Chapter 3: The Drawing
It's the morning. The bright sun shines from the east peaking to make its grand entrance to the blue sky. The light glares through Coraline's window, yet it doesn't seem to wake her. Then a loud knocking goes off on Coraline's door.
"Wake up little one! It's time for school!", Yells Mrs. Jones.
Coraline grunts and wines a bit as she doesn't look forward to going to school. She still wonders what that light could've been, but she plans to avoid it at all costs. As Coraline does her morning routine of brushing her teeth, picking an outfit for school, and doing her hair, she heads downstairs to find breakfast already served.
"Hey, there sweetheart. I made some waffles for ya", says Mr. jones cheerfully.
"Wow!", Coraline says aroused. "Thanks, dad".
Coraline goes closer to the dining table and sees something unusual on the plate.
"With cauliflower?", Coraline says confused.
"Well, we don't want to waste it and let it spoil… plus its nutritional for the brain", Mr. Jones says confidently.
Coraline rolled her eyes with a smirk on her face knowing that her father isn't that knowledgeable with nutrients and health but tries to come off that way here and there.
Coraline says in her mind, "at least things are back together, that's all that matter", she ends it with a smile on her face.
As soon as Coraline is done with her meal, she hugs her dad gratefully and heads out happily to go to school.
"Coraline. There you are", says Charlie. "I have something to tell you."
"Shoot your shot", replies Coraline.
"That new girl that moved in earlier this week; I wouldn't trust her if I were you", says Charlie.
Coraline replies, "Why?"
"She gives off a strange essence that I can't put my finger on" he replies.
"Finger? You mean paw?", replies Coraline.
Charlie looks off guarded with his comment.
"Yes of course. Being surrounded by humans causes me to think like one", he replies.
"Well, I'll see you later now. I got a school to get to", Coraline replies.
Coraline goes in the car as Mrs. Jones come out to bring her to school.
As the 2nd class of the day, Coraline settles in her reading class near the window and takes her seat. The classroom has a chalkboard and singular student desks spread evenly across the room. Just as everyone settles down, her teacher Ms. Jenkins—a kind and naive middle-age woman—introduces Cheyenne to the whole class.
"Excuse me, everyone, can I have your attention?", Ms. Jenkins says in a calm voice.
Everyone stops their chattering and looks at Cheyenne deeply in the face as she is new and different from everyone else.
"We have a new student who came all the way from Washington here with us today!", says Ms. Jenkins.
Ms. Jenkins looks at Cheyenne waiting for her to introduce herself to the whole class. Cheyenne looks like she is struggling to hold herself up and quite nervous as expected. She wears a light blue sweater that seems worn out and dulls with the new uniform she has received from the school. A part of her looks like it's been dead on top of her pale and somewhat messy black hair that hasn't been brushed.
"Umm... H-hi. My name is Cheyenne…", she says as it looks like the words are being pulled out of her.
Ms. Jenkins breaks the silence as the students stare at Cheyenne intensely with a few whispers: "Well isn't that a pretty name! I'm sure you will make good friends and have a great time down here in Oregon", Ms. Jenkins says with a smile to make Cheyenne feel welcome.
Cheyenne sits next to Coraline near the back of the classroom as Coraline is the only one she knows so far in the new town.
"Hey", says Coraline quietly to Cheyenne.
Cheyenne gives a stale wave back to Coraline with a small smile around her face, but it fades off.
"I know it can be hard to open up especially at a new school all over again.", says Coraline. "When I first moved here, I was shy as well—I mean I still am… kind of. We can stick together if you'd like."
Cheyenne replies with appreciation: "Thanks…"
As Ms. Jenkins puts on a documentary for the class to watch, Cheyenne pulls out her drawing book and begins drawing.
Coraline is quite bored and wants to interact more with Cheyenne; however, seems to be more reserved more than ever.
"So…" Coraline says interrupting Cheyenne. "What are you drawing?"
Cheyenne moves out the way to allow Coraline to get a view of what she is drawing. It happens to be a bluish-purple whole with a face peaking at the end with tiny glowing blue eyes. The face of the person isn't fully seen, but it gives an unsettling stare.
Coraline starts to feel overwhelmed and anxious as to why Cheyenne could possibly draw such familiar depictions.
"What is that?", Coraline says with anxiety on her face.
"Oh… it's nothing. Something I just thought of", Cheyenne replies back.
Something from last night seems to bother Cheyenne that she is scared to speak about as she doesn't want to stand out or be seen as crazy at least to Coraline. However, her secret seems to eat her inside, and wants to tell Coraline to not feel alone.
As soon as Cheyenne and Coraline go home after school. Cheyenne speaks to Coraline in the garden to tell her the secret.
"Actually, I saw something last night when I was walking", Cheyenne says directly to Coraline.
"What was it?", replied Coraline.
"A surreal tunnel that glows bluish-purple; it appears to be captivating", says Cheyenne. "But that wasn't the only thing. I saw someone at the end of the well looking at me the way I looked at them. I thought maybe they were stuck, but they seem shocked when they saw me like I was invading. And their eyes were unusually glowing and out of place… I ran back to my apartment not ever looking back."
Coraline's fears start to haunt her. She tries to hide her fear from Cheyenne and blocking all the possibilities in her mind.
"Maybe it's your imagination?", Coraline says knowing that Cheyenne is telling the truth.
Cheyenne's face starts to fade of hope within Coraline.
"I really thought you would believe me; maybe I'm just craz-"
"I know how to help actually…", Coraline blurts out like it was forced out of her. "You know that boy I told you about: Wyborn."
Cheyenne doesn't' respond but is trying to see the point of Coraline's comment.
"He's a cool friend of mine and made this awesome invention out of a drone", I think it would help us to see what you saw in the well", comments Coraline.
"Really?", replies Cheyenne.
"mhm", Coraline says while nodding her head.
They start to head over to Wybie's tool shed slightly far from the Pink Palace's apartment. From afar, they can already hear the sound of Wybie building something in the shed; it becomes louder and louder as they come close. Cheyenne seems to be nervous while Coraline seems bothered. Coraline knocks on the door very loudly to get his attention.
"Wybie I here!", Coraline shouts. "And I got a visitor!"
Wybie opens the door of the shed. He is wearing his school uniform with his Hobart Welding helmet still covering his face. With surprise, he removes his helmet and scratches his head nervously as he recognizes Cheyenne looking at him for the first time.
"H-hi there. My names Wyborn b-but people call me Wybie- "
"Okay Wybie we know; we need something of yours", Coraline interrupts Wybie rudely, but not in malicious intent.
"You need something from me?", Wybie says to Coraline.
"Yes! That bat drone you were talking about yesterday. We need it for something", Coraline says enthusiastically.
Wybie replies to Coraline but doesn't finish: "I thought you didn- "
"Well, I change my mind. It's actually a great idea!", Coraline says again while interrupting Wybie.
"Well, that's a surprise", Wybie chuckles out of nervousness.
"My name is Cheyenne. It's a pleasure to meet you", Cheyenne replies in a shy way.
Just as Wybie is about to speak, Coraline finds Wybie's bat drone and replies obnoxiously, "Found it!"
They head over to the well on the top of the hill near the start of the woods. As soon as they settle to start their plan, Cheyenne opens the well to find nothing but pitch black darkness in the deep hole.