Disclaimer: I do not own Coraline or it's characters.
Chapter 6,
After dinner, the kids curled up in their sleeping bags and Mrs. Jones turned out the lights in the living room. Harry was in the far end of the group; beside him laid Mariana, then Coraline, then Wybie. Harry was on his back, trying to ignore the others giggling and conversing amongst themselves. He couldn't help but be annoyed at how well the three of them got along.
So he picked up the journal he got from Mariana, and walked into the dining room. He flipped on a small light and sat at the table with a pen he found by the microwave. Harry hadn't really kept a diary before, but he just needed to vent and he angrily wrote in the poor thing.
Harry poured his words into the journal; the pain of Coraline moving away, the sadness he felt to live without her, and even the anger he felt to see her playing with Wybie. By the time he had purged the thoughts that had been burning inside of him, he found that he was extremely tired. Though perhaps he earned the right to be tired; a quick glance at the clock told him that he wrote for an hour straight.
Harry wondered if that was unusual, since he hadn't done this before. But he decided not to dwell on it since it was so late. When he returned to his sleeping bag, he found that the others were as still as stone. He turned his back to his friends and tried to go to sleep. Though after a moment, he heard a voice whispering to him.
"Hey..." the voice whispered. Harry's body jerked at the sound, but otherwise he tried to ignore it.
"Harry, hey..." the voice whispered again and Harry once again tried to ignore it.
"I saw you move, I know you're awake." The voice said and Harry sighed. He opened his eyes and he saw a blurry shadowy figure beside him.
"... Coraline...?" Harry asked confused, but he just heard the figure giggling.
"Come on." She said, neither confirming or denying her identity.
"Now?" Harry asked and the figure giggled again.
"Follow me." The female said and Harry slipped out of his sleeping bag.
"Where?" Harry asked and the figure stood up and crept to the edge of the rooms
"I want to show you something." She said and Harry stood up.
"What's that?" Harry asked and she giggled.
"Follow me." She said a second time. Harry rolled his eyes and walked towards the giggling girl.
"You're against the wall; there is nowhere for you to go." Harry stares and she giggled more.
"Aren't you adorable, watch this." She said. Then, down below, a tiny door opened. Harry knelt down and he saw a beautiful blue/purple tunnel.
"Woah. Where does that go, Coraline?" Harry asked as he stared at the door on the other end.
"Only one way to find out." She said. Harry couldn't help but scoff at the way she teased him, and he smiled.
"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Harry asked. He got down on his hands and knees, and he went through the tiny door. He marveled at the moving colors as he crawled along. When he got to the other side of the tunnel, he was surprised to see the living room with two sleeping bags on the floor. He stood up and looked around.
"That's odd. How do you walk away from something and still come back to it? Where is Wybie?" Harry asked, and of course, he heard another giggle.
"I don't know who that it, but this is a different space. Sometimes places look the same, but that doesn't mean that you should treat them the same." She said. Harry furrowed his brow at her odd comment. He slowly turned towards the figure in the dark.
"You don't know who Wybie is?" Harry asked suspiciously. The whole reason he mentioned Wybie, was because she was closer to Wybie then him.
"No clue, but I have you." She said sweetly and Harry continued to eye her.
"C... Coraline?" Harry asked nervously.
"Close." She said. She finally stepped into the moonlight and Harry gasped at her button eyes.
"I'm actually the Other Coraline." She said and Harry stepped away from her.
"Y-you can't be real." Harry said and the Other Coraline giggled.
"If I'm not real, then how am so here?" The Other Coraline said and Harry hesitated at the question.
"Maybe... am I dreaming?" Harry asked and the Other Coraline shrugged as she walked closer to him.
"Do you think you're dreaming?" The Other Coraline asked and Harry sighed.
"If this is a dream, it is the most realistic dream that I have ever had." Harry said and the Other Coraline smiled at him.
"That's the spirit." The Other Coraline said with a giggle. Harry paused as a new thought entered his mind.
"Hey, do I have to call you 'Other Coraline'?" Harry asked and the Other Coraline shrugged.
"I guess not. What would you like to call me?" The Other Coraline asked with a huge smile on her face, and Harry paused for a moment.
"Well, I don't wanna completely change your name, so I won't call you Jasmine or Sapphire or Hannah. Maybe I could mix 'Other' and 'Coraline' together. Like, uh... Other-line? Do you like Otherline? Harry asked and the Other Coraline giggled.
"I like it, if you like it." The Other Coraline said, sweetly holding her arms behind her back.
"Oh... ok, I think... Otherline it is." Harry said and Otherline tilted her head until it was sideways, before giggling again.
"My new name is so cute, Harry. Thank you." Otherline said and Harry smiled at her.
"So, where did Mariana and Wybie go?" Harry asked, looking down at the two sleeping bags on the floor.
"I told you, I don't know who Wybie is, but Mariana wanted to sleep out in the greenhouse. Play with the flowers and whatnot. So it's just you and me." Otherline said. Once again, Harry was confused that Otherline didn't know Wybie, but if this was his dream, then why would Wybie have to be here?
"Oh, goodie, the cookies are here." Otherline said. Harry turned around and saw a group of strange mice carrying a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk. Otherline sat down on her sleeping bag, so Harry sat on the other sleeping bag.
"What's with the mice?" Harry asked as the mice sat down the items they were carrying.
"They are my friends; aren't they cute?" Otherline asked and Harry rubbed the back of his neck.
"Um, where did they come from?" Harry asked, since rats and mice made him feel a bit on edge.
"They belong to Mr.B, he lives upstairs. He trains them and works hard to make them the greatest mouse circus in the world." Otherline said.
"The best, huh? How many mouse circuses are there?" Harry asked and Otherline shrugged.
"Who knows. Maybe they can perform for us privately. They are really cute." Otherline said. She picked up a cookie and handed it to Harry.
"Come on, eat one, Harry. I made these from scratch." Otherline said and Harry blinked at her.
"Really? I thought these were store bought." Harry said, looking down at the thing and Otherline laughed.
"It's a peanut butter cookie, with mini M 's, Reese's Pieces, and a drizzle of chocolate ganache frosting. You can't buy that at the store." Otherline said and Harry was drooling before he even tried the cookie. But when he did, it was the best peanut butter and chocolate cookie that he had ever had.
"Wow. Oh wow..." Harry said, sipping some milk.
"That is really, really good." Harry said once he inhaled this morsel. Otherline smiled and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you, Harry, you're so sweet. Lay down and I'll sing you a sweet lullaby." Otherline said and Harry curled up in the sleeping bag.
"Which one?" Harry asked and Otherline shrugged.
"My favorite one has no real title, and is sung in multiple languages in a tune that I made up. But I'm sure that it will put you at ease." Otherline said and Harry nodded.
"Let's hear it then." Harry said, closing his eyes.
"Papa werkt heel hard, mama moet helpen. We moeten werken om de kost te verdienen. De kinderen zullen lijden." Otherline sang in Dutch.
"Watashi wa monogoidesu, tada no monogoidesu. Watashi ga shinda toki, dare ga watashi no tame ni nakimasu ka?" Otherline sang in Japanese.
"Hush-a-by baby, babe not mine, mo mhulad caoidh, nach gabh thu truas a-chaoidh? Bliadhna air ais, chaidh mo spìonadh gu bràth." Otherline sang in Scottish Gaelic and Harry yawned.
"How do you know all of these languages?" Harry asked sleepily and Otherline stroked his hair.
"I've heard a lot of lullabies." Otherline whispered before returning to her song.
"Litli vinur minn, ég læt mig hvíla. En fyrir utan bíður andlit við gluggann." She sang in Icelandic.
"J'ai faim et je vais manger, crus et vivants, sans pain ni beurre, tous les petits enfants qui ne sont pas les miens." She sang in French.
"Morí hace mucho tiempo, pero todavía estoy aquí. Caminando en un mundo de mi propia creación, sembrando el miedo." She sang in Spanish.
"Bulan purnama, seperti kepala raksasa yang menakutkan. Mohon diam; untuk yang mencari anak menangis ini." She sang in Indonesian.
"I bambini vengono ignorati, come io sono stato ignorato. a tutti viene data l'opportunità di vivere per sempre, un'opzione che non ho mai ricevuto. Chi lo accetta viene messo in una stanza speciale. Ad altri viene data fine alla loro sofferenza. Nessuno piange i bambini, come nessuno ha pianto me. È piuttosto triste, davvero. I bambini dovrebbero essere persi." She sang in Italian. Harry just barely noticed the way Otherline repeated the lullaby. It wasn't really in English, and he didn't understand most of it; but it soothed him, and he hoped that he would remember it in the morning.