Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! I tried my best with this song, which I've dubbed '7 Holidays Council." Now remember, I'm not a song writer. So, if these lyrics suck to you, it's cause I'm a sucky writer lol. Anyways, enjoy!
(We see the figure in the pink cape walking through a forest full of white-barked trees dotted with pink and red leaves.)
The mysterious woman held out the staff, which was glowing lightly at first, but then got brighter as she got closer to a group of trees that were adorned with different shaped doors, the holiday doors. Walking to the center of opening, the staff was practically blinding as it pulsed with red energy.
"So, the source is in one of these doors. But which one is it?!" The woman questioned, her voiced sounding annoyed and exasperated.
Looking around at the different doors, she looked towards the Easter Day before saying with a sigh "Let's start here"
She walked up to the door and held out a white-gloved hand, opening the door. She looked inside for a moment, before a swirl of pastel colored flowers flew up from the opening and pulled her in, shutting behind her as she fell in.
(We then cut back to Halloweentown. It's New Years Eve, and we find Jack at his manor, sitting in a tall, skinny arm chair reading a book about different types of slime and their uses)
"Hm…I wonder if we could take stickiness of the slime from the Melting Man and combine it with the flexibility of the Soul Robber? I should probably consult the Doctor about such a thing" Jack thought out loud, before closing the book and getting up.
He walked over to the window to glance at the Doctor's lab. He hadn't seen any activity coming from there in a while.
"Perhaps he's taken a break from his experimenting on Jewel. I would hate to intrude, but since this concerns the success of this year's Halloween, it would be wrong of me not to at least ask." He said, putting his hands on his hips in thought
With that, Jack turned and headed down the spiral staircase of his home, and was soon outside walking towards the lab. As he did so, several residents of the town waved hi to him as they busily worked on their tasks. Once he reached the lab, he noticed the door was unlocked so he headed inside, closing the door behind him.
"Hello? Doctor? Are you in?" He called out, his voice echoing along the metal walls
"Is that you Jack?" The Doctor called out in a weary voice.
"Doctor, it's good to see you. I was wondering if I could consult with you on a matter I've been working on?" He asked, standing in front of the rampway
"I'd be happy to help. Come on up" He called down, to which Jack began to walk up the rampway with long strides.
"I hope I'm not intruding. I know you've been hard at work recently."
"Nonsense. You're always welcome here my boy. Besides, I could use the distraction."
"Your latest experiment not work properly?" Jack asked him with a concerned look
"No…and blast it all, I can't figure out why" He said, slamming his fist into the arm of the wheelchair, then continued with a sigh "But it's no matter. I am a man of science. I will solve this conundrum, and then we can be reunited"
"I believe in you Doctor. You have my full support" Jack smiled at him
"Thank you"
"Of course. So, where's Sally? I was hoping to talk with her about the upcoming meeting tomorrow after my consultation with you."
"Ah yes, that '7 Holidays Council' was it? Sounds very exciting. Regrettably, you just missed her. I sent her on some errands not only a few minutes ago."
"Oh well, I can meet up with her later. Right now, I'm hoping you can help me with an idea I had in mind"
"Certainly. Let's head into the lab and get to work." He said, using the joystick on his chair to himself towards the lab, to which Jack followed him.
(We cut to Sally walking back to the Doctor's lab with a basket on her arm)
As Sally makes her way down the ramp into the kitchen below, she hears a crash from up in the Doctor's lab, to which she turns around and rushes back up.
"Doctor! I heard a crash! Are you alright?!" She called out, stopping to see the Doctor and her skeleton beau Jack standing there, with Jack's soul robber attached to his arm.
"Ah, your back. Yes, yes, we're quite alright." The Doctor waved off her concern as he turned back to the table
"What happened?" She asked Jack, who smiled at her with a large skeleton grin
"The most marvelous thing is what has happened! The Doctor and I managed to create a slime with the right amount of stickiness and flexibility to be able to use it in our upcoming Halloween! My plan is quite simple, the slime will be dripping from every nook and cranny within the town, to which if anyone gets caught in it, there won't be any escape before the zombie's come out to play. Hehehehe" Jack laughed with childish glee, holding out his hand, allowing the soul robber to slowly drip down from his hand and back up like a yoyo.
"That sounds quite fun! I'm happy things are working out well for you" Sally replied with a smile
While the two were smiling at one another, the Doctor glanced over at them and said, "Alright, that's enough from you two. Jack, didn't you say you needed to talk with her about the upcoming council?"
"Ah yes, that's right! Sally, would you mind coming to my house tomorrow morning before we depart for the Hinterlands? I wanted to go over some possible topics to discuss while we are at the council meeting."
"Of course, I'd be happy to. I've been meaning to come by anyways, as I noticed a couple of tears in your suit that need mending" She said, holding up his right arm to show a long tear along his sleeve.
"Oh my, I didn't even notice that. Thank you Sally, that will be very helpful. I want to look my best in front of Sandy and the others." He smiled, lightly tugging the sides of this bow tie.
He then turns to the Doctor, saying "Thank you again for the help Doctor. I'll bring the recipe for the slime to the Mayor and the Melting Man and they can get to work on it."
"Anytime my boy, anytime." The Doctor replied, waving to him while his back was turned from them before picking up an x-ray to examine.
Jack took off the soul robber from his arm and put it in a glass container, corking it and putting it on the table. He then walks over to Sally, taking her hands in his, and says "See you tomorrow"
"I'll be there"
They look at one another for a moment before they let go and Jack heads down the ramp, waving bye without looking back, saying "Have a terrifying night, Doctor!"
"You as well Jack" He called out, still examining the x-ray
As Sally watched him leave, she heard the Doctor say "If it was anyone else, I might not be as approving. But I can think of no one better for you than the Pumpkin King."
She looked back at the Doctor in shock for a moment, then looked down to floor with a look of embarrassment but had a smile on her face. If she could blush, her face would look like a tomato. She looked back at the door, leaning on the railing and putting her head in her hand, giving a swooning smile.
(We cut back the pink and red leafed forest, where we find the Easter door open up and the mysterious woman climb out.)
Slamming the Easter door behind her and pulling out a blue and green colored egg from her cloak, the mysterious woman says exasperated "Two days and nothing. Just a lot of eggs."
She throws the egg behind her shoulder and steps to the center of the opening of the Holiday Door trees. She then pulls out a small book, where she flips through the pages. Each left page contains a picture of a Holiday Door, with a detailed description of their world written below the picture as well as on the right page.
"Where did he lose it?! It says he lost it "where one would not expect", but he doesn't say where!"
As she flips through the book, she reaches the page with a picture of the Halloween Holiday door on it. Look at the pumpkin with a scary face on it, she then looks to said door cautiously. She then looks back at the book.
"Where one would not expect…Could it be?"
She walks over to the Halloween Holiday door and holds out her white-gloved hand towards the knob. However, she stops just before her fingers touch the knob, then pulls it back to her.
"No, there would be no reason for him go there. Where could you find love there?" She said, backing away from the Halloween door.
Looking back to the book, she then flips to the St. Patrick's Day page. She then says "Land of Luck, maybe also lucky in love?"
Walking over and opening the St. Patrick's Day door, a whirlwind of clovers blew up from the hole and sucked her into door, closing it behind her.
(Cutting the next morning in Halloweentown, where the dead rooster begins to crow as the sun comes up)
We see Sally reach the top step of Jack's Manor, where she pulls the spider cord, ringing the scream door bell. The door opens and Jack looks down to see his ragdoll love, to whom he gives a big grin.
"Good morning Jack" Sally greets him with a smile in return
"Good morning. Come in." He replied, stepping to the side to let her through the door.
Sally soon gets to work on stitching up some of the tears on Jack's suit. As she's working on a tear on the left shoulder blade, Jack pulls out a list of possible discussion topics for the council.
"Some ideas I had was discussing the reason behind hiding eggs on Easter, what the difference is between a three-leaf clover and a four-leave clover, or even what the process is to make fireworks."
(Song time! Remember that I'm not a song writer, so if it sounds weird, I tried my best)
The date's been set
The time is drawing near
And soon we'll be surrounded
By our holiday peers
My curious nature has my interest piqued
What do you say, my dear?
(Jack sang, holding out his arms in a grandiose stance, as Sally finished up the tear on the back and then moved over in front of Jack, pulling his right arm down and starting to stitch up the tear along the inside. At the part 'What do you say, my dear?' She looked up and smiled at him)
I'm sure no matter how things go
Everything will turn out as it should
You'll make new friends from other worlds
And learn new things
you never dreamed you would
(As she sang, she continued stitching up the sleeve. As she got to the part 'Never dreamed you would', she sniped off the string)
The time is imminent!
We mustn't dally!
Of to the doors, we do depart!
Take my hand, my dear Sally!
(Jack, noticing the time, quickly ushers Sally out of the house, closing the door behind him. Taking her by the hand, they begin to quickly walk towards the graveyard.)
As the King and Queen of Halloween,
We mustn't be late!
The council's fast approaching!
I just can't wait!
(Jack, while walking through the graveyard with Sally in tow, spun her around at 'Queen of Halloween', then continued to walk forward while holding her hand, pointing towards the Hinterland Forest)
Take it slow, my love
We'll be there soon
Stop and enjoy the view
It's not even yet high noon
Take it slow, my dear
Enjoy the trip
Don't pull to much
Or I'm going to slip!
(Sally puts her other hand on Jack's arm that was pulling her along, to which at the part 'Or I'm going to slip!' She stumbles and starts to fall.)
As always, you're right
We'll take it slow
Soon we'll arrive
And so will they
Then 7 Holidays council
Can start the show!
(Jack catches Sally as she falls and pulls her up to him, looking at her with a soft smile, before looking up to the sky and throwing his hand into the air at 'Start the show!' We then cut to the Holiday doors, where we can see a round table with 14 chairs, each designed and placed in front of their respective holiday.)
Soon, the door for the Independence Day door opened and after a stream of fireworks started pouring out, an elder man and young woman floated out of the hole in the door. The man was dressed in red and white stripped pants, a solid blue coat with red and white accents. His top hat was red and white stripped with a strip of blue and white stars. He was a hefty man with white hair and a short white beard. He was carrying a flag with the same colors as his outfit, which he stuck into the ground behind his chair and then took his seat with a serious expression pasted on his face. The woman, who was dressed in a blue work jumpsuit and had her hair tied in a red polka dot bandana, sat next to him with a look of determination.
Next, the door for St. Patrick's Day opened and in a swirl of clovers a leprechaun that stood a foot tall flew out of the door, carrying a pot of golden coins. He was dressed in a green suit, stripped socks, and black shoes with gold buckles. He had a green buckled top hat sitting on top of a shock of ginger red hair. He put the pot on the chair and then hoped up and sat on top of the pile of gold, pulling out a pipe and putting in in his mouth before crossing his arms, little puffs of smoke coming out of the pipe. The chair next to him, however, was unfilled as no one was accompanying him.
(Okay, so when he speaks, I'm going to try and make him sound as Irish as possible, so if I use the wrong terms for certain things, please let me know. I don't really know any Irish people, so I don't want to unintentionally offend anyone by using any terms that aren't correct. I'm trying to use google, but it keeps thinking that I want to translate English to Irish, when I'm trying to write this story in English but have him use Irish slang. So, just a heads up)
Amongst the wave of pastel-colored flowers, the pink-Easter bunny hopped out from the Easter Door. He's wearing his soft yellow sash that says "Happy Easter" and carrying his basket of different colored eggs. Along with him came a young woman, with chestnut skin and dark hair tied up in a bun, wearing a yellow, flower-patterned spring dress and sported cat-eyed glasses. She had a clipboard in one hand and a pencil tucked into her ear. She motioned for the bunny to sit in the chair, but he just looked at it with a blank expression, to which she simply leaned over and lifted him onto the chair, holding a hand out for him to stay where he was, then sat in the chair next to him.
Autumn leaves fluttered out of the Thanksgiving Day Door, and two people came out. One was a man dressed in pilgrim clothes, including the well-known buckle hat and a cape attached to his back. The other was man dressed in Native American buckskin tunic and pants, with mukluk boots, several beaded necklaces, and a headdress with a single red feather. They then sat down at the two chairs in front of their holiday with friendly smiles.
It was then that Jack and Sally showed up at the Holiday Doors. Looking at the attendees who have already arrived, he gave a large grin, held on hand to his chest and the other in the air.
"Greetings to all my fellow Holiday leaders! My name is Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween."
The leaders of the Holidays and their representatives looked at the new arrivals with wide eyes. The St. Patrick's Day leader took out his pipe and said "You're codding me." The Easter Bunny, at the sight of the leader of Halloween, jumped behind the woman he came with in fear, remembering the time when he was kidnapped and brought to the land of scares. The woman who was with the Independence Day leader put her hands on her hips and said "Well that's something you don't see every day". The Thanksgiving Day leaders looked to one another and looked back at the skeleton man and ragdoll woman in surprise.
Before anyone can say anything else, the Christmas door swings open and a whirlwind of snowflakes carries the jolly man in red, Santa Claus, into his armchair at the head of the table and his one of his elves sat next to him, looking a little nervous at the surroundings.
"Well, I'm glad to see almost everyone is here. Looks like the only one we're missing is Cupid and his plus one." Santa said, looking around the rest attendees.
"Sandy! So happy to see you again!" Jack smiled, holding out his hands towards the new arrival.
"Ah, Jack. Yes, it's been some time since the last time I saw you. You been keeping out of trouble, I'm sure?" Santa replied, cocking an eyebrow with an amused smirk
Holding his hand on his chest over the place where a heart would be, he said with a smile "I promise. I've actually been very preoccupied with my Halloween plans to even think about the other holidays"
"Very good. Well take your seat. Once Cupid arrives, we can begin the council."
As Jack and Sally sat down, the other leaders kept looking at him in wonder. It was then that the Pilgrim co-leader of Thanksgiving spoke up, asking "I'm sorry, Jack was it? I don't mean to sound rude but…how are you alive?" To which Jack and Sally looked at one another in surprise, then back at them
"Fair play, mate! I was waiting to see if anyone was going to ask" The St. Patrick's Day leader looked to at him,
"Hey now, that's not a question you ask someone you just met" The leader of Independence Day interjected before Jack could say anything
"Quiet ye! Everyone's thinking it, he just had the guts to say it!"
"Now that's quite enough, I'll say. I apologize Jack." Santa silenced them with a commanding tone before apologizing to the Pumpkin King
"Oh, it's alright Sandy. I'm just glad my presence didn't scare them silly!" Jack laughed before continuing with "To answer your question, I'm actually dead."
Jack took off his head and showed it to everyone at the table. This spooked the rest of the table, with the exception of Santa who was used to Jack's antics. The Independence Day leader and representative's eyes widened and their jaws dropped. The St. Patrick's Day leader fell off his pot of gold and onto the ground. The Easter Bunny shrunk further behind his representative in fear, and the Thanksgiving Day leaders leaned back in shock, their arms flying up into the air.
Jack, with his head still in his hand, looked to Sally and the two started to giggle a little. He then puts his head back onto his neck, which calms the others down a bit. The Native American co-leader then asks Sally "Are you…also deceased?"
"Well that's hard to say. I never lived to begin with, I was created by a genius doctor who sewed me together and brought me to life." She held a hand to her lip as she thought of how to answer.
"But how-" The St. Patrick's Day leader started, but was cut off.
The culprit of the interruption was the sound of the Valentine's Day door swinging open. A flurry of red hearts swiftly brought a pink-skinned dressed in a long white robed tied by a cord, sporting golden sandals and golden arm cuffs. He had shoulder length curly blond hair and striking pink eyes. He had large white feather wings growing from his back and had a quiver full of golden arrows strapped to his backside in between his wings. He carried a large golden bow in one hand and was gazing intently at a sort of heart projection coming the cuff on his other arm. Without looking away from the heart, he leaned his bow on the side of the chair and sat down, the other chair left unused.
"Cutting it pretty close there, Cupid." Santa commented
"Perhaps, but unlike the rest of the holidays, love never stops, so my job never ends. So, if you don't mind, let's get this council started already, as I've got a lot of work to do today" He said, not even looking up from his heart projection
"What're you trying to say?! That we don't work as much as ye?! I'll have ye know that even after me holiday has ended, I still need to attend to many affairs, like the production of the four-leaved clovers, making sure the rainbows get made with the right coloring. Why I ought a-" The St. Patrick's Day leader stood atop his gold coins and began to shake his fist, but was cut off by Santa Claus who held up a hand to quiet him down.
"I'm sure Cupid didn't mean any harm. We all work very hard to ensure the success of our holidays, so let's leave it at that. Now then, let us commence with the first ever 7 Holidays Council!" Santa said, put his hands on the table with a smile on his face