Musically: Ah, my last chapter of my first fanfic. I've already got the plans for next Halloween! Wait. I mean, the next fanfic!

Jack: Oh, dear. We have ourselves a new mayor.

Sally: Death to the old mayor! DEATH!

Musically: Ooookay.

Victoria shifted around once or twice before her tired green eyes fluttered open. Out in front of her was not the guest room of Jack's home, or even anything that closely resembled Halloween Town. All of the orange and black had vanished, leaving only welcoming, normal colors such as blue and yellow in the room. A window on the wall showed blue skies. Birds twittered outside in the cool December air, and snow coated the dying yellow grass that made up a lawn.

The walls were painted a royal blue. Silvery, modern furniture was set around the room, and the floor was clean except for a few stray socks and shirts that were badly wrinkled and dirty. Victoria sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes. Blue and white striped sheets were folded around her legs, and a periwinkle down comforter had been pushed to the end of the bed. It took her a minute to realize where she was. Victoria had been transported back into her bedroom in the real world.

She pushed herself sideways so that her feet were hanging over the bed. The plush, white carpet below her was unusually cold. Victoria shivered once and walked dizzily over to her closet and flung the doors open, revealing an array of nearly forty different kinds of shoes. She grabbed a pair of soft navy slippers. They were tossed unceremoniously to the floor behind her as she exited the closet, and then Victoria opened one of her dresser drawers. She quickly changed into some silk pajama pants and a sweatshirt. After putting her slippers on, she opened the door and began to head down the stairs to see if her family was there.

Thoughts raced through Victoria's head. Could all of Halloween Town been a dream that she had? As much as that would have made sense, to her it didn't. She remembered all of them so vividly. Jack's ghostly charms and wit, Sally's caring disposition, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel's mischievousness seemed all too real to have been just a subconscious image. With a sigh, she stepped down to the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes widened as she remembered what day it was.

In the middle of the living room stood a magnificent Christmas tree, all decked out in tinsel, ornaments, and lights. Presents were all sitting unopened by the tree. Victoria's little siblings were all kneeling down by the tree, staring at the gifts impatiently. One of her sisters pointed at Victoria.

"Look, it's Victoria!" she yelled happily. The other children cheered and began to open their presents. It was a family rule that no one could begin to open gifts until everyone was at the living room and awake. Sure enough, every one of Victoria's immediate family was sitting by the tree. In a surge of exhilaration, she ran over to her mother and father, who were seated on a comfortable couch by the wall. She caught her parents in a hug. They returned it with a bit of surprise, as Victoria snuggled down into both of their shoulders, because it was unlike their oldest child to show much affection.

"I'm so glad to see you again!" Victoria said as she lifted herself up. Her parents smiled, but she could see the confusion in their eyes.

Her father asked, "What do you mean by that, Victoria?"

"It's been about a month," Victoria mumbled embarrassedly. Her mother patted her hand.

"You must be overly excited, with all of the Christmas fever and things. Here, go over and open your presents before one of your siblings does," she said. Victoria tried not to let the smile slide off her face as she nodded and turned around.

"It was all a dream," she whispered mournfully. She had been here all along. Why hadn't she remembered it, then? Victoria pushed the thoughts aside as she opened her many numerous presents and threw away the paper. After about fifteen minutes, the gifts were all unwrapped and her parents had gone back to sleep. The children played with their new toys blissfully. Victoria had barely even taken a second glance at her new television set, expensive clothes, or diamond necklace. She was too disheartened about Halloween Town to thoroughly enjoy Christmas now.

She sat by the fireplace. The heat that radiated from the flames warmed her back as she stared wistfully at the ceiling, wishing that somehow she could return to her long lost dream. A tap on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts. It was icy cold, and Victoria spun around rapidly to see who it was.

"Jack?" she said quickly. One of her sisters, Macy, stood before her with a puzzled expression on her face. Macy shook her head as she sat down beside Victoria and began to warm her hands by the fire.

"No, I'm Macy, remember?" Macy explained slowly, as if she were talking to a child. Victoria's face hardened and she looked away.

"Mom said you were kinda confused today. Anyways, there's still a present for you under the tree. It's in different paper than all the rest, but it looks sort of scary; I wouldn't open it if I were you," Macy said.

She leaned over and whispered in Victoria's ear, "I think it's from the skeleton Santa that came last night." Victoria gazed at her sister as she pulled away.

"Are you serious?" Victoria breathed. It couldn't be true. All of the surrealism of Halloween Town, could it have been a reality after all? As quick as lightning, Victoria dashed over to the tree, searching below the branches for any sign of orange or black. Then…there it was.

A small box was wrapped in striped paper that was black and white, with bats and spiders printed on the paper randomly. Shimmering black ribbon was tied around it. A purple bow was placed in the corner. An envelope was resting in a slanted position on the box, looking like something out of a magazine advertisement. With a shaky hand, Victoria reached towards the envelope. Curly calligraphy stood out on the ivory white parchment, spelling out the words, "To Victoria".

Victoria opened it carefully. A letter that was folded three times came out, and she unfolded it and read it immediately.

"Dear Victoria,

There is so much I wish to explain to you, but I'm afraid I have little time and very little space on this piece of paper. So, I will merely say what needs to be said. First and foremost, I apologize for everything. I foolishly ignored both you and Sally, not to mention put you both in extremely grave danger. I'm so sorry. I was acting too quickly without thinking, and now I have learned my lesson.

I've spoken to the citizens of Halloween Town. They are not angry at you anymore, rather, they are hoping for your return. Halloween Town is now waiting for you with open arms. I know that you must be wondering what I mean by this, so please, open your present."

Victoria paused and set the letter down. She tore off the monochromatic paper to reveal a small, wooden box. The silhouette of a bat was whittled into the lid, which was made of black wood, and tiny pumpkins with tormented faces made up the border. They were all intricately designed and Victoria knew that whoever made this must have put hours of work into it. Carefully, she lifted the lid of the box.

Inside, a silvery card lay nestled into the burgundy folds of a silk cloth and was glistening softly in the pale glow of the fire behind Victoria. Rainbow light spheres from the Christmas tree were reflected off of it. Upon it, a golden drawing of a key with a skull at its head that stood out from the sparkling grey background on which it laid. Victoria thought she could feel a sort of energy pulsing out of it. She picked the card up and flipped it over, but there was nothing except more of the silver plastic. Then she turned it back to the side with the golden key and began to read her letter again.

"The card that you might now be holding is a Skeleton Key card. By simply holding on to it and saying the name of the place where you wish to go, it will transport you there magically. Perhaps you could use it to visit Halloween Town again. I would advise that you keep it in a safe place, for if it falls into the wrong hands, it can be very powerful.

And now, the end of my letter. Victoria, how could I have ever doubted you? I put you in such great danger, and yet you came to mine, Sally's, and Sandy's aid. How lucky I am to have met a person like you. Please, come visit us all again in our town of Halloween.

With ardor,

Jack Skellington"

Victoria smiled. She placed the card carefully back into the crimson cloth, where it sank down into the folds. The lid slowly closed as she pressed her hand down on it. Victoria lifted herself up with the box in hand and headed up to her room to put the box where it would be safe. She would be visiting Halloween Town in a sooner time than she thought.

Musically: Hrm. That wasn't the best ending I've ever written...

Victoria: I get to go back? Yay!

Musically: Yes, you do. And in the next one, you'll have something very unfortunate and terrifying done to you...

Victoria: What?

Musically: Oh, nothing, of course. (grins evilly)

Thanks for the reviews, everyone. You've all inspired hope in a young writer. Give yourselves pats on the back.