Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the movie characters… I just made up the names of the kids mentioned in the Closing Lyrics from the soundtrack and made the kids personalities… movie characters are completely Tim Burton's…

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"Jack, call the children for dinner," said Sally, Jack's ragdoll wife. She was wearing her usual dress, along with a patched black and orange cooking apron. For dinner tonight, she had made snake fillets with mashed eyeballs, a special treat. Hearing no response from her husband, she turned around, frowning slightly, but immediately covered her mouth with her hand in suprise when she saw him.

Jack Skellington had fallen asleep in a rickety dogwood chair, his head leaning over the back, and his limbs splayed in four different directions. His mouth was open slightly, and as Sally watched, he made some non-committal noise and tilted his head in a different angle. Sally put down the plate of snake fillets and mashed eyeballs that she had been holding upon the table in front of Jack. She stepped back and watched expectantly as the delicious scents wafted up to Jack's nostrils.

Immediately, he stirred, sitting up straight, rubbing his eyes, and yawning. "Where am I?" he asked before he opened his eyes. Then he saw Sally. "Hello, dearest. When's dinner?"

She smiled at him. "As soon as you find the children and they're ready to eat. It's snake fillets with mashed eyeballs tonight."

"My favorite!" Jack stood up quickly, and nearly tripped over the chair in his haste to go out the door. "I'll go hunt those little rascals down! Keep the food warm for me, Sally!" he called as he walked out his front door and down the steps.

Strolling quickly through the streets of Halloween Town, Jack passed the town square and the meeting house before locating the ever-aging street band who had played the bass, the concertina, and the saxophone for as long as he could remember. They were located near the gate just outside Dr. Finkelstein's imposing home, playing their dirge-like tunes that never seemed the same, even after all these years.

"Hello, there!" Jack waved as he walked up to them. "Have you by any chance seen my children?"

"They're-" began the little man in the bass before suddenly being interrupted by the sound of xylophones being played very quickly. Jack nodded his thanks and followed the noise.

He found his children sitting in an alley, practicing on their various bone xylophones that Santa Clause had given them last Christmas. His two daughters, Jane and Mary, were bent over their yellow-white xylophones, pounding the keys faster than Jack's eyes could follow. Both of his daughters wore rag-doll dresses like their mother, but then the similarities wore out. While both daughters had full heads of hair, Mary wore hers cut short, in a boyish fashion just covering her skull, while Jane wore her long, flowing hair pulled back in a tight braide that trailed down her back like a rat's tail.

Jack's three sons, on the other hand, were leaning against trash cans and the walls of the alley, beating out random rythms that blended perfectly with their sisters' melodious tunes. Both boys, Paul and Ron, resembled their father identically- from skull to long, bony limbs and flexible fingers. They wore suits just like their father, but Ron's suit was dark blackish-blue, and Paul's was dark blackish-green.

For a moment, Jack just stood there, listening to the odd music originating from his children's xylophones, but the memory of what they were to have for dinner shook him back into action. "It's time for dinner," he said, his voice interrupting their music. Startled, Paul nearly dropped his instrument, but Mary caught it before it landed on the hard cobblestones of the street.

"What are we having?" asked Jane as she put away her xylophone, her voice calm and soothing just like her mother's.

"Snake fillets with mashed eyeballs!" Jack announced happily. "And your mother wants you to come home right away so that we can eat while the food is still warm."

"Mother wants us to get home before the food gets cold?" Ron asked skeptically, a grin on his face. "What about you, Father?"

"What about me?" Jack asked solemnly, acting confused and innocent. "I'm just relaying your mother's wishes."

"But we all know that snake fillets are your favorite meal," said Jane.

"And I think it's you who wants us home before the food gets cold," piped in little Mary.

Jack threw his hands into the air, laughing. "All right, all right. You've figured out my devious plot to get home before the food gets cold. But can we get home before the food gets cold anyway?"

"NO!" the children cried in unison before breaking out in laughter.

"You're all out to kill me a second time," Jack said dramatically, striking a woeful pose.

"Let's get home, Father," said Paul. "I want to eat a warm meal too."

The children grabbed their xylophone cases and walked with Jack out of the alley towards their home. Little Mary and Ron handed Jack their instrument cases so that they could race home in order to tell Sally that Jack had found them and everyone was on their way.

Jack watched his youngest children race away, and then turned to his oldest child, Paul. "What in the world gave you the idea to practice in that alleyway?" he asked, all laughter gone from his face. "You know that Oogie's Children could have kidnapped you all and then your mother and I would have never seen you again."

Paul's eyes narrowed at this unexpected rebuke. "I've never even seen Oogie's Children, Father."

"And it's a good thing you haven't!" Jack exclaimed. "Lock, Shock, and Barrel are not the type of people any Skellington should be seen associating with!"

"But you had them help you kidnap Santa Claus!" Paul cried indignantly. "You're being a hypocrite."

Jack was taken aback by his son's accusation. Santa Claus took care to regal the family with tales of Jack's attempt to take over Christmas nearly eighteen years ago, and Jack knew that his son's words were true. He was being a hypocrite, but Oogie's children had grown into adults exactly like their father. Shock, the oldest of the trio and the only girl, had grown into a beautiful, seductive young witch, and Jack had seen many of the younger denizens of Halloween look at her in what could be called an overly friendly manner. Lock, the middle child of Oogie, had evolved into a handsome, sallow-skinned devil, while the youngest child, Barrel, had remained pudgy and round but had won the hearts of any unlucky girl that he wanted through his deceptively charming voice and endearing appearance. It was with good intentions that Jack kept his children away from Oogie's, because they were old enough to want revenge for their father's death at Jack's hands.

"I know, I know, Paul," Jack said. "But Oogie's children have become much more dangerous and evil when I enlisted their aid."

Paul gave Jack a sullen glance and, realizing that he had lost this battle, sank into silence. Jane, Jack's second child, immediately struck up a cheerful chatter about the progress they had made with their xylophones, and Jack listened intently until they reached their house.

Sally was waiting at the door, and she shook her head disapprovingly as Jack walked through the door. "You took much longer than I expected, Jack. The food got cold." Jack gave her a peck on the cheek and a wink as he walked to the table, where his children were sitting expectantly. "But I heated it up and it should taste just as good," Sally finished as she sat down.

The family said grace, and then began to eat…

So this is my first Nightmare Before Christmas fanfic, and I would love to have reviews telling me what you did or didn't like about the story (I'll get Chapter Two up after I finish this Document-Based Essay for school). Please, tell me what you think; constructive criticism is always welcome!