Chapter 36
Sally's Prison
Sally placed back and forth in her holding cell. Her head was down with one hand on her chin and an arm behind her back as she scrawled in concentration of a good escape plan. Her cell was like the inside of a ruby blue cave, but the space was about seven feet cubed. The only lighting was emitted from a single lantern hanging on the moist wall. Her only furnishings were a dingy mattress, a torn pillow, a damp blanket, and a rotting wooden chair.
Sally had tried everything she could think of to escape, but to no avail. After so many attempts at escaping, her dress was more torn and ratty than what it was before. Her hair was tangled and unkempt. And she was running extremely low on thread after having to reset her limbs time and time again. She tried dismemberment, faking sick, starting fires with her lantern, and several other hopeless things to escape her prison. The only thing she hadn't tried finally came to mind.
Sally stopped pacing and popped her head up excitedly, "Ah-ha!"
She took a step toward the old, wooden chair, lifted it over her head, and slammed it on the floor. The chair shattered to pieces. Sally grinned as she picked up a small piece that imitated a pencil.
"Pick the lock."
Sally crossed over to the large steel door that contained her in her room. On bent knees she inserted the wood into the keyhole, right above the door handle. She fished the wood around, listening intently for the marvelous clicks of the door unlocking. Twenty pulse pounding minutes passed and finally the door was unlocked. With a shaky hand, Sally reached for the handle. Cold steel against her zombie flesh became warm as her hand pulled down the door handle. The handle didn't stick; it came down and the door opened a crack. Sally let out a breath. She was satisfied, but her trials weren't over yet. She'd gotten outside of the cell before, but Shadow eventually caught her. It was like Shadow was some kind of hunter. She could just smell if Sally was around.
Sally opened the door just wide enough for her to squeeze through, when she stopped. In a moment of consideration, she closed the door just enough to look undisturbed.
Getting back to her feet, then crossing back to the broken chair was when Sally said, "Best to take a weapon with me this time."
An expression of examination was on Sally's face as she looked at the wood pieces. As if it were calling to her, Sally picked up the chair leg. It was just the right size and weight, and one end of it was already spiked to attack.
"Perfect."
Having already left the confides of her cell, Sally tiptoed down the corridor of the ruby blue cave. It was dark, but Sally's eyes managed to adjust. Her stake was held high and ready to slay in case anyone got the mind to attack her.
Sally had finally gone farther then she ever made it after several minutes. She was very impressed. Then she became perplexed when she came to a fork. It was either left or right, and they both looked exactly the same; long, dark, and grim. Sally thought about it for a moment, and then she only listened. Faint voices echoed from the entrance to her left. A gut feeling told her to avoid the voices, but a gut feeling inside that gut feeling told her that something evil dwelled in the silent cave to the right.
Sally shrugged, "How much worse could it get?"
Tiptoeing with her stake held high, Sally traveled to the end of the left tunnel. When she reached the end, Sally peered around the corner of the cave. Just as she had suspected, Oogie and his gooiness (Lock, Shock, and Barrel) were there. Hoping that she could just wait them out, Sally leaned her back against the cave wall, and then silently slid down on her bottom. She listened intently with her knees hugged to her chest, and gripping her only protection in her right hand.