Disclaimer: I do not own Coraline or it's characters.
Chapter 7,
Coraline and her friends woke to the smell of bacon and pancakes. They yawned, stretched, and muttered their 'good morning's to each other.
"Hey, kids, how did you sleep last night?" Mrs. Jones asked as she pulled milk and orange juice from the fridge.
"Good." They said in unison. Mr. Jones was at the stove, cooking eggs.
"What did you guys dream about?" Mr. Jones asked, as they sat at the table.
"Papa werkt heel hard, mama moet helpen. we moeten werken om de kost te verdienen. De kinderen moeten lijden." Harry quietly sung happy to recall the song.
"Well, I had a dream where I was the troll king and we searched the lands rescuing little Mogwai's from scientists." Coraline said and her father giggled.
"Watashi wa monogoidesu, tada no monogoidesu. Watashi ga shinda toki, dare ga watashi no tame ni nakimasu ka?" Harry softly continued.
"Hey, I had a Gremlins dream too. Except, I actually was a Mogwai and I had to fight the hideous mutated gremlins." Wybie said.
"pàisde hush-a-bye, babe not mine, mo mhulad caoidh, nach gabh thu truas a-chaoidh? Bliadhna air ais bha mi air mo spìonadh gu bràth." Harry sang.
"I had a dream that I was taking this romantic walk in the woods, with lights in the trees and a tiny row of candles along the trail for me to follow. Then we danced by a waterfall, which was my favorite part." Mariana said.
"Fun! Did you dance with anyone we know?" Mr. Jones asked. He placed the egg he was making on a plate and gave that to his wife. She was asked to attend a meeting that morning l, so she ate her egg faster then she normally would.
"Uh..." Mariana hesitated and glanced at Wybie before actually answering.
"You know, I don't really remember." Mariana said, bashfully filling her glass with orange juice.
"Litli vinur minn, ég læt mig hvíla. En fyrir utan bíður andlit við gluggann." Harry sang. And it was at this point that Mr. Jones realized Harry was singing.
"Mariana, what kind of egg would you like?" Mr. Jones asked and Mrs. Jones shook her head.
"Charlie, can you please take out the trash before you make anything else?" Mrs. Jones asked and he nodded.
"J'ai faim et je vais manger, crus et vivants, sans pain ni beurre, tous les petits enfants qui ne sont pas les miens." Harry said. Mr. Jones froze at this verse, and he glanced at Harry with a mix of confusion and concern. But he decided to wait to comment until after he returned; because he tied off the bag and walked outside.
"Morí hace mucho tiempo, pero todavía estoy aquí. Caminando en un mundo de mi propia creación, sembrando el miedo." Harry sang and this got Mrs. Jones' attention. She put down her fork and turned to Harry.
"Harry, what in the world are you singing?" Mrs. Jones asked and Harry shrugged l.
"It's just a song I heard in my dream." Harry said and Mariana blinked at him.
"You dreamt up that song? Don't you normally dream about being the best skateboarder, or surfer, or rock climber?" Mariana asked and Harry shrugged.
"Well, last night I ate peanut butter, chocolate cookies and heard that song in my dream." Harry said as Mr. Jones cane back in and washed his hands.
"Well, do you realize what you're singing?" Mrs. Jones asked and Harry shook his head.
"No; do you?" Harry asked. Mrs Jones finished her egg and stood up.
"Well, I took Spanish in high school, so only part of it. You said 'I died long ago, but I'm still here. Walking in a world of my own creation, spreading fear'. I don't know why you dreamt that; it's kinda weird." Mrs. Jones said and she kissed Mr. Jones on the cheek.
"See you later hon, love you." Mrs. Jones said before leaving.
"Wow, Harry. 'I died long ago, but I'm still here. Walking in a world of my own creation, spreading fear'? Dream or not, it's hard to believe that you came up with that." Mariana said and that's when Coraline started to worry.
Was it really possible that Harry DIDN'T come up with that? Was there any chance that he really DID hear someone singing that to him? Is it possible that the Other Mother sang to Harry last night? Wybie noticed the way Coraline struggled and he was the only one who knew why this would bother her.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you, I just-..." Harry froze when he saw Wybie reach over and put his hand on Coraline's shoulder. Then when Coraline turned towards Wybie and gave him a small smile, Harry simply couldn't stand it.
"I just remembered that I wanted to write my dream down in my new journal. Excuse me." Harry said, standing up and going back to the living room.
"Hey wait, do you want scrambled eggs, Harry?" Mr. Jones asked and Harry nodded.
"Oh, dear. I shouldn't have teased him like that. I should go apologize." Mariana said and she followed Harry.
"I thought I was gonna have a full breakfast table, and everyone keeps leaving me. What's a chef to do?" Mr. Jones asked and Wybie rose an eyebrow at this.
"You're a chef?" Wybie asked and Coraline sighed.
"As a matter of fact, I am. You see-"
"Dad, if you're gonna tell this story again, at least give me the opportunity to go change first." Coraline said as she stepped away from the table.
"Anyways, Wybie. I love to cook, always have. I actually wanted to open my own restaurant and once a week hold cooking classes. I was convinced that I was going to be the next Julia Child." Mr. Jones said and Wybie thought this name sounded familiar.
"Julia Child? Julia Child, Julia... oh, wait, I know her. She was the host of that 60's cooking show, The French Chef." Wybie said and Mr. Jones paused.
"I'm shocked you know that show." Mr. Jones said honestly and Wybie shrugged.
"Well, Grandma watches the show a lot, and sometimes I'll watch it with her." Wybie explained.
"Ah, ok then. Well, my love of cooking and Julia Child made me want to study French culture and cuisine. That's what made me take French in high school; good thing too, otherwise I never would have married Mel." Mr. Jones said.
"Really?" Wybie asked and Mr. Jones cracked a couple of eggs into a bowl and started whisking them.
"Senior year, my French class went out to Paris for a month to really soak it all in. Mel doesn't look it, but she is actually a year older then I am, and she was taking a year off to see the world before she went home and started college. Her last stop was Paris, and that's where we met. Heh, she was trying to order a coffee with this English to French dictionary and I came to her rescue." Mr. Jones said and Wybie smiled.
"Cool. So how did you go from chef to writing about plants?" Wybie asked and Mr. Jones shrugged.
"Well, Mel wanted to become a writer; specifically children's books so she could read her stories to her own children. I actually did have a small restaurant for a while. I used fresh herbs we grew ourselves, and I loved it. Mel has trouble coming up with a children's story, so she started looking for a job that involved writing. So she eventually got her job at the magazine, telling others how to take care of their plants.
"As for me, my restaurant failed because I underestimated how much I should have been charging for my food. I was charging about half what it was supposed to be, and that's why I was struggling. But when I increased my prices, no one wanted to come back; so I lost my business entirely. Mel got me a job at the magazine, writing about herb plants, how to care for them and simple recipes you can do with them." Mr. Jones said and Wybie nodded.
"Oh, well... at least they're good jobs." Wybie said and Mr. Jones shrugged and poured the eggs in the pan.
"Mel likes to write fiction every once in a while, and even though Coraline's palette is a bit simple, I do all the cooking for the house. But maybe one day, when things are better, I'll get to have a restaurant again. Maybe I'll stage it to be like The French Chef's kitchen. Maybe it can be like a French hibachi restaurant, where you could have a Julia Child cooking your food for you, but she is sharing cooking tips and stories." Mr. Jones said with a smile. Wybie smiles back, but then he remembered Harry and the odd look Mr. Jones gave Harry earlier.
"Mr. Jones, you said you spoke French, right? Did you understand something Harry sang in French?" Wybie asked and Mr. Jones nodded.
"Actually, yes. It was a French lullaby we learned at school, an old one at that. I remember it being longer, but I was surprised to hear Harry singing it. Maybe he heard it on the plane, on the way here." Mr. Jones said and Wybie nodded.
"So what exactly did Harry sing?" Wybie asked as Mr. Jones started moving the eggs with a plastic spatula.
"He said 'I'm hungry and will eat, raw and alive, without bread or butter, all the little kids, who aren't mine'. Strange huh?" Mr. Jones said.
Wybie was glad that Coraline wasn't here to hear that. If she was worried about the Other Mother returning, this would not make her feel better. But it was strange though. Wybie wondered what the rest of the song meant, and if there was more to it. Wybie gently poked his fork as he thought about both translated verses, side-by-side.
I'm hungry, and will eat, raw and alive, without bread or butter, all the little kids, who aren't mine. I died long ago, but I'm still here. Walking in a world of my own creation, spreading fear.
Wybie felt like something was off about Harry this morning, and until he knew what it was, perhaps he should stay at the pink palace.