Author's Note: Wow. As I mentioned before, this is my first time ever sending a story in to
fanfiction.net. I'm finding that is a VERY different experience, (at least for me) that what I've
been used to in the past. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. I'm not at all used to
getting reader feedback/reviews so immediately after posting a portion of a story. After the
first segment I posted, I found that I began second-guessing every word I wrote because it
would be judged as soon as it was up. I was like "AAAAAH!!!!!" when I opened my
email to find review notices. Now I've hit my stride a bit better and regained my confidence.
Anyway, I have a new respect for those who routinely post on here. I think it is a very
valuable experience for any writer.


Departure and Arrival

The Mayor stood anxiously at the town gate as the sun began to rise. He tried to display
his cheerful hemisphere for the sake of town moral, but the pressure of Jack leaving for
London that morning made it impossible. He rattled off what he hoped was an
appropriately officious speech, praised the Pumpkin King for his tireless efforts to
educate ghouls worldwide, then reminded him to hurry back home as Halloween
certainly could not spare him for more than a day. Jack listened politely. He knew these
public moments were very important to the Mayor. The townsfolk gathered around to
wish their king good luck. The wolfman was especially vocal, as he had many relations
in the foggy London back-streets.
"Remember to look for my cousin Rupert, Jack! Tell him I said hello!"
Jack patted the wolfman on the back and said he would do his best. The king turned to
Sally who stood by his side. Her hands rested on the bar of an ornate perambulator. The
babies inside were bundled up to such a degree that they resembled well-fed ticks. Jack
leaned into the pram and snuggled his sons goodbye. The Mayor fidgeted. He was
unaccustomed to babies and all of the coddling they required. From the twins, Jack
turned to Sally and they embraced, then pulled back slightly, resting their foreheads
together.
"You three be careful, my dearest. I'll see you in... approximately 36 hours I
hope.", Jack said.
"We will count the minutes Jack. You be careful too and have a good trip. Good
luck darling."
They shared a goodbye kiss. The townsfolk looked on with rapt fascination. Such public
displays were highly exotic in Halloweentown.

While the rest of Halloweentown saw Jack off on his big trip, Lock, Shock, and
Barrel were engrossed in a game of BAM! checkers. BAM! checkers was a unique game
of their own invention which never failed to entertain. It began simple enough, with a
standard game of checkers. The game needed to modified somewhat, because so many
of the pieces had gone missing. Fortunately, errant checkers could be replaced easily
with any number of small common objects for example: pebbles, bugs (sometimes you
had to squash them to make them stay put), recently knocked out teeth, or small candies.
The latter was problematic, because someone would invariably eat them and disturb the
game. Other than the board and pieces, there were some added elements to BAM!
checkers. Each player had a thick, wooden bat. In the instance of one player jumping
another's piece, not only would that piece get removed, but the players would chase each
other around the treehouse and attempt to whack one another with the bats, hence the
"BAM!" in BAM! checkers. The rules of the game always eventually fell by the wayside
and board and checkers were abandoned in favor of a group brawl with the bats. This
diversion lasted all morning, and was followed by gorging on sodas and candy until the
trio were all three rather queasy.
There were rare occasions, usually only after raucous combat or overindulgence
in sweets, that the treehouse was actually somewhat quiet. Shock would not have
minded terribly if these moments were more frequent. It was always fun to beat the
stuffing out of one another, but as she got older Shock found she liked quiet time to think
about things. She had not mentioned Sally's invitation to the boys. Now Shock sat
leaning against the wall, chewing a piece of taffy while she pondered. What on earth
would she and Sally have to talk about? It could be interesting...Sally barely talked to
anyone. Shock had figured out at an early age that the people who said the least could be
the most surprising. She might find out all kinds of juicy things that no one else in town
had access to. On the other hand, one had to give in order to get. Shock didn't want to
talk to anyone about things that hid in the corners of her mind. That, and if she were to
go over there, she would probably be expected to behave well. If she behaved well, she
might be expected to do so all the time. That would be no good at all...
A candy apple flew across the room and hit her on the side of her head.
"OOOoow! HEY!," Shock hollered. Lock and Barrel cracked up. In one smooth
movement Lock dove behind the bed so that the apple couldn't be fired back at him.
Barrel was still doubled over laughing, so Shock pitched the apple at his face. It hit with
such force that he fell backwards. Shock stomped her foot.
"Why can't you two ever just leave me alone?", the little witch yelled. Lock
stopped laughing. He stuck his head out from behind the headboard.
"Huh? What's wrong with you? Why're you being such a baby?" Shock folded
her arms over her chest and sat back against the wall.
"I'm not being a baby! I just want some time to myself okay? Can't you two
losers do anything without getting on my nerves?"
"NO!", Barrel and Lock said in unison. Then they fell about laughing once more.
This was usually Shock's cue to wallop one or both of them and soon they would have a grand
row going again. Tonight she didn't do anything, just sat against the wall scowling.
"What?! What is it?!," Lock demanded. "Hey, we're three of a kind here Shock!
You're not playing right! Why're you being all pouty and stupid? You're acting like
a...like a..."
"a GIRL!," Barrel finished. Lock nodded emphatically.
"Yeah! A big dumb girl!," he echoed.
Shock groaned and curled her lips into the most patronizing sneer she could muster.
"Uuuh duuh, I AM a girl, you morons!"
Lock and Barrel blinked and exchanged nervous glances. How could they respond to
that? Shock was not playing fair at all tonight. Lock decided to change tactics and get
out of this bizarre confrontation. He leapt from behind the bed and stretched.
"Yeah, anyway. What'll we do tonight? HEY! Jack is outta town isn't he? Isn't
that tonight? We can have major fun tonight!"
Barrel clapped his hands. Shock stood up and began digging through her belongings.
"You two can go do whatever boring things you want, I have plans for tonight.",
she sniffed. Lock and Barrel were by Shock's side in an instant. Barrel sucked furiously
on the candy apple while Lock spoke.
"Plans? You already made plans for us? Well, they better be good. Jack isn't
away everyday so we have to take advantage."
"You don't listen do you?", Shock said. "I said that I had plans. Just me. Not
you two, you weren't invited at all. I'm spending the night at the Skellington house"
Now Lock and Barrel were thoroughly intrigued.
"We weren't invited? Well that isn't fair! NO FAIR! You get us invited too!",
growled Lock. Barrel looked as if he were about to cry. He whined pathetically.
"No fair Shock! No Faaaaiiirrr!"
"Oh good. Now who's a big stupid baby?", chided Shock, pleased with
herself. She continued: "Sally invited me to spend the night there and keep her company.
We're going to have a great time, like a party. She even said that it was just for her and I
so that I could get away from you guys for a night."
Lock was so angry he was speechless. Barrel threw himself face down on the floor and
launched a full-scale tantrum. Shock was thrilled to have caused such reaction. She
decided then that of course she would have to spend the night away from the treehouse.
This was too good to ruin. It would give her something to hold over the boys for weeks.
If she was going to stay out all night anyway...maybe she might as well take her chances
with Sally.