When I first met Lock, Shock, and Barrel I asked my parents why other parents told their children not to play with them. They looked at each other and Mom said, "it's because they used to work for a very bad person called Oogie Boogie and they don't want to be associated with him." "But they don't work for him now," was my response, "and they don't tease me for not having warts like other children. Even if they do swear a lot." "Who's Oogie Boogie?" I asked. Then Dad explained how a long time ago he'd owned a casino on the out skirts of Halloween. It was a dirty, seedy place that catered to rich old men, Russian mobsters, fools, and prostitutes. It was open for many years, before dad was known as Pumpkin King of course, but as the casino had never been popular among the community, it closed down by popular demand. Before Dad, Oogie, though considered evil, was also considered the greatest scarier, which is why they became such strong rivals. Dad won of course, both because he was scarier and because he was kinder, more inclined to mercy. Oogie turned on the people, in a last ditch effort for power. It failed and Dad became known as the King of Halloween. Not really a royal title mind you; it really just means he's just a very popular performer, like...uh...what's his name, Elvis Jackson? No, that's not right. You know what I'm saying anyway. Oogie never left his house again. Dad thinks that's why Oogie took in L, S, & B; to be his link to the outside and as was discovered later, to lure in unsuspecting humans to their deaths. To be fair, L, S, & B never really knew what happened to those people, or that their food was laced with cannibal meat. Trust me, they would never consciously eat a person (I hope), after all, they are half-human as I understand it. Anyway, Dad got rid of him for good after he tried to kill Mom and Santa, but you know all about that. I understood why people hated Oogie, but I still didn't understand them not liking my friends until I was older and realized some people were just ignorant like that.
This was what was flashing through my mind as I stood there, outside the circle; a seven year old me listening to Dad's answers. I stood there frozen and in shock, meanwhile Oogie, tired of being ignored, got my attention by kicking me in the shins. It didn't hurt as much as you'd think because, as I realized with surprise, he was no bigger than a pillowcase. Still ignoring the tiny Oogie, and curious as to why that happened, I grabbed my book and checked the circle. It took me a minute, but I found it. I had forgotten to write one of the runes. Again tired of being ignored, Little Oogie then kicked the back of my leg almost making me drop the book. "What's wrong with you!!?" I shouted at him. "Where am I and who are you!?! What have you done with me!?! Talk!" I was mad. I was annoyed, angry, upset, and scared all at once. I looked at the small Oogie I had created who was swearing at me, and I laughed. I laughed the mad, hysterical laughter to rival the screams of the insane. I think I even scared Oogie, though I can’t be sure. Anyway he ran for it. It was pitiful to watch and made me laugh even harder. Then, very abruptly, I came back to my senses. He hadn’t gotten very far, but I put a freezing spell on him to keep him from going any further. I found a small cage, like a bird cage, to put him in for now. I had no Idea what I was going to do. My first thought was to tell Mom and Dad, but I knew I was going to be in soo much trouble that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. What I really wanted to do was to talk to Junior, but we were still supposed to be mad at each other. It was the same way with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. All because of that stupid book. I don’t want to be popular anymore; I don’t care if I can’t do cool tricks. I want my friends back. Finally, I understood why this book was locked away. I tried to destroy the book, but nothing I did worked. It got later and later, until it was early in the morning, I thought about hiding him out here, but what if he escaped? So exhausted almost to the point of not caring any more, I took him inside and out him in the back of my closet, magic-locking the door. Anything after that I don’t remember, because I fell asleep.
