Today
"No, no. That won't do. Too much fluff. Not enough black. That's good. And that's good. And…what the Hell is that? I like it, use it."
In this small, gothic-chic town, monsters were running around obeying the will and command of their skeletal leader. His royal name, The Pumpkin King, but he preferred for the citizens to call him Jack Skellington. Jack was a tall "bony" man. His figure was lanky, but he had surprising strength. And like everyone else, Jack was dead. In fact, he was a skeleton and a great leader of his empire, Halloween Town. Jack's main focus was on his work. Nothing distracted him, except for one thing.
"Sorry," Jack commented to a monster with a piece of holiday decoration, "its just not scary enough. Maybe you should instead-"
"Jack!" A soft voice from across the main square interrupted Jack's thoughts.
Jack jerked his head up. He rapidly scanned the area for the voice. Being the tallest monster in Halloween Town, navigation was easy for him.
"Jack, please come!" the voice called again.
Bingo! Jack spotted the source of the sweet voice. It came from a crudely constructed rag doll, across the main square. She was the kindest creature in Halloween Town, and had a mysterious beauty that you just couldn't place. Her name was Sally.
Jack pushed through the crowd of monsters that lingered around him. His gaze was transfixed on Sally. He hurriedly pushed through the mob, ran across the square, jumped and mid-air flipped over carts, and landed directly in front of Sally. His abrupt landing made her gasp in surprise. Jack tightly wrapped his long arms around her waist and drew her close. They were equally enjoying this moment.
"Yes?" Jack whispered playfully to Sally.
"I have something to show you," she replied with a voice full of flirt.
Hands linked, Sally led Jack to the graveyard, the most romantic place in Halloween Town. While walking, Jack turned his head to the other creatures. Some of the witches and female monsters looked at Sally with envy. The rest of the monsters either snickered or gave the thumbs up to Jack. With a smile, he merely looked down and shook his head.
Jack cried out, "Mayor, you're in charge until I get back! We shouldn't be more than seven or eight minutes!"
All the monsters burst out with laughter. Several were rolling on the ground. Both Sally and Jack blushed.
The Mayor replied, "Will do! You two play nicely now!"
Sally said under her breath, "Oh please." She smiled and rolled her eyes. Almost everything Sally said was with a smile. And Sally always smiled when she was around Jack.
Out of the corner of Jack's eye, he saw a faint flash of green light.
"Did you see that?" He asked Sally.
"See what?"
"It came from the professor's house. It must have been…who knows? In Halloween Town, it could be anything."
They continued walking through the large, old cemetery gate, past the hedge stones, under the hill with a curled peak, and into the pumpkin patch. Jack held tightly to Sally again. The moon made her beautiful eyes sparkle with innocence.
"Now, what was it you wanted to show me?" asked Jack.
Sally leaned in close to his face, "I almost forgot."
She gently pushed Jack away. This surprised him a little. Sally turned to bend over, and stood back up with two medium sized pumpkins.
"I got these," Jack relieved Sally of the pumpkin's weight, taking one in each hand. He held them up in a flexing pose.
"Wow, so strong." Sally coed, and ran her hand along Jack's upper arm. He smiled big.
"By the way, I dropped my finger behind you on the way up here. Would you mind getting it for me?"
"Of course," Sally turned and bent over the same way, and searched for Jack's finger.
"Jack, I can't find your finger. Plus, my legs are getting sor-" Sally paused. See felt a set of eyes on her backside. She turned her head and saw Jack checking her out! Sally stood up and inspected Jack's fingers while he held the pumpkins. His mischievous grin had her giggling on the inside. As she had suspected, all eight fingers were there. Sally said playfully, "You monster."
"And only yours." Jack leaned into kiss her, but she held a hand in front of his mouth.
"Don't you want to see what I have to show you?"
"Could it be any better than what you showed me a second ago?"
Sally ignored his question. She mentioned towards the pumpkins in his hands, "Which pumpkin would be best for your head? You know, for the Halloween finale as the scarecrow?" With disappointment on his face, Jack tried each pumpkin on his head. "Hmmm…I like the first one you tried on. It's not too big, not too orange. Just right! Jack, what do you think? Jack…are you okay?" True concern was on Sally's face. Jack sat down the pumpkins. He looked into her eyes and ran his bony fingers through her hair.
"I was just hoping to spend more quality time with you now. You know, outside of a business relationship."
"What did you have in mind?"
"Well, sitting on the hill, conversing about our day-" Sally jumped into Jack's arms and interrupted his sentence by filling his mouth with a sweet kiss. This kiss was so good, Sally's legs popped up and her toes pointed. After a long time stopping moment, their perfect kiss ended with a smack. "Yeah, that's more what I had in mind." Sally giggled at Jack's humor. A breeze floated by and gently blew Sally's hair. Her eyes glittered in the moon. And her teeth sparkled with radiance. In a trance of love, Jack whispered, "My god, Sally you're beautiful."
Sally grinned and rewarded his comment with another kiss. "I've got to finish picking herbs for my kitchen."
"Wait," Jack sat Sally down. He placed his hands on his head. There was a thick pop as he decapitated himself and gave his head to Sally. "There, now I can spend time with you, while I go work with the monsters on Halloween revisions."
Sally giggled. She loved it when Jack did corny stuff like this. "Sorry love," she reached up and put Jack's head back on, "the last time you let your body go around headless, you got lost in Valentines Town; and who knows what went on there. Besides, you have responsibilities. You're the Pumpkin King!"
Jack pulled Sally close, "And you're my queen."
Sally blushed and gently pushed him away. "I'll see you tonight." She turned, and walked away with flirty steps.
"I LOVE YOU!" Jack cried after her.
Still blushing, Sally spontaneously cried back, "I LOVE YOU, TOO!"
These words left Jack love struck, giving Sally just enough time to skimpier away before she changed her mind. It hurt her just as much as it hurt Jack to depart. But Sally knew when there was work to be done. She skipped on cloud 9 all the way to the hedge stones where her herbs grew. She knelt down before the hedge stone with the Deadly Nightshade epitaph. Sally picked the growth by the handfuls.
"Hello, Sally," spoke a mysterious woman that sounded like she had cruel intentions. Sally froze. She didn't recognize the creature's cold voice. It sounded human, but not humane. Sally began to turn around. "Don't move!" the voice snapped. Sally spun back around to face the hedge stone. The shout was stern and evil. She didn't dare disobey.
"Oh Sally, we go back a looooong way. I've heard what you've been up to. My employer sent me for you. I told him this job would be the most pleasurable thing that has happened to me in a good while. I'm gonna' enjoy this."
Sally whimpered, "Wha…what are you going to do to me?"
Sally was yanked up by her shoulders and spun around to face the stranger; "You've stolen something very dear to me!" Tears flowed from Sally's eyes as she pathetically whimpered. The stranger pulled Sally up to her face where her burning eyes cloud have singed her. The woman lowered her voice to a harsh whisper, "I will get him back!"
Sally tried to scream, but the stranger covered her mouth. A glowing, green portal spiraled out under their feet. The two creatures swiftly fell into the mysterious vortex with only the short sound of Sally's muffled scream.