The lift carrying Jack, stopped. Jack stepped into the
scientist’s lab. Dr. Finkelstein looked up at Jack, placed a finger to his lips, then wheeled over to him.
“Jack, the boy is fine, he’ll be ok.” Dr Finkelstein whispered then looked around. “Where’s Danny?”
“Sally’s looking after her…” Jack crept up towards the
sleeping boy’s form, frowned, then picked up Peter’s
right-hand. Jack looked at Dr Finkelstein and raised his
eyebrow.
“That wasn’t me! It was like that before! It just had cotton wool and some dye, I’m not joking!” Dr Finkelstein wheeled over to a tray of objects and threw a flesh-pink blob at Jack, who caught it easily, It was indeed cotton wool.
“So, he was hiding it?” Jack wondered why.
Dr Finkelstein wheeled up to Peter, “I’m afraid to say, the boy did not have… A, happy child hood.” He shook his head as Jack looked at him.
“Scars, they are old, but they still haven’t healed… There are a few that are more recent. He was probably hit, hard, because of his hand…”
Jack looked sympathetically at Peter “The poor boy…”
“Just, don’t tell Danny…” Dr Finkelstein was still looking at Peter “It’s for him to say…”
Jack nodded his head then walked away, “Will you tell us when he wakes up?”
“Yes.”
When Jack had gone the Scientist began to put the cotton wool back on Peter’s hand.
Poor boy…
* * *
Sally was making tea when Jack walked in,
“How is he?”
“The boy?”
“Yes, who do you think I mean?” Sally smiled and poured out the tea into cups,
“He’s doing fine, He’ll be awake in no time…” Jack replied as he sat down at the kitchen table then added when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs at speed “But he’s not ready for company yet…”
Danny called out to Jack “Tough!”
“It could stop him ever waking up…” It was a lie, but Danny didn’t notice it, and she closed the front door and trudged into the kitchen.
“Spider in yours dear?” Sally asked.
“No thanks mum.” Danny sat down in the chair next to Jack.
Jack took Danny’s left hand in his “We’ll be told as soon as he wakes up.”
Danny looked at her father “Thanks dad.”
Sally placed a cup of tea down in front of Danny and sat in the last chair holding her cup.
Danny took a sip and screwed up her skull, looking at the tea.
Sally winked at Jack and smiled. Jack frowned, what was going on?
Danny reached into the tea with her left hand and lifted out a spider. She looked at Sally.
“Happy late Halloween.” Sally winked at Danny.
“Ha ha mum.” Danny prodded around in her tea and removed several little traps. Then she drank the rest of
Her tea. Jack prodded a miniature man-trap with his finger absentmindedly and asked “Why is it that when I drop a caterpillar on you, you squeal and tell me off, but when your mother booby traps your tea you ignore it?”
“You have a habit of actually pulling it off, mum
doesn't.” Danny smiled at her father, who continued to prod the mini-trap.
“I’ve failed many times but you still tell me off!” Jack countered.
“Yes but-”
-SNAP!-
Jack yelled many foul words as the trap slammed shut on his finger. Jack flailed around for a bit and finally pulled the miniature man-trap off. Jack sucked the tip of his finger while Danny and Sally collapsed in fits of laughter. Jack glared at them both, still with his finger in his mouth. This made Danny and Sally laugh even more.
“It’s not funny!” Jack scolded them. He placed his hands on his hips but cried out when his finger made contact. Sally got up, still trying not to laugh and took a plaster out of the cupboard. Carefully she wrapped it around Jack’s finger. Jack looked at the plaster, “You chose a pink one on purpose, didn’t you.” Jack stated
and Danny, who was still rolling around on the floor, Let loose another burst of laughter.
Sally giggled and Jack gave up. He walked up towards his room and waited for the laughter to die down.
Sally slowly got up from the floor and tried to start
Cooking dinner, but little fits of giggles were making it very difficult to do so.
* * *
Barrel kicked a stone into the green gunk from the fountain, creating an almighty splash.
Shock slapped him “What do you think your doing? You want attention?!?” Shock whispered.
Lock sat on the fountain's edge and sighed “Can you blame him though? Nothing we’ve done has worked!”
“Maybe your not very good at sewing…” Barrel
Suggested, and earned himself a dunk in the fountain.
Shock shook her head, “What can we do though? Sally’s not stupid and Danny will know of Oogie
because her dad would have told her.”
“What about-”
“Don’t even think of saying your idea-”
“Why don’t we create another Oogie!” Barrel asked.
Lock and Shock both looked at him.
Then murmured simultaneously “It wouldn’t be the same…”
“The way he ordered us around…” Shock sighed.
“The way he shouted when we messed up…” Lock whispered.
“The way he screamed whenever I hid the snake that lives in his mouth,” Barrel moaned.
Shock smiled “You did that?”
“Yep!” Barrel grinned.
“I have a new respect for you!” Shock grinned.
“Itssssssst snot funneey! Whare ish it? Whare haeve you brawts puot it?” Lock impersonated a stupid grin on his face.
Shock giggled then sighed “Oogie was funnier…”
Barrel nodded in agreement.
A man walked into the town and looked around in
disgust.
Shock sat down next to Lock “The way he used to
attack Jack, you know, singing and dancing at the same time.”
Barrel grinned, still sitting in the gunk “The way his eye sockets expanded was funny! You know, when Oogie suddenly flicked a switch and Jack narrowly avoided getting skewered!”
The man looked at the children, listening.
Shock sighed “Why can’t we sew him up? I should have took those lessons…”
Lock put his arm around Shock “But then we wouldn’t even know you, and you’d never have met Oogie.”
Shock nodded “But still…”
The man took a step nearer, but the children didn’t
notice. Barrel climbed out of the gunk and sat on the fountain's edge “Shall we try again? I mean, We’ve still got enough bugs and the snake…”
Shock knocked Barrel back into the gunk “But we can’t sew him back up! What’s the point of bringing Jack’s worst enemy back to turn this town to dust, if we can’t even give him a body, all I can see is a cockroach
walking up to Jack and then laughing, not gonna work.”
The man walked up to the children and sat down next to Lock.
“Who is this man you are talking about?” he asked
“Oogie” Shock replied, taking it in her stride.
“Oogie?” the man inquired.
“Yeah… The Oogie Boogie man? Come on! It wasn’t that long ago! Big tall sack-thing full of bugs? Tried to attack this very town several times?” Lock looked at the man weirdly.
“I’m not from around here, sorry, but, I think I can help you… If, you can promise me you’ll do your best to raze this town to the ground.” The man smiled.
Lock, Shock and Barrel looked at the man, confused, who in their right mind would help them?
They looked at each other, on the other hand…
“Sure, you can help.” Lock smiled.
“Do you promise?” The man asked.
“Yeah!” The children all called back at the exact same time.
The man smiled and extended a hand.
Lock, Shock and Barrel took it in turns to shake the man’s hand.
“All I need are the materials… I can do the rest.” The man smiled “And by the way, my name is John.”
* * *
*Jet*-Oh dear...-
*Spider in room at the time* -yesssss!"
(Hope your enjoying the story.)
