The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton
The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton
The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton
Jack walked through the churchyard and into the dark woods. His
head was down and his eyes were on the ground. He walked for a long time
and he thought about his future, without much hope.
After almost two hours, he stopped and looked around him. His eyes
opened wide.
"Where am I? What is this?" he asked Zero.
Jack was in the middle of some very large trees and each tree had a
beautiful door in it. On the doors were strange pictures and each door was
different. One of the doors had a green tree with decorations on it. Of
course, it was a Christmas tree, but Jack didn't know anything about
Christmas trees. One door had a pretty egg with yellow flowers on it. It was
the Easter door, but Jack knew nothing about Easter. The Thanksgiving Day
door had a very big bird with a small head.
Jack liked the door with the green tree and pretty decorations, so he
moved nearer. But before he could put his hand on the door, it opened. A
strong, cold winter wind pulled him inside the tree and the door closed
quickly. He screamed, but only Zero heard. And Zero couldn't help. The
little dog stayed under the tree and waited. He waited all night.
The cold winter wind took Jack to a new and wonderful place. Here,
everything was white and it was very cold. Jack knew nothing about snow
and he took some in his hand.
"What is this?" he thought.
He made a ball and threw it. Then he laughed happily.
He stood on the top of a mountain and he looked down at a pretty
little town. It was very different from Halloweentown. There were beautiful
lights on the houses and decorations on the trees. People moved happily
across the ice on strange, long shoes. They laughed and sang.
"Nobody is afraid here!" Jack thought. "They aren't screaming.
Nobody's dead!"
Jack felt very happy, too.
"This is the prettiest place in the world," he thought.
Then he looked up and he saw the name of this place above the street
- CHRISTMASTOWN.
"That's a funny name for a place!" he thought. "But I think I'm going
to like it here!"
Jack started to move down the mountain. He didn't know anything
about snow or ice, of course. So when he started to walk, his feet flew out
from under him. He moved, on his bottom, as fast as a river down a
mountain.
"This is very funny," he thought. "Maybe they're inviting me to
Christmastown! I hope they are. This place is great!"
At the bottom of the mountain he sat for a minute and looked at the
beautiful world in front of him. He felt happy and warm inside.
Then he stood up. He looked up at the sky and laughed.
"I want to see everything here!" he thought. "I want to run and jump!
I want to sing and dance! I'm not an old dead skeleton without feelings - I'm
living again! But what happens in this place? I'm going to look around!"
It was morning in Halloweentown and the Mayor stood outside Jack's
house. He wanted to start making plans for next year's celebrations. There
were only three hundred sixty-four days before Halloween! But Jack didn't
open his door. The Mayor shouted. There was no answer.
There were some vampires in the street, so he asked them about Jack.
"We'll try to find him for you, Mayor!" they said.
The vampires asked witches and skeletons around town. "Where's
Jack? Do you know?"
"We don't know but we'll help you," they said.
Later that day everybody knew - Jack was not in Halloweentown! But
where was he? Nobody leaves Halloweentown!
CHAPTER THREE
Jacks Christmas Plans
Sally's drink for the Doctor didn't work very well. It wasn't very
strong, so the Doctor woke up after three hours. He could move fast in his
chair and he found Sally. He took her back home and put her in her room at
the top of the old house.
"You won't do that to me again!" the Doctor shouted angrily.
"It was a... a mistake!" she said.
She thought, "Why didn't I put more flowers in the drink? How did I
make that stupid mistake?"
Now she was in her room and couldn't get out.
Jack arrived in the morning. Sally heard him from her room.
"Why is Jack here?" she thought.
She tried to listen to the conversation between the Doctor and Jack.
She couldn't hear Jack very well, but she heard the Doctor.
"Take these chemicals, Jack, but be careful. They're very dangerous. I
made a mistake one time and... look at me in this chair."
Jack took the bottles of chemicals and went home. He opened some of
the bottles. Very carefully, he put them over fire. He put a toy boat into the
bottle of green chemicals. He put the bottle over the fire and watched.
Nothing happened. Then he cut some Christmas paper and put it into
some red chemicals. Again, nothing happened. He worked for hours, but he
didn't learn very much about Christmas.
"What will happen when I put decorations into these chemicals?" Jack
thought. He put some in and a green light shone.
From Sally's window, she saw the green light in Jack's window. She
wanted to go to him and help him. She felt something strange inside - a
happy and sad feeling. For the first time in her life she felt love. She really
was in love with Jack.
"I want to be his wife," Sally thought. "How can I get away from the
Doctor? I can't stay here!"
Sally stood at her window for a long time, without much hope.
"I have to help Jack!" she thought.
So she made a present for him. She put some dry flowers, some black
vegetables, and some green water into a bottle. With the bottle in her hand,
she stood at her open window and looked down. It was a long way to the
ground, but she wasn't afraid. She jumped.
When she hit the ground, one of her arms fell off.
"Not again!" she said. But she took the arm with her other hand and
put it on again very quickly.
Then she ran to Jack's house as fast as she could. She stood under his
window and looked up. At that same minute, Jack looked down. When their
eyes met, he smiled. Suddenly, he felt really happy - but why? He couldn't
understand.
Sally put her bottle into his mailbox and ran away. She couldn't stay
and talk to him. She wanted to but she couldn't. Sally was a quiet girl and
she never said very much to anybody.
Jack watched her and felt warm inside.
When she was near the walls of the town, Sally sat down.
"He smiled at me" she thought excitedly.
There was a pretty flower next to her and she pulled it out of the
ground. She began to pull off the petals and to repeat these words:
"He loves me," she said. She pulled off the second petal. "He loves
me not..." she said. She did this again and again.
Strangely, the flower in her hand began going around and around very
fast. It changed into a beautiful, small Christmas tree with pretty lights!
Then, suddenly, the little Christmas tree was on fire. There was nothing in
her hand. She sat there in the cold, dark night for a long time and tried to
understand.
"What does this mean?" she thought. "Does Jack love me, or not? Or
is something bad going to happen? Are Jack's plans for Christmas a big
mistake?"
CHAPTER FIVE
Jack's Great Idea
Lock, Shock, and Barrel were three young boys. They were
Halloweentown's famous trick-or-treaters and they played a lot of tricks on
everybody in town. They always had a plan, and their plans were never very
nice.
Nobody in town liked their boss, Oogie Boogie. He was a big, round
bag full of maggots! He had a big head, short legs, and long arms and
sometimes the maggots fell out of him through holes in the bag.
Oogie Boogie went around the woods at night and ate a lot of
animals. He drank their blood. Sometimes he ate people, too! He was
always hungry. He didn't like good children and they were really afraid of
him. He was the scariest thing in Halloweentown. When he scared children,
they ran to Jack. Oogie Boogie was different from everybody in
Halloweentown because he didn't like Jack. The Mayor didn't like Oogie
Boogie or his bad boys. So his eyes opened wide when he saw Oogie's
boys.
"Why does Jack want to talk to them?" he thought. "Is he crazy?"
Jack spoke very quietly into each boy's ear. "I want you three boys to
do something for me. But don't tell anybody. It's very important. Nobody
can know."
"What? This isn't possible!" the Mayor thought. "Why is Jack making
plans with them? What's he saying?"
"One last thing..." Jack said to the boys. "Don't tell Oogie Boogie. I
don't want him to know anything!"
"Of course, Jack," the three trick-or-treaters said. "We won't say a
word to Oogie Boogie about this."
They ran away with big smiles on their faces. Were they happy about
Jack's important job? Or did they have other plans? Did Jack do the right
thing or did he make a big mistake?
"This is going to be wonderful," thought Jack. "This is the happiest
day of my life. Those three trick-or-treaters are going to do something good
for the first time in their lives. And this time there'll be no tricks."
Everybody in Halloweentown wanted to help with his Christmas
plans. Nothing could be better.
But Christmas was now in dangerous hands. Jack's three young
helpers had a very different idea about Christmas in Halloweentown - so the
nightmare before Christmas was beginning.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel loved nightmares as much as they loved
tricks. When they got to their home at the top of a big tree, they started
planning their trick on Jack.
"Jack is a stupid skeleton!" they laughed.
Lock said, "He wants us to go to Christmastown and get Santa Claus?
We'll bring Santa back here... but we won't give him to Jack! We'll scare
him with our tricks!"
Shock was more intelligent than Lock and he had a better idea.
"Listen... We'll get Santa Claus and put him in our biggest Halloween
bag!" said Shock. "We'll bring him here and show him to Jack. But then
we'll give him to Oogie Boogie! Oogie will really enjoy that big fat man for
his dinner!"
"Great!" shouted Barrel. "That will teach Jack Skellington a lesson!"
The three trick-or-treaters laughed and danced around the room. Then
they got busy with their plan.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Big Mistakes
There was only one happy face in town. High above the police station
in a strange sleigh, a skeleton's smile shone. Inside his head were pictures of
happy children's faces. He had no idea about the problems below.
The police used their strongest lights. Their biggest guns were ready,
too.
But when Jack saw their lights, he smiled again.
"They're celebrating this wonderful night," he thought.
"Look, Zero!" he said to his little dog. "They're celebrating! They're
having a wonderful Christmas!"
Then a gun almost hit one of the reindeer.
"Was that a mistake?" thought Jack. "Or are they shooting at us?"
The guns didn't stop and Jack started feeling scared.
"I don't like this. It's getting very dangerous up here," he said to Zero.
Zero put his head down and looked up at Jack with his big, sad eyes.
Suddenly, one of the policemen shot at Jack. It didn't hit him, but it
made a big hole in the sleigh. When they shot again, it hit the sleigh for a
second time. The sleigh broke in two.
"No! What are they doing?" Jack cried. "Are they crazy? We have a
lot of toys on this sleigh! Think of the children!"
Suddenly, everything began to fall and the reindeer flew away. Jack
hit the ground hard and one of his arms broke off. But worse than that, the
sleigh was on fire. Now he knew. His Christmas plan was a mistake. That
felt worse than his head, his legs, or his arms.
Zero ran and brought Jack's arm back to him. Jack put it back on
easily.
"I wanted to do something good, Zero," said Jack. "Now look at me.
Look at the sleigh. Where are the reindeer? We have to find Santa Claus.
Only he can change this nightmare into a happy Christmas for the boys and
girls."
Jack quickly ran and found a churchyard. He jumped down a hole in
the ground and ran through the dark woods back to Halloweentown.
When the police started shooting, Sally heard the guns. She heard the
witches in Halloweentown, too. Witches always know everything and they
knew about the problems in Christmastown.
"Jack's plan isn't working. Only Santa Claus can help him," she
thought. "Where can I find him?"
She thought about Lock, Shock, and Barrel. They were friends with
Oogie Boogie.
"I'm going to go to Oogie Boogies house. I'll find Santa Claus there!"
she thought.
Ten minutes later, Sally stood outside the hole to Oogie Boogies dark,
dirty underground house. She looked down the hole and, of course, Santa
Claus was there. He was in a chair and he couldn't get out of it. Oogie stood
over him. She could see maggots around Oogie's mouth. Some climbed up
and down his arms. He danced around Santa and scaled the old man. This
was Oogie Boogie's idea of a good time.
Sally had to help Santa Claus.
"You're old and ugly, but I'm going to eat you for my dinner!" Oogie
Boogie said to Santa. "I'm hungry, so I'll start the fire now."
"No!" cried Santa. "Please, don't eat me! The children are waiting for
their Christmas presents. I have to go. They can't celebrate Christmas
without me!"
Oogie Boogie laughed. "Go? Never! You're dinner, Santa Claus!"
"What am I going to do?" Santa Claus thought. "This is the worst
place in the world! What's going to happen to Christmas?"
Oogie Boogie sang and laughed. The fire got bigger and hotter.
"I am really hungry, Santa Claus," he said. "Do you know about me? I
scare everybody! Are you afraid of me?"
"No, I am not!" Santa Claus said. He moved in his chair and tried to
get free. "I'm Santa Claus and I'm not afraid of anybody."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Oogie Boogie's Scary House
When the Mayor heard about Jack's fall from the sky, he sadly told
everybody in his town. They all looked down at the ground. They didn't
scream or shout. They stood and remembered their great friend.
"We will never see our dear friend Jack Skellington again," the Mayor
said. "This is a very sad day for us all."
Everybody felt very bad, but nobody was sadder than the Mayor.
Sally could hear the Mayor from inside Oogie Boogie's house. He
spoke loudly and she tried hard to listen to his words. They sounded very
important and very sad. When Sally understood, she cried quietly. Oogie
Boogie laughed at her.
"Now I'm the scariest person in Halloween town!" he shouted happily.
"No more Jack Skellington! Yes!"
Sally was in Oogie Boogie's house because she tried to help Santa
Claus. Oogie Boogie caught her. He put her on another chair, next to Santa,
so she couldn't get away. Oogie Boogie laughed at her, but Sally wasn't
afraid.
"You can laugh now," she said to him angrily. "But you'll be sorry!"
Oogie laughed again. "Very funny, Sally!" he said.
But Jack's life didn't end when his sleigh hit the ground. He ran as fast
as he could through the woods, with Zero behind him. Then he heard Oogie
Boogie's laugh under the ground and stopped suddenly. He looked down the
hole to Oogie Boogie's house and he could see Santa and Sally in the chairs
and the hungry Oogie Boogie by the fire.
"Look, Zero!" said Jack. "He wants to cook them for his dinner! He's
the worst bag of maggots in the world! He'll be sorry!"
Oogie Boogie took Santa and Sally out of their chairs and he pushed
them near the big fire in the middle of his dirty kitchen. It was very hot and
Sally and Santa screamed.
Jack jumped down the hole into Oogie Boogie's house. That really
scared the ugly bag of maggots and he jumped. Santa and Sally quickly got
away from him.
"Jack?" shouted Oogie Boogie. "You're not really dead!" Oogie
Boogie turned on a machine in his kitchen and a lot of knives started
shooting at Jack. He jumped out of their way, but more knives came at him.
"Come this way, you old skeleton!" shouted Oogie Boogie. He
laughed wildly. The knives flew at Jack from the left and from the right.
Jack jumped this way and that way.
"Look behind you, Jack!" shouted Sally when more knives came from
the dining-room.
Jack jumped out of the way again.
"Goodbye, Jack!" shouted Oogie Boogie.
He jumped up onto a shelf and was up high above Jack's head.
Jack looked up.
"You're not being very nice to my friends," he said. Oogie Boogie
laughed loudly.
Jack's eyes turned to Oogie Boogie's foot. He could see a small hole
in it. Jack had an idea. Before Oogie Boogie could stop him, Jack put his
finger into the hole. Then he pulled it hard.
The hole got bigger… and bigger. Maggots started falling out of
Oogie Boogie's foot. More and more fell onto the floor. They were free
from Oogie Boogie - and they moved away fast! Oogie Boogie got
smaller... and smaller.
"Look at me! My maggots!" cried Oogie Boogie. "I'm dying! This is
the end for me!"
The maggots quickly climbed up the walls and out of Oogie Boogie's
house. Santa watched them and he felt sick. When the last one ran near him,
Santa killed it with his big black shoe. That really was the end of Oogie
Boogie.
"Santa Claus, I'm very sorry," said Jack quietly. "I wanted to help -
but I didn't."
"Christmas is more than a bag of toys and a red hat," Santa said.
He pulled the hat from Jack's head and turned away.
"It's not the end of Christmas, I hope!" Jack said.
"The end of Christmas? Never!" shouted Santa.
He quickly flew up and out of Oogie Boogie's house.
"Everything will be OK, Jack," said Sally. "Santa Claus will give
everybody their presents. He can do it before morning."
Jack turned to Sally. He looked carefully at his good friend.
"She has a beautiful face," he thought. "Why didn't I see that before?"
"Why did you come down here?" he asked.
"I... I wanted to..." she said slowly.
"Help me?" Jack asked.
Sally smiled. Jack wanted to take her in his arms, but something
stopped him.
"Jack! Jack!"
The Mayor arrived with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. They looked down
into the hole.
"There he is!" shouted Shock. "He's fine," said Lock. "We told you,"
said Barrel.
"Everybody is waiting for you, Jack!" the Mayor said happily. "Let's
go to the center of town!" He put out his hand. "Take my hand," he cried.
"Help me, boys," he said to Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
Everybody pulled. First Jack came out of Oogie Boogies dark and
scary home, then Sally.
They walked as fast as they could away from that dark hole to the
Mayor's car.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Christmas Comes to Halloweentown
When they saw Jack in the Mayor's car, the witches, the vampires,
and the skeletons shouted, "Jack! Jack! You're home!" Suddenly, a louder
sound came from the sky above. Everybody looked up.
"Happy Christmas, everybody!" shouted Santa Claus. He drove across
the night sky with his sleigh full of presents. Jack smiled happily up at
Santa.
Suddenly, some beautiful white snow started falling on
Halloweentown - a Christmas present from Santa Claus. "What is this?"
asked the witches.
They put out their long fingers and tried to catch the snow.
"White blood?" asked the vampires.
"It's cold!" said the skeletons.
"It's snow!" Jack said happily.
The witches, the vampires, the trick-or-treaters, the black cats, the
skeletons, the Mayor, and Jack jumped up and down in the snow and
laughed. Christmas was here... in Halloweentown!
Only one person was not there. Above the town's center, Sally stood
and looked down on the celebrations below. The snow was beautiful but the
smile on her face was sad. She watched for a minute or two and then she
had to turn away.
"How does he feel about me?" she thought.
She sat down next to some pretty flowers and pulled one from the
ground. With her small fingers, she pulled the petals off, one at a time.
"He loves me, he loves me not... he loves me..." she said quietly
Down in the town, Jack stopped suddenly and looked around. He
wanted to celebrate with Sally. But where was she? When he couldn't find
Sally's face, he had to look for her. He left his friends and walked to the top
of the town through the snow.
He didn't have to look for very long. Near the wall around the town,
he saw her with the flower in her hand. When he was near her, he heard her
words. She didn't see him because her eyes were on the petals. But then she
felt his eyes on her. She turned slowly and looked at him. He looked at her
and smiled. He finished her words.
"He loves you," said Jack.
Sally stood up and Jack took her hands in his.
The nightmare before Christmas ended happily for everybody. (But
not for Oogie Boogie, of course.)
Santa Claus never forgot that night before Christmas. It was the
longest night in his life. He remembered Jack Skellington very well for
many years. And every time he thought of Jack, he smiled.
It was strange, but Santa Claus enjoyed that night in Halloweentown.
He couldn't understand why. He thought about the really scary vampires
and witches, and those three trick-or-treaters. They were different. It was
exciting.
Of course, Santa Claus could never say this to his wife or to his little
helpers. What could he say about Halloween? How could he tell them about
life there?
"It's a very strange place," he told his wife. "I hated every minute in
that place," he told his helpers.
But for years after that night, Santa Claus sometimes left
Christmastown for an hour or two when he was bored with his happy
helpers and their happy songs.
When his life felt boring, he climbed into his sleigh. He drove to
Halloweentown and there he visited his old friend Jack Skellington. They
talked about the year when Jack wanted to be Santa Claus.
Jack was always happy when Santa visited him. He liked to ask
questions about Christmastown and Santa liked to ask Jack about
Halloweentown. They could talk for hours and they were never bored.
- THE END -
Hope you have enjoyed the reading!
Come back to http://english-e-books.net/ to find more fascinating and
exciting stories!