Disclaimer: I do now own "The Nightmares Before Christmas" or "Coraline".
Betaed by: Zim'sMostLoyalServant
Just a preview. Sorry.
Preview:
A Christmas Treat for Halloween
Coraline frowned a bit at the wide tree trunk in front of her. First of all, it had a door in it like the door had every reason to be there. And secondly, on that door was a cutout of a Christmas tree. Not the best, but far from the worse depiction of that symbol of holiday cheer, and it stood out quite a bit in this spooky forest. She turned to look past the waiting Jack to consider the other tree doors, each holding a holiday symbol.
"So, this really will take me to Santa's workshop?" Coraline asked. She tried to keep the skepticism from her voice, but must have failed, as Jack frowned in irritation.
"Now, why would I lie, Coraline?" the thin skeleton man asked, crossing his narrow arms.
"Because you're the King of Halloween, which involves tricks and pranks, and you're telling me Santa is real."
Jack quirked am eyebrow, an impressive feat for a skeleton, she could admit.
"Now, with all you have been through in your world, Bedlam's prison and here, what makes the jolly old gnome so unbelievable?" Jack demanded, leaning past her to grab the doorknob.
"Because... well, I guess he seems too wholesome to be real?" she wondered.
"Hmm, well, sometimes life doesn't disappoint, young Coraline. Enjoy the ride," Jack grinned, pulling the door wide and stepping back.
"What riiiiii!?" Coraline asked as a chill wind swept her off all her feet and into the tree, while Jack gave a high-pitched cackle. When the door closed, Jack coughed into his fist.
"Hmm, yeah, maybe that was a bad impulse there. Well, at least it's a soft landing. Best be after her anyway," Jack said to himself, opening the door and hopping inside.
XXX
Jack landed with bent knees and arms spread wide, sinking up to said knees in the snow. Coraline was right in front of him, standing on all her legs, her abdomen lowered into a splat-shaped impression in the snow.
"A thrilling ride, isn't it?" Jack said, straightening up.
"This place," Coraline said, not even looking back at him. Jack hummed in appreciation, pushing his shoes free to walk atop the Christmas snow.
Christmas Town spread below them, glowing bright and radiating a distinctly yet indefinable sense of warmth and welcome. A sensation of both joy and merriment, but also rest and safety. To Jack, it had enthralled him in an instant for being so foreign to all he had known about life and the world, but he wondered what it was to Coraline, a human who had celebrated Christmas in her world.
"Jack, how could I forget?" she asked. Jack frowned thoughtfully, kneeling down to be at even height with her. With the delicacy of a father, he reached out with one sharp phalange to wipe away a tear of stuffing and show it to her.
"I don't know. But I do know tears have many meanings, more than sadness. Shall we?" Jack asked, gesturing to the town with one hand and subtly pocketing the tear with the other.
"Yeah, this feels strange, but a good strange. I'm sounding weird, aren't I?" Coraline said, above a whisper. Jack gave her a lift standing up.
"You say that like strange is a bad thing. Oh! Looks like we might not need to walk after all! This is the first time the elves have welcomed me like the ruler of another realm," Jack said, merrily waving as a one horse open sleigh with a bright green canopy made its way up the hill toward them.
"Merry Christmas!" the horse greeted them, coming to a stop before them. The door to the sleigh popped open of its own accord, seemingly.
"Uh, is it?"
"Here, the spirit of Christmas rests before being poured out on the world again, Young Coraline Jones. All the good will that has ever been laid down and passed from the world in its time congregates here. The magic of generosity, kindness, and the desire to bring warmth and light in the midst of the cold and the dark. Repaid with interest, as best we can however we can. You are welcome here, you know who is expecting you."
"That's a lot to take in."
"Thanks, I've been trying to write a guide book to potential believers on our holiday magic. I think I might have dumbed it down enough to start making it into carol form," the horse preened.
'I didn't notice it was a girl horse until now.'
"Uh, yeah, you're doing great," Coraline said, giving a thumbs up as she got in. Jack made to step down into the sled, only for the door to snap shut and the horse to start trotting effortlessly through the snow, kicking up glorious eddies of snow.
"You can walk, holiday thief!" the mare called, glancing back.
"Shouldn't quarrels be forgotten?!" Jack asked, with more amusement than anger.
"If they weren't forgiven, you'd know," the mare answered.
"Hmm, well, perhaps it's best to take my time and let her fly solo. After all, I experienced at my own pace the first time. Say, is that a black and orange candy cane? Mr. Kringle, did we inspire you?" Jack said with wonder, walking off in a different direction.
X X X
Coraline knew it should feel like a theme park ride. But like Halloween Town, it felt too real. She imagined it was what it would feel like to take one of those glamorous vacations to some exotic city. Like a gondola ride through Venice, or maybe one of those pulled taxis through Shanghai or something like that. As extraordinary as they were, they were still places where people really lived and did all the stuff that called for.
The horse singing about the town as it went about its merry business was infectious. Literally - despite herself, Coraline found herself singing short verses in reaction to the horse's song or what she was seeing.
Reindeers training in a track field, a red-nosed reindeer with fur styled like a grey-streaked goatee blowing a whistle while wearing a green baseball cap with a Christmas tree.
A glass wall showing a whimsical factory, where realistic-looking pine trees were assembled into Christmas trees on a conveyor belt, with tiny elves swarming over it. Lines of tiny ships and bears. She even glimpsed what looked like an old-timey holiday display style town on a nearby hill.
As the song ended, she took a breath.
"That's a lot," she told the mare, whose name was Jenny according to the song.
"Of course it is. We have a lot to give, and it has to come from somewhere. It's both massive and impressive, yet small and humble at the same time."
"Because magic?" Coraline guessed.
"Now you're getting it! You show a good bit of restraint, though; most who come here the first time do their own song routine, I had to take the lead."
"Well, life's kind of sucked for me lately," Coraline admitted. She was reluctant, it seemed, like it wold be against the rules or something to be sad here.
"It does that," Jenny nodded.
"Oh," Coraline said, surprised.
"What, did you think happiness was mandatory? We have out struggles and issues here as well, and while they may not measure up to the tragedies of the more solid realms or more unpleasant flexible realms, they matter. Besides, how can you hope to lift someone's spirits if you don't bother to understand why they're dowm in the first place?"
"Yeah, guess that makes sense," Coraline said, settling back into the sled further. The sled turned onto an avenue lined with two story tall Christmas trees, each uniquely decorated with glittering ornaments she realized marked different cultures, from the familiar to the exotic and some just awed her. It gave her a feeling that no matter how big a deal Christmas was or wasn't to a people or country, each was a big deal to the people of Christmas Town.
"The big man probably picked me because I have a history a bit similar to yours," Jenny said.
"Really?" Coraline asked, leaning back out of the sleigh, her legs bracing her as she got closer to the mare.
"Oh yes, I was transformed from a girl as part of a curse. I was a terrible brat who among other things treated my family's horses poorly."
"And you never changed back?" Coraline asked sadly.
"Well, I did get a chance. But by then, I'd grown a life of sorts as a horse and come to see how hollow my old life had been. I wasn't missed because either I wasn't someone you would miss or the people in my life weren't the type to miss those who weren't useful to them. My only reservation was freedom and a better life for my new friends and I when the old man would no longer be able to take care of us. That's where the big guy came in. He can't often intervene so directly, but the holiday stars aligned, and the fact I had already been meddled with by the supernatural let him whisk us away from those harsher shores to have what I imagine is as close to a happily ever after as we might hope for."
"Okay, but still, staying horse?" Coraline pressed hesitantly.
"Hmph, what about this?" Jenny said. And in a flash of red and a festive snap, the horse's head and neck were replaced with the form of a centaur. Though unlike the few pictures she'd seen of such creatures, the human body was covered in black fur matching the rest, and the mane of lighter black remained traveling down Jenny's back to where it connected to the horse body. She turned her head, and the face wasn't quite human, with fur just slightly bulging toward a muzzle and a cute inhumaness to it.
Coraline, against her better judgement, also glanced down to see a flat chest.
"They're down below," Jenny said. Coraline could swear she was blushing despite being made of stuffing, cloth, and metal.
"All my old friends and about half the horses here can do this. The reindeer too, though most of them don't feel like it. Now brace yourself, we're here," the centaur said, pulling to a stop. The door to the sled popped open to reveal a well-shoveled walkway through the snow, of river stones leading up to a well-kept lodge style house with a broad porch, whose pillars and bannisters were carved in the style of Christmas icons.
And the mail box by the road side was labelred simply as 'S. Claus'.
"So, he's in there?" Coraline asked.
"Yes. I imagine he wanted to feel out your mood before deciding on what kid of tour you would get. He is many things, but always he strives to be considerate and good to others. That Boogieman must have been a real piece of work to draw out his wrath like that. The last Boogeynan to cause him grief, he just left him sealed under the bed. And that was in one of his sword-swinging manly aspects."
"Santa uses a sword?" Coraline asked.
"Santa is many things to many people and worlds, yet all are Santa and Santa is them. I've been working on a book for it. But now move along; it doesn't do to keep a host waiting, and I'm going to go check on that skeleton prince. He's just the type to sow some chaos without meaning to, or I'm a piebald."
And so Coraline stepped out onto the walk, and with a farewell Jenny snapped her fingers and was unhooked from the sleigh to trot off down the mostly cleared street, weaving around go-karts driven by elves hauling holiday cargo.
"Well, Coraline. It's time to meet Santa. My life is really weird," she muttered, before skittering up the walk toward the well-lit door with the stylized image of a star carved upon it.
Author's Note:
Sorry, it was too hard o get my headspace out of Dragon Ball to get this updated on time. Still, I hope you enjoyed this little treat.
Happy Halloween!