The Nightmare Before Christmas: Season's Screamings

T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even six-year-old Timmy, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, his eyes fixed on the fireplace. He had been there for almost an hour, ever since his parents had gone to bed around eleven. According to the clock on the mantle, it was ten minutes till midnight.

Poor Timmy, who was used to going to bed at eight o'clock, was struggling to keep his eyes open. Sleep was threatening to overpower him, and his head was repeating a pattern of drooping down till his chin nearly touched his chest before jerking back up, only to begin the process again. He pulled his blanket up and shifted in his seat, his weary eyes never leaving the dying embers of the fire. The minute hand of the clock ticked one step closer to midnight.

If it wasn't Christmas Eve, Timmy wouldn't have bothered staying up so late, but he was determined that this year, he was going to meet Santa Claus. He had tried last year, but he had fallen asleep and missed him. This year, he was determined not to make the same mistake.

Unfortunately, his six-year-old body was not able to withstand such a long period of time without sleep. Though he fought gallantly to stay awake, at five minutes to midnight, Timmy fell asleep.

(((((())))))

The sky was clear and cloudless, and the full moon shone brightly on the silent, peaceful town. There was no indication that anything strange or unusual was happening. But there had never been a stranger Christmas Eve.

At exactly 12:00 Christmas morning, a dark shape came swooping down through the sky. To anyone looking up at it, it seemed that Santa Claus had finally come. But it wasn't Santa. It was Sandy.

Jack Skellington, or Sandy Claws, as he now liked to be called, looked at his long, scrolling list, squinting against the bitter wind. His bony face split in a wide, devilish grin. "Ah, little Timmy!" he said to himself. "You've been such a good boy this year! I've got just the gift for you!"

Then he pulled on the reins, and the skeleton reindeer, led by Jack's ghost dog Zero, began their descent to the small town below.

(((((())))))

Timmy gasped and jerked awake, shaking his head vigorously to rid it of sleep. He looked around, and his eyes widened in shock. There was someone else in the living room with him. A tall, skeletally thin someone. Someone wearing Santa's coat and hat.

"Santa?"

The figure turned away from the Christmas tree and grinned at Timmy, who gave a start of surprise. Santa's face was perfectly round and bone-white. He didn't appear to have eyes, just two black holes where eyes should have been. His smile was very toothy, much toothier than was natural.

Timmy rubbed his eyes, unsure if he was even awake. Maybe he was having a particularly bizarre dream. When he looked back, Santa…or whoever this was…was rummaging in his sack. "Ah-ha!" he muttered as he pulled out a small wrapped package and turned back to the curious, confused boy. "Here you go, Timmy. A special Christmas gift from Sandy Claws."

Timmy blinked once at the name, but he accepted the gift nonetheless. Santa…or Sandy…turned away and set a few more presents at the base of the tree before slinging his sack over his shoulder and stepping over to the fireplace. He glanced back at Timmy and said, "Merry Christmas, sonny." Then he crawled into the fireplace and, with a "Ho-ho-ho-hee-hee-hee!" zipped up the chimney and was gone.

Timmy just sat there for a few moments, still unsure if he had really just seen what he thought he had. Then he looked down at the gift in his hand. The wrapping paper was decorated with an odd, sinister pattern of snakes and thorns in twisted tangles. He shuddered and tried to ignore the paper as he tore the present open. Beneath the paper was a square box. He lifted the flap and peeked inside…

Timmy screamed in terror and leapt to his feet, dropping the package on the floor as he fled to the stairs. "Mommy! Daddy!" he cried as he ran, leaving the red-eyed corpse doll on the living room floor behind him.

Sandy Claws didn't hear Timmy scream. He was already two houses over, continuing to spread his version of Holiday Cheer. And as his skeleton reindeer took off into the night, he called out into the silence, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Author's Note: Just a short little one-shot that popped into my head a couple of days ago. Hope you enjoy it, and I promise, I plan on working on "The Nightmare Before Christmas II: The Holiday Master" over Christmas break. I'll try to get another few chapters up soon. But I wanted to get this done first.

Merry Christmas, everyone!