Author's Note: Hello, my readers! Long time no see, right? If you have not watched my video I linked to on my profile, I will conduct a quick recap on what I said: I am sorry for the very long delay of 2 1/2 years of publishing the first chapter of this story. College and life proved quite challenging over the years, but my classes are done for the summer, I am officially a senior in college, and I am eager to get writing again. This is more of an introduction chapter (of course) and any questions you might have upon finishing it should be answered by chapter two. I have the entire story written out in outline form, I just need to separate the ideas into chapters and add more details where there needs some, so I have not given up on this story, not one bit. Since I seem to do better at posting new chapters by giving myself deadlines, chapter two will be up exactly two weeks from today on Saturday, June 3. Please read, review, and enjoy the first chapter of A Walk in the Wrong World!
Chapter Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to all of my readers who are still with me even after all this time (you all know who you are)! You are all wonderful and I couldn't be happier to have you all with me!
Disclaimer: We are back to this again, are we? Very well. I do not own Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I own almost everything made up within this chapter.
Ch. 1 – A Walk in the Wrong World
She had never felt so refreshed in her life.
Coming out of what seemed to be a deep sleep, Monique could feel a soft cushion beneath her. What was it made of? Flower petals? Feathers from the softest birds? A cloud? All of the above? She did not want to open her eyes to find out. Since she was dead, she assumed she would never have to.
A sweet smell filled her nostrils as she took a deep breath in. Fresh air, flowers. As she exhaled, she smiled: there was no more pain in her chest, no more tubes and IVs sticking into her arms, no stiffness of old bones as she stretched her arms above her head.
But as she relaxed and inhaled once more, something seemed off. She felt a familiar thumping in her chest. Keeping her eyes shut, Monique slowly moved her right hand to rest gently above her left breast. Sure enough, there was the beating from the heart she could have sworn had just stopped.
"Huh, I thought your heart was supposed to stop when you're dead," Monique thought aloud, her voice sounding different to her ears, almost younger. "Does this mean I'm still alive?"
Hushed tones suddenly surrounded her. Curious yet not wanting to fully awaken, Monique cracked one eyelid open. The brightness from the sky forced the lid shut to shield her eye once more.
"Ooh! She is awake!" A woman's shrill voice squealed.
"Shh! Not so loud!" The loud tenor voice of a man hushed the woman. "She looked like she was having a pleasant dream!"
"Well, I'm awake now," Monique lifted her hand from her chest to act as a visor to shield her eyes as she attempted once more to open them. Having more luck the second time around, she was able to make out a bright pink-tinted sky which resembled the light colors of a sunrise and many large cumulous clouds slowly drifting across it.
There were outlines of two figures against the pink sky: a smiling man and woman. The woman had short chestnut brown hair and large hazel eyes. The man had darker brown hair with equally dark brown eyes. These two were also, perhaps, two of the most beautiful people she had ever seen.
"Good morning!" The woman nearly shouted. Monique couldn't help but groan. Not only had she never been a morning person when she was alive, but she had always detested extremely peppy morning people.
"And welcome!" The man added, spreading out his arms as if she had just won a prize.
"Welcome?" Blinking a few more times while recovering from the couple's enthusiasm, Monique dared to sit up which proved to be a bit of a struggle for her upper back felt very tight. Her eyes widened as she took in the equally pink field of flowers she was sitting in. Flowers varying from every shade of red and pink known to man and perhaps some unknown covered the ground for as far as the eye could see. Upon closer inspection, every flower was also in the shape of a heart. There were about twenty other men and women scattered throughout the field, lying in the bed of heart flowers. She assumed those people had just recently died as well, considering their looks of confusions more than likely matched her own. Couples were hovering over each of these people as the man and woman hovered over her, smiling and greeting the recently deceased. Trees dotted the distant horizon, appearing to be small shrubberies rather than the large oaks they probably were. A large city lay about 500 feet before her. Blinded by the color she most despised, Monique could only sputter out, "Where the hell am I?"
"Well, right now, you're in the Field of Hearts," the woman maintained her peppy high-pitched voice as she gazed at the blinding field, "but we will be taking you over to…"
"Where am I?!" Monique did not mean to startle the couple, but she was growing ever more irritated with their happiness. "What I mean is, am I dead?"
"Well, of course you are, sweetie. All of us are."
"But when you live here, you never remember that you are."
"Okay, but where is here?"
"Why, my dear, you're in the veil of true love's affection."
"True love's affection? I don't under…" Monique froze. "Oh, no…" Squeezing her eyes shut, she asked her next question through gritted teeth. "Today's the 14th… isn't it?"
"Yes, it is! And you were the first to come here this morning!"
"Really?! Shit!"
The man and woman both jumped, startled by Monique's sudden outburst. "I'm sorry?!"
"I told you I didn't want to be here!" Not knowing where else to look, Monique gazed angrily at the brightly colored sky. "Did you honestly have to pick NOW of all times to show me you have a sense of humor?! God damn it!"
"Whoa! Easy with the foul language, honey!"
"Well, I'm sorry! When I hit my 20s, my mouth sort of developed a mind of its own!" Monique brought her legs up to her stomach and allowed her forehead to collide with the hard bones of her knees.
"Vincent, we've got a rare case on our hands."
"I'm sorry?!" Monique turned her head slightly to glare at the couple who stared down at her with sympathetic looks. "What does a RARE case mean, exactly?"
"Oh, no, no, it's nothing bad," the woman knelt in the sea of flowers, resting a rather smooth, gentle hand upon Monique's clasped ones. "You see, what happens is, every Valentine's Day, the new citizens of this world awaken in the Field of Hearts, where we are now. Resident couples are chosen to escort the newcomers to the city to be introduced to their new home. It is the couples' job to keep the newcomers calm if they are scared about being dead, to answer any questions they might have, and to just make them feel at home right at the start. Normally, once the recently deceased wake up here, the couples are able to help them overcome death with joy, making them too happy to grieve. But our tactics don't seem to be working with you."
"Well, I've never been too overly fond of peppy people or pink and waking up to two very peppy people and being blinded by every shade of pink upon opening my eyes is not the most welcoming greeting to death I would have come up with."
"Hey," the man, Vincent, knelt down and started rubbing Monique's back. "It's going to be okay. We are here to… Oh, my."
Monique lifted her head more to face Vincent, discovering his face to hold bewilderment as he stared at her back. "What is it?"
"My dear, can you please stand up?"
"Well, I'm quite content on this comfortable bed of flowers and feathers, but sure, why not?" Monique could not keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "I'll stand, even though my back feels pretty tense."
"Sweetie," the woman was now staring at Monique's back as she struggled to stand up, feeling as if something was trying to drag her back down to the ground, "there are no feathers on the ground."
Monique turned around to look at the spot where she had been lying. Sure enough, there were only flattened flowers from where she had been lying.
"I… It's already happening… The pink… It's driving me mad…" Monique clutched her heart as her breathing quickened. "I'm now beginning to imagine things…"
"No, you didn't imagine the feathers, dear."
"Then where are they?!"
"On your back."
As soon as Vincent had said that, Monique could feel a tugging on her back as if something attached to it was being moved to the right. As she turned her head towards the tugging, she froze: within Vincent's hands was part of a large wing. This pure white wing reached down to her ankles and was made of the largest and fluffiest feathers she had ever seen.
"Please tell me that's part of a costume," Monique had to swallow for her mouth had gone dry.
"Oh, no, no, those are real," the woman circled to Monique's back and gently caressed where the two wings jutted out of her upper back.
"We definitely have a rare case on our hands, Winnie," Vincent gently lowered the wing he was holding down. Since Monique had no idea how to move them, they draped down her back and lay limply upon the bed of hearts. "You are only the second who has ever had these."
"And what are THESE?" Monique began to freak out. "Bird wings?"
"Angel wings."
"Come again?!"
"Sweetie," the woman, Winnie, calmly explained, "We found you here at the stroke of midnight. You were dying the night before today and, since your heart stopped at the precise second between a normal day and a holiday, you ended up coming here after death rather than completing the journey to Heaven you were originally heading towards. Thus, you died and are now one of God's angels living forever in our holiday world."
Monique was speechless, her eyes darting back and forth between Vincent and Winnie, her mouth hanging open, the words not wanting to fall out of it.
"Does this all make sense, sweetie?"
Monique swallowed again before continuing, "You said I'm the second person this has happened to. Who was the first?"
"Oh, you should know that," Vincent's wide smile returned. "The one in charge of Valentine's Day, who else?"
"Which, speaking of him," Winnie grabbed Monique's hand and began leading her towards the large city, "he's going to want to meet the newcomers. Especially you, dear."
"Oh… great," Monique walked as if in a trance as she followed Winnie and Vincent; all too "excited" to meet a flying baby in a diaper. She cast a glance at the twenty or so other recently deceased citizens who had been in the field with her: they all looked so happy, men and women frolicking through the Field of Hearts as if they were running through the poppies to reach the Emerald City.
"I'm Winnie, by the way," the woman turned back to smile at Monique while continuing her forward pace, "and this is my lover, Vincent."
"I had a feeling you two were together," Monique tried to cast a weak smile as the fingers from Winnie's free hand intertwined with Vincent's.
"And what's your name, love?"
Monique was hesitant to give out her real name, not wanting to be too associated with the world, but then again… she was going to be in this world for a while… as in FOREVER a while. "It's Monique."
"Oh, Monique, you are going to love it here!"
Monique was surprised to see they had reached the city so quickly. Tall glass building reflected the pink from the sky housing who knows what. Instead of asphalt on the streets there was old-fashioned cream-colored cobblestones. This city seemed to be trying to mix old cities with new cities, and yet, it almost reminded her of the cities she had visited when traveling for her convocations: New York, Chicago, Denver, she could have gone on forever. Glancing at one of the buildings, Monique had a double take upon seeing her own reflection: that wasn't her… was it?
As Winnie continued to drag her through the streets, Monique inspected herself. Her fuller figure from when she was alive was now the size of a stick supermodel. She wore a white dress with strap sleeves and it fell and ended just above her knees. Her pale skin now had a slight tan to it and her normally long, paper thin black hair fell in beautiful waves down her back ending at the wings which were being dragged ungracefully down the cobblestone streets. The reflection showed her the ideal woman: the woman any woman would kill to look like. Was that how she really looked now? Not to mention, as she looked at the crowd also skipping down the street, every one of them, including the newcomers, looked beautiful and looked the way society portrayed how men and women were "supposed" to look.
The sound of humming brought Monique's attention back to her guides. She suddenly realized people, more than likely the citizens of the world, were beginning to flood out of the glass buildings. These people, along with the tour guides of all the newcomers, were humming the same light-hearted, peppy tune, quickly reaching a crescendo.
"You're in the city of infinite love…" Winnie giggled.
Oh, no, Monique groaned. They sing, too…
"Welcome to St. Valentine's Metropolis!"
"Valentine's day,
We shout hurray,
For all the many ways we take to celebrate our holiday
And so much more,
What it stands for,
In all we do we share with you on Valentine's Day"
Everyone flooding out of the buildings and lining the cobblestone streets were all singing the same song.
"A day that comes just once a year
But in our town, it's always here
It's love that fills our hearts each day
We hope that you'll enjoy your stay"
All of the newcomers were dancing and trying to hum along with the citizens, all except for one. Monique stared in horror at the scene unfolding before her. The terror taking place before her eyes made the 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre seem like a good-feel Disney movie.
"As true love's affection is unfurled,
You'll come to see the heart of our world"
The couples dancing together drew their lips mere inches away from each other.
"Every kiss and touch is just so… wow"
Monique cast her eyes to the sky, "Oh, dear God, just take me now!"
"Valentine's Day,
We shout hurray,
For all the many ways we take to celebrate our holiday
And so much more,
What it stands for,
In all we do we share with you on Valentine's Day"
The crowd suddenly grew silent as they reached the center of the city where a large stone heart fountain rested in the middle of the square. However, everyone's attention was turned upwards, for descending from the sky in a beam of light was a man. This man was floating down with angel wings upon his back. His dirty blonde hair rested just above his ears and with his muscular tan form and white toga draped around his body, he almost looked like a Greek god.
"Here comes the man in charge of love
Soaring down on wings just like a dove
Visiting those who've given up, it seems
To fulfill each and every lonely heart's dreams"
The crowd's song had slowed from its previous fast paced tempo.
"To help their feelings and emotions take flight
By giving them the magic of love at first sight
A gift for the world from which he once lived
He is our own beloved, angelic leader…"
As the man's feet delicately touched the ground, his pure white wings swept before him, tracing the cobblestones before lifting them and his arms into the air and finishing the citizens' sentence with, "Cupid!"
"Valentine's Day,"
Cupid began walking towards the newcomers.
"We shout hurray,
For all the many ways we take to celebrate our holiday"
All the citizens of the city cheered as Cupid seemed to float as he walked closer to the excited new men and women of the Valentine World.
"And so much more,
What it stands for,"
The women lining the street swooned as Cupid allowed them to kiss his hands.
"In all we do we share with you on Valentine's Day"
The moment Cupid reached the crowd of newcomers, he lifted his hands, ensuring quiet while he spoke, but before he could even say a word, his eyes locked on to Monique.
Was he seriously staring at her? Monique had never felt more exposed. First her enormous wings dragging behind her and now the baby Cupid… who was FAR from being a baby… was staring at her? What next? Monique thought. A pectoral dance from toga boy… wait a minute… yep, there it was. Was he hitting on her? Monique couldn't remember a guy hitting on her in over 30 years… or maybe they had, she just hadn't been interested enough to pay attention.
"Oh, would you give the dance a rest?!" Monique immediately covered her mouth. She had not meant to say that out loud.
"Why, my dear angel," his rather deep voice surprised Monique as he inched closer to her, his seductive brown eyes locking with her bewildered blue ones, "you look absolutely stunning."
Author's P.S: A fun fact for you guys: the song is actually what took me the longest to conjure up for this chapter (another reason it took me so long to post it up). Yes, it is completely original and yes, I'm going to have at least 3 more original songs within the story since you guys mentioned how it would have been cool to have them in A Walk in the Dark. My first story was definitely more serious, so I don't think the songs would have worked, but when dealing with Valentine's Day, songs could definitely work. I decided to go with a peppy, overly cheesy song and I hated every minute of writing it (since I strongly detest Valentine's Day). My disgust for the holiday will more than likely come out through Monique. If you want me to sing it for you guys so you can hear how it goes... I will if enough people ask, but otherwise, I would rather not, considering 1) you guys might get annoyed with it and 2) I would be sparing your ears from the terribleness that is my singing voice. Catch you guys in chapter 2!