Like Father,Like Daughter, Hugs.And.Kisses [100 books to read .txt] 📗

crash, which meant that Harry had just broken through a wall. "This is Halloween!"

"Red 'n' black!" Harley sung.

"Slimy green!" The melting man jumped in.

"Are you scared?" Harry howled.

Hazel and Zoë swooped over our heads, giving us a look that clearly said get to town. "Well that's just fine! Say it once say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice! Ride with the moon in the dead of night!"

We passed through the gate as the Hanging Tree stomped into the square. "Everybody scream! Everybody scream!"

"In our town of Halloween…" The five Hanged men chorused as he finished.

Clown rode up on his unicycle, scaring some of the younger citizens. "I am the clown with the tear away face! Here in a flash and gone without a trace!"

A shadow rose from the ground next to the fountain. "I am the who when you call 'Who's there'?"

A gust of strong wind blew through, making an eerie howling noise as it passed through the trees and blowing everyone's hair gently. "I am the wind blowing through your hair!"

The four of us looked up at this point and saw (instead of the deceased Oogie Boogie) a shadow that covered the moon's entire surface, showing fangs and eyes only. "I am the one that goes bump in the night, the air filled with screams of children's fright!"

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!"

"Tender lumplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare!" C.K., Drake, and Ra sang, even though they were way older now.

"That's our job but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween!" A few of the parents sang.

Now the entire town was out in the square. "In this town,"

"Don't we love it now?" The Mayor sang.

"Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back and scream like a banshee make you jump out of your skin! This is Halloween, everybody scream! Won't ya' please make way for a very special guy?"

The crowd parted as the pumpkin patch scarecrow, my dad in his costume, was wheeled in. "Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch! Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King!" Everyone grinned as the scarecrow began to dance, swallowing the torch that had been over its head. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!" On the last 'Halloween,' dad jumped from the platform into the fountain.

I took a deep breath and walked up to the fountain. "In this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song." I sang clearly as dad rose from the fountain. Everyone cheered as he stepped out of the water, bone dry (a/n: Haha! Bad puns!).

"You sounded wonderful." He whispered to me.

"Thanks." I smiled, pleased. I hated singing in front of crowds, and for something as important as our town song, I had been really nervous, even if it was just one solo line.

-Lock's POV-

Soon, the Awards Ceremony was well under way. Aubrey, Shock, Barrel, and I sat toward the back where we could talk quietly. Mostly, we just made fun of the awards, because the same people won them every year. "The award for most blood sucked in one evening goes to-"

"The Vampire Brothers." Shock sighed.

"The Vampire Brothers, with the lake leeches earning an honorable mention. The next award goes to…"

And so it continued. Finally, we got down to the last awards: solo and couple scare. "And the Best Solo scare goes to…"

"Jack." The four of us sighed.

"Jack!" Cheering rose from the hall as dad walked up to the stage to take the trophy, just like every year. "Jack, would you do us the honors of reading the last award?" The Mayor asked.

The four of us looked at each other, confused. He and Sally always won the award. So why was he reading it? Jack smiled as he opened the envelope. "And finally, the Best Couple Scare goes to…"

"Jack and Sally." Barrel muttered.

"Lock and Aubrey!" My head and Aubrey's shot up. Jack smiled back at us and motioned for us to come up on stage. Glancing at each other, we stood and made our way to the stage. "Congratulations." Jack smiled, handing us the trophy. We both blushed and walked back to our seats amidst the cheering crowd. "I have one more announcement before you all go." Jack announced, and those who had begun to stand sat back down. "As you all know, I have put off choosing an heir for… well, a very long time." Titters of laughter rose throughout the room. "I've finally decided that the next heir to the Halloween throne will be my daughter, Aubrey."

The room broke out in cheers yet again as Aubrey blushed happily next to me.

Not long after, the four of us found ourselves sitting in my room, talking. "So, an award and a crown all in one night." Shock poked Aubrey's leg. "You'll be the talk of the school on Monday."

Barrel groaned. "Crap, I forgot about that."

Shock laughed. "Ah, we all know you like school Barrel."

"You're such a geek." I teased. I looked over at Aubrey, who hadn't said anything. She was staring at the wall with a distant expression. "Mini-chocolate bat for your thoughts." I held the candy in front of her face.

She pushed the candy away. "It's nothing."

"Every time you say that, something comes and attacks us." Shock told her flatly.

Aubrey bit her lip, instead of laughing like I'd expected. "I… you guys know how you explained to me about how Raphael got put in eternal sleep?" We nodded. "It's just… I never remembered dad doing anything like that to Oogie."

Shock, Barrel, and I looked at each other. "He… Oogie couldn't come back again… he couldn't, right?" Barrel asked, looking from me to Shock and back again.

"No way." Shock said finally. "Oogie only survived last time because one of his bugs must've escaped. Lock burned them all to a crisp."

I almost corrected her, almost said that I just THOUGHT killed all of Oogie's bugs. I hadn't been paying attention to whether or not any escaped. And he'd had that hole in his side… "You're right." Aubrey sighed. "Even if they had, Oogie would've made a move by now."

I nodded. "Yeah. No way Oogie's coming back."


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Publication Date: 12-07-2011

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