I sat down in the front row, nervous as to what Dad was doing and where he'd been, although I knew where he was. One of my many mottos was "Never underestimate a reader". I read every book I could get my hands on, and there was a book hidden in the Halloween Town library that I had found and read when I was ten. It was about all the different holidays and how they came to be. From what I saw when Dad came back, he'd been to the place where not the next holiday, but the holiday after that, came from.
Soon, everyone from Halloween Town (except for Oogie Boogie, his henchmen, and Dr. Finklestein) were gathered in Town Hall. Dad came up on the stage, and the Mayor directed the spotlight on him.
"Listen, everyone!" Dad said. "I want to tell you about Christmas Town."
So, he had gone there!
There were objects so peculiar
They were not to be believed
All around, things to tantalize my brain
It's a world unlike anything I've ever seen
And as hard as I try
I can't seem to describe
Like a most improbable dream.
But you must believe when I tell you this
It's as real as my skull
And it does exist
Here, let me show you
He drew the curtain, and as it parted, I saw a small Christmas tree, a snow globe, a stocking, and a present. The crowd gasped in amazement but I just stared. I didn't know how to feel. On the one hand, Christmas was pretty amazing and I was happy that Dad had found the joy and warmth of it. On the other hand... where was he going with this? Why was he telling them about Christmas?
He picked up the present and showed it to us.
This is a thing called a present
The whole thing starts with a box
Some of the citizens stood up and hovered over the box.
A box?
Is it steel?
Are there locks?
Is it filled with a pox?
How delightful, a pox.
I knew this would happen as soon as Dad began talking about Christmas Town. Everything in the townspeople's minds traced to Halloween somehow. They'd be too confused to truly understand what Dad was trying to say. But I understood. He was trying to help us feel the same joy he felt right now.
Dad pulled the box away from them, seeming to be very protective of it.
If you please
Just a box with bright-colored paper
And the whole thing's topped with a bow.
Arwen and Sirena came up and tried to snatch the box from him.
A bow?
But why?
How ugly!
What's in it, what's in it?!
Dad pulled the box out of their reach. I could tell he did not want the present damaged.
That's the point of the thing, not to know.
Even after Dad had kindly asked several citizens not to crowd him and to keep their hands off the present, still more came up and hovered.
It's a bat!
Will it bend?
It's a rat!
Will it break?
Perhaps it's the head that I found in the lake!
Dad gave up on explaining the present, and he put it back down. He then picked up the stocking.
Listen now, you don't understand.
That's not the point of Christmas Land.
Now, pay attention.
We pick up an oversized sock
And hang it like this on the wall.
Still more came up and hovered over the stocking.
Oh, yes! Does it still have a foot?
Let me see, let me look!
Is it rotted and covered with gook?
Dad pulled the stocking away. He seemed overwhelmed, like he had before I found out what had been bugging him.
Um, let me explain
There's no foot inside, but there's candy
Or sometimes, it's filled with small toys
The winged demon and the bat popped up.
Small toys!
Do they bite?
Do they snap?
Or explode in a sack?
Or perhaps they just spring out
And scare girls and boys
The Mayor, who was still up by the spotlight, joined in.
What a splendid idea!
This Christmas sounds fun!
I fully endorse it!
Let's try it at once!
Dad held up his hand as he put the stocking down.
Everyone please now, not so fast
There's something here that you don't quite grasp
He ducked behind the podium and muttered something, then stood back up and became the scary Pumpkin King everyone knew.
And the best, I must confess, I have saved for last
For the ruler of this Christmas Land
Is a fearsome king with a deep mighty voice
Least that's what I've come to understand
And I've also heard it told
That he's something to behold
Like a lobster, huge and red
When he sets out to slay with his rain gear on
Carting bulging sacks with his bjg great arms
That is, so I've heard it said
And on a dark cold night
Under a full moonlight
He flies into the fog
Like a vulture in the sky
And they call him Sandy Claws
Rain gear? Sandy Claws? As the crowd cheered, I realized what he was truly talking about. When he said "rain gear" he meant "reindeer". When he said "Sandy Claws" he meant "Santa Claus". What was he planning to do?
I heard him from behind the now closed curtain.
Well, at least they're excited
But they don't understand
That special kind of feeling in Christmas Land
Oh, well...
YOU ARE READING
The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin Princess - Fanfic Story 1
FanfictionJazmine "Skelly" Skellington has been known throughout the fourteen years of her life as "the Pumpkin King's daughter" and/or "the Pumpkin Princess". But she can't live up to her father. She notices, however, something about his attitude is weird. A...
