Chapter
II
"Corpse Day"
I barely remembered Corpse Day from all
the other years. Mom told me I usually stayed at home and/or was
asleep. I asked Mom if she thought Kate would be there. She reassured
me every time I asked and said that if she wasn't, she'd be in
the "next batch".
Mom, Dad, and I made our way the cemetery
where all of the citizens were already waiting. It was near sunset
and the smell of Deadly Nightshade was in the air. Grandpa met us on
the way there and commented on the smell.
"Ah, Deadly
Nightshade," he rambled on. "That smell brings me back…need I
remind you, Sally?"
Mom sighed, crossed her arms, and put on a
puss.
Dad laughed loudly.
I pushed through the crowd and up to
the front where the Mayor was up on a large stage at a podium. Two
poles at the side of the stage held a banner that read "HAPPY
CORPSE DAY!"
The Mayor held in his hands a long speech that
probably wasn't thought up by him, considering the fact that he
kept wordily explaining that he can't handle things by himself.
"Ahem," the Mayor started, "Good day to you all! I am happy
to announce that our annual Corpse Day ceremony is getting underway!
Honestly, I wouldn't like to bore you with the details, so, let
Corpse Day BEGIN!"
Fireworks exploded in the twilight sky as the
gravestones behind the Mayor began to rumble. Before I knew it,
corpses of all shapes and sizes began rising from the graves. They
were pale blue and they all seemed to be confused about where they
were.
The Mayor spoke into his megaphone. "Please form an
orderly single file line leading up to the stage, if you will. Oh,
and welcome to Halloweentown!"
The recently deceased were
extremely discombobulated, murmuring things like "Halloweentown?"
and "What's going on?" They decided to do as they were
told.
"Name?" the Mayor asked the first one.
The corpse
told Mayor his name and the Mayor gave him some sort of certificate.
After awhile, most of the corpses and original denizens of
Halloweentown had left. My parents and my grandpa left, too. There
were only a few people left when I got tired and decided to
leave.
"Maybe…the next batch…" I whispered to my self as I
headed toward the cemetery exit.
"Name?" I heard the Mayor ask
one last time.
"Kate Johansson." I heard her voice say.
I
whipped around and the sound of the name and, walking down from the
stage with the certificate, was Kate.
My heart lit up. She was
blue, like the rest of them. Her freckles were now dark blue. She was
wearing the beautiful dress I saw her in at her wake. and her blonde
hair had faded in color a little, but she was still so beautiful, in
my eyes. She was reading the certificate she was given.
"Kate!"
I screamed as I ran towards her.
She immediately looked up and her
eyes, but she looked confused.
I ran over and stopped in front of
her. "Kate…" I panted.
"Hi." She said, looking at me
weirdly.
"That's all?"
She shrugged."Well, all I have
to say is 'welcome to Halloweentown, friend!' I've missed you
so much."
It was like a dream; I just couldn't believe she
was really here with me.
She nodded. "Uh, yeah, Well, I only
have on question."
"Shoot." I said.
"Who ARE you?"
I
felt like I was just stabbed in the heart. "Huh?"
"Who are
you? Where am I? And why the heck are you acting like you know me?"
I
tried to reason with her. "But you DO know me! Remember? I'm
Dimitri Skellington!"
She pondered. "I admit you do look sort
of familiar."
I couldn't believe my nonexistent ears. "This
is crazy," I whispered to myself in frenzy. "I can't believe
it…there's got to be some sort of mix-up…" I began to walk
slowly out of the cemetery, mourning in my soul once again.
"Wait
up!" Kate said as she trailed behind me.
"What?" I
mumbled.
"Seriously, who are you?"
"I told you," I said
sorrowfully, a bit annoyed, "Dimitri Skellington. I was one of your
best friends back on Earth."
"But that can't be…" she
said. "I don't know who you are. Why do you know me?"
I couldn't bear it any longer. I turned around and began running. I think she was following me, because I heard her call me name.
