Dream a Little Nightmare
By: Laney Sanchez
( \/ ) Chapter Three ( \/ )
o Not Quite Enough o
"This years award for most fashionable way to wear a bandage goes to Mumeria!" The Mayor announced, as a slim, well wrapped mummy came up to the stage to receive her award. She waved and though all you could see were her catlike yellow eyes, she looked happy.
Jack applauded with the rest, by the Mayor's side.
"Jack?" a rather timid voice called.
Jack looked to his side. "Sally," he said with a smile. Sally returned the smile, but couldn't force back the look of worry that came after. "What's wrong?" Jack asked, perplexed. Sally looked to the crowd then back to him. "We need to talk Jack. It's important..."
"Well, I rarely ever stay for the awards anyway..." he considered. "Sure! Let's go," he said, offering her his hand. Sally smiled and took it.
"Finally, most ingenious idea for Halloween goes to, of course, Jack Skellington!!" The Mayor announced gleefully. "Jack?" the Mayor said, looking to his side. Suddenly his head turned completely around to reveal a dismayed frown. "Oh, not again! He always leaves right before his award!"
***
"Wondrous night, isn't it?" Jack mused, staring at the moon. Sally quickly agreed. "Yes Jack, but-"
"You know, I wonder why I ever bothered with trying to steal Christmas. Sure, it was fun while it lasted, but I've come to see that my place is here..."
"I know Jack, but if you would just-"
"My place is here, with you and Poe..." Jack said, turning and smiling fondly at Sally. Sally looked away, feeling a bit like her old shy self. "Jack..." she said softly. Jack smiled and one hand lifted her head slightly. "What is it Sally?"
Sally let the smile fade and bit her lip. "Jack, that's partially what I wanted to talk to you about..."
"Halloween?"
"No. Poe..."
"Poe?" Jack asked confused. "Well, what about him. He's just as excited as I am!"
Sally shook her head lightly and averted her eyes to the ground. "No, no I don't think so..."
"Of course he is!" Jack said with a slight scowl. "I saw him on stage as did you. He was all smiles!"
"That's just it! I was with him before he went on stage and-" she stopped to allow a frustrated sigh. There was little that she could say that would do any good. She knew that once Jack had an idea in his head, it was very, VERY hard to dissuade him from it. She might as well have told the people of Halloween town that Halloween was just a myth. "I'm just worried that everything's not okay. I'm worried Poe might do something...drastic..."
Jack smiled broadly. "Well, let's hope so! The more drastic the better for his first Halloween scare! Speaking of which, let's get home. I'm sure he'll be wanting to discuss the Halloween plans some more," Jack said, absolutely glowing at the idea. If Sally had a smile, it was now lost. She understood how much Jack loved Poe, and how much he wanted Poe to follow in his footsteps. However, if that was the case, how come he simply couldn't see that Poe was a side of Jack that he, himself, had tried to forget.
Sally allowed a final sigh to escape her lips. She had a terrible feeling that yet again, she was failing to avert disaster.
***
A gray, dim light, flooded the room of Oogie's Manor. Three pairs of feet plodded in slowly, stirring up light dust clouds as they did so. Spiders shrank away from the minimal light and the wood creaked beneath the feet.
"Back again!" Lock exclaimed, running forward. It was their old playroom, riddled with dust, and forgotten, but the same more or less. Barrel glanced about, rather delighted to find his old chains and spike collections still in tact. Shock, meanwhile was peering down the ever so familiar tube that led to Oogie's hideaway torture room. She stood back and stared at the drawn on monster face above the tube. "I wonder...if maybe this is wrong..." she asked herself, though not loud enough for her cohorts to hear.
Almost in the blink of an eye she found herself snickering. "Nah...!"
"Hey it's Oogie's tube!" Barrel proclaimed, bouncing over to Shock. Lock followed as well. The three stood back observing the hole. Finally, Lock was the first one to speak. As he spoke, a positively evil look glimmered in his childlike eyes. "I've always wanted to do this!" he said slyly and began to lean his weight into Barrel. This created a domino effect until Shock was mashed up against the hole.
"CUT THAT OUT!!" she screeched, wiggling as hard as she could. Lock grunted and pushed some more. "Don't ...be...such...a...scaredy..."
"HEY OUCH!"
"STOP SHOVIN'!"
"You better cut this out!!"
Finally, with one last shove, Shock and Barrel were sent sliding down the musty hole. Their little screams echoed until at last they faded. Lock smirked. "Worm!" he finished with a snicker, then hopped in himself.
After the brief but fun (in his opinion) slide down the hideously smelly, metal tube, Lock landed ontop of his two friends with an "oof!"
Shock was the first to shove the two off. "That wasn't so bad!" Lock said with a snicker. "Oh, shut up!" Shock griped in return. However her face quickly fell and a silence overtook her.
"Get off me!! You're HEAVY!" Barrel whined. Lock shoved an elbow into Barrel's back. "Hurts don't it? Don't it? Huh?"
"Stooooop!!" Barrel squealed kicking and squirming.
"Hey Shock, why're you so quiet-" Lock stopped, trailing off in mid sentance. Even he finally took notice of what Shock was staring at.
He had rolled off Barrel, to join Shock in staring, however Barrel was still kicking and whining. After a moment of realizing that Lock had abandoned torturing him, he sheepishly stood up. It didn't take long for him to see it too.
"There it is..." Shock whispered.
Suspended in mid air, like a sick sort of trophy for anyone to see, was the same fan that had shredded what was known as Oogie Boogie. His putrid smell still lingered, not at all hindered by time, along with the dull grayish-brown sack like material that had been his skin. Though now it was a tangle of tattered cloth and string.
"Well, we got our work cut out for us!" Shock said, getting over the initial surprise of the grisly sight. Lock eyed her like she was nuts. "I'm not touchin' that! Nu uh!"
Barrel piped in as well. "Yeah, besides how are we going to bring Oogie back with that?"
"Do I have to do everything!?" Shock snapped, determination flashing in her little black eyes. "It's just...all messed up..." Lock mused, staring at the shredded sack.
Shock just smiled rather nastily. "Well, it's a good thing I have a plan then, isn't it?"
She didn't give the boys time to respond. "It's real good, but to pull it off, I'm going to need your help. This is IT. The REAL DEAL! I'm going to bring Oogie back so we can get things back the way they were. Are you going to help or not?" her voice was swift and determined like that of a blade cutting through a jack-o-lantern.
The boys sat doumbfounded for a moment then slowly, like butter melting across toast, wicked smiles spread on their faces. They exchanged brief glances then looked back to Shock and declared simaltaneously, "Let's do it!"
The casino like torture chamber, usually dormant with only the sound of a rat or two scuttling around, became very much alive that night with the sound of evil giggles.
By: Laney Sanchez
( \/ ) Chapter Three ( \/ )
o Not Quite Enough o
"This years award for most fashionable way to wear a bandage goes to Mumeria!" The Mayor announced, as a slim, well wrapped mummy came up to the stage to receive her award. She waved and though all you could see were her catlike yellow eyes, she looked happy.
Jack applauded with the rest, by the Mayor's side.
"Jack?" a rather timid voice called.
Jack looked to his side. "Sally," he said with a smile. Sally returned the smile, but couldn't force back the look of worry that came after. "What's wrong?" Jack asked, perplexed. Sally looked to the crowd then back to him. "We need to talk Jack. It's important..."
"Well, I rarely ever stay for the awards anyway..." he considered. "Sure! Let's go," he said, offering her his hand. Sally smiled and took it.
"Finally, most ingenious idea for Halloween goes to, of course, Jack Skellington!!" The Mayor announced gleefully. "Jack?" the Mayor said, looking to his side. Suddenly his head turned completely around to reveal a dismayed frown. "Oh, not again! He always leaves right before his award!"
***
"Wondrous night, isn't it?" Jack mused, staring at the moon. Sally quickly agreed. "Yes Jack, but-"
"You know, I wonder why I ever bothered with trying to steal Christmas. Sure, it was fun while it lasted, but I've come to see that my place is here..."
"I know Jack, but if you would just-"
"My place is here, with you and Poe..." Jack said, turning and smiling fondly at Sally. Sally looked away, feeling a bit like her old shy self. "Jack..." she said softly. Jack smiled and one hand lifted her head slightly. "What is it Sally?"
Sally let the smile fade and bit her lip. "Jack, that's partially what I wanted to talk to you about..."
"Halloween?"
"No. Poe..."
"Poe?" Jack asked confused. "Well, what about him. He's just as excited as I am!"
Sally shook her head lightly and averted her eyes to the ground. "No, no I don't think so..."
"Of course he is!" Jack said with a slight scowl. "I saw him on stage as did you. He was all smiles!"
"That's just it! I was with him before he went on stage and-" she stopped to allow a frustrated sigh. There was little that she could say that would do any good. She knew that once Jack had an idea in his head, it was very, VERY hard to dissuade him from it. She might as well have told the people of Halloween town that Halloween was just a myth. "I'm just worried that everything's not okay. I'm worried Poe might do something...drastic..."
Jack smiled broadly. "Well, let's hope so! The more drastic the better for his first Halloween scare! Speaking of which, let's get home. I'm sure he'll be wanting to discuss the Halloween plans some more," Jack said, absolutely glowing at the idea. If Sally had a smile, it was now lost. She understood how much Jack loved Poe, and how much he wanted Poe to follow in his footsteps. However, if that was the case, how come he simply couldn't see that Poe was a side of Jack that he, himself, had tried to forget.
Sally allowed a final sigh to escape her lips. She had a terrible feeling that yet again, she was failing to avert disaster.
***
A gray, dim light, flooded the room of Oogie's Manor. Three pairs of feet plodded in slowly, stirring up light dust clouds as they did so. Spiders shrank away from the minimal light and the wood creaked beneath the feet.
"Back again!" Lock exclaimed, running forward. It was their old playroom, riddled with dust, and forgotten, but the same more or less. Barrel glanced about, rather delighted to find his old chains and spike collections still in tact. Shock, meanwhile was peering down the ever so familiar tube that led to Oogie's hideaway torture room. She stood back and stared at the drawn on monster face above the tube. "I wonder...if maybe this is wrong..." she asked herself, though not loud enough for her cohorts to hear.
Almost in the blink of an eye she found herself snickering. "Nah...!"
"Hey it's Oogie's tube!" Barrel proclaimed, bouncing over to Shock. Lock followed as well. The three stood back observing the hole. Finally, Lock was the first one to speak. As he spoke, a positively evil look glimmered in his childlike eyes. "I've always wanted to do this!" he said slyly and began to lean his weight into Barrel. This created a domino effect until Shock was mashed up against the hole.
"CUT THAT OUT!!" she screeched, wiggling as hard as she could. Lock grunted and pushed some more. "Don't ...be...such...a...scaredy..."
"HEY OUCH!"
"STOP SHOVIN'!"
"You better cut this out!!"
Finally, with one last shove, Shock and Barrel were sent sliding down the musty hole. Their little screams echoed until at last they faded. Lock smirked. "Worm!" he finished with a snicker, then hopped in himself.
After the brief but fun (in his opinion) slide down the hideously smelly, metal tube, Lock landed ontop of his two friends with an "oof!"
Shock was the first to shove the two off. "That wasn't so bad!" Lock said with a snicker. "Oh, shut up!" Shock griped in return. However her face quickly fell and a silence overtook her.
"Get off me!! You're HEAVY!" Barrel whined. Lock shoved an elbow into Barrel's back. "Hurts don't it? Don't it? Huh?"
"Stooooop!!" Barrel squealed kicking and squirming.
"Hey Shock, why're you so quiet-" Lock stopped, trailing off in mid sentance. Even he finally took notice of what Shock was staring at.
He had rolled off Barrel, to join Shock in staring, however Barrel was still kicking and whining. After a moment of realizing that Lock had abandoned torturing him, he sheepishly stood up. It didn't take long for him to see it too.
"There it is..." Shock whispered.
Suspended in mid air, like a sick sort of trophy for anyone to see, was the same fan that had shredded what was known as Oogie Boogie. His putrid smell still lingered, not at all hindered by time, along with the dull grayish-brown sack like material that had been his skin. Though now it was a tangle of tattered cloth and string.
"Well, we got our work cut out for us!" Shock said, getting over the initial surprise of the grisly sight. Lock eyed her like she was nuts. "I'm not touchin' that! Nu uh!"
Barrel piped in as well. "Yeah, besides how are we going to bring Oogie back with that?"
"Do I have to do everything!?" Shock snapped, determination flashing in her little black eyes. "It's just...all messed up..." Lock mused, staring at the shredded sack.
Shock just smiled rather nastily. "Well, it's a good thing I have a plan then, isn't it?"
She didn't give the boys time to respond. "It's real good, but to pull it off, I'm going to need your help. This is IT. The REAL DEAL! I'm going to bring Oogie back so we can get things back the way they were. Are you going to help or not?" her voice was swift and determined like that of a blade cutting through a jack-o-lantern.
The boys sat doumbfounded for a moment then slowly, like butter melting across toast, wicked smiles spread on their faces. They exchanged brief glances then looked back to Shock and declared simaltaneously, "Let's do it!"
The casino like torture chamber, usually dormant with only the sound of a rat or two scuttling around, became very much alive that night with the sound of evil giggles.
