Sally lay in a coffin-shaped black, marble bathtub. The twins
seemed to be responding
well to her home cold remedies. They were still stuffy, but the
fever had disappeared.
Both babies were wide awake and full of energy for most of the evening.
When it
appeared their energy was winding down, Sally put them to bed.
So far the nursery room
was silent, giving Sally time to take a bath. She slid down into
the lavender water and
closed her eyes.
"ERrrghhh....", Shock growled to herself.
She stood on the Skellington doorstep.
For several hours now the witch child had paced and pondered over whether
she really
wanted the trouble of socializing with Sally. As much as anything
else, she was
apprehensive being on her own without Lock and Barrel. They were
annoying and stupid
sometimes, but the trio never undertook any new adventure without being
together.
Shock surprised herself with her sudden insecurity at being on her
own.
"I am NOT afraid without the boys.", she said
outloud and pulled the doorbell
chain in defiance. There was no response. She pulled the
chain two more times with
increasing fervor.
"Coming! I'm coming!", called Sally
from inside. The door opened slowly, just
a crack at first, then more fully. The evening air gusted in
and Sally stood shivering
wearing a pale green chenille robe and slippers. Her hair hung
in a dripping shawl about
her shoulders.
"Shock! I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting
you."
"You invited
me.", Shock said. Her voice cracked slightly.
"Yes, of course. It's just that you said you didn't want to come.
Since it's so late, I didn't think you would change your mind...
I'm very glad you did
though." Sally stepped aside and motioned for Shock to come in.
Shock stepped into the
tiny foyer as the door shut behind her. The house was very warm.
She followed Sally
upstairs.
"I was in the bathtub when you rang the bell.",
Sally explained. That's why it
took me a moment to answer the door. I apologize." Shock
said nothing. They walked
down a short carpeted hallway. Shock peered into the parlor room
as she passed. It was
filled with ornate Victorian furniture. There was a large bookcase,
and other shelves
holding various items such as animal skulls, sculptures and framed
pictures. A purple
and black square playpen stood in the corner. Several baby toys
lay scattered across the
rug. Sally continued down the hall to the kitchen with Shock
following.
"Shock, would you like to have something to
eat? I can make you a snack.", Sally
asked. Her voice was hopeful. Shock opened her mouth to
answer but as she did a high
pitched wail echoed from the upstairs. Sally looked up.
"Oh... Excuse me for a moment.
I'll be right back. Sit down Shock, please be
comfortable." Sally turned and left the kitchen. She returned
several minutes later with
a wicker baby carrier.
"Now then, Shock. What can I get for you to eat?", Sally asked.
Shock considered for a
moment before inquiring:
"What kind of candy do you have here?"
It made sense that the home of Jack
Skellington must have some pretty good stuff, however Sally appeared
crestfallen by the
request.
"I don't think we have any candy at the moment
Shock...I'm sorry. I do have
some pumpkin bread muffins that were just baked this morning."
Shock shrugged, and
Sally chose to interpret that as a yes. Shock tried again:
"What about soda pop? That's all I drink
basically. I'll have some of that and
one of your...muffin things." Sally set the muffin on the table.
"We don't have soda. I have some
ginger syrup that I can dilute if you
would like, or you can have some tea of course." Shock sighed.
"Fiiiiiiine. Tea is fiiiiine."
One of the babies whined in seeming imitation of
Shock's answer, then both released a
short series of hiccuppy baby laughs. Shock cut her eyes at the
basket. Those kids were
only four months old and they were already snotty! Yeah, we'll
see how superior you are
in a couple years when your parents don't ever give ya candy or pop!,
Shock thought
smugly. Sally poured the tea and took a seat across from her
guest. Shock felt her
confidence growing. She decided to try some conversation.
"So Sally...Jack being the king and all, he's
the richest guy in town. Why don't
you two even have any candy or soda? Me and the boys, we barely
got money at all ever,
but we make sure to have candy and pop everyday."
Sally rested her chin on her hand.
"I don't know. Jack and I don't
eat much candy I suppose. I cook and bake alot,
so we have cakes and cookies fairly often. Jack drinks wine,
I drink tea...but neither of
us has a big taste for soda. Perhaps it depends on what one is
used to.", she said
thoughtfully.
Shock took a bite of the muffin and found it surprising good.
It was great in fact. Shock
tried not to look too impressed, but Sally spoke up.
"You shouldn't eat candy all day you know,
it isn't good for you. If you like
things like pumpkin muffins I can make them for you. As a matter
of fact, I will send
some home with you tomorrow for you and Lock and Barrel.
Hah, if you send me home with these there is no chance that the boys
will get any,
thought Shock. Elsewhere in her mind she was already at work
deciding where she could
hide a bunch of pumpkin muffins.
When the food and tea were finished, Sally
cleared the table and picked up the
baby carrier. She turned to Shock.
"Let's go upstairs, Shock. I need to
feed the babies and put them down. Then we
really should go to bed, it's almost 2am. You must be very tired,
I would imagine."
Shock looked as if she had been cheated.
"Hey, you said if I came over here we would
talk!"
Sally was more than a bit surprised. Shock had been sullen and
uncharacteristically
silent while they ate.
"Certainly then, Shock. We'll talk as
much as you would like." The ragdoll
started upstairs followed by Shock.
Shock changed into her dingy, gray nightshirt. It was at
least two sizes too large.
Looking around the royal bathroom at the polished marble and pearly
bottles of bath
salts, Shock caught sight of her reflection in a full-length mirror.
She felt that insecurity
creeping in again. She looked small without her witch hat, and
plain. Shock made a
fearsome face at the doppleganger in the mirror and walked out.
She waited for Sally in
the bedroom, sitting on the large four-poster. In the next room
Sally was chatting away
to her sons while she fed them.
"You two miss your daddy don't you?
Yes, well...he will be home tomorrow and
you'll be sooooo happy....my little bone babies..."
Shock rolled her eyes. Maybe there really wasn't anything interesting
going on with
Sally, even if she was the queen of Halloween.
Shock crawled over the thick satin and down duvets, then wriggled
her legs in
under them. She flopped back into a mountain of pillows.
This was the life! If only
there was some way the boys could see her in this splendor. She
made a point of
remembering how much better this was than anything Lock or Barrel had
even seen.
Sally entered the bedroom, she pulled the door against the jam but
not completely closed.
"I'm sure they will get us up again before
sunrise.", she sighed. "Babies are like
that." Sally took off her robe, uncovering a white nightgown
which Shock noticed was
filled out in the front. Shock stared for
a moment, then glanced down at her own body. To her did
not look much different than
a boy's. Her nightshirt hung in loose folds. She emitted
an involuntary snort.
"What's the matter?", Sally asked. Shock
simply shrugged.
"Nothing, just
forget it.", Sock sighed. Sally sat down on the bed.
"That isn't fair.", Sally said quietly. Shock sighed again.
It was
the pouty sigh of a preteen who felt the world was against her.
She finally spoke.
"Yeah well...stuff isn't fair you know?
I've just been thinking alot lately. I've
been noticing some stuff and it makes me angry." The girl cast
an appraising glance at
Sally, who simply nodded. Shock continued. "I've always
run around with the boys, and
everything was great. It was a little weird when Oogie was gone,
but that was okay
because then we could be in charge of ourselves. I'm so smart,
I can boss the boys, so
basically I'm in charge. I thought life would be great forever.
Lately, I've just
been...mad!" She breathed another low sigh. It felt good
letting all this run out of her
like water. "I'm just not having as much fun anymore. The
boys are still having big fun,
so I think it must be either because they're too dumb to know things
are cruddy, or it's
because I'm a girl. If it's because I'm a girl, then that makes
me even madder, because I
can't help being a girl."
Sally slid under the quilts on her side of the bed. She sat up
against the pillows beside
Shock.
"True, it is hard sometimes, but I like being
a girl.", she said.
Shock snorted again.
"Well, you would wouldn't you? I mean,
there is no reason for YOU to be
unhappy! You married the king and moved into a palace!
Nothing like that would ever
happen to me in a gazillion years."
Sally touched Shock's hand. If there was anything Sally knew
about, it was going
through life feeling as if nothing could ever change.
"Shock, I felt bad at one time. I was
so very unhappy... Just when it seemed that
I would be miserable forever, suddenly everything I knew changed.
You just wait, I bet
you're life will change someday too if you let it."
Shock laughed humorlessly. Sally was unreal. Just where
the hell did she come from
with her sunny outlook and this 'everything will get better' stuff?
No wonder she didn't
fit in with folks in Halloweentown. Shock got an idea.
"I will say, your babies are really cute...",
She commented. Sally smiled brightly.
"I love them so much,
they are wonderful babies.", the ragdoll cooed. Shock
stifled a giggle. She put on a poker face and said earnestly:
"Yeah...they're neat. Where'd you guys
get 'em? Did you find them?"
Sally sat a little straighter. She started to say something,
then stopped. Then she tried
again.
"Pardon?", she asked.
"Where did you
and Jack find 'em? The twins. They're so cute and nice
and all. I was just wondering.", Shock was a master at
innocence.
Sally looked down at her lap. She was suddenly very distracted
by her burgundy
fingernails. Still, she cleared her throat and tried to make
an honest effort.
"Um...Shock, well.... You see, we didn't
'find' the babies. You have to...make
them. We had - "
"Ok, STOP!",
interrupted Shock, holding up her hands. She fell back in
the pillows laughing. Sally appeared confused. Shock leaned
up on her elbows.
"Sally, I'm not some dumb little kid.
I know all about that stuff! I just wanted to
see the look on your face if I asked you! It was pretty good!
I would have let you keep
going, if I didn't think that hearing about you and Jack would make
me barf!" She
laughed again holding her belly, until she was aware that Sally was
filing her nails in
silence. Shock stopped laughing and caught her breath.
"Aw, c'mon Sally. Don't be sore.
I was just trying to prove a point, that's all."
"What exactly
is your point?", asked Sally without looking up.
"Just that, no offense, but you're such a boring goody-goody!
That's why we can't really talk or hang out or anything! I'm
just a kid, but I bet I've
done way more stuff in my life than you have. You've never gotten
into any trouble,
never done anything sneaky, never been bad..."
Sally did not respond. She set the file on her bedside stand,
reached over Shock to turn
off the lamp, then settled into the quilts without a word. The
pair lay in the silent
blackness for a time. Shock felt the twinge of a completely unfamiliar
emotion. Guilt.
"Are you gonna be all mad at me now, Sally?",
Shock asked.
"No. It
isn't your fault you don't know me as well as you think you do.
No one truly knows me but Jack, and I suppose that is how I prefer
it."
"You should give Doctor F some credit too,
Sally. He made ya, after all. He
probably knows ya even better than Jack!", Shock said. Sally
turned away and curled up
on her side. She yawned.
"Possibly...but for someone who knew me so
well, he was awfully easy to poison,
even the third time in one month."
Shock's eye's popped open.
