Disclaimer: I still do not own The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Note: This chapter is actually based on something that happened to my friend five years ago. I hope you enjoy.
Once again the three trick-or-treaters found themselves in Jack's office. The skeleton held a bony hand to his skull. The three children sat in the chairs, looking at their shoes, pretending to be contrite. They were decent actors, the pumpkin king had to give them that. Jack made them remove their masks so that he could see their faces during the lecture.
"I believe you all know why you're here," Jack said in an authoritative voice. The three children nodded in response. Jack sighed. Never before had this been an issue, it was all due to those dang inventions they called cellular phones.
Not that Jack was downing the precious technology. He silently muttered an apology to the phone resting comfortably in his pocket. Maybe there was a reason people in the human world had to go to therapy due to their attachments to recent technology. He promised himself he would never get wrapped up in such a petty phenomenon, but what one says before differs from when they actually become a part of it.
The skeleton's attention drifted back to the matter at hand. He was glad that the offense this time was not a serious one, as much as it was public annoyance. Still, he felt he should be the one to step in and correct their behavior before it expanded into something worse.
"Well, do you have anything to say for yourselves?" Jack asked with his hands on his slender hips. There was no response. "Lock," Jack said in that aversive voice. The child who usually wore the devil mask looked up at the irate skeleton and shook his head before looking down at his feet once more. "Shock," his attention fell on the only female in the group. She sniffled for dramatic effect and shook her head. Had Jack eyeballs, he would have rolled them at her obviously fake crying. He then turned to Barrel who looked more bored than anything.
"I'm sorry, Jack," Barrel said in a bored tone. He would rather be at home eating candy not having to listen to bone-man's lecture.
"You should be," Jack stated. "Prank calls are not funny. They're annoying." The three children cringed at Jack's increase in volume. "People in this town don't like you three very much and doing things like this will not change their opinions."
At this point Barrel had already started tuning Jack out. He grabbed the device from his pocket that got him into this trouble in the first place. He started playing with buttons on his phone while Jack continued to lecture them on manners and how to be better behaved. They never listened to what he said so the youngest trick-or-treater could not understand why Jack continued to call them to his office for a lecture whenever they did something.
Fortunately for Barrel, Jack had his back turned to the three at the moment. Shock was contemplating whether or not she should slingshot the apple she had on her at the moment. He had yet to reveal the punishment for their late actions and decided to wait to see what he planned on doing before possibly worsening the consequences.
Barrel's chubby fingers pressed buttons as he took the time to experiment with settings that he did not even know came with his phone. He went through volume, internet connections, and game settings. He glanced up every now and then to make sure Jack remained in the dark that he was not listening. At least with his phone Jack's lesson was less boring. He smirked as he thought of how his siblings had yet to take his lead and were trying their best to look sorry.
Jack turned back around. "In conclusion, I think you need to learn that this behavior will not be tolerated anymore," he said in a strict voice. "Therefore I will—"
Jack was sharply cut off by a shriek from the youngest child. Barrel's pale face scrunched up as he yelled at the phone in his grasp. He pressed codes repeatedly, but none were the accurate one to access the phone he accidentally locked himself out of.
"No! What? I didn't!" Barrel exclaimed. He was unaware that all eyes were on him. "Stupid phone!" He tried another possible combination only for it to read that it was not the correct code to get back in his phone. With a scream he tossed the phone against the stone wall. The back of the phone fell off startling the others.
"Barrel, what's your problem now?" Shock screeched.
Barrel crossed his little arms and pouted. "My phone locked me out."
"So you threw it?" Jack asked.
Barrel nodded. Jack sighed. Perhaps he was not the only one who needed to see a psychiatrist about something. Perhaps he should force the three of them into anger management. Then again they would probably lead the entire organization into a mob and set the town ablaze.
Jack shook his head as he picked up the two pieces. Luckily the battery had just fallen out and other than a few minor scratches to the screen there was no real damage.
Barrel held out his hand when Jack fixed the phone. The skeleton dropped it on his desk and shook his head.
"Now, I think the best punishment for these actions would be to take away your phones for a month," Jack said calmly, waiting for the explosion of protests.
Sure enough all three of them jumped to their feet, exclaiming that the pumpkin king was being most unfair. Jack sighed and rubbed his aching temples. He was meant to run a town, not babysit a bunch of brats. He wondered how Oogie had such control over them when he was alive.
After enduring enough of the screaming Jack made a scary face and screamed causing all three to tremble. He cleared his throat then pointed to the spot next to where Barrel's phone rested. Lock and Shock argued a little more, but eventually gave in seeing as how Jack was losing their patience. He threatened to extend the time to two months when persuaded them to give in.
After the cell phones were placed on the desk, the three left the office in a single file line. Jack turned them off then placed them inside a box where he would craftily store them lest the siblings try and sneak in town hall at night and try to steal them back.
Jack sighed as he sat down to begin paperwork. The talk about the children prank calling citizens, pretending the ones they pranked were pizza shops made the skeleton hungry for pizza. It would be nice to give Sally a break from cooking.
Jack's bony fingers picked up an envelope that was addressed to him and Sally. He noticed the phone company's name at the top. He opened it up to reveal a bill that included extra charges. Ringtones and texting, he was sure he had not done any of those. Suddenly the memory of Sally's interesting ringtone the other day surfaced. He groaned and made a mental note to have a talk with his wife about unnecessary spending later on.
Thanks for reading.
My freshman year in college me and my friend were watching a movie. Halfway through she started playing with her phone. She accidentally locked herself out of the phone and did not know the code to unlock it. In frustration she threw it against the hard walls which caused the back to fall off. Eventually she found out the number she needed to unlock it. Still, it made for an interesting story to add to this story.
Have a nice day!