Me: Heh heh heh! Sorry about that hiatus! I was really busy and couldn't write, but here It is! Chapter 8!
Followers: *cracks knuckles*
Me: wait... no- nooooo!
Followers: *Do exactly what Sally did to Ethan to me*
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As they approached the outskirts of town, the sun began sinking lower and lower in the sky. The clouds turned a lovely orange and red as the true colors of autumn became more pronounced.
Sally turned to Jack as they ran along the street, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Why are we running out of town, sir?"
Jack wiped his sweat as well and huffed out an answer.
"Our last stop is the pumpkin patch. It's on the very edge of the town where the field is located."
Sally just nodded and didn't say another word. Their last stop... it was almost crazy that their crazy adventure was pretty much over. Though the day had been both terrifying and exciting at the same time, she was disappointed that it was going to end.
Instead of speaking she picked up the pace and they soon found themselves at a sign that said You are now leaving Halloween town.
She gulped nervously and followed Jack into the vastness of the outside world.
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It took them quite a while, but they finally reached the gates of a vast orchard. Sally could see a farmhouse and several apple trees, as well as the pumpkin patch.
Halloween town was famous for it's pumpkins. They were state renowned and in high demand, and there was only one place in Halloween town that grew them. The farm of the three brothers.
That was where Jack and Sally were, at the moment.
Jack pushed open the gate and the two of them cautiously walked across the dead grass. The sound of crunching leaves and the faint whoosh of the wind was all that could be heard. Sally, having never been to the pumpkin patch, looked around with curiosity.
The pumpkin patch was vast beyond belief. It had to stretch for miles, and seemed to never end. Rows and rows of orange pumpkins of all sizes grew on leafy stems. Every so often a scarecrow jutted out of the ground, complete with a carved pumpkin for a head.
Sally giggled at some of the faces on the scarecrows and noticed Jack looking out with amusement as well.
"I used to come here every Halloween." Jack said nostalgically. "I used to enter state competitions for pumpkin carving, and I stubbornly refused to use any pumpkins other than the ones that grew here."
"You were a champion pumpkin carver? Kind of a weird hobby, but this is you we're talking about..." Sally muttered.
Jack ignored her second comment and folded his arms as he surveyed the massive crop of pumpkins.
"Yeah... they used to call me 'the pumpkin king', of all things. I told them not to, but you get a reputation and it sticks."
Sally laughed and kept calling him "pumpkin" as they walked up the farmhouse and knocked on the door. They waited patiently for about a minute, but no sound was heard. Jack knocked again, louder this time, and once again they waited.
Nothing. Jack tapped his foot in annoyance and growled impatiently.
"I hope we don't have to break into somewhere twice in one day..." Sally muttered.
"Same here. We don't even have a return slot this time, so we would have to break the window..." Jack said.
That thought was halted when a noise came from the other side of the door. There were several clicks, as if bolts were being unhatched, and then a loud snatch as the handle slowly turned.
The man who opened the door was odd. He was hunched over and very pale, with gray hair and black eyes. He was wearing what looked like an undertakers outfit and a top hat.
His eyes roamed over Jack and Sally and his wide mouth curled into a creepy smile.
"Hello! Welcome to the farm of three brothers! I am terribly sorry, but the orchard is closed at the moment, and all tours for the day have ceased-"
"We're not here for a tour, sir." Jack said briskly. "We are from town hall and need to speak with the person in charge."
The man's eyes widened and he stepped back to usher the two of the in.
"Oh! That would be me! Please, come in. it's not often that we get such important visitors..." he said flatteringly.
Jack nodded and motioned for Sally to follow him in. they stepped into the threshold and took in their surroundings.
For starters, there were pumpkins. A lot of them. Everywhere.
There were pumpkin themed decorations, pictures of prize pumpkins on the walls, pumpkin plushies on little tables, pumpkin patterned table cloths, and Sally was pretty sure that pumpkin scented candles were burning in pumpkin shaped candle holders.
Sally was a bit shocked by the sheer amount of pumpkin that was before her eyes, as was Jack.
"May I take your coat, madam?" the creepy pumpkin man said politely.
Sally looked down at her sweater and looked back at the man confusedly.
"I'm not wearing one."
He seemed genuinely confused that the thing she was wearing was not a fur coat of any kind and sweated nervously.
"Oh... well, never mind. Let's take a seat in the living room."
They all walked through the house, stepping over various kinds of pumpkin merchandise and eventually came to a tiny little room with pumpkin shaped beanbag chairs around a pumpkin shaped table.
Sally immediately squealed for joy and plopped right down on one of the beanbag chairs. Jack looked more wary and tried to sit down slowly, but found it almost impossible as he kept sinking. Sally tried to hold in her laughter as Jack struggled to sit up straight and look dignified while squirming around in a squishy sack of bean pellets.
"Well, you two get comfortable and I'll bring out some nibbles and refreshments." the creepy man said.
He disappeared and Jack and Sally were left alone.
Sally watched as Jack unhappily decided to just flop back into his chair like Sally.
"This is so distasteful..." he muttered from the depths of the soft chair.
"Have an open mind, mister Skellington. At least it's comfy."
"I would sit on a sharpened spike as long as I could look respectful while doing it. Comfort be damned." he said frustratingly.
Sally sighed at her snobbish boss and sank deeper into the cushion of her chair. Now that she thought about it, this was actually the first time they had rested all day. It was nice to finally relax a bit.
Sally felt her eyes flutter shut as she felt sleep began to creep into her mind.
Her moment of peace was shattered as the creepy man materialized out of nowhere and slammed a tray of assorted goods on the table.
Sally snorted and sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Jack looked at her and she blushed, cursing herself for making such an unlady-like sound in his presence.
To distract herself from the embarrassment, she grabbed the nearest thing on the tray and stuffed it into her mouth. She began chewing rapidly and didn't meet Jack's eyes.
"Um, young lady, that isn't food. That's a Styrofoam cup..."
Sally spat out the pieces of cup in disgust and coughed up several more she had already swallowed. Jack patted her back to help her and she gasped for breath and strangled out a "thank you".
The man coughed awkwardly and Sally raised her eyes to look at him.
To her shock, he was smaller then the last time she had seen him. At first Sally thought that she must be seeing things, but the change was too obvious not to notice. He was at least two feet shorter, and his clothes still fir him perfectly. Sally was too blown away to say anything. She turned to Jack, and looked about as amazed as her.
"Now miss, I am glad that you are eager to eat, but please look before you grab." he said sternly.
Sally and Jack just nodded numbly.
"Well then, please dig in. we have pumpkin cakes, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin tarts, pumpkin tea, oh, and do try the pumpkin..."
He rattled off several other pumpkin flavored treats and then sat down in his own chair. Jack and Sally looked at each other in confusion and silently agreed to just forget about it for the moment.
Sally tucked into the tea and cakes while Jack turned to the man and addressed him importantly.
"We are in a bit of a hurry, sir. We're recollecting tax papers that were unfortunately destroyed."
"That is unfortunate. But I'm afraid I don't know where those papers might be." he said.
Jack felt his heart sink. "Are you sure you don't know? Is there anyway you can find out?"
The man tapped rubbed his chin in thought and stuck out his bottom lip.
"Well... there might be someone who knows. Wait here."
Jack tried to protest that they needed to hurry, but the man was already gone. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. He glanced out the window and the sun was already setting, meaning they had very little time indeed. This may be there last stop, but they still needed to fill out all the paperwork itself and submit it in time. Sally looked at him sympathetically as she crammed more cakes into her mouth.
She swallowed loudly and drank about four cups of pumpkin tea before she patted Jack on the shoulder.
"It'll be alright, Mister Skellington. We'll make it in time."
He looked at Sally's determined eyes and smiled. That was exactly what he needed to hear.
"You're right. We will." he said warmly.
Sally blushed and nervously stuffed another foam cup into her mouth.
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After another round of retching and hacking up pieces of foam, the man finally returned.
Looking away from Sally's unpleasant form, Jack was hit with another shock when he saw the man.
Once again, he was smaller. By at least two feet. Sally looked up as well and nearly gasped out loud. How in the world was he shrinking?
"How... how are you doing that?" Jack managed to get out.
The man raised a tiny eyebrow and placed his tiny hands on his tiny hips.
"What are you talking about?" he squeaked.
"How is it that you keep getting... shorter?"
He seemed offended by Jack's remark and stomped his little foot angrily.
"Short? Are you calling me short? How dare you!"
"Well, you were almost as tall as me when you answered the door..." Jack muttered. Sally nodded in agreement.
"I've always been this height! I'll have you know that I am the normal height for a healthy eight year-old! Dummy! Jerk! Idiot!" he shrieked as he began waving his fists.
"There's no need to get insulting. I'm just being honest. You've shrunk."
His little face grew very red and he began screaming while jumping up and down like a frustrated child. Jack and Sally tried to calm him down, but it was no use.
From somewhere in the house, footsteps could be heard approaching them. As they looked to the doorway, the man stepped in. only, he was back to normal size.
Jack and Sally's eyes tore from the tiny man to the normal sized man several times as they struggled to put the pieces together. Jack found himself totally confused and Sally looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole.
"Wha-... how? I don't...?" Jack stammered.
To make matters worse, the man appeared again. This time, in medium size form, right behind the first. They both looked at Jack and Sally, then to the tiny man throwing a tantrum. Two identical looks of anger appeared on their faces.
"What are you doing to our brother?!" they said in unison.
Wait a minute... brother?
The farm of three brothers... the pieces slowly came into place in Jack's head, and Sally connected the dots as well. Jack sweated and wrung his hands in front of the other two brothers.
"Wait, please, there's been a misunderstanding..."
"They insulted me, brothers! They made fun of my height!" the tiny one complained loudly.
Sally tried to shush him, but it was too late. The bigger brothers looked even more furious and took a menacing step forward. It was the tallest one that spoke.
"Insult? In our own home? Town hall officials or not, I want you out of our house!" he said angrily.
Sally's eyes widened and she took a pleading step forward.
"What about the papers?" she implored.
His eyes narrowed and he smiled deviously.
"You have the nerve to bring nuisance into our home and then ask for something? Fine then. Come with me."
To Jack and Sally's confusion, he seemed almost happy to help and they warily followed him outside. The other two also smiled, as if they knew what their brother was doing and couldn't wait to see it. Jack and Sally gulped and let the eldest brother lead the way.
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Boy... I'm seeing so many things I never thought I would see, all in one day...
Sally, along with Jack and the three brothers, were standing at the entrance of a giant maze. It extended outwards for about half a mile on each side of the opening, and was about ten feet tall. The hedges were extremely thick and made of black leaves, and it was impossible to see what lay beyond.
Turning to Jack and Sally, the eldest brother smirked and gestured to the ominous maze before them.
"Alright, here you go." he said.
Jack blinked and looked around, trying to understand the situation.
"What are you talking about? I thought you were taking us to the papers."
"I did." he said pointing to the maze. "They're in there, at the center, in a shack. Have fun finding them."
Sally gasped and looked at the maze fearfully.
"Y-you want us to find the center of the maze? But that could take hours, or even days!"
The elder laughed. "I was going to show you the way, because my brothers and I have the whole maze memorized. But since you decided to insult us, you can find it on your own. And don't bother trying to just go straight through, those hedges are as thick as steel."
Jack winced and growled, but said nothing as the laughing trio walked away. Before they disappeared back into the farmhouse, the tiny one turned around one last time to stick out his tongue.
Sally stuck out her tongue right back at him and added a "Nyaaahhh!" for effect. The tiny one just ignored her and went into the house, leaving Jack and Sally alone.
Sally huffed in annoyance but then became worried when she saw how crushed Jack looked.
"...Mister Skellington?" she said quietly.
"It... it's no use... we can't do this." Jack said sadly.
Sally felt her heart drop as Jack, her idol, seemed to be giving up.
"D-don't say that! Of course we can! C'mon, let's get going."
She grabbed his arm gently and pulled him into the maze. The first obstacle they came to was a fork in the path, with no obvious signs of which way they should go. Sally contemplated which way to go while Jack just stood silently with a sad look on his face.
"Alright, which way should we go?"
"Sally..." Jack said depressingly.
Sally ignored his protests and continued talking to herself.
"I guess we should stick to the left wall, like they say in the books."
She grabbed his hand and dragged him with her as they ran through the hedges, making all sorts of strange turns and often finding themselves in places that looked similar to ones they had been before. They walked for an unknown amount of time through the darkness, never resting. Every so often Jack would try to talk some sense into Sally.
Sally tried to ignore Jack's protests and kept on going.
"Sally, please stop."
"Just a little bit farther. I think we're getting closer. Come on, we can make it in time!" she said desperately.
"Sally, give it up. It's already too late." he said stopping in place, causing Sally to continue pulling his arm fruitlessly.
She dropped his arm and stomped angrily, but there was sadness in her eyes.
"Are just giving up? After all we've done? You're just going to sit here?!" she shouted.
He looked at her sadly and sat down with his back against the wall. "Sally, we've been at it for hours. It has to be something like one o'clock by now, and those papers are due at six sharp tomorrow morning. Just give it up."
She shook her head angrily and stared at the ground.
"No, I won't give up!"
He sighed.
"Sally... I'm sorry. I never wanted it to end like this. I'm going to be fired for this... but I might be able to convince them to let you stay. This is all my fault... your first day has been such a disaster because of my incompetence. I'm sorry I've let you down. I'm a failure as a mentor and a boss."
Sally looked like she was about to cry. Her lower lip trembled and her eyes became moist.
"Stop..." she whispered.
"Sally, forget the papers. We've lost."
"Stop it." she said more forcefully.
"I'm truly sorry... that in the end I was just useless."
"SHUT UP!" she finally screamed.
To Jack's shock, she suddenly lunged forward and grabbed him by the shirt collar. Before her resolve could weaken, she braced herself and kissed him.
Immediately an electric shock went through his body that spread from his fingers to his toes. His whole body went stiff and his eyes shot open fully, staring at Sally's tomato red face. Her eyes were closed as tightly as possible and she was shaking slightly.
Nobody moved.
Eventually, Sally gently pulled away and cautiously opened her eyes to stare at Jack. At that point he was as red as she was and was struggling to breath properly. They both took several seconds to accept the first kiss both parties had ever received.
Sally looked like she was about to explode from embarrassment, but she tried to sound as powerful as possible.
"T-there, are you ready to listen now?"
Jack nodded.
"You are not a failure as a boss. You are the opposite of that. I have never admired anyone as much as I admire you, and you are everything I aspire to be. Don't you dare say that this is your fault. Haven't we been in this together, from the beginning?" she said loudly. "Don't forget, I'm the one who spilled the tea. And the one who knocked over the bookshelves. And the one who made you fight boogey. And the one who challenged Ethan."
Jack stared in amazement as Sally stood proudly and went on.
"Mister Skellington, if you go down in this, then I'm coming with you. I don't want another boss. I can't have another boss. In case you haven't noticed, I like you. I don't want you to blame yourself. But most of all, I don't want you to give up. Remember this morning, when you told me not to disappoint you? Well, now it's your turn. Don't disappoint me."
Jack rose to his feet and stared at Sally for a long time. She began to blush as she realized that she had unceremoniously told him her feelings, and waited in suspense for his answer.
Jack slowly smiled and his eyes twinkled with admiration and pride. He suddenly reached out and hugged her tightly to his chest.
Sally had currently initiated every hug between the two of them, but being hugged by Jack was a totally different experience. Sally tried not to faint from the intoxicating aroma of Jack's cologne.
"Thanks, Sally. That is exactly what I needed to hear."
Sally looked up at his smile and smiled in return. No other words needed to be said between them. She already knew that Jack was back to his old self, determined and ready for action.
"Alright. Let's find those papers." Jack said, reluctantly releasing Sally and taking taking several confident steps forward.
He carefully analyzed his surroundings and tapped his chin in thought as Sally followed expectantly.
"There has to be a simple and easy way to navigate this place... but what is it?" he whispered to himself.
Sally experimentally pushed one of the walls.
"That brother was right about one thing. These hedges sure are thick. I doubt the wind could even blow through this place, the walls are so dense..."
That comment stuck into Jack's mind for some reason. The wind... he felt like he was missing something. Something big, that was right in front of him. But what was it?
And then it hit him. Like a sack of bricks.
"I've got it!" he shouted.
Sally was startled, but asked him what it was he knew.
"Sally, please tell me what the floor of this maze is made up of."
Confused, but intrigued, Sally answered.
"Um... dusty dirt, I guess?"
"Exactly! Now, because the floor is made of soft dirt, we've been leaving footprints all over, no?"
Sally glanced at the path behind them, and sure enough, the ground was littered with footprints.
'Yes, we've been leaving footprints, but what does that have to do with-"
"Hush! Do remember what you said about the wind?"
"Yes." she huffed. "I said that it wouldn't blow through here."
"Precisely, meaning that our footprints would never get erased, because the wind would never blow them away."
Sally rubbed her temples in confusion.
"Where are you going with this, Mister Skellington?"
"You'll see. One last question. Do you remember what those three said to us before they left?"
"They said a lot of things."
"They said that they had this whole place memorized. Meaning that they must have traveled this maze at least a thousand times to know all the twists and turns. And yet, have we come across a single footprint while we were in here?"
This grabbed Sally's attention, and piqued her curiosity.
"No, we haven't." She answered honestly. "We should have seen evidence of their travels in here because the wind wouldn't have blown the footprints away."
"You've hit the nail on the head. There should be footprints littering the floor, but there aren't. This means that they had to analyze the maze while also never actually going inside it. How did they do this? The answer is simple." he pointed to the top of one of the walls triumphantly. "They walked along the top of the walls. Never actually getting lost in here while learning the way of the maze."
Sally beamed as Jack laughed.
"The answer was so obvious I never even thought of it! God, am I stupid when I'm depressed!"
"Mister Skellington, you're so cool!" Sally exclaimed happily.
He smiled bashfully and then turned his attention back to the wall, rubbing his hands together. He jumped as high as he could and latched onto the hedge using only his hand strength to hold on. It was difficult to climb the near flat surface, but he eventually reached the top and stood up triumphantly. After helping Sally get up as well, they both stood over the entire maze.
Looking at each other under nothing but the light of the stars, they both smiled at each other and held hands.
Off in the distance Sally spied a small clearing where a tiny ramshackle shack stood alone. She pointed it out to Jack and he nodded to her, both of them running off hand in hand over the walls.
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Ehheheheheheheheheh they kissed :3