The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin Princess - Fanfic Story 1

CHAPTER 1

Dad was gone...again. He was all the time. He'd make as much time to spend with me as he could, but the Mayor had a thing for hogging him. Hello, Mayor?! The Pumpkin King has a daughter that needs fatherly affection!

I did get fatherly affection, but not as much as I should've, especially since my fourteenth birthday was coming up. My mom was gone, so the only person I could really talk to was Dad. But there were girl hormones that were too much for me to talk to Dad about. I needed a mother-figure. But who?

I sighed and walked outside of my house into Halloween Town. I stopped and looked around. Arwen and Sirena were flying around on their brooms. The vampires were sitting under their umbrellas. The Mayor was walking around, observing what the citizens of Halloween Town were doing. I sighed heavily and plopped down on the steps. Half the time, I was lonely. No one really talked to me except for Dad, the Mayor (rarely though) and...

Sally.

I stood up and went through the gate to my house and walked toward Sally and Dr. Finklestein's house. I looked down at the ground, not making eye contact with anyone. I didn't really talk to anyone, either, because they expected me to be just like Dad. But I couldn't get to that point, no matter how hard I tried, and it scared me. What if I let Dad down?

I walked up to the doorstep of Dr. Finklestein's house and I rang the doorbell. Soon, I heard the phrase I was expecting: "The door is open!"

I opened the door and saw Dr. Finklestein upstairs.

"Hi, Doctor!" I called up to him.

"Why, Jazmine," he said. "What a rare treat this is." He was the only one in Halloween Town who called me by my birth name. Skelly was just a nickname.

"I just came to see Sally, do you know where she is?" I asked.

"She's probably in her room," Dr. Finklestein said.

I climbed up the steps and went to the door of Sally's room.

"Hey, Sally?" I asked. "It's Skelly. Can I come in?"

"Sure," Sally's voice said from behind the door.

I walked in and saw Sally shoving a jar of Deadly Nightshade under her bed. I raised my eyebrow. "Poisoning him again?" I whispered, closing the door.

"I need to get out there and he won't let me otherwise," Sally said.

"What if Dad found out?" I asked. "I mean, I get it, but I think Dad would be mad at you if he knew you've been poisoning Dr. Finklestein with Deadly Nightshade."

"Well, then, don't tell him," Sally said. "I do this in secret."

"Well..." I began, but I stopped. It was no use arguing with Sally. Once she made up her mind, she made up her mind and no one could change that. "Um...I just wanted to come see you. I'm kinda lonely."

"Is Jack gone again?" Sally asked.

"Yeah, as usual," I sighed. "It's October, so...I mean, he's the Pumpkin King. Everyone's scared of him as far as I know. He's a busy man." I plopped down on Sally's bed and bit my lip. "I just wish that the Mayor would understand that I'm the Pumpkin Princess. The Pumpkin King is my father and I don't have a mother. The Mayor needs to quit hogging Dad. It's ridiculous."

"Your father is quite a busy skeleton," Sally joked.

"Yes, but...I wish he was home more," I said.