Coraline Goes Crazy
Coraline Jones sat in her first period class at school. Other students rushed around, talking about what they had done over summer vacation. Coraline sighed and tapped her foot, clad in plain Wellington boots. No matter how much she begged, her mother would not buy her the fun frog or duck shaped Wellingtons.
The teacher, Ms. Poobye, bustled in and told the children to sit down. She wrote her name in chalk in the corner of the blackboard and got work calling roll. Some rude boys in the back laughed over her name.
"Ms. Poobye, I have to go to the bathroom," one called.
"Just wait until roll is done," said Ms. Poobye.
"But Ms. Poobye, I have to poo," he called.
"Just hold it!" the teacher snapped. "Caroline Jones?"
"It's Coraline," said Coraline.
"Yes, of course dear." Ms. Poobye finished rollcall.
Then she spent several minutes handing out the sort of forms that get handed out in the beginning of the school year.
"Now, for your first assignment, I want you to write an essay about what you did over summer vacation," said Ms. Poobye. "And don't worry if you didn't do anything spectacular, like going to the Amazon Rain Forest or backpacking through Nepal. Even if you just stayed home, write about what you did at home.
The students sat in their chairs. Some started scribbling right away; others stared out the window at the rain, and chewed their pencils. Coraline thought for a moment.
Well, the teacher said to be honest.
What I Did on My Summer Vacation
By Coraline Jones
I had a rather interesting summer vacation. It started out really boring at first, and I thought nothing would happened. Then something interesting and rather dangerous happened.
First of all, we moved into a new flat. We have some interesting neighbors. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible have dogs and love to talk about their days in the theatre. Mr. Bobo has mice that play instruments and do tricks.
I was really bored, because it's always raining and my mother doesn't like me to go outside when it's raining badly. My parents work on computers and are often too busy to play with me or do anything fun.
There was a flat next to ours that was bricked off. It turned out that's where my Other Mother lived. My parents disappeared for a while and I thought they had left me forever. I went into the other flat, which somehow wasn't bricked off anymore, and my Other Mother and my Other Father was there. They said they had been waiting for me. They had really good food to eat but they had buttons for eyes and that rather scared me. Everybody else in the building had buttons for eyes and Miss Spink and Miss Forcible did plays in their flat and there was a ton of dogs watching.
I had a bunch of toys in my room that were much more interesting than the ones in my own flat. The clothes in my dresser were much cooler as well. There was a cat too, that could talk in this world, but not in my world and I helped it get out.
To make a long story short, my Other Mother told me I would need to have buttons sewed onto my eyes and I would stay there forever. I didn't want that so I had to use a stone with a hole in the middle to find the souls of some children she had trapped in the flat. I managed to find them all and they got to go to other side. My parents were trapped in a snow globe and I found them and I managed to get out of the flat and save my parents. The bad thing was that the Other Mother's hand came after me and I had to set up a trap so it would fall in the well and drown. Now everything is okay and back to normal.
Coraline handed in her essay at the end of class. The next day in the same class, the teacher called her out to the hall to speak to her in private.
Ms. Poobye held Coraline's essay up. "What is this, Caroline?"
"My essay on what I did over the summer," replied Coraline. "And it's Coraline."
"Yes, but didn't I say to tell the truth, and not exaggerate?" asked Ms. Poobye. "And some of the things in it quite concerned me. Your parents left you unattended at home?"
"No, they were taken by the Other Mother," explained Coraline patiently.
"So your parents abandoned you at first and then a lady comes to watch you and tries to sew buttons onto your face?" asked Poobye.
"No," said Coraline. "I mean yes, the Other Mother wanted to sew buttons onto my eyes, but my parents didn't abandoned me. They were taken."
"And what is this about the other kids?" asked Poobye. "This lady that came to watch you, she was a kidnapper?"
"Sort of."
Later, the pasty faced guidance counselor, Mrs. Jingle, called Coraline to her office.
Ms. Poobye was there as well.
"Caroline, we need to talk," said Mrs. Jingle.
"CORAline," said Coraline, beginning to grow quite angry. Why couldn't anybody get her name right? Were they all really that thickheaded?
"Yes, of course Caroline," said Mrs. Jingle. "Ms. Poobye showed me the essay you've written, about your summer vacation. I believe this is a cry for help. I believe this means your parents abandoned you for a bit, and that this is not the first time. The Other Mother is you wishing you had new parents, ones who would love you and not try to sew buttons onto your face."
Coraline stared at her. "No, it was the OTHER MOTHER who tried to sew the buttons onto my eyes. My parents have never harmed me!"
"Now, you don't have to lie to protect them," said Mrs. Jingle, a look of concern on her pasty face. "You can trust us. What else have they done to harm you?"
"My parents never harmed me!" said Coraline.
The guidance counselor and teacher looked at each other and muttered things like, "in denial" and "must be scared out of her wits to say anything."
"Caroline-"began Mrs. Jingle.
"CORALINE!" shouted Coraline.
Mrs. Jingle continued talking. "I believe the hand you talked about following is the fear that your parents will continue to be abusive unless-"
"My parents never hurt me!" yelled Coraline.
"Caroline, I understand your scared-"
"CORALINE!" shouted Coraline, standing up. "CORALINE! CORALINE! CORALINE! CORALINE! IT'S CORALINE. NOT FREAKING BLOODY CAROLINE! CORALINE!" She jumped onto the desk and got into Mrs. Jingles face. "CORALINE!"
Coraline continued screaming her name and ran out of the office, shouting the correct pronunciation of her name at anybody who was around. She ran off the school grounds and disappeared, still screaming her name.
And nobody ever saw Carolin-Coraline again.