Author's note:
"Two paths diverge in a yellow wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference to me."
---------Robert Frost
Unknown to almost everyone but the occupants of Skellington Manor, a network of stone tunnels meandered below the house. They twisted within the rocky hillside like worms. Meters below the surface, the princes of Halloween sped through passages, chasing one another in the damp blackness. Jack jr. screeched with undead fury. He stretched his bone-thin frame across the floor, adopting a spider-like posture before clambering up a wall and across the curved ceiling. Jack's brother Nicholas followed suit. The twins spiraled down a corridor before releasing grip from the stone and flipping through the air. Out of breath, they tumbled joyously into a warm, fire-lit chamber.
"Hiiiiiiiiiii Mom!", Jack jr. sang. He brushed dust from his slacks. Sally Skellington paused from hanging laundry. She smiled at her sons.
"Please be careful both of you. ...and stay out of your father's wine-cellar! If you break those bottles he'll have your skulls!"
Nicholas finally caught his breath. He tugged at their mother's hand.
"C'mon! Play with us!"
Jack jr. nodded enthusiastically and took hold of their mother's other hand. She smiled, but shook her head. The twins sulked dramatically, slumping against her. At not quite ten years old, they already came up to their mother's shoulders. She was taller than average herself, but knew it would be no time at all before the boys would tower over her.
"I can't see in the dark like you two. That's from your father.", Sally laughed. She tickled her sons and they giggled before speeding off into the darkness once again. The queen watched them disappear. Their screams and howls echoed long after they had vanished from view.
It didn't seem so long ago that the Skellington twins had been babies. Tiny babies who spent most of their days snuggled tightly against their mother. Jack did his best to divide the workload, but in those first months clearly they were happier with Sally. She became used to them as if they were a part of her own body. It all went so very quickly. Soon they began to crawl. Not slowly like human babies, but with sudden, surprising agility. It was at that point their personalities diverged and Halloweentown found itself with two very different princes.
"What do you think Mama sees when she's in the dark?", Jack jr. asked thoughtfully. The brothers had taken a break from acrobatics. They sat in cool darkness, leaning against the stone wall. Nicholas shrugged.
"I don't know.", he said. "I don't think she can see anything at all. Like when you close your eyes."
Jack jr. closed his eye sockets. Blackness. How could someone get by without seeing in the dark? It seemed a great disability. No wonder their mother didn't come down into the passageways unless father was with her.
"We see in the dark 'cuz of Dad.", Nicholas finished.
His twin nodded.
"Yep. I'm gonna be just like Dad when I'm grown up." To emphasize his point Jack jr. released a chilling shriek.
Nicholas nodded in agreement.
"Me too. I'll be just like Dad."
His voice trailed off somewhat. He wasn't as confident as his brother. They did both look much more like their father than their mother. In fact they were the very image of their father. It was natural and expected that they would grow to every bit as terrifying. Nicholas couldn't help but notice that Jack jr. appeared to be pulling ahead in their self-designed competition to make the King proud. Everything came so naturally to him. They both had their father's spidery, nimble frame. Nicholas however often felt like the owner of a finely-tuned vehicle which he was ill-equipped to drive. Jack jr. could execute flawless manuevers on the first try, only lacking his father's grace and polish. Nicholas felt certain that his shortcomings were obvious to everyone around him. When the boys would converse with their father, the King would often smile tenderly and say: "Nicky, you are your mother's son. You know that? Jr., you'll need your brother's help to keep you in line and out of trouble!" The King would then laugh gently and hug both his sons, Jack jr. beaming while Nicholas silently wished that just once he could be known as the impetuous, wild, uncontrollable one.
Nicholas was jarred from his thoughts by Jack jr. poking him in the nose with a stick of red licorice.
"Here.", Jr. said, another piece of licorice in his mouth. "Mama gave them to me this morning for us. I forgot. Sorry."
Nicholas took the candy. There was a beat of silence as the two boys chewed on their licorice. Suddenly the air split with a glass-shattering scream as a tall figure jumped out from the darkness. It was their father, Jack Skellington Sr., the Pumpkin King of Halloween. He laughed at the two shivering princes, now splayed out on their backs before him.
"Hello pumpkin seeds.", he said warmly and reached out to help his sons up. "How are my little demons?"
Jr. giggled.
"How do you ALWAYS surprise us? I wanna be able to sneak like that!"
"Practice son, practice.", Jack answered with a wink.
Nicholas stood, still quivering. He smiled weakly.
"You okay Nick?", Jack asked. He laid a hand on the boy's skull. Nicky nodded. His father grinned. "Let's get cleaned up for dinner you two." The three skeletal creatures walked together through the hallway before ascending into Skellington Manor.
