A big gathering was being held near the Pond of the Endless Forest. There, several spectators watched and waited for a play to start. There was a big stage that was set up by the Twin Gods, and several actors behind the scenes getting ready. The fawns and other various members of the audience had a small piece of paper with them that listed the cast for the play:

Announcer - Daenir
Jack Skellington - Seed
Sally - Thickett
Oogie Boogie - Darkweaver
Doctor Finklestein - Mar Sart
Mayor of Halloween Town - Silun
Santa Claus - Pathweaver
Lock - Mabli
Shock - Castallion
Barrel - Foxbrow

Stage Hands - Quad; Pema


Just as they would finish reading the names, Daenir walked on stage. "Hello everyone, and welcome to today's play of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas! Now I need to make a few things clear - this is a retelling of the story, so many details were omitted for time allotment. In other words, if you want to see this story in it's entirety, go find a human who knows what The Nightmare Before Christmas is and they may be able to show you the original film. Alright? Enjoy the play, everyone!", he announced, and turning, he found his narrator spot.

Quad and Pema in the back of the stage pulled the ropes, and the red velvet curtain opened. Various characters marched in a circle on the stage, singing a song:

"Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween

This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright
It's our town, everybody scream
In this town of Halloween"

The characters marching were Sally, Dr. Finklestein, The Mayor of Halloween Town, Oogie Boogie, Lock, Shock, and Barrel. And as they finished the chant, another character appeared in the center of all of them, standing proudly with black attire on and a white painted face.

They continued the chant:

"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
Wont' ya please make way for a very special guy

Our man jack is King of the Pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now

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

And at once they all stopped and posed. Applause from the audience as the curtain closed.

A few moments later, the curtains drew again, in a laboratory scene. Dr. Finklestein was working on an experiment when Jack came in. "Ahh, Jack, how good to see you! Sally! Sally!!", he called. From the side of the stage came Sally, a doe with stitches all along her body. "Ahh Sally, bring me a fresh jar of rat hearts.". The doe nodded, but looked over toward Jack before she walked away. "Now, what is it you wanted, Jack?"

"Well this year's Halloween was great, but I feel like something was missing. So I was wondering if you had anything that would make next year's Halloween really scream.", Jack spoke with excitement.

"Hmm...well I have been working on a special elixir for Irish Elk skeletons...", Dr. Finklestein emphasized this as a joke for the Endless Forest deer, who all laughed.

"Hmm well maybe I'll find what I'm looking for elsewhere...there's got to be something to fit what's missing.", Jack spoke, and turned to leave.

"Well you keep working on that then, and I will...Sally? Sally!! Where are those rat hearts?!", Dr. Finklestein called as the curtain closed.

In the next scene, Jack was alone, walking through a forest. He looked around, saying to himself, "Huh? Where am I?", and looking at the trees, he saw various things painted on them. A four-leaf clover, a painted egg, a turkey...and then he saw a beautiful tree with golden spheres. Reaching with his hoof, he poked the thing, and it opened right up like a door! Jack looked inside the darkness, and just as he was about to back out, a wind blew him right in! "Whoaaaaa!!"

The curtain closed, and opened in a snowy place. Jack sat up, looking around before walking into a brightly lit town. "What's this? What's this?", he questioned as he looked at various things like Christmas trees, ornaments, stockings, brightly colored lights...and he soon looked inside one place where a man in a big red suit was working.

Jack, after seeing everything he needed, ran back to the snowy hill, and looking back, he said, "This must be what is missing!". Curtain closed.

The curtain opened in mid-setup, Pema dangling from the rafters and going, "Oh dear!". The curtain closed so they could get her untangled, all the while the fawns were laughing and the older deer tilted their heads at all of this. The curtain opened again back in Halloween Town, where Jack walked on the stage with the Mayor.

"Jack, where have you been? We've got preparations to make for next year's Halloween!", the Mayor said to him. "It will have to wait, I found something amazing and must get to Dr. Finklestein to see if he knows anything about it!", and with that, Jack went off stage. The Mayor's face transformed from a smiling, bright face to a pale, woeful face, "But Jack, we can't continue this without you--", he pleaded, but Jack was already long gone. He sulked and walked off stage.

In the same scene, Jack walked back on stage, thinking all about the place he had found, when out of nowhere three masked deer ran at him. "Trick or Treat, smell our hooves, give us something good to chew!", they chanted. Jack laughed, "Why, it's Lock, Shock, and Barrel! Up to no good are you?", he asked. "Oh you know us, Jack! We're always up to no good!", Shock laughed and nudged Lock and Barrel.

Jack shook his head, "Well you better stay away from Oogie Boogie, he's more trouble than you need!", he instructed them.

"Oh we will, Jack! We promise!", Lock said, and Barrel nodded, "Yes! We wouldn't dare go to Oogie Boogie!" Jack nodded and walked off stage, and the trio giggled, Shock saying, "We totally fooled him! Come on, let's go!"

The three descended as the scene transformed without the curtain this time. The place became dark and full of strange, scary glows. There, a massive deer stepped onto the stage, wearing burlap all over his body. Oogie Boogie glared at the trio as they approached, "What...have you got...to report?", he asked. Barrel approached first and spoke, "Something's going on with Jack Skellington, he found something frightful for next Halloween!" "Is that...so? Well...we must keep...an eye on him...or three...", Oogie said, the three eyes on his face looking in all directions.

Lock approached and put a bucket down for Oogie, "We brought you this too...", he said, the bucket full of worms, cockroaches, and other strange things. Oogie, letting out a bit of a cackle, shoved his face into the bucket and began to eat all the bugs, just as Lock, Shock, and Barrel ran off stage. This entire time, all the fawns were going "Ewww!" and "Blech!!" as they watched Darkweaver eat what was really just gummy worms and fake insects.

The curtain closed and after a scene change, at Dr. Finklestein's laboratory, Jack was already talking and describing everything he saw. "It sounds like you found quite the discovery, Jack! But I believe I know more about this, it's another holiday like Halloween.", the doctor spoke as he flipped open his head and prodded his brain a moment.

"Oh it is? What is it called?", Jack asked with a headtilt.

Closing his skull cavity, the doctor went to a bookshelf and pulled down a book, blowing off dust and opening it. "Hmm...Arbor Day...Boxing Day...Abiogenesis...International Talk Like a Pirate Day...ah here it is...Christmas!", he spoke, and Jack looked at the book. "Oh my! Well we can certainly do this! Instead of making Halloween frightful and bright, let's try this holiday!" He continued to read until he understood everything he needed, exclaiming "Sandy Claws! Of course!"

He ran off stage, as Dr. Finklestein called, "Jack, where are you going?" Jack called off stage, "I'm going to learn about Sandy Claws!"

As he left, Sally stepped out, sighing, "Jack...you're making a mistake...", she said quietly. Dr. Finklestein spoke to her, "Sally, what are you doing? I don't want you anywhere near Jack, you foolish girl!", and rearing, he forced Sally into a room to which he shut the door and locked it. The scene morphed as the doe was now standing behind a window, and looking down, she jumped off and vanished behind the curtain. A second later, body parts were all over the place, but slowly they moved together, falling into a trap hole just as Sally reappeared on the stage. She ran off the stage after Jack.

Another curtain close, with a brief intermission. Here the audience went and got free pinecones and mushrooms to munch on from Quad, who ran a concession stand. Once everyone was seated again, the blackbuck ran backstage and the curtain opened again.

Halloween Town, where Jack spoke to Lock, Shock, and Barrel, "Now this is important, he's the one with the red suit and the hat on. Think you can find him?", Jack asked them. "No problem, we'll find Sandy Claws!", Barrel nodded, and the trio ran off stage. Jack stood there, tapping his hooves, and a second later, Shock was carrying a sack, followed by Lock and Barrel. "We found him! We found him!", they all called, and opening the bag, a bunny hopped out.

"No, no you went to the wrong one! This is the Easter Bunny! Take him back and go get Sandy Claws from the one that looks like a tree!"

Lock nudged Shock and Barrel, "I told you it was the tree!", he scoffed, and they took the Easter Bunny and went back off stage. Another moment later, they returned with a much larger sack, and opening it up, Santa Claus popped out - a bright deer with red clothing. "What is the meaning of this? Why did you bring me here?", Santa questioned. Jack cleared his throat, "Mister Claws, I'm Jack Skellington, and I want you to take a break from Christmas this year! I want to handle it!" Santa shook his head, "Absolutely not! Take me back to Christmas Town, I am very busy!", but Lock, Shock, and Barrel shoved him back into the big sack.

"Now you take him somewhere safe, and treat him nicely!", Jack instructed, and the three nodded and pulled the sack away. As Jack walked off stage, the scene morphed back to Oogie's lair, where the trio opened the sack to the burlap-clothed deer. "What's going on? Who are you?", Santa questioned.

Oogie Boogie scoffed, "I am...your worst nightmare...", and as he stepped forward, the stage went black and the curtain shut.

With another curtain opening, Jack was clothed in red with white highlights, and Sally was sitting stitching a Santa hat for him. She finished and handed it to him, but said, "Jack, don't do this, you're going to get into trouble." Jack laughed and said, "Don't worry, Sally, I'm going to make this the best Christmas ever!", and before another word was spoken, a sleigh with several volunteer deer wearing the Day of the Dead pelt came onto the stage, and Jack hopped on, inspecting the toys in the sleigh before waving to the audience. The sleigh was pulled off stage, and the scene morphed to a sky scene, where Jack, the sleigh, and the DotD deer were suspended. Jack would drop presents into trap doors, where they would vanish in the stage, but after several moments, search lights shone on him, and around the stage fireworks went off. "They love it! I'm making the best Christmas!", Jack called, but after one firework blasted close to him, he gasped, "They're...they're firing at us!"

Another blast, and the sleigh broke apart, everything falling through the trap doors including Jack, who shouted, "Merry Christmaaaaaaaaaaassssss!!", before he, the DotD deer, and the sleigh pieces vanished.

The curtain closed, and opened in a graveyard scene, where Jack lay around the rubble of the sleigh. "What have I done? I've ruined Christmas...", he sat up, "I did my very best to make a frightful Christmas, but...maybe I can make this right...Sandy Claws...", he stood and opened up a tombstone, vanishing behind it.

The curtain closed again, and reopened in Halloween Town, where Jack confronted Lock, Shock, and Barrel, "Where did you take Sandy Claws?", he asked at once. "We're not telling!", Lock laughed. But before he could ask another question, he saw the opening to Oogie's lair. "Oogie Boogie? You took Sandy Claws to Oogie Boogie?!", he gasped, and ran into the opening. There the scene changed, and the burlap-clothed Oogie Boogie had Santa Claus hung by his legs. "Release me or you will face the consequences!", Santa threatened, and Oogie laughed, "You're finished...old man...", but Jack called, "Oogie! Let him go!"

Oogie turned to see Jack there, and laughed, "Jack Skellington! You'll...never defeat me!", and charging at him, Jack and Oogie locked antlers. With each clash, Oogie pushed Jack farther and farther back, where a glowing pit was awaiting him. All the fawns cried out for Jack, as they didn't want to see him die, and by some form of miracle, he gripped a string from Oogie's body and pulled. Oogie cried as the cloth came off, and several bugs crawled off of Darkweaver's body. "No! My bugs! My bugs!!", he cried as Darkweaver fell through a trap hole and appeared to melt into the stage. Jack ran to Santa Claus, "Sir, I'm so sorry, I will fix this!", but once Santa was free, he shook his head, "Don't bother, Jack! There's still time to save Christmas, but next time you want to hop holidays, you'd better ask first!"

The two ran off screen with the curtain closing, and Daenir walked back on the stage, "And with that, Santa Claus reversed all the damage Jack had done on Christmas, and the day was saved! Everything seemed to be great, but for Jack, there was one last thing that needed to be done..."

The curtain opened in a big pumpkin patch, where a spiral hill rose up toward the moon. Sally stood on top, and Jack approached. And it was here that he began to sing:

"My dearest friend,
If you don't mind
I'd like to join you by your side"

And as he stood on the top of the hill with Sally, they both sang together:

"Where we could gaze into the stars
And sit together now and forever
For it is plain as anyone could see
We're simply meant to be"

Jack and Sally kissed, and the audience erupted in cheers. The curtain closed, and after a short moment, it reopened with everyone on stage, each bowing. Quad and Pema bowed, the two stage hands, and Daenir bowed as well. Then the first actors bowed - Mar Sart as Dr. Finklestein, then Silun as the Mayor of Halloween Town. Next were Mabli, Castallion, and Foxbrow, who were Lock, Shock and Barrel. After them bowed Darkweaver and Pathweaver, who played Oogie Boogie and Santa Claus.

And finally, Thickett bowed, who played Sally, followed by Seed, who was Jack Skellington. He bowed and got the most applause.


The End