Dream a Little Nightmare
By: Laney Sanchez
Note: To quote Jack himself, "Thank you! Thank you!" Heehee. This goes to Wafflecat and Lady Skellington. I'm honored you took the time to review my story Skellington. Means a lot. And Waffle, I'm glad you like the story! You know, Jack with children is just so appealing. It's prolly why so many people use the idea. BTW Milk is adorable! ^.^
( \/ ) Chapter 7 ( \/ )
o Nameless o
Blanched, white and eyeless. That was the only words that could describe the odd being staring back upon the girl. She swallowed hard. She had to stay calm. It didn't appear to want to harm her. Surely if it wanted to, it would have already, wouldn't it? She swallowed back a long terrified scream that had been steadily crawling it's way up her throat. If she screamed and it became alarmed, it might try and hurt her. Nope, screaming was a no go. Then again, she could always try to just make conversation. "Now that's rather dumb…do you honestly believe skeletons talk? NO! They don't talk! They scare people! Then when they scare you, they EAT you!"
The little mental nagging made her chuckle. She hardly doubted that skeletons ate at all. She took a deep breath, mentally calming her screaming inner child.
"Do you speak?" it asked, looking at her with the most perplexed stare. For a moment, all she could do was gawk. Was she really about to have a conversation with a skeleton, in her living room no less? After a moment she realized that it was waiting for an answer.
She straightened up. "Don't let it see your fear! They can smell fear, ya know!" he inner child warned. She quickly brushed the voice off her mind. "Yes…I speak…"
"You're a mortal, am I right?" the skeleton asked, curiously. It took one step to her right. It watched her as if she were a bug under a microscope. She eyed it right back. "I'm a human."
"You have fingers and hair…!" it exclaimed, reaching out to touch her curls gently. She delicately took his hand and moved it away from her hair. The feel of his bones made her shudder. It was just too weird. He continued to gawk at her, un-phased by her anxiety. "And eyes!"
That was the last straw as he leaned his face forward and his eyeless skull stared back into her. "Okay…! Time o-"
"Such…beauty…" he breathed softly. The girl stopped, momentarily caught off guard. "I beg your pardon?"
"I've just never seen eyes like yours. They sparkle…" he said softly, studying her face. She felt her cheeks heat up. It produced an immediate reaction from the voice in her head. "No! NO NO NO! You feel flattered by a skeleton!? Gah! I TOLD you to stay away from that Halloween cake! Not only did it SMELL bad, it looked bad too! But who just HAD to eat the cake?! Huh?!"
"Oh, shut up…" she muttered back mentally. Only then did she realize she was staring. She shook herself free of her mental battle and looked back to the skeleton. She gently pushed it back a little. "Do…" she hesitated for a brief moment, but it's curious glance pushed her to continue. "Do you have a name?"
Then, if it was even possible, the skeleton looked angry with itself. "Of course. I'm sorry…" he apologized. He gave a slight bow, remembering the manners his father had taught him since he could remember. "Poe Skellington."
"Poe?" she asked hopeful. At least it had a name…
She stopped herself. For a moment, she stared back into the dark sockets of his skull. It was odd. She had a sort of feeling fall over her, one that was hard to describe. She couldn't quite rationalize the situation, but she was never good at rationalizing anyway. Besides that, something about the skeleton almost seemed…human.
It-no, "He", she corrected herself, wasn't too bad for a skeleton. She finally found herself relaxing. She just had to stop over analyzing the situation and let it flow. If it was a dream, so be it. If not, that was okay too.
Just as long as he didn't try to eat her.
~*~
Poe stared back at the mortal with intense curiosity. He had been brought up with the ideas that humans were supposed to fear skeletons. However, this one in particular, didn't show fear of any sort. If it was were scared, it hid it very well.
"Where do you come from, Poe?"
He considered it's question for a moment. Was it even smart to mention Halloween town? He racked his skull, yet never could he remember anyone ever telling him that it was forbidden to mention Halloween town to mortals. Even so, perhaps, just maybe, this mortal might know how to get him home. It was a long shot, but he had to try.
"Halloween town."
"Halloween town?" it asked incredulously. He noted that the look in it's eyes lit up with interest. Interest, however there was also curiosity. This meant that it probably had no idea that Halloween town even existed. No idea, until he had mentioned it of course. He sighed.
"You mean, there's a TOWN?!"
"Of course!" he said, slightly annoyed. Granted, this place and this mortal was interesting, but he couldn't ignore the bug of worry that was gnawing away at him. Was his father okay? What if he couldn't get back? Could they even find a way to track him?
"Could…you tell me more?"
The question caught him off guard. More? Why on the moon, would it want to know more about Halloween town? He weighed the question for a moment. He had already informed her of it's existence, so he highly doubted it would hurt to tell her the rest. "Well, it's not really that special…"
"Tell me anyway!" it insisted. Poe thought deeply. "Well, just about everywhere you go, there's pumpkins. Big ones, thin ones, happy ones, sad ones. There's also cats and rats and bats even. The town itself, has a fountain but the water is green. We have a mayor and of course it's home to the whole population of ghouls and ghosts. To put it simply, it's the very heart of the spirit of Halloween," he explained. He looked back to the mortal's face. They looked absolutely enchanted. He couldn't imagine why.
He then decided that he was tired of referring to it as "it". He stepped in front of her and examined her closely. "Do you have a name?"
The mortal looked surprised by this question and after a brief moment it nodded.
~*~
"Nameless."
Poe looked at her very quizzically. "Your name is 'Nameless'?"
She nodded. She didn't really know WHY she had just lied. Maybe it was the fact that he was a skeleton. Or then again, there was the fact that it just sounded better than her real name. Either way, what he didn't know certainly wouldn't kill him.
She gave a confirming nod. "Nameless."
"Well, Nameless, why are you so interested in Halloween town? Believe me, it's nothing great…" he asked with a skeptical look. She looked down.
"I…just love Halloween. It's the one time of the year where I can be accepted…" she said softly, as if confessing her most deepest secret. Poe then noted the look upon her face. Was it sadness? He frowned, feeling a slight stab of guilt for making her eyes cloud with such a look of sorrow.
"Accepted?" he asked gently.
She nodded slowly. "I don't get along with many people…"
Poe looked away. He knew that story. In fact, he knew it all too well. "Well, try living in the shadow of the great, all loved, Pumpkin King…" he muttered, a bit more bitterly than he would have liked. Nameless looked up at him. It her was her turn to be perplexed. "Pumpkin King?"
"My father. The Pumpkin King is sort of like the center of Halloween town. He's even more influential than the Mayor, not that that's a hard thing to accomplish…" he said with an exasperated look. Nameless still looked confused. "Do you…hate your father?"
"Not at all. It's just that, I don't get along with people. I wish I did, because then maybe I'd be the Pumpkin Prince and maybe, I could live up to my father's infamy. However, Halloween just doesn't mean that much to me…" he said, looking down and closing his eyes.
Nameless tilted her head slightly. "I think Halloween town sounds great…"
Poe shot her a look. "Well, try living there every day of your life…"
She sighed, looking towards the window. "You try living HERE every day of your life…" she shot back, looking rather hatefully at the window. "Politics, school, work…There's no room for people with impossible dreams like mine. What's more, it's not even accepted. If you have a dream, it's like you're a freak or something…"
Poe looked at her as if she had completely gone batty. "Are you out of your head? It's wondrous here! Such things, that I've only dreamed about!" he said, taking on a dreamy sort of look. Nameless gave a small snort. "Big deal. I'd give it all up for one day in your Halloween town…" she said softly, turning her eyes back to the ground. It was then, seeing the sad look in her eyes once more, that Poe understood. She was just like him. What's more, she was right. This world probably wouldn't be so glamorous to one who was an outcast and had lived there since they were created. He couldn't help but feel a sort of kinship with her at that very moment. He had never dreamed that he would find another world quite like this within his grasp. What's more, he had never dreamed he would find someone who had shared the same longing as him.
For the moment, all he could do was smile and feel a great appreciation towards Nameless.
