasty faces at Shock. Shock whipped her head over in their direction and they sat there whistling and twiddling their thumbs.
"I got it! We-no...too small time. Or maybe we could..." Shock considered to herself, hopping off the hedge. She failed to notice the reminiscent look upon Lock's face.
"You know, I didn't like him much but things were a lot more interesting with Oogie around..." Lock muttered. Barrel solemnly shook his head in agreement.
At that, Shock lifted her head slowly and her dark eyes lit up. An idea had hit, and it had hit hard. "That's it..." she whispered with an evil snicker.
"Yeah, but he smelled!" Barrel said, making a rather disgusted face. Lock nodded. "And he was mean..."
"And-"
"THAT'S IT!! HEEHEEHEE!" Shock shouted, giggling with pure glee. Lock and Barrel fell off the hedge from the surprise of her shout.
"What's it?" Barrel asked from the ground behind the hedge.
"Think about it! Things WERE more interesting with Oogie around, remember?"
"Uhh...yeah but Oogie's gone..." Lock said, crawling out from behind the hedge. Shock shot him a glare. "Of course he is stupid! That's why we're going to bring him back!"
"We are?" Lock asked, confused. "Wow!" Barrel commented, crawling out as well. "Yes, it's just what this town needs. Besides, think about it! You really think that he wouldn't be grateful?"
"Well, maybe..." Barrel considered, put a small finger to his toothy mouth. Lock pushed him out of the way. "Yeah!! Maybe he'll be so happy, he'll reward us!"
"It could happen...!" Shock said, leaning in.
"We'll make this Halloween REALLY scream!" Shock declared, giggling once again. Lock joined her in her snicker fit, but Barrel still seemed confused. "What about Jack?" he asked and gave a slight little tremble.
"What Jack doesn't know won't hurt him," Shock said casually as though Jack were no one of importance. "Yeah!" Lock chimed in, grinning deviously and slipping on his familiar red faced mask. "Besides, by the time anyone finds out, it'll be too late!"
"So this will work!?" Barrel asked, starting to join in with the others' excitement. Shock slapped him upside the head once more. "Of course it will! And it will be the best Halloween ever!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Lock proclaimed, jumping up.
"Yeah!"
"To Oogie's manor!" Shock shouted, thrusting one finger forward to the distance. The plan had been set.
By: Laney Sanchez
Synopsis: About five years later things are back to being as normal as things can be in Halloween town. Jack and Sally now have one child (courtesy of Dr. Finkelstein): Poe. While doing a routine scare on Halloween, something goes terribly wrong that could possibly tear Halloween Town apart forever. Now it is up to Jack, Sally and Poe to save the day.
( \/ ) Chapter One ( \/ )
o The Plan o
"Jack!"
"One moment, one moment!" Jack Skellington cried, sifting through his black bag. It had to be here somewhere! Where was it?
"Jack, I beg of you! The crowd is getting restless!" a familiar, panicked voice rang throughout the room.
As if on cue, Jack pulled a long roll of dirty parchment from his bag. "Aha!" Just the item he had been searching for. His skeletal face lit up among the shadows of the room.
"Did you find it?" a younger voice floated over, riding on the wind.
Jack peered over to the younger voice that had addressed him. He smiled widely, quite pleased with himself. "Yes, I did as a matter of fact," he said with a smirk, triumphantly holding up the parchment. The younger voice belonged to that of a younger skeleton. In fact, it looked like a miniature version of Jack himself, minus the striped suit which was replaced by one similar, yet all black with a small pumpkin brooch.
He smiled widely at his son, Poe. "Yes, this year you'll learn the TRUE art of scaring, my boy!"
"JAAAACK!" the Mayor's deep voice bellowed from beyond the door. Poe shot the door a look of annoyance. He didn't care for the Mayor of Halloween town. Not one little bit. In Poe's opinion, he was a short, incapable, stupid little ghoul. Poe realized that his father had been watching him. He promptly snapped out of his reverie. "Let's go before he falls apart..."
Jack nodded and ushered his son toward the door with one bony hand on his shoulder. Jack opened the door and the Mayor almost lunged at Jack. "Jack, please tell me you have it! PLEASE tell me you have the plan! You've got the whole town in suspense and I'm not sure how much longer I can keep them calm!!"
"Relax!" Jack said with a chuckle. "Everything is right here..." he said with a small pat to the parchment. He held it down so the Mayor could see it.
The Mayor's eyes widened as if it were a precious stone. "Fabulous! You always come through Jack!"
"Are we leaving now?" Poe interjected, his annoyance growing by the minute. The Mayor looked over as if surprised to see him. "Ah, nice to see you again Poe! That suit is quite slimming on you!"
Poe gave him a look that was not unlike that you give somebody who has proved themselves to be an idiot by stating the obvious.
"Ah yes, time to go, time to go!" The Mayor said before Poe could respond. The Mayor quickly ushered out Jack and Poe. As the pair left the confines of their home, Poe began mentally prepping himself for yet ANOTHER Halloween which was sure to be like last.
***
"This is so boring!" Lock whined, sitting atop a low stone hedge with his short little legs dangling and kicking over the side.
"There's nothing to do..." Shock agreed, futzing with her hat, then twirling one lock of scraggly off color hair.
"This year, we could replace the candy with spiders!" Barrel, the smallest of the devious trio, suggested. He looked to his fellow comrades for support.
"We did that that the year before last, but with roaches..." Shock replied, not at all thrilled by Barrel's lame suggestion. Barrel seemed to ponder further, probing his own mind for possible solutions. "Well, okay! I know! We stick snails in kids' hair!"
"Snails are boring!!" Lock griped.
"Dead man's toes?" Barrel suggested.
"Their dead! What fun are those?!" Shock screeched, slapping Barrel upside his round little head. Lock shook his head. "You're so dumb..." he muttered giving Barrel a sour look out of the corner of his eyes.
"I am not!" Barrel shot back, rubbing his head.
"Shut up! You're not helping me think!" Shock snapped at the two, who promptly shut up. "We need to do something that EVERYONE will notice. Something that will cause lots of trouble!"
"How about we feed the Mayor to the Griffin!?" Lock suggested, rather enthusiastically.
"No."
Barrel looked over. "We could go visit the place where we found that big bunny lookin' thing! Then REALLY mess stuff up there!"
"No! Stop giving suggestions!"
Lock and Barrel then made nasty faces at Shock. Shock whipped her head over in their direction and they sat there whistling and twiddling their thumbs.
"I got it! We-no...too small time. Or maybe we could..." Shock considered to herself, hopping off the hedge. She failed to notice the reminiscent look upon Lock's face.
"You know, I didn't like him much but things were a lot more interesting with Oogie around..." Lock muttered. Barrel solemnly shook his head in agreement.
At that, Shock lifted her head slowly and her dark eyes lit up. An idea had hit, and it had hit hard. "That's it..." she whispered with an evil snicker.
"Yeah, but he smelled!" Barrel said, making a rather disgusted face. Lock nodded. "And he was mean..."
"And-"
"THAT'S IT!! HEEHEEHEE!" Shock shouted, giggling with pure glee. Lock and Barrel fell off the hedge from the surprise of her shout.
"What's it?" Barrel asked from the ground behind the hedge.
"Think about it! Things WERE more interesting with Oogie around, remember?"
"Uhh...yeah but Oogie's gone..." Lock said, crawling out from behind the hedge. Shock shot him a glare. "Of course he is stupid! That's why we're going to bring him back!"
"We are?" Lock asked, confused. "Wow!" Barrel commented, crawling out as well. "Yes, it's just what this town needs. Besides, think about it! You really think that he wouldn't be grateful?"
"Well, maybe..." Barrel considered, put a small finger to his toothy mouth. Lock pushed him out of the way. "Yeah!! Maybe he'll be so happy, he'll reward us!"
"It could happen...!" Shock said, leaning in.
"We'll make this Halloween REALLY scream!" Shock declared, giggling once again. Lock joined her in her snicker fit, but Barrel still seemed confused. "What about Jack?" he asked and gave a slight little tremble.
"What Jack doesn't know won't hurt him," Shock said casually as though Jack were no one of importance. "Yeah!" Lock chimed in, grinning deviously and slipping on his familiar red faced mask. "Besides, by the time anyone finds out, it'll be too late!"
"So this will work!?" Barrel asked, starting to join in with the others' excitement. Shock slapped him upside the head once more. "Of course it will! And it will be the best Halloween ever!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Lock proclaimed, jumping up.
"Yeah!"
"To Oogie's manor!" Shock shouted, thrusting one finger forward to the distance. The plan had been set.