After the Nightmare (Ch. 1)

Sally: It was December 26th, 24 hours after the night. My heart was still pounding in my stitched chest. I wanted to go out, but I was too shy to poke my head out. All I could think of is what could Jack be thinking right now? All I could do was think about him, and think was he thinking about me?

Jack: I woke up this morning feeling better than I ever had before, even though I nearly ruined Christmas. But something wonderful came out of it last night. I found the love of my life. How could I not see her all this time? I sighed, wondering what she was doing right now. I Hope the doctor isn't too mad at her? After all, he did make a new creation last night. I hope she's being treated all right over there. I heard a knock at the door and the bell screamed. I rushed to the door hoping it would be Sally, but as I wholeheartedly opened the door for it to be ripped out of my chest. It was only the mayor. "Oh hello Mayor," I said with a sigh, trying not to be rude.

Mayor: "Hello Jack, I brought the plans for next year's Halloween."

Jack: "That's nice mayor, but I'm taking a break from planning right now after the mess I made last night."

Mayor: "But Jack, we only have 365 days until next Halloween."

Jack: "I know Mayor, it's just that I don't have anything thought of right now. But I assure, you, I will before next Halloween is even here."

Mayor: "But Jack?" His face turned to its pale, worried side.

Jack: "I'm sorry Mayor, I don't have anything right now." I closed the door with my back to it as I sighed. What am I going to do?

Zero came in and happily licked my face.

Jack: "Hello Zero. I need you to do something for me. Can you send a note to Sally for me?" He barked happily, flipping in the air. I wrote the note down quickly and sent him off.

Sally: I was cleaning up around the lab, as that's what the doctor has me doing now since his new creation Jewel will be cooking and looking after him. I would have already left if I knew where to go. So I swept up a couple of more things and started to wash my clothes. I started thinking about Jack's Sandy Suit I made for him. I had made something that matched it that I could wear, but I was too shy to show him. It's a red dress with white sleeves. I wonder if he would have liked it, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. After washing what few clothes I had, I put my clothes in a basket and took them out to dry on the line. I was in a shirt and pants covered in holes, the only thing I had to wear when I wash my clothes because I didn't have the material to make many clothes. When Jack had the Christmas thing, he supplied the material and I only made the dress out of the rest after I was done. As I was hanging the clothes out to dry something flew behind me. It was Zero.

"What is it, boy?" He brought me a piece of paper folded up. I unfolded it reading what it said:

My Dearest Sally,Would you care to take a walk with me around the town square I want to talk to you about something?If you cannot, that’s fine, but I’d love it if you could.Jack

My heart skipped a beat. I tried to calm myself down. He probably only wants to talk about what to do for next Halloween. "Okay Zero, wait there for me. I will be right back with a letter for Jack."

Zero barked happily. I found an old piece of paper in the lab, as there wasn't much around. The doctor kept all of the paper locked up in his cabinets for his experiments.

"Okay Zero, take this to Jack." I tied the note to his collar.

Jack: I sat down, thinking of what to say the next time I saw her. I have never felt as nervous and excited at the same time as I was thinking about last night on the hill, replaying it over and over in my mind when Zero came back in barking. I came out of my seat like a child would if it was spooked by a ghost. "Did she get it, boy?" He flew around me barking and finally stopped. I saw something around his neck. I took the note from his collar and unrolled it:

Dearest Jack,I’d love to take a walk with you around town, I’ll be over as soon as my clothes dry.Sally

I smiled from ear to ear. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, like bats flying in my stomach. The next 30 minutes to an hour were a long wait for me. I looked to the window hoping she hadn't changed her mind.

Sally: I looked at the time, my clothes were almost dry. "I hope I haven't wasted Jack's day." Finally, when my clothes were dry, I put my usual patch dress on that was now clean and walked to Jack's house.

Jack: I ran from the window to the door, opening it happily to see Sally in the patched dress she always wore—but she still looked beautiful.

Sally: "Hello Jack."

Jack: "Hello Sally, please do come in."

Sally: I walked into the manor. "Jack your house is lovely, I feel underdressed, like there would be a dress code or something."

Jack: "Nonsense Sally, you look lovely."

Sally: "You really think so?"

Jack: "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

Sally: I turned away from him, trying not to blush.

Jack: I take my hand, gently turning her head to face me again. "Sally, you're beautiful."

Sally: "Me, beautiful, a bunch of old rags stitched together?"

Jack: "Yes," I said, kissing her cheek. Then I smiled at her.

Sally: I smiled at him as our hands touched.

Jack: I was leaning in for a kiss, and as she did the same, our lips almost touched each other, but Zero flew into the room barking, suddenly. We both jumped. Still close to each other, we sat in awkward silence. We both knew Zero had no intentions of ruining the moment. He just wanted to play. I turned to Sally and asked her, "How would you like to go for that walk now?"

Sally: "Oh, of course, I'd love to Jack."

Jack: As I got up from the couch, I put my suit jacket on. Zero than barked at me. "You want to go too boy?" I asked him as he flew around me, barking excitedly. "Okay, okay." I laughed at him. I went to Sally, lending her my arm and helping her up off the couch. We walked out the door holding hands to the street. We walked for a while, passing the gate into town. As we did, I felt something tug on my leg. I looked down at my feet to see the corpse kid.

Sally: I looked over to the little creepy thing, "How cute."

The corpse kid had taken that as an insult and frowned. "I'm not cute."

Sally: "I think I angered him, Jack," I whispered.

Jack: "I got this," he said, picking up the corpse kid. "Of course, you're not cute. You're the most frightening thing I've ever seen." The corpse kid smiled as I put him back down.

Sally: "Hmm."

Jack: "What is it, Sally?"

Sally: "Oh nothing, I just didn't know you were so good with children." He smiled at me, taking my arm in his as we walked down the street to the bench in front of the Halloween Town museum and sat down onto a bench together.

Jack: I put my arm around her and I went to lean in for a kiss to be interrupted again, but this time by my brother Damien.

Damien: "Hello Jack."

Jack: "Damien."

Damien: "What are you up to, and who is this?"

Jack: "Damien, this is Sally my... friend."

Damien: "It hadn't looked like friends before I came over." I laughed.

To be continued.

P.S. I don’t own the original characters, and you already know that, but I made up Damien and more characters to come.

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