Closing of the Year
Synopsis: The children have been kidnapped! Jack and Sally go to see where they are!
Jack ran in a panic to Sally , who was picking Nightshade in the graveyard. She turned to her close friend. "What's wrong?"
"The children!" He gasped. "They're gone! All of them!"
"What are you talking about?"
"The Corpes' son, Lock, Shock, Barrel, the Mummy's child, they're all gone!" Jack panted for breath. "Werewolf thinks they've gone this way. I need you to come with me!"
"Alright," she agreed. She got up and followed Jack the best she could. They took the path they had taken to the Town Outside of Halloween Town, seeing if they could enlist the Jersey Devil for help.
When they got to the town, they were amazed! It was an enormous choir stand, and upon it were thousands of children!
The children ranged from 3-14, by the looks of it. The tallest were placed at the top, the shortest at the bottom. Jack recognized some of the children as elves from Halloween Town. Also, some children from different holidays as well! Little angels from Valentine Land, Pilgrim kids from Thanksgivingville, multi-colored rabbit-people from Easter Town. Also, some children were from the Human world, decked in nightgowns and pajamas. All of the different nationalities were there; Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, American, African; I could go on. Some weren't even human! There were half- wolves, centaurs, were-tigers-
"JACK!"
"Barrel?" Sally could recognize his near-innocent voice from anywhere. "Barrel?!"
"Barrel, where are you?!" Jack called.
"OVER HERE, JACK!"
"JACK!" That was Shock's voice.
Jack and Sally speed-walked over to the Choir Stand. A few children whispered behind their backs, muttering words in Dutch and Swahili. Christmas elves backed away slightly. Valentine angels flapped their wings and snubbed their noses.
"Jack, hi!" Barrel cheered when Jack and Sally finally found him. He was standing on one of the bottom rows, along with Shock, Lock, and the Corse Boy. Sally hugged the runaway child.
"Lock, Shock, Barrel, where have you been?"
"We've been here," Lock said with a bit of an "duh" tone of voice.
"Jersey Devil brought us!" Shock chirped.
"Jack, Sally, this is my friend, Kashi!" Barrel put his hand on the shoulder of a little Japanese girl standing next to him. She wore a green jumper with a blue undershirt. Her hail was slicked back to a ponytail. She wore tiny red shoes. "Say hello to Jack, Kashi!"
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Jack-sama!" She bowed politely.
"You've made a new friend already?"
Jack turned towards Sally, and a gasp coming from him made Sally turn her head as well.
It was a woman with red skin and green hair. She wore a simple, black, sleeveless dress which barely fell above her ankles. She wore short high- heels, also black. Her strangest feature was her multiple arms. She had six, three arms growing out of each shoulder. Large dragon wings grew out of her back, but they looked pale and unused. Two miniscules horns poked out of her head. Her face was sharp, giving her the feel of an eagle. She held two of her arms crossed over her chest, two on her hips, and two resting on her knees. She spoke to Barrel.
"That's good. Make as many friends as you can, that's the point here." She patted Barrel on the head with her smallest set of arms. Sally noticed that the arms on the bottom were thin and dainty; the ones in the middle were well rounded; the ones on the top were strong and bulky.
"Who are you?" Jack asked in amazement.
The woman gasped a "Huh?" before noticing the two adults. "Oh, hello. I'm Miisa, head of the 'We Are the World's Children's Choir'. Nice to meet you. You're Jack Skellington and Sally, right?"
"Um...."
"Right," Sally answered for Jack. "What are all of these children doing here?"
"They're in the children's choir. Sorry we had to take them on such short notice." Miisa clasped her middle hands together while her bottom arms placed themselves on her hips. "A lot of people claim to know you, sir."
"Really?" he surprisedly asked.
"JACK! SALLY!"
"REMEMBER US!?"
Jack looked up to see two familiar faces. One looked like a human cat with brown, curly hair; another looked like a blonde-haired angel with a lion's tail.
"CHARON! DOUBLE F! HOW ARE YOU?!" Jack yelled to the two girls, who stood at the top row of the choir stand. They, however, were much shorter than when he last saw them; they were about as tall as the Saxophone Player in the Halloween band.
"He remembers us, Double F!" Charon squealed.
"Hurrah! We're doing fine, Mr. Skellington!" Double F waved. "Hi, Sally!"
"Hello!" Sally waved back.
Jersey Devil stepped in between the Halloween couple without noticing them. He held a clipboard in front of his face using his long tail. "Miisa, you and the kids are due to sing in five minutes. Haku's waiting on the gong, they faes are ready on the chimes, and the rams are getting ready on the drums."
"Hello, Jersey!" Sally stroked Jersey's wing.
"Huh? Sally! Jack, HI!" Jersey lowered his clipboard, which alerted Jack and Sally to the fact that he was nearsighted; he was wearing horn-rimmed glasses, like Buddy Holly. "Listen, I'm a little busy. I'll talk to you after the choir sings. Bye!"
And he took off.
"Listen, we're very busy right now," Miisa explained. Her top arms made apologetic gestures while she talked; her middle hands placed themselves on Sally's shoulders; her bottom hands brushed Jack's arms. "How about you go over to the seats and watch? We'll be over in a second." She pulled back all of her arms. "Say goodbye to Jack and Sally, kids. They'll be watching from the bleachers."
"Wish us luck, Jack and Sally!" Shock squealed.
"We'll be waving to you when we're not singing, Jack and Sally!" Barrel laughed.
"Tell us what you think after the song, Jack and Sally!" Lock jumped up and down in excitement.
Miisa ushered the laughing and embarrased adults to the bleachers. "Kids, they make me laugh."
Lock looked over at Kashi. "Kashi, your ponytail's loose."
"Nani?" she asked.
Lock carefully reached over and tightened Kashi's ponytail.
She bowed. "Domo arigatou, Lock-kun!"
Jack and Sally watched from the bleachers. A huge white dragon stood behind the huge choir stand, with his tail to a even larger gong. Large chimes hung from overhead tree branches; little specs of color (faes, or faires) flew among the numerous pipes, banging on one every now and then to check the tone. Medium sized drums lined the perimeter. Rams with curved horns stood ready to charge the drums on cue. Various other instruments, such as harps and voilens, were being tuned as they watched.
"This is so exciting!" Sally cried.
"Pardon me for sounding harsh, but it's just a children's choir," Jack shook his head. "Most children don't have good singing voices. How good could they be?"
The music started off slowly.
Miisa: If I cannot bring you comfort
Then at least I bring you hope
(Jack: The kids aren't singing.
Sally: Quiet!)
For nothing is more precious
Than the time we have and so
Miisa and Children: We all must learn from small misfortune
Count the blessings that are real
Let the bells ring out for Christmas
(Sally: They sing like angels!)
At the closing of the year
Miisa: Let the bells ring out for christmas
Miisa and the Children: At the closing of the year
AaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
The music and their voices slowly got louder until the drums came in in an explossion of energy.
(whistling "At the closing of the year.")
(Shock: (waves)
Jack: (waves back)
(whistling "At the closing of the year.")
If I cannot bring you comfort
Then at least
I bring you hope
Childrens Choir: At the closing of the year
At the closing of the year
The music was loud and powerful! The children's voices, different people, different nationalities, different species, as blended into one! They became one voice. The dragon beat the gong with his tail, and the faes dancecd in and out of the hanging chimes, playing a beautiful, yet haunting, melody.
Miisa and the Children: At the closing of the year
Light danced through the leaves of the trees, and the music seemed to echoe from every body in the forest.
Slowly, the music drifted to the finale. There was a roar of applause and children's cheering as the song ended.
****
"Jack! Sally! We did it!" The Halloween Kids ran to Jack and Sally, who greeted them with waiting arms.
"Didya here me? Didya here me?" Mummford (the Mummy Boy) asked Sally.
"I heard all of you," she replied.
"I can't believe that you could that much power through a child's voice!" Jack was astounded.
Miisa stepped up to the set of children and adults. "Never underestimate the power of a children's choir. We've called the kid's parents, and they're coming to get them now."
"People from the real world?" Sally was surprised. "Coming here?"
"I know." Miisa had her top arms crossed again, with her middle arms on her hips and her bottom arms hanging at her sides. "They will have their memories erased, and they will remember none of this."
"Kashi won't remember me?" Barrel asked. A sting of sadness went through Sally's chest.
"If she sees you, all she will get is a feeling of deja vu. But, you can go and say goodbye to her before she leaves." Miisa pointed to Kashi, who was looking for her parents.
"Hurry, run!" Jack pushed him towards her.
"KASHI!" he yelled, running with all the force his tiny legs could muster.
"We won't remember any of this, either?" Jack asked, holding Bartholemew (the Bat Wing Boy) in his arms.
"The rules are different with holiday folk," Miisa explained. "You'll keep the memories. You can tell your grandchildren about it. We do this every 20 centuries or something."
"Interesting," Jack smiled.
"Sally!" Double F ran up to Sally and hugged her. She was much shorter than her in real life.
"Hello, Double F!" Sally hugged her back. "Where's Charon?"
"Her parents already came and got her," she sighed. "I just wanna say, it was great to see you again!"
"No problem, Double F," Jack patted her head.
"GINA!"
"That's my mom!" Double F flapped her wings. "See you next when I see you next!"
***
"KASHI!" Barrel found Kashi just before her parents did. Barrel gave Kashi a quick hug goodbye. "Bye Bye, Kashi! I guess I won't be seeing you again."
"Sayonara, Barrel-kun." Kashi bowed.
Lock and Shock ran up next to Barrel.
"We wanted to say goodbye too, Kashi," Lock admitted.
"Bye, Kashi!" Shock held up her pointer finger. "If you die, and land in a bunch of trees with doors in them, go through the door that looks like a pumpkin."
"Hai!" Kashi laughed. "Dozo yoroshiko."
"I'll try to remember you," Barrel nodded.
"Sumimasen," Kashi's mother cut in. "Kashi!" She pulled her away from the strange children.
"Sayonara, Barrel-tachi!"
"BYE!" The Terrible Trio waved, sad because she had to leave, but happy that she knew the way to Halloween Town if she died.
******
"MOMMA!" The Corpse Child ran into his mother and father's arms.
"Joseph!" The Mother cried. "My baby!"
Mummford was greeted by his adoptive father, the cyclops. Bartholemew's father, a gargoyle, had woken up from his sleep to receive his son.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel hung behind with Jack and Sally. They looked around longingly.
"What's wrong with the kids?" Jack whispered to Sally.
"No one's glad that they're back," she whispered back. It was true; everyone looked right over the Boogie Boys (and girl).
Jack sighed and picked up Shock. He held her in his arms, and she was curious as to why she was getting the attention. Sally followed suit and lifted Lock and Barrel. Barrel weighed much more than his brother.
"You were wonderful in the choir," Jack congradulated.
"We were?" Shock asked.
"Really?" Lock grinned.
Barrel chuckled. "Kashi said I sang well!"
"You really liked Kashi, didn't you?" Sally asked.
"She was nice, but if we made friends with her, we wouldn't be three of a kind!" Lock announced. She quickly grabbed Shock's hand. "We're three of a kind!"
"We're birds of a feather!" Shock clutched Barrel's hand.
Barrel nabbed Lock's other hand with his free one. "We're now and forever!"
"Boogie boys!" they screamed in unison.
DONE!
Synopsis: The children have been kidnapped! Jack and Sally go to see where they are!
Jack ran in a panic to Sally , who was picking Nightshade in the graveyard. She turned to her close friend. "What's wrong?"
"The children!" He gasped. "They're gone! All of them!"
"What are you talking about?"
"The Corpes' son, Lock, Shock, Barrel, the Mummy's child, they're all gone!" Jack panted for breath. "Werewolf thinks they've gone this way. I need you to come with me!"
"Alright," she agreed. She got up and followed Jack the best she could. They took the path they had taken to the Town Outside of Halloween Town, seeing if they could enlist the Jersey Devil for help.
When they got to the town, they were amazed! It was an enormous choir stand, and upon it were thousands of children!
The children ranged from 3-14, by the looks of it. The tallest were placed at the top, the shortest at the bottom. Jack recognized some of the children as elves from Halloween Town. Also, some children from different holidays as well! Little angels from Valentine Land, Pilgrim kids from Thanksgivingville, multi-colored rabbit-people from Easter Town. Also, some children were from the Human world, decked in nightgowns and pajamas. All of the different nationalities were there; Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, American, African; I could go on. Some weren't even human! There were half- wolves, centaurs, were-tigers-
"JACK!"
"Barrel?" Sally could recognize his near-innocent voice from anywhere. "Barrel?!"
"Barrel, where are you?!" Jack called.
"OVER HERE, JACK!"
"JACK!" That was Shock's voice.
Jack and Sally speed-walked over to the Choir Stand. A few children whispered behind their backs, muttering words in Dutch and Swahili. Christmas elves backed away slightly. Valentine angels flapped their wings and snubbed their noses.
"Jack, hi!" Barrel cheered when Jack and Sally finally found him. He was standing on one of the bottom rows, along with Shock, Lock, and the Corse Boy. Sally hugged the runaway child.
"Lock, Shock, Barrel, where have you been?"
"We've been here," Lock said with a bit of an "duh" tone of voice.
"Jersey Devil brought us!" Shock chirped.
"Jack, Sally, this is my friend, Kashi!" Barrel put his hand on the shoulder of a little Japanese girl standing next to him. She wore a green jumper with a blue undershirt. Her hail was slicked back to a ponytail. She wore tiny red shoes. "Say hello to Jack, Kashi!"
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Jack-sama!" She bowed politely.
"You've made a new friend already?"
Jack turned towards Sally, and a gasp coming from him made Sally turn her head as well.
It was a woman with red skin and green hair. She wore a simple, black, sleeveless dress which barely fell above her ankles. She wore short high- heels, also black. Her strangest feature was her multiple arms. She had six, three arms growing out of each shoulder. Large dragon wings grew out of her back, but they looked pale and unused. Two miniscules horns poked out of her head. Her face was sharp, giving her the feel of an eagle. She held two of her arms crossed over her chest, two on her hips, and two resting on her knees. She spoke to Barrel.
"That's good. Make as many friends as you can, that's the point here." She patted Barrel on the head with her smallest set of arms. Sally noticed that the arms on the bottom were thin and dainty; the ones in the middle were well rounded; the ones on the top were strong and bulky.
"Who are you?" Jack asked in amazement.
The woman gasped a "Huh?" before noticing the two adults. "Oh, hello. I'm Miisa, head of the 'We Are the World's Children's Choir'. Nice to meet you. You're Jack Skellington and Sally, right?"
"Um...."
"Right," Sally answered for Jack. "What are all of these children doing here?"
"They're in the children's choir. Sorry we had to take them on such short notice." Miisa clasped her middle hands together while her bottom arms placed themselves on her hips. "A lot of people claim to know you, sir."
"Really?" he surprisedly asked.
"JACK! SALLY!"
"REMEMBER US!?"
Jack looked up to see two familiar faces. One looked like a human cat with brown, curly hair; another looked like a blonde-haired angel with a lion's tail.
"CHARON! DOUBLE F! HOW ARE YOU?!" Jack yelled to the two girls, who stood at the top row of the choir stand. They, however, were much shorter than when he last saw them; they were about as tall as the Saxophone Player in the Halloween band.
"He remembers us, Double F!" Charon squealed.
"Hurrah! We're doing fine, Mr. Skellington!" Double F waved. "Hi, Sally!"
"Hello!" Sally waved back.
Jersey Devil stepped in between the Halloween couple without noticing them. He held a clipboard in front of his face using his long tail. "Miisa, you and the kids are due to sing in five minutes. Haku's waiting on the gong, they faes are ready on the chimes, and the rams are getting ready on the drums."
"Hello, Jersey!" Sally stroked Jersey's wing.
"Huh? Sally! Jack, HI!" Jersey lowered his clipboard, which alerted Jack and Sally to the fact that he was nearsighted; he was wearing horn-rimmed glasses, like Buddy Holly. "Listen, I'm a little busy. I'll talk to you after the choir sings. Bye!"
And he took off.
"Listen, we're very busy right now," Miisa explained. Her top arms made apologetic gestures while she talked; her middle hands placed themselves on Sally's shoulders; her bottom hands brushed Jack's arms. "How about you go over to the seats and watch? We'll be over in a second." She pulled back all of her arms. "Say goodbye to Jack and Sally, kids. They'll be watching from the bleachers."
"Wish us luck, Jack and Sally!" Shock squealed.
"We'll be waving to you when we're not singing, Jack and Sally!" Barrel laughed.
"Tell us what you think after the song, Jack and Sally!" Lock jumped up and down in excitement.
Miisa ushered the laughing and embarrased adults to the bleachers. "Kids, they make me laugh."
Lock looked over at Kashi. "Kashi, your ponytail's loose."
"Nani?" she asked.
Lock carefully reached over and tightened Kashi's ponytail.
She bowed. "Domo arigatou, Lock-kun!"
Jack and Sally watched from the bleachers. A huge white dragon stood behind the huge choir stand, with his tail to a even larger gong. Large chimes hung from overhead tree branches; little specs of color (faes, or faires) flew among the numerous pipes, banging on one every now and then to check the tone. Medium sized drums lined the perimeter. Rams with curved horns stood ready to charge the drums on cue. Various other instruments, such as harps and voilens, were being tuned as they watched.
"This is so exciting!" Sally cried.
"Pardon me for sounding harsh, but it's just a children's choir," Jack shook his head. "Most children don't have good singing voices. How good could they be?"
The music started off slowly.
Miisa: If I cannot bring you comfort
Then at least I bring you hope
(Jack: The kids aren't singing.
Sally: Quiet!)
For nothing is more precious
Than the time we have and so
Miisa and Children: We all must learn from small misfortune
Count the blessings that are real
Let the bells ring out for Christmas
(Sally: They sing like angels!)
At the closing of the year
Miisa: Let the bells ring out for christmas
Miisa and the Children: At the closing of the year
AaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
The music and their voices slowly got louder until the drums came in in an explossion of energy.
(whistling "At the closing of the year.")
(Shock: (waves)
Jack: (waves back)
(whistling "At the closing of the year.")
If I cannot bring you comfort
Then at least
I bring you hope
Childrens Choir: At the closing of the year
At the closing of the year
The music was loud and powerful! The children's voices, different people, different nationalities, different species, as blended into one! They became one voice. The dragon beat the gong with his tail, and the faes dancecd in and out of the hanging chimes, playing a beautiful, yet haunting, melody.
Miisa and the Children: At the closing of the year
Light danced through the leaves of the trees, and the music seemed to echoe from every body in the forest.
Slowly, the music drifted to the finale. There was a roar of applause and children's cheering as the song ended.
****
"Jack! Sally! We did it!" The Halloween Kids ran to Jack and Sally, who greeted them with waiting arms.
"Didya here me? Didya here me?" Mummford (the Mummy Boy) asked Sally.
"I heard all of you," she replied.
"I can't believe that you could that much power through a child's voice!" Jack was astounded.
Miisa stepped up to the set of children and adults. "Never underestimate the power of a children's choir. We've called the kid's parents, and they're coming to get them now."
"People from the real world?" Sally was surprised. "Coming here?"
"I know." Miisa had her top arms crossed again, with her middle arms on her hips and her bottom arms hanging at her sides. "They will have their memories erased, and they will remember none of this."
"Kashi won't remember me?" Barrel asked. A sting of sadness went through Sally's chest.
"If she sees you, all she will get is a feeling of deja vu. But, you can go and say goodbye to her before she leaves." Miisa pointed to Kashi, who was looking for her parents.
"Hurry, run!" Jack pushed him towards her.
"KASHI!" he yelled, running with all the force his tiny legs could muster.
"We won't remember any of this, either?" Jack asked, holding Bartholemew (the Bat Wing Boy) in his arms.
"The rules are different with holiday folk," Miisa explained. "You'll keep the memories. You can tell your grandchildren about it. We do this every 20 centuries or something."
"Interesting," Jack smiled.
"Sally!" Double F ran up to Sally and hugged her. She was much shorter than her in real life.
"Hello, Double F!" Sally hugged her back. "Where's Charon?"
"Her parents already came and got her," she sighed. "I just wanna say, it was great to see you again!"
"No problem, Double F," Jack patted her head.
"GINA!"
"That's my mom!" Double F flapped her wings. "See you next when I see you next!"
***
"KASHI!" Barrel found Kashi just before her parents did. Barrel gave Kashi a quick hug goodbye. "Bye Bye, Kashi! I guess I won't be seeing you again."
"Sayonara, Barrel-kun." Kashi bowed.
Lock and Shock ran up next to Barrel.
"We wanted to say goodbye too, Kashi," Lock admitted.
"Bye, Kashi!" Shock held up her pointer finger. "If you die, and land in a bunch of trees with doors in them, go through the door that looks like a pumpkin."
"Hai!" Kashi laughed. "Dozo yoroshiko."
"I'll try to remember you," Barrel nodded.
"Sumimasen," Kashi's mother cut in. "Kashi!" She pulled her away from the strange children.
"Sayonara, Barrel-tachi!"
"BYE!" The Terrible Trio waved, sad because she had to leave, but happy that she knew the way to Halloween Town if she died.
******
"MOMMA!" The Corpse Child ran into his mother and father's arms.
"Joseph!" The Mother cried. "My baby!"
Mummford was greeted by his adoptive father, the cyclops. Bartholemew's father, a gargoyle, had woken up from his sleep to receive his son.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel hung behind with Jack and Sally. They looked around longingly.
"What's wrong with the kids?" Jack whispered to Sally.
"No one's glad that they're back," she whispered back. It was true; everyone looked right over the Boogie Boys (and girl).
Jack sighed and picked up Shock. He held her in his arms, and she was curious as to why she was getting the attention. Sally followed suit and lifted Lock and Barrel. Barrel weighed much more than his brother.
"You were wonderful in the choir," Jack congradulated.
"We were?" Shock asked.
"Really?" Lock grinned.
Barrel chuckled. "Kashi said I sang well!"
"You really liked Kashi, didn't you?" Sally asked.
"She was nice, but if we made friends with her, we wouldn't be three of a kind!" Lock announced. She quickly grabbed Shock's hand. "We're three of a kind!"
"We're birds of a feather!" Shock clutched Barrel's hand.
Barrel nabbed Lock's other hand with his free one. "We're now and forever!"
"Boogie boys!" they screamed in unison.
DONE!