MIDNIGHT STROLL

In Halloween Town, another stranger had appeared. A girl lay on the ground stirring. She was gradually coming to, her eyes fluttering, unfocused. Trying to sit up, she used her hands for support. However, her right hand would not move. In an upright position, she looked around her, eyes focusing, and realized that she was no longer where she was before.

Valary stared in wonder. Why was she in a graveyard? What time is it? Mum's going to kill her! Trying to sit cross-legged, she found that she couldn't for her skirt was so narrow that it hindered her. Sitting with her legs to the side, she tried to make sense of her current situation. She had been at home getting ready…for what? She was going somewhere…where?!

Thinking that she had amnesia, she looked around again for clues to why she was there. Halloween! She screamed in her head. Riks' Halloween/birthday party! She had dressed and had her mum drop her off at Riks'. She helped decorate and asked Spencer to strap the radio to the gutter for a better frequency. Then…

Siana! Annabelle! Everything came back to her: her friends fighting, going after Annabelle, the pumpkin. The pumpkin! Suddenly she was scared. The pumpkin brought her here. No wait, she thought to herself. That's crazy. But after thinking about it for a minute she found it was the only explanation. She looked around nervously.

The ground felt cold, and was a weird texture. It was not dirt or cement. The closest thing it felt like was plastic. Graves were scattered around: a couple of large monuments and shrines, but mostly small bare gravestones. Trying to stand again, her legs shivered violently and she reached for the closest tomb. Her arm caught it, and she straightened herself slowly. Her right hand wasn't reacting. Thinking it was numb she held her arm up to her face.

Valary started. Her mouth dropped and she felt her lunch coming up. Trying not to be sick, she turned her arm over, and over. There was her shoulder, her elbow, then…nothing. She had no wrist, no hand, no fingers. Not on her right arm anyway. Quickly checking her other arm she found all the bits that her right arm was missing.

There was no blood or scab. No marks to indicate it had been cut off. It didn't hurt.

From the elbow down there was just nothing there, like it just detached. She had the craziest idea that it had only fallen off, and looked around her, but found nothing. She did notice that she was at the bottom of a hill, a very strange shaped hill indeed; for it had a narrow curve as its ledge. Behind it was the moon. It was so big that Valary doubted it was real, but it must've been for it gave off a dim light. Slowly making her way up the hill (a skirt that is narrow at the knees is not fun to walk in) she noticed the tall metal fence with an even taller gate that surrounded the area. Reaching the top she gasped.

Past the fence were rolling hills of the same plastic-rake texture. A house so large that it could almost be a mansion was seen between hills, with what looked like pipes and hanging things poking out and around it. Behind her past the gate could be seen something that was squirting water up (a fountain?) surrounded by tall derelict buildings. Two buildings stood out above the rest. They weren't as neglected, but still matched the scene. They seemed more superior to the other buildings. And the moon! Oh, the moon was ginormous! (Is that even a word?) So round and perfect, it shone on the hill and tombs, creating creeping shadows.

Valary's hands (or should it be hand?) twitched. The view was so inspiring. She wished that she could have brought along a sketchbook or at least some paper to draw the scene. Hobbling down the hill she saw something lying on a grave closest to her. Moving towards it, she realized with shock what it was. There, resting on the tombstone was her hand.

She poked it. It moved. She gasped in fright, slightly jumping back. She poked it again. She felt a strange feeling below her elbow where her hand would normally have been. She could feel herself touching her hand. For some reason it did not come as much as a shock, but was still a bit unnerving. If she could feel it still, maybe she could move it?

Thinking of moving her hand was easy; the hard part was getting it to move. She tried clenching, but she kept clenching the wrong hand. She became impatient and waved her working hand around in frustration.

It moved. Ever so slightly. But Valary did not notice, for she had heard voices in front of her. Behind the gate she could see movement, and could hear people talking. Looking around quickly she spotted a rather large shrine and darted for it before tripping over her own feet in her skirt. Cursing, she army-crawled towards the shrine before remembering she had left her hand behind. Looking over her shoulder she heard the tall gate creep open and could hear the people walking, their voices a bit louder.

'Woof!'

Great. They have a dog. If she got up they would spot her, but she couldn't just leave her arm behind. What would you do if you found an arm lying on a grave?!

Valary quickly wriggled her way behind the shrine and waited silently.

"Jack, something isn't right!" Sally exclaimed. "Halloween decorations are missing, things are been taken! My dress is gone!"

"Sally, I don't think Oogie's boys would have taken your dress," Jack laughed. "I mean, Shock would have to wait a couple of more years before she'd fit-"

"I don't think Oogie's boys are behind this," Sally cut in. "This is…something else."

Jack looked at Sally and carefully took her hand in his.

"Is it another premonition?" he asked seriously.

"I…I don't know," Sally said shaking her head. Suddenly she blushed. "This must sound stupid. Me, having premonitions?" She tried to laugh it off.

Jack squeezed her hand lightly and said, "It's not stupid. Remember when I tried to take over Christmas? I didn't listen to you then, and we all saw what happened."

They both laughed at the memory and kept walking. They had now reached the cemetery where Jack opened the gate for Sally.

"Thank you kind sir," giggled Sally as she walked past.

"Anything for a lovely lady," Jack replied with a grin. As they both walked together Zero appeared by Jack's side, barking happily.

"Why hello Zero," Jack said. "You're looking bright."

Zero kept barking at Jack, drifting around him.

"Ah, you want to play? Alright then." Jack reached into his jacket and pulled out a rib. "Fetch Zero!"

Something landed in front of Valary with a significant THUD. Valary squinted at it before realizing it was a bone. This place is weird… She was becoming less and less surprised when strange things happened. Valary was in a graveyard, somewhere else in the world without a right hand. It couldn't get any weirder.

She heard a dog barking. It got closer and closer. What if they find me? She thought. Maybe they're lost themselves, like I am…

Valary risked a peek around the shrine. She glimpsed three…no, two people. One was very tall and thin. The other person was a woman with long hair that shone red in the ghostly light. She couldn't see the dog, but she did see her hand. It still lay on the grave, not far from her. One thing's for sure, she had to get it before the people spotted it.

She tried to call her hand. "Come on hand! Come on!" It didn't budge. She imagined herself as the hand and called. This time it twitched. Ah, she thought. That's how it's done. It was like trying to play two video games at once, trying to drink with your mouth and breathe normally with your nose, trying to pat your head and rub your tummy. It was hard. Her hand had hardly moved, and the people were heading for the hill. If they reached the top they would spot her quite easily…

"Come on! Hurry up!" she urged her hand. It stopped and made a rude sign at her. It dropped to the ground with a loud THUD. Adrenalin pumped through her veins. There was no way no one couldn't have heard that…

Suddenly something white appeared in front of Valary. It was a ghost…of a dog. With a pumpkin on its nose. That glowed. That is weird.

"Zero! I need my bone back!"