Tim Burton’s The Nightmare before Christmas was not what I was expecting. Firstly, I did not think that it was going to be like a musical with a lot of singing and dancing. The title fits the plot very well. If you haven’t watched the movie, skip this because I am going to spoil it: Jack, the skeleton, discovers Christmas Town and wants to take over Christmas. He works and works his butt off preparing for the big day. Having the other people, the Halloween characters (who all live in Halloween Town), help by making presents (filled with scary toys), making a Santa costume, and capturing Santa. Sally tries to warn Jack that this day will go horribly wrong, but he doesn’t listen. On the big day, he delivers scary toys to children and then gets attacked by artillery until it hits his reindeers and his sleigh explodes. He feels very sorry for what he did and did not mean for it to hurt others. From this, he goes back and saves the real Santa, along with Sally who is captured by Oogie Boogie. When Santa is saved, he goes and saves the day delivering good presents to the kids.
My favorite character was honestly, the Mayor. Although he was not shown all that much, the parts where he was there were super funny. For example, in the beginning when he goes to Jack’s house but Jack is not there and he has a meltdown. I also really like how when his emotion changes, his head turns the other way showing that he is either happy, excited and joyful or mad, angry or sad. Another character is Sally, who is a big part in the movie. She has a vision that this day will go wrong and tries everything that she can do to stop it. First she just tries to talk Jack out of it but he doesn’t listen, then she creates the fog so that the reindeer can’t see the path, and then when all that fails, she tries to go save the real Santa who is captured but then Oogie Boogie captures Sally.
Henry Selick, the animation director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, was born on November 30, 1952. He is a major stop motion producer and famous for his productions, James and the Giant Peach, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and his next upcoming production, Wendall and Wild. Stop motion is an animated film where puppets are moved slightly so they appear to be moving in the film. In one second of film, there are 24 frames, which means the animators have to move the puppets just a tiny bit so that they are one fluid motion in the film. 2 seconds of film takes producers about an entire workday to film. Imagine an entire day of hard work for 2 seconds of film! In The Nightmare Before Christmas, there are a lot of singing and dancing parts as I said before. That means that they would have to move the puppets’ mouth and body parts to get it to look real. In my opinion and I think for most other people, that would be very difficult because of how tiny a bit of detail they would have to move and the time it would take to produce a dancing puppet.
I think that The Nightmare Before Christmas was a pretty good movie. It was not my favorite movie but it was still pretty interesting to watch. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 95% which is fantastic. Along with Common Sense media giving it a 5/5! Wow! Looks like a lot of people really like it. IMDb gave it a 8/10 which isn’t as good of a review but still incredible!
Compared to his other movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas was his best film. According to Rotten Tomatoes, a trusted review for movies and films, gave Coraline a 90%. James and the Giant Peach got a 91%. The Nightmare Before Christmas got a 95%. I am excited to see his new film, Wendall and Wind, to see what Rotten Tomatoes gives that film.
Overall, I enjoyed this film and appreciate the time it took to make as well as the hard work Henry Selick and his other producers took to make this film. It was entertaining with all the singing and fun dances. I would give it a 8/10 because I am not that big a fan of musicals but I know that they people who are would definitely enjoy it. I would recommend this to anyone whose favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas and who like musicals.
It was a terrible day for the people of humankind. Well, for some more than others. The new religious and military leader of the Malsh religion was celebrating that she had gotten her position. It hadn’t been a promotion or some other common way in which you could become the most powerful person in the world. No. She had beaten the previous ruler’s guards, snuck past the defensive systems, and killed the Malsh ruler in his sleep. She felt no pain for what she had done, as this was the only way to become the ruler. In celebration, she had made a bold move, trying to capture some of the last remnants of free humankind. Diana had sent the entire Malsh Air Force on a raid that was vastly scary for the people, but unsuccessful, because the Canadak government had gotten word of attack from a spy and set their defenses to an almost perfect condition. Still, near the border, a hospital that was crowded with people was hit. Nobody survived the attack, or the aftermath of the radiation from the toxic sludge… except for one little baby boy. This happened because the place where children were born in a hospital was filled and a mother was giving birth there in an aisle, close to the exit. As this was happening, barrels with the radiation rained down upon the hospital. There were explosives in them so that the people on the top floors died instantly. The floors below however got a strong wave of radiation, that was almost as instantaneous at killing as the explosion. The bottom floor had people in it, a few who didn’t die immediately; however almost everyone got a strong dose of radiation. A nurse used her last few seconds of life to wrap the baby and then put it in the one radiation suit that she could find. The baby was left outside of the hospital next to the nurse’s dead body in a soft patch of grass. The authorities found the baby and gave him to the adoption center. Since they had no way of identifying him, they took the baby to the police station and got it a social security number. When they were asked what the baby’s name was, one of the orphanage workers simply said… “Johnny.”
Chapter 1
The teacher just wouldn’t stop talking. Johnny couldn’t take it. He had made a mess of the supplies in the classroom, but that was only because his coordination, along with other mental capacities, was handicapped. This was all because of that stupid Malsh person, Diana. If she hadn’t had radiation dropped on that hospital where he was born, he wouldn’t have felt so stupid or alone. He had no parents, and no friends either. People tended not to like those who survived some of the worst things possible. Well, the bell would ring soon and he would be able to make his way home. He started focusing on what the teacher was saying. Something like, “you need to be more careful in the classroom, blah blah blah!” Johnny didn’t really care.
As Johnny got his wheelchair to the ramp at the front doors of the school, some rowdy boys passed him. One boy, a tall handsome kid with brown eyes and a slight tan, knocked into Johnny and he fell over. The boy kept walking without saying sorry. This scared Johnny badly because the boy didn’t stop to help him up. Johnny’s vision clouded with rage, and before Johnny knew it, the boy had slipped, but there was nothing to slip on. This caused a moment of confusion as his friends kept walking until they heard him scream.
“God F@ck*ng D#mm&t. OOOOWWWW!”
Blood sprayed out from the boy’s face, but Johnny didn’t really care. “Instant Karma! Oh yeah!” thought Johnny. He was glad it was not his blood spraying. He righted his wheelchair as he stood up, and left the school. He was still angry, but little did he know that the boy was chasing him. As Johnny crossed the street, the boy caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder. “How did you trip me you little brat?”
But before Johnny could answer, HONNNNNNK. HONNNNNNNK. There was a flash as they were almost hit by a small truck taking a turn onto a small street too fast. Both boys moved as fast as they could, Johnny ditching his wheelchair. It seemed that in one bound he had jumped all the way to the other side of the road. The driver got out of the truck swearing loudly about how he would never get hired with this on his resume. But as the driver walked up to the boys, they stood up. The driver asked the kids if they were ok. They were, so he drove away. The boy looked at Johnny and said, “You know what. I don’t care that you tripped me, I’m outta here.”
Chapter 2
That night, Johnny had another bad dream. He always did, after days like this. Some people may have thought of it as beautiful, or abstract, but Johnny hated it. It was like he wasn’t on a paint palette, but in one, so that he was surrounded by color, not just seeing it from one angle. He felt trapped and Johnny hated being trapped. It may seem like someone in a wheelchair would have gotten used to the feeling, but instead, it reminded him of the stories of how he had been in the hospital. The colors were dominated by a neon green, one that resembled toxic sludge, but with explosions of color here and there, like the explosion that would have killed him, except it hadn’t. They had only killed the top floors of that hospital, but it was enough to bring down the building on any trapped survivors that were left.
He awoke sweating and breathing heavily, his bunkmate shaking him awake. His screams had woken all the other orphans in the room. He was told to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t, and stayed awake all night until morning, where he dozed for the few minutes before the wake up call. And then, another painful day of school.
Chapter 3
As Johnny was walking to school, the boy from yesterday appeared next to him. He had been running hard to try and catch up, from the sound of his breath. “Hey, I’m Steven,” he wheezed. “Sorry about yesterday, it was really just an accident.”
Johnny didn’t want to seem shy in front of Steven, although he had no idea why. “My name is Johnny,” he said, looking up from his wheelchair to see Steven. “It’s ok. I just got a little spooked, that’s all. Is your face ok?”
“A lot better than I thought it would be, at least. Turns out it was just a bloody nose. I think I’m gonna take it easy for a while though. Just in case it was more than that.”
As they turned the corner to go to school, they passed an alley, and a man jumped out wielding a handgun. He pulled the trigger twice and then ran away. It was hard to give a description, but he had the Malsh crest on the back of his clothing. The bullet missed Johnny, but hit Steven right in the stomach. He dropped to the ground, a scream of tortured agony released from his throat. Johnny wasn’t fast, and it seemed that no one had noticed what had happened. The only thing Johnny could do was put Steven in his wheelchair and push him. This would be hard as Steven had passed out from the pain. Johnny could walk, but he couldn’t do it well. His legs wobbled and he had terrible balance. Picking up Steven and putting him in his wheelchair would be a challenge. He did it, but he was worried about how much time it was taking. There was blood, but not as much as he expected. In fact, as he looked at the wound closely, it seemed to get increasingly smaller. As Johnny pushed the chair, Steven woke up.
“What’s going on?” he said. Then he looked down and saw his shirt stained with blood. He screamed, but it wasn’t the scream of pain. It was one of confused fear. Johnny arrived at the school, and he pushed through the front door and straight to the closest classroom to the front. That was a preschool class. Oh well, bad stuff happens right? The kids all ran and hid as the teacher called an ambulance. Once the ambulance left with Steven however, there was nothing Johnny could do but go back to class. His tardiness was excused and he sat down for another day of school.
Chapter 4
Johnny was back at the orphanage. All the kids there had asked him about what had happened, but he had just ignored them and pretended to go to sleep. But tonight just so happened to be his very favorite dinner being served in the dining hall, and he couldn’t resist once the smells reached his bunk. As he walked into the hall, the old television was on. This was rare, as orphanage workers knew that parents were less likely to adopt a child if they were addicted to watching the television. The news was on, and the reporter was just bringing breaking news.
“A boy, age 13, name withheld, was shot at a local school. Doctors say from the amount of blood that it must have been at least a 52 mm. bullet, although they don’t know for certain as there is no bullet hole. Doctors are doing blood tests right now to see if it’s even real blood, or if this is just a huge prank.” When Johnny heard this, he grew angry. There was no way this was a prank, how could they think that? “The person that did this is not identified, although from the boy’s eyewitness report, he said it was a terrorist of the Malsh kingdom.”
Chapter 5
The next day, Johnny wheeled into the lunchroom at school, and Steven came up and sat beside him looking angry. He got a few thoughts out of his mouth that went like How did I heal so fast? How am I still alive? Johnny had no answer to these questions, but Steven seemed to be so deep in his rage for the Malsh kingdom that he didn’t seem like he’d hear any answer given, anyway. Johnny didn’t think he had super powers, but after the last two days, he almost found himself contemplating whether or not he did. After school, Steven said to him, “I wanna get payback on those Malsh idiots.”
“It sounds crazy, but I kinda agree with you. If we’re going to do it, we need to plan though. We’d also need resources.”
“Johnny, I have a suspicion, and if I’m right, then we could just walk right on out of town towards the Malsh and beat them without a thought.”
Johnny thought this was crazy talk, but Steven had gotten his attention and he now felt a strange need for revenge on that dumb Diana who had ordered the air strike that had killed his parents. “Well then, we should get some food and leave tomorrow. Try and think of a cover story for why you’re going to be away for so long. The Malsh kingdom is a long way away.”
Chapter 6
That night, Johnny went straight to bed. He didn’t try to make up an excuse for the coming future. The orphanage workers didn’t really care if he was back for dinner or not. In fact, they didn’t really care what he did at all, so the next morning, he wheeled into the kitchen with a sack and a backpack and began filling them up with canned food and bottles of water. Before he forgot, he also raided the maintenance closet of its toothpaste and toilet paper. He then left the orphanage, but instead of doing what he usually did, he went the opposite direction of the school. As Johnny wheeled along, he saw the whitewashed houses with the baskets of flowers hanging from the windows. Some families, the ones who could afford it at least, had front yards with trees and bushes that had many flowers. An open lot was being used by some younger kids to play some game that they had made up. He turned a corner and saw the wall that surrounded the city, protecting it from the most part from a ground assault planned by the Malsh. The wall loomed and was topped with barbed wire. He saw Steven at the city border which had been their predetermined rendezvous point. Steven seemed out of place, probably since he should have been in school.
Once Johnny caught up to Steven, he said, “ Are you ready?”
“Oh yeah, let’s get ‘em,” Steven said. And off they went. They would have to stop in some dangerous places along the way, until they got to the Canadak/Malsh border.
The land around them was barren and desolate, with sand dunes and bristly bushes. There was the occasional bird song, but it was usually just a dry caw. This was why people tended to stay in the big cities with protection. Otherwise, everyone would just get bombed off the face of the earth.
Chapter 7
Hours later, in the distance, Johnny could see a mound rising out of the dry ground. He asked Steven what he thought it was, but Steven couldn’t even see it. As they got closer, Johnny saw that it was the first city on their way to the border. Steven was just barely able to see it, but Johnny dismissed this as being tired and maybe not perfect eyesight. Steven had a strange expression on his face, but Johnny was too tired and bored to ask. Eventually, they approached the walls of the city and Johnny agreed that it wasn’t a mirage. They would have to be checked by guards, but then they would be able to enter.
The first thing they did once they got there was to find a bathroom. They both agreed that they really needed to go. When that was all finished, they put the first phase of their plan in motion. Since all the next cities on the way to the border were much farther spread out, Steven had brought some tools so they could hotwire a car.
They saw a car with a big trunk and good suspension drive out of a gas station. They followed it as it slowly went through the neighborhood, and when it came to a stop, they spotted the driver getting out and going up the steps to his house. Once he was out of sight, the two rushed over and began working on the car. Johnny was looking out, and Steven got out his tools. Soon, they were driving, with Johnny riding shotgun and Steven at the wheel. The car had plenty of gas, and would definitely take them to the next city.
Chapter 8
The car ride was long and hot. The road was barely even smooth enough to be considered that, and the air was really humid. At one point Steven fell asleep and almost drove them into a ditch, which would leave them stranded in the hot sun. After that, Steven tried to make lame jokes to keep him and Johnny awake and alert. “Why’d the Chicken cross the playground?” Steven said.
“Why?”
“To get to the other slide.” This continued but then turned into silence again as they drove. The car was red and had big tires with good suspension.
“So, how’s your life?” Johnny said, attempting at a conversation.
“Good. Nothing special. Say, I never thought about it, but don’t you live in that orphanage? Well, what happened?” Steven asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Tell me and we’ll just have to find out whether or not I believe you.”
“Do you know about the bombing of that hospital close to the border when you were young? You know, when the Malsh got a new leader? I was the only one to survive. I was born right then and there on that very day. My parents and the nurse who saved me died. The radiation got to my brain but the amount was so small that I got lucky and just had bad coordination and… I prefer a wheelchair anyway.”
“Ok. That does sound like a miracle. Nothing cool has ever happened in my life. The strangest thing that ever happened to me was when a bird flew in front of me when I was learning to ride a bike and I fell. Maybe when this is over, you could, like, live in my house. That is, if my parents and you were ok with it.”
Johnny didn’t know what to say. His only friend had just offered to have his family adopt him so they could be brothers. Johnny thought about the awesomeness of his best friend being his brother.
Just then, they rounded a corner and saw the next city, Mila, on their way to the border and the Malsh kingdom. They drove into a small line of cars that were going through security. This wasn’t good. Usually, they didn’t do car checks, and they hadn’t thought about a supply convoy arriving today. This would be a problem because they didn’t have any papers or even a driver’s license to get them into the city. They would need to do something fast and smart to not raise suspicion.
Chapter 9
Quickly, Johnny said, “Back out, back out!”
“I’d love to, but someone just pulled in behind us.”
“What should we do? We’ll be arrested for theft and then will have to go back home.”
“I have an idea. What if we drive out of the line, angle ourselves straight at security, and then put a brick on the gas and run into the city while security is distracted,” Steven said.
“Nothing to lose, I guess.” Johnny reached in the back and found a big metal toolbox. “Just imagine it is red and brick shaped.”
Steven swerved out of the line and started to drive straight at security and stopped. He pulled his hood low over his face and Johnny did the same. They opened the door, threw out the supplies they could carry, and put the box on the gas.
No one even noticed what was happening until the truck practically hit an officer, who dived out of the way at the last second. All the Milanian guards chased the empty truck and the boys snuck into Mila.
They would have to get food and then get out of the city before people noticed that two homeless boys had just appeared in the city the same day that a truck without a driver almost killed someone. Their first idea was to go to a restaurant to get something to eat. Since they’d have to steal it out of the kitchen, they needed a distraction. Johnny went to the front door and begged for food. After being denied by sous chefs and busboys, he demanded to see the chef at the top chain of command. The chef was a huge man with a thin mustache and big hands. Johnny looked the chef in the eye, gave him his best poor cripple face and said, “I want food. I’m starving. Gimme food.”
“I’m sorry son but we just can’t give away free food.”
“Fine, I’ll go starve all by my lonesome. When the police find my dead and decayed body, I’ll have a note written and signed that you were the last restaurant in town, and just like all the others, they decided to let me starve.”
The chef was getting nervous, but he really couldn’t do anything. Most people made food for themselves these days, and it was hard to get out of the restaurant business. “I really would, but I just can’t. I don’t want to be starving too.”
Johnny could see that he had him and his reputation on the ropes, so he kept up the guilt tripping.
By then Steven had waltzed in and took whatever he could carry. He made the signal to Johnny when he left and Johnny made an excuse to leave.
They met up at a predetermined street corner a couple blocks away.
They ate to their heart’s content: chips and fruits, cakes and cookies and a few types of bread. These was the best bread they’d had in their life, and only once they were very full did they pack away the surplus for later. As they ate, they began to talk.
“So, what type of car should we get?” Johnny asked. “Personally, I could do a big monster truck type. What about you?
“I want something that’s fast and just big enough to hold our stuff.”
“Yeah, a nice sports car would be cool.”
“I think I saw one of those big parking lots when we ran from the restaurant.”
“Me too. Plenty of people leave their cars unlocked. This’ll be easy.”
Chapter 10
It wasn’t easy at all. There were always several people in the lot and they had to act casual or else they might seem suspicious. That was one problem. The next was that none of the cars were unlocked. They were running out of cars and only a few were left. When they got to the last one, Steven tried the handle. “Damn.”
Not believing their bad fortune, Johnny pulled the handle. The door opened without a sound. Steven looked at the door and then at Johnny. He was very confused. “Chop chop, let’s get a move on.”
“Alright, I’ll start the car, you keep watch.”
“Not like there’s any other way,” Johnny said.
Since this was an older car, Steven could hot-wire it with ease. All he had to do was connect the battery wire to the ignition wire, and then put the gas wire on both of them. He then wrapped it in electrical tape and revved the engine. It worked.
They drove to their stash of food and supplies, loaded up the car, and off they went.
Chapter 11
As they drove to the border, trees began to appear on the side of the road. In what felt like an instant, they were surrounded by forest. Whoa, Johnny thought. All his life, he’d been living in the desert of Canadak, and all of a sudden, beautiful trees and birds. As they drove, they even saw a deer, who was more curious than afraid of the loud car. All this forest looked good, but the car was barely putting up with it. It was an older model, and it bounced with the road, shocks jangling. Johnny opened up the glove compartment and took a look around. There was nothing there but one manila file. On it, the Malsh crest.
“Steven, quick, stop the car, you need to look at this.” Steven quickly pulled over.
In the file, details about air bases and the Canadak army. There were locations and names, some that nobody knew about or had been out of use for decades. The Trak airfield had been an old missile base. The Handrum seemed to be a secret place for airplanes and submarines. Some of the names, like Frank Jopplin and Cassy Spere, were supposed to be dead war heroes, yet there were pictures with time stamps from only about a week ago.
“Now I can’t even imagine what our government isn’t telling us.”
“I don’t really care right now. We stole a spy car!” Steven said.
“What if there’s a tracker or something? What if it’s got super cool gadgets?”
“That would be amazing. We should take a good look and see what it can do.” From what they could tell, there was nothing else special about this car.
Steven now drove with a smile, not a bored expression. “This is so cool, hey I wonder what this does, hey, I wonder what that does?” It turned out that it was usually just the A/C of the radio. One button did actually prove to be spy-like. It turns out that the car had some advanced hydraulics and shocks, but they had been off for most of the ride. Now, the drive was smooth and easy.
All of a sudden, the road was covered in reverse-direction spikes, and past those, a huge stone wall. “We’re here,” Johnny said.
Chapter 12
They drove alongside the spikes for hours. The day was hot but the trees did a good job keeping out some of the light. Finally, they came within sight of what looked to be a weak spot in the wall. They got out of the car and began to look for a way either, through, over, or under the giant wall. Johnny found some protruding rocks that got him half way up the wall. He was close, but he wouldn’t be able to get over, much less get back. Meanwhile, Steven looked for a low spot in the ground so he could dig under. He brushed aside some vines to see if there was a low amount of dirt, but what he found was amazing and outright intriguing . A hole went straight through the wall, and it was big enough for someone on their hands and knees to climb through. Steven yelled for Johnny to come over to him quickly. Johnny took a look and then folded his wheelchair and began to push it through. He would push it, then crawl right up behind it, and repeat. They crawled into a room that was big enough for several grown men if they were squeezed together. The Malsh crest covered a whole wall. Steven looked at Johnny. “This is how their spies get into Canadak. We have to report this location when we get back. At least, if we don’t stop the Malsh ourselves.”
“Hold on. I thought we were just doing this to kill Diana. Taking the whole kingdom is going to be a way different issue.”
“All we have to do is stop Diana. If she’s killed by us, then we become the leaders of the Malsh. We could have them march into the sea if we wanted.”
“But some of them used to be Canadakian not long ago. They don’t want to be there. They’ve been brainwashed. We can’t be responsible for all those murders of our own for these people.”
Steven thought about this for a second. “Fine, we won’t have all of them killed. Only the ones with power. They’re just as bad as Diana. For the rest, we can just make them not attack and we could disband the whole kingdom. In fact, we could start a civil war for them to fight out with themselves and then, when they’re weak, the Canadak army could swoop in and end it all.”
“Yeah, that’s gonna happen,” said Johnny.
Steven then said, “I’ll get the stuff from the car. You can bring it from here to the other side,” and he left.
Once everything was moved to the other side, they contemplated how they were going to bring it anywhere. In the end, Steven went to the car to get its wheels, and Johnny started making a square platform big enough for the food and clothes.
Chapter 13
Once the push car was finished, Johnny took a look at it. It wasn’t what he expected it to be. He had thought it would be a rectangular shape, but it was actually more triangular, and the wheels were attached insecurely. It would have to make do though, because they had no other way to carry the supplies. It had a handle in the front, and one in the back, and they were just going to have to push and pull it all the way to their destination, unless they could get their hands on a car. They piled up the supplies and then began to go. There was a well-used trail leading from the hole, so they just followed it and hoped it got them somewhere soon. It was a hot day and the bugs were attacking with joy, looking to get a free meal out of their flesh. Soon, they came in front of a huge warehouse with a parking lot that had one or two cars in it. A whole wall on the outside of the warehouse was covered in one huge Malsh Crest.
“You start working on a car, I’m gonna check out this warehouse. See if there’s anything we want inside,” said Johnny.
“Alright, I’ll get to work. Just help me wheel the stuff over to that car over there.”
Once the supplies were next to the car and ready to be loaded up, Steven grabbed his hotwiring tools and Johnny wheeled over to the warehouse. He left the wheelchair outside and went in. It was cold, but light filtered through the high dusty windows. Johnny saw more cars, these ones more suited to off road terrain. There was a table and a minifridge, and Johnny decided to take a seat. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then he saw it. A mug with steam coming off the top of it. He jumped up and from the chair and scrambled to the entrance of the warehouse. Just as he got there, he heard a flush from what must have been a bathroom. He went over to Steven and quickly whispered,
“Someone was in the warehouse and I barely got out without them noticing me. I want to get out of here before they decide to go for a stroll and see two kids from Canadak.”
“Ok, ok. Calm down – I just started loading the car.”
“Great. Here, I’ll start helping.”
Together, they loaded the stuff into the trunk, hopped in and took off, and then Steven swerved off onto a one lane road that would lead to the main Malsh kingdom. A man walked out of the warehouse, and saw the platform lying in the middle of the parking lot. He seemed confused, but he was also half asleep and just left it there, thinking it was just a weird abnormality.
Chapter 14
The road was smooth and straight. This led the boys to get bored very quickly. They both stared straight ahead as the jungle unfolded in front of them. When they got to the city, they drove around to the back part which was less populated. Since it was the capital of the Malsh, they had expected protection, but the wall in front of them was huge. It was solid concrete, with barbed wire on top. What were they going to do?
“Johnny, don’t you think this whole mission has been pretty easy. I mean, everything’s gone without a hitch.”
“You’re right. I wonder why that’s happened. I also wish we were able to get through this wall.’
Then, without sound, a hole in the wall crumpled into existence. It was a solid wall one second, and a hole big enough for them to stand up and walk through the next.
“How’d you do that?” Steven asked with amazement.
“I didn’t do anything,” said Johnny. “I just said I wish we could get through this wall.”
“You must have superpowers or something.”
“There’s no way. I can barely even walk without falling.”
“It’s like Charles Xavier from the X-Men. He can’t walk, but he has superpowers.”
“But how could I have gotten them?” Johnny paused. “When I was born–” Steven cut him off.
“The toxic radiation gave you powers. This is incredible. I had suspected something, but literally nothing can stop you from your goals. Your powers make sure of it.”
They were both staring at each other in disbelief.
“Remember when I accidentally pushed you over and then I fell for no reason? I bet that was your subconscious mind that made me slip. And when we almost got hit by the truck! Did you feel weird that night, because I did.”
“Yeah, my dream was kinda creepy and weird.”
“I bet the near-death incident gave me one of your powers. That’s why when we were attacked, I healed fast, but your powers just made the bullet miss you entirely. You didn’t have to feel the pain of being shot,” said Steven with a fake pouty face.
“It’s probably also how we got that car that was the very last one in the parking lot. Or how we stole from that kitchen so easy. If I’d known about my powers, we could have just snapped our fingers and been here in seconds.”
“I got an idea. What if we did an experiment. Think about a Lamborghini really hard. Close your eyes and just think. Imagine it right in front of you.”
“How do you know I should be doing those things?”
“TV.” This was the simple response from Steven.
“Ok then. Here I go.” Johnny sat and waited and focused, but after about ten minutes, nothing happened. “Oh well. It’s not like superpowers actually exist.”
But Steven had another idea. “Think fast,” he yelled, and then threw a rock. Almost right before it hit Johnny, it exploded, and the pieces went every direction but at Johnny. Johnny turned around, confused at the sound, but then saw Steven’s awe.
“You do have powers. You can’t be hurt or be stopped by obstacles.”
“Wow. I had no idea for my entire life.”
“Let’s rest up for tomorrow. It’s going to be a big day.”
Chapter Fifteen
They slept more peacefully then they had since the beginning of this journey – before bed, the two had done some tests. Johnny had stepped off a tree limb, and was somehow suspended in air, and his last trick before being utterly exhausted, was to throw himself into mid-air. Before bed: walking into the campfire (which split before him like the Sea of Reeds did for Moses), having Steven pour hot soup all over his back (which bounced off of him, as if he were a duck), jumping off a ledge (the ground turning soft as a pillow yet bouncy as a trampoline beneath him).
“Hey there, sleeping beauty.”
“Great, now what?” Johnny said through a muffled voice.
“I’ve been up for ages. Look what your magic brought us today,” he said as he held up a box and a bottle. The contents were donuts, candy bars, and fizzy apple cider.
“Hey, don’t drink all the cider Stevie,” Johnny said, mouth full of donut.
“Presto there’s another in the box.”
“Wow, hand it over. So… I had a dream about something – I think I’ve figured something out.”
“What’d you figure out?”
“What we do with a kingdom. We could break down the wall, integrate them into our society, and be one big happy nation.”
“You could be a king but you’d do that instead? You’re out of your gourd.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Whatever, but I call that chocolate donut.”
After eating so much they felt like they were going to pop, they rolled up their bags and began walking through the hole that had appeared in the wall the previous day. When they crossed into the city, they immediately had to duck for cover.
“Alright, what’s the plan?” Steve asked.
“We need to get to the palace, find Diana, and then…”
“What?”
“Well, who’s going to kill her?”
Steven had to stop for a moment and think about this. “We’ll do it together. Like brothers.”
“Yep, you’re right. Like murdering brothers trying to assassinate a queen to become kings.”
Chapter 16
They began to disguise themselves, because the Malsh don’t wear ordinary clothing. They found some old sheets and turned them into tunics, which they put on over their clothes. They then found some rope and used it as a belt, and finally drew the Malsh crest on their backs with some dark mud. It looked real enough so they stepped out of the alleyways and shadows they’d been hiding in and made their way to the castle in the center of the city. When they got to the outside, they told the guard a lie that a frisbee had blown over the castle wall. The guard let them in. Once they passed the outer wall, they were able to slip into the building through a low window into an empty guest bedroom. For the time being, they were doing fine. Not many rooms in the castle were used. Just Diana’s bedroom, the dining room, and the garage. All the other rooms were just confusions to slow down an unwanted intruder. They began looking through every room, looking for her bedroom. If she was there, Steven had gotten them knives from the kitchen. If she wasn’t there, they would wait to ambush her as soon as she walked through the door. Finally, on the fourth floor, they found a locked room. Johnny closed his eyes and concentrated. They heard a click and the door opened. Inside was a massive bedroom. No one was in it though. Just as they stepped inside, they heard a pinging of the elevator. “Quick, hide behind the doors. We’ll cover her mouth and then kill her together,” said Steven.
“Ok, but first I think we should give her a chance to surrender. Y’know, kind of like a trial.”
“Fine, we’ll give her a ‘fair’ trial and then execute her,” said Steven sarcastically.
“Whatever.”
As they were talking, they had quietly shut and locked the door, and Steven had pulled some rope out of his pack. He was going to tie Diana down and the gag her until they were sure they were safe. The door opened and they held their breath. Diana walked in right past the door they were hiding behind, and with her back turned to them, Steven wrapped part of the rope around her throat to secure a good hold. He and Johnny began wrapping the rest of the rope around her until she was practically immobile, and they loosened the rope around her neck. As soon as they did this, Johnny shoved a wad of cloth into her mouth so she couldn’t scream for help. Her eyes were wide with surprise and worry, but when she realized it was just two young boys, she calmed down a bit. They closed the door and ungagged her.
“What are you doing, what do you want with me.”
“We want to give you a fair trial before your execution, which will probably happen no matter what the imaginary jury’s verdict is,” said Steven with the same sarcasm from earlier. “The court is now in session.”
“How many crimes have you committed?”
“I have no idea, but on my side of the border, I’ve done nothing illegal. Now, on your side, I’d say close to infinite.”
“Well, that gives you two options. Surrender the throne to me and my friend or die and the throne is ours either way.”
“I would never just give my throne to one of you little Canadak punks. You’ll have to kill me, but you don’t have the guts.”
“I don’t think she knows how far we’ve come. We’re not stopping at anything. Go open that window over there.”
“Wait, you want to throw her to death? What if it doesn’t work.”
“You’re right. Put your hand on mine,” Johnny said as he pulled out his knife from the kitchen. “Lets just end it.” Together, they stood behind Diana, and then yanked the knife across the front of her neck. She slumped to the ground, and as the life drained out of her eyes, Johnny and Steven became the new rulers of the Malsh empire.
Master Fire gave many injunctions to the Candles, which they had no choice but to obey, for He could burn them as much as He wanted. After each Candle, man or woman, had two children, they were sent off to die for humans, a horrible group of animals that took the Candles for granted and never showed them any gratitude. When Master Fire amped up His flames for a grown Candle, he or she could produce a child by dripping the hot wax melting off of them, into a mold. Then, new wax was applied to the adult. This special wax could not create life: it could only latch onto a living thing and become part of it. So, every time it was a Candle’s birthday, a specified amount of new wax was added on them. Children Candles were formed from molds. The child’s name was to start with a C, and their last name had to be Candle. The second time the birth process happened, the Candle was packed into a box and shipped off to humans, and now it was Clara’s turn to go. Every Candle had to have two children by the time their ages were up. The Candles were made to die. Master Fire said so. He took his job very seriously.
∂∂∂
Corduroy Candle hated being part of the Candles. He didn’t think he should die for strange animals. He also hated his name. Corduroy. He once asked his mom, Clara Candle, to nickname him Roy. She said yes, but Master Fire caught her calling him that and told her nicknames had to start with a C too. Corduroy was glad that he wasn’t the second child, or he wouldn’t get to spend any time with his mom. He felt bad for his mom and future sibling. It was a near future sibling, though. Clara’s time was almost up.
Corduroy was bored. He had already pulled out enough weeds to make himself a flimsy tutu, but that wasn’t fun. Corduroy had made a mud-cake for Clara, but she didn’t appreciate it. Both the weeds and the mud were from Master Fire’s prized plant. Suddenly Clara tapped Corduroy. “Corduroy,” she said, “Why don’t you get some giant clothes on the racks and make yourself a small shirt? You could customize it.” So Corduroy did.
He had picked out a red silk scarf, and cut out part of it. Corduroy was coloring the rockstar’s hair with the rainbow pen when Master Fire picked him up. “What is the meaning of this?” Master Fire growled. He held up the pot plant, its roots ripped out and missing soil. “I saw your mud-cake and your tutu. This was you,” Master Fire said.
“It’s all good, Master Fire. You can just plant another one.” Corduroy said.
“You don’t understand! This, this is priceless!” Master Fire shoved the pot plant toward Corduroy. There were peeling letters on it, but Corduroy could just make out To r de r e c. Lo , id a a .
Corduroy shrugged and turned away. “I can kill you!” Master Fire bellowed.
“Okay,” Corduroy said. He knew that he really didn’t do too much wrong, so Master Fire couldn’t give him an unfair punishment. Master Fire, muttering under His breath, stormed away.
Corduroy’s favorite thing to do was watch the moon shine. Every night, he lay in bed and looked up at the glass ceiling. The argent moon was almost always there, as if it was waiting for Corduroy.
∂∂∂
Corduroy sat in the other room, watching Master Fire and his mom at the same time through the clear glass walls. It looked sweltering in there, as Master Fire had His flames at the highest. Hot wax dripped off of Clara, falling into a small mold. It was oddly satisfying. As soon as Master Fire extinguished himself, Corduroy sprinted to his mom. “It’s a girl,” Clara whispered.
Master Fire’s voice echoed through the room. “Name her!” Clara lovingly looked at the cooling wax in the mold as servants carefully molded more wax on her.
“Candice. Call her Candy.”
Master Fire briskly stood up, and He said, “Fine. Now leave! You are to be packed off tomorrow, to New York City.” He turned and left the room. Clara ducked her head, and Corduroy thought she looked terribly miserable and forlorn.
“Mom, I’ll miss you,” Corduroy said quietly.
Clara looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. “Thank you, Corduroy. I will too.”
Baby Candice was crying, as if she knew, upon her first breath, that her mom was departing.
∂∂∂
The next morning, Master Fire wrapped Clara in styrofoam.
“Corduroy, take care of Candy for me,” Clara called, just as styrofoam was wrapped around her mouth.
“Yes, Mom!” Corduroy cried. The cardboard box was taped shut, and Master Fire carried it away. Corduroy burned inside. It was unfair. Why did they have to sacrifice themselves, with nothing in return?
That night, Corduroy lay in bed thinking about life while he watched his sister sleep. The Candles had existed for a long time, just waiting for humans to discover them. Master Fire had probably existed longer. He was Fire, with a capital F. He had said that, wherever fire was, he was. Only a small part of Him was in this den with the Candles. The Candles had pale, milky colored skin and a single, erect hair on the top of their head that humans lit on fire. They didn’t walk. They glided, leaving sticky, chunky substances in their wake.
Corduroy decided the worst thing about being a Candle was the deaths. They had to die for humans if they were good, but Master Fire was not easily satisfied. If a Candle grew up, and if they had a problem like rubbing too much wax off when gliding, or they were a little lopsided, or their strand of hair wasn’t straight, then Master Fire immediately disposed of them. The Candles lived in their den, with the surprising name “Candles”, in the Kingdom of Items. The den was pretty big, with wide hallways and tall ceilings. It was lit by the outside world as the ceiling was glass. Candles could do nothing at night, for they couldn’t light themselves.
Tools hung out together and Masters hung out together. All the Tools lived on the planet of Tatooine. Tatooine was 300,000 kilometers away from Earth. But, somehow the Candles always arrived on Earth in a matter of seconds. But every time Corduroy looked out and over the edge of the planet, he could see green grass, fields, flowers… . The Masters said that that was part of a different realm on Tatooine and nobody was allowed to go there. It was patrolled during the day, and during the night the Masters locked the Tools into their dens. And the question Corduroy always asked himself: Why?
∂∂∂
It was a year later, and Candy had just learned to glide. Master Fire frowned at Candy. “This…this is a strange case.” Corduroy had noticed it too. Candy was weirdly crumbly, and at any vigorous move she fell apart. Master Fire sighed. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried adding new, good, wax to her, but when it latches on to her, it becomes crumbly too. I’ve never seen this before. I… I… I will have to melt her.”
“No!” Corduroy cried. “Please!”
Master Fire looked at Corduroy with pity. “Corduroy. She won’t be any use to humans. I can’t raise a useless thing. She’ll be melted first thing in the morning.” He strode out of the room, and Corduroy broke down. He hugged his little sister, and she stared up at him, surprised.
Corduroy grimly stood up. “Candy. The Candles are running away.”
Corduroy spent the rest of the day telling every single Candle his plan. The Candles met in the hallway a little after midnight, when there was enough light but it was still dark. “Guys,” Corduroy whispered in front of the door of the den. “I’m going to go find the key for this door, since Master Fire hides it every night. Wait by here. Someone hold Candy and my backpack, please.” He passed his sister’s hand and his bag to a Candle.
Corduroy stole quietly to Master Fire’s sleeping quarters where the bully was sleeping peacefully. Master Fire’s bedroom was big, with wooden drawers and a closet of clothes. His bed was sitting in the far corner, and Corduroy made sure to stay away.
Corduroy started tugging open drawers and looking on shelves. He looked around at the huge room despairingly. I will never be able to find the key. Corduroy mentally kicked himself. Don’t give up so easily, dude! So Corduroy kept searching. Then he saw that on the tallest shelf, around half a foot above Master Fire, was a white folder. Corduroy was sure that the key was in there. He was taller than half a foot, so if he stood on Master Fire… carefully Corduroy glided on top of Master Fire’s chest. Reaching up, Corduroy grabbed the folder. A rusty black object slipped out and bounced on Master Fire’s stomach. Doiiing! Corduroy winced then tensed, waiting for Master Fire to wake up, but He didn’t. Slowly, Corduroy picked up the key and slipped out of the bedroom.
“I got it!” Corduroy whisper-yelled. Grinning, he jammed the key into the lock. The metal door swung open and Corduroy, taking his backpack and little sister’s hand, waved everybody out into the cool night air. The Candles hurried to the spaceships. The spaceships were huge, so all the Candles fit into one. “Who is experienced with piloting?” As soon as Corduroy asked, he knew it was a silly question. All the Candles had been cooped up on Tatooine their whole lives.
The Candles blinked at him, and Corduroy, realizing that his status as the first born of a first born of a first born of a first born of the first candle on Tatooine had placed him in this position of authority, said, “All right. I’ll pilot. You guys can sit on a random bench somewhere,” and he gave Candy to a woman Candle. Corduroy suddenly realized that everything was very tall, for the spaceships were normally driven by Masters. “Guys, can you help me?” Corduroy called. After a long time of Candles boosting each other onto the control panel and pulling each other up, they finally got Corduroy and four other Candles seated at the controls. Corduroy powered up the spaceship and held the wheel. Then Earth was in sight, but to their left. The four Candles helped Corduroy yank the wheel and the spaceship spun in the direction of Earth. “We’re coming in for a rough landing!” Corduroy yelled, and they did. The spaceship crashed on the ground and flipped a couple times. The Candles tumbled around but their wax was hard enough so it didn’t break.
“Uh, Corduroy,” a Candle called shyly. Corduroy turned to her, and she held out Candy.
Candy was crumbling, dry bits of wax falling off her. She cried out, upset and in pain, and the Candle, Cadence, winced. “I’m sorry, Corduroy. I tried to hold on to her but I slammed into the – .” She stopped talking when she realized Corduroy was frowning, but not freaking out.
He fished into his backpack and pulled out a block of extra wax. “I prepared,” he said simply. Cadence held Candy still as Corduroy applied layers of wax on her. Finally, Candy was as good as new. “Let’s get off this aircraft, we’re free, everyone!” Corduroy yelled. The Candles cheered and rushed off the spaceship. It was already daytime. They had landed in a grassy field, with flowers everywhere. The Candles frolicked and played in the sun, which was not too hot, but just the right temperature. Suddenly, Candy jerked to a stop and stared, open-mouthed, at her arm.
A pretty rainbow butterfly had settled onto it. Candy remained like a waxen statue until the butterfly flew away, and then she went to play. Corduroy chuckled. But by the time Corduroy called them to him, they were not made of wax anymore, but a mixture of wax-grass-dirt-and-flower petals. “Now,” Corduroy said. “I’m all out of ideas. Who knows what we should do next?”
A tiny, filthy Candle came up, wobbling.
“Wataw,” the figure said.
“Sorry?” Corduroy asked.
“Wataw.”
“Step up here, please, and say it close.”
“Wataw.”
“Just a little more clear.”
“Wataw.”
“Okay, um, what is your name?”
“Wataw.”
“I… I don’t know you, if that’s your name at all.”
The other Candles were watching this interaction with interest. Finally, Cadence stepped up and told Corduroy, “I think this little Candle here means to say water. Her name is Candy, I think.” Cadence tried to stifle a smile. Corduroy, open-mouthed, stared at his little sister, who had just said a whole word. He did not know how she had learned to say this. He attempted to evade the attention.
“Water is a great idea, Candy! We can take a bath now, after this muddy mess!” They moved on, Corduroy still blushing at his misunderstanding.
They walked until they could see and hear civilization. They tried to peek through the tall grass. It was a village. “Anyways, we’re going to town,” Corduroy said. The Candles started gliding, slowly. Timidly they passed the tall grass, onto the cobbled streets of the town. A little girl and boy skipped by; there was girl on a jump rope and a boy with an ice cream cone. There was something familiar about the children’s faces that Corduroy couldn’t quite place… . The boy glanced at the Candles and then did a double take, but the girl, oblivious, skipped on, singing her nursery rhyme. The boy, gaping, grabbed the girl’s arm and pointed at the Candles.
The girl shrieked and yelled, “Aaaaaaah! Walking candles!” Townsfolk ran over from every direction.
Somebody said, “Take ‘em fer investigation.” The Candles were picked up roughly, and while they wriggled and fought, were carried to a white-washed building.
A human hammered on the wooden door, and it was flung open almost immediately. A tall man with brown hair with gray streaks split down the middle of his head stood in the doorway, grinning broadly. His smile faltered when he saw the Candles. “Make yourself useful, and take them creatures to her,” a human said. The man couldn’t carry all of them, so he let them glide behind him. The house was huge, even for humans.
The man opened a door, stepping inside, and a woman with blond hair and green and blue eyes stepped up, in a white lab coat. “Hello,” she said brightly. “I might need your wax for examination.” She spoke as if the Candles had been in the house for a long time, and that she didn’t need to waste time on acknowledgements.
A Candle spoke. “Who are you?”
The woman looked surprised, then she smiled and said, “I’m Heidi Davis. That over there is my husband, Jack. I’m a scientist and he’s a writer.” Jack gave a small nod. “Moving on,” Heidi said. “I might need your wax. I’m assuming I don’t just chop it off you.”
“No, you don’t! You have to light a fire and melt it off us. But then, that would form a new Candle, however not-Candle-shaped, and you would have to melt that one,” Corduroy said.
“Right. So, what should I do?”
Corduroy grabbed Candy and said, “She’s crumbly. She’ll break easily.” Heidi whacked Candy on the table firmly. Candy snapped in half, the bottom half staying in Heidi’s hand, the other into the wall. Wax pieces of Candy fell, and Heidi picked them up smartly.
“Now how do you put her together?” she asked the Candles. Corduroy took out the wax and showed Heidi the procedure of putting wax on Candy. Candy wasn’t crying, as if she knew it wasn’t the right time. Heidi took the wax and said, “This will take pretty long just to get the wax out of this muck! You Candles are filthy, you guys should take a bath. By the way, what are your names?”
Corduroy stepped up first. “I’m Corduroy. That’s my little sister, Candice. Or Candy.” After that, Heidi filled the bathtub and they all plopped inside, and Corduroy finally got to relax in the bubbles.
∂∂∂
Corduroy looked at the Davises mirror. He looked super clean, rid of the dirt. Suddenly Heidi came in. “It’s weird,” she said. “Your DNA is the same as the Candles that don’t talk. Okay dudes, spill.” The Candles told her the summary, and she seemed to think it was enough. “Well. Do you, the Candles, want to get going, or do you want to stay?” The Candles wanted to get going, but not before a good night’s sleep. Heidi agreed, and she showed them three rooms. “Which one of my kids’ beds do you want, Beverly, Kathleen, or Cedric’s? None of them are home. Beverly and Kathleen are on a sleepover, and Cedric – yeah, all of them aren’t home.” The Candles didn’t gasp when she showed them her three kids’ rooms, for she had told them that the human culture was different than theirs. The men Candles went to Cedric’s, the women to Beverly’s. As soon as Corduroy’s head hit the bed, he fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up, it was very late at night, and most of the men Candles were still sleeping. He glided out through the open door and down the hall and found Heidi’s lab. She was still working, a microscope pressed to her eye as she examined Candy’s wax. “Hi, Corduroy,” she said without looking up. “I’ve stayed up late trying to figure you Candles out, and I’m confused as to why you even have DNA.”
The clock chimed 12 o’clock. “It’s way too late!” Corduroy cried. “I’d better get back to bed!”
It was morning. Heidi and Jack were standing there at the front door, ready to wave the Candles off. It seemed that Jack was struggling with his emotions.
“Well,” Jack said. “Bye. Be good on the road.” Heidi nodded her agreement. Suddenly, Jack abruptly said, “You can stay with us. I don’t think Cedric is ever going to come back to his family, and there’s an extra bed in the attic.”
Corduroy was surprised at this act of kindness from Jack, but he said, “I think we’ll be okay.” Jack grunted and shrugged. The Candles stepped on the road, but Corduroy and Candy hung back. “Thank you so much, Heidi and Jack,” he said. “Really.”
Heidi smiled. “You’re welcome. And good luck.” With that Corduroy and Candy turned away from the house.
∂∂∂
“Corduroy!” someone called. He turned around and saw that a Candle was dripping. He looked down at himself, and realized that he too was softening.
“It’s the sun,” he said furiously, glaring at the cruel creature. “We’ve been gliding for a very long time now. Quick. We have to find some shade, before we melt.” The shadiest place they could find was under a big fruit tree. They huddled under it, some Candles blowing on themselves to cool down. Corduroy knew in this weather, the Candles could have a lot of kids, but could also die because they’d melt out. Eventually, most of the Candles fell asleep in the grass. Corduroy looked back the way they’d come towards Heidi and Jack’s, and decided that they were in a whole different town. The houses were smaller and shabbier, with peeling paint and broken windows on some. It was like a ghost town. Corduroy shivered, blocking out the thought. This grass really is very soft, Corduroy reflected. So I’m just gonna lie down for a s – ZZZZZZZZZ.
Corduroy woke to the sound of screaming. A Candle was yelling his lungs out. “I’ve melted onto the grass! Help!” Many Candles looked down at themselves and saw that they too were shorter, having melted onto the grass.
Soon the air was a chorus of “Aaaaaaah!”s, high and low. Corduroy had to help them! He tried to jump up, then realized he had no bottom half of his body, for it was stuck on the grass. Forming around his head was a puddle of melted wax: his own! Corduroy cried out in fear. The Candles struggled, but it was no use.
In a minute all that was left of the Candles were stubs. “Goodbye, Candy. Goodbye, Cadence. Goodbye, Chase,” Corduroy called out, his voice gurgling, trying to call every single Candle’s name.
Suddenly, a familiar voice boomed, “Don’t talk like that.” Corduroy was picked up and put into a dark cloth bag.
The bag was dumped, upside down, onto a hard wooden bench, and the Candles came tumbling out. Master Fire, using a match, applied wax to them until they were all regular size. “Now,” He said. “I would like to speak to Corduroy, and Corduroy only, for he seems to be the leader of this group of rebels. The rest of you, go into that room and shut that door. It’s fine if you listen in on us.” As the Candles walked past, they shot Corduroy encouraging looks.
As soon as the door was closed, Corduroy turned to Master Fire. “You’re a human. I don’t know how I haven’t noticed it before – maybe it was because in Tatooine there were fewer of you?” Master Fire was quite young, and had brown hair and green-blue eyes. He also had two legs, and wore clothes. He still looked familiar, even though Corduroy knew he was a human.
Master Fire sighed, like he always did. “Corduroy,” He said, “I have to explain some things to you. All the Masters are humans. Tatooine isn’t 300,000 kilometers away from Earth, it’s that huge attic upstairs, which is 200 feet tall. Tato – “ “I knew it!” Corduroy cried. “I was so confused when we landed on Earth but it looked the same as Tatooine!” Master Fire looked at him sideways, then continued. “Well, Tatooine is just a name I took from Star Wars. And that spaceship is a big box made out of cardboard, and painted silver. It doesn’t fly. It falls. Spaceships were just my idea that I made up. They don’t exist. Now, do you know why I’ve lived such a long time? One week for me is one year for you. If you are born at the same time as a baby, when the baby is one years old, you will be in your early 50s.”
Corduroy tried to take this all in. He stared at Master Fire, who he used to consider all-powerful and mysterious; now he was a regular human boy. Then a question popped out. “How’d you set yourself on fire if you’re a human?”
Master Fire chuckled. “I have fireproof clothes. Have you ever wondered why I wear long sleeves, pants, a mask, and boots so much? Those are fireproof. I set myself on fire with one of my matches. I’ve become so good at it, and so fast, you can’t even notice me do it.”
Corduroy felt very unobservant. “I should’ve noticed that,” he said sadly.
“No you shouldn’t have,” Master Fire snapped firmly. “No Candle has ever noticed it, only my first Candle, Cathy, and that was because I was inexperienced with doing it fast when melting her.”
“And… how did you find us?”
“I came out of the attic, not by jumping off like you did, but down the stairs and out the front door. I saw your box in the field, so I went to the town next to it. I disguised myself, because the Masters and I are wanted. I asked townsfolk where you went, and they said the Davises house. Then they said you went that way. I chased after you, and caught up with you.”
Outside, a voice yelled, “Come out of this workplace, the person who calls himself Master Fire! By the way, your disguising skills suck!” Someone pounded on the locked door.
Master Fire ground his teeth. He whispered to Corduroy, “Lie down and be still.” Then he called, “Oh, but not before a conversation!” But Corduroy could see the fear in his eyes. There was silence on the other side. Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting crash and the door splintered. Police officers stood in the doorway, and in front of all of them was a stocky sergeant woman with a thin line for a mouth.
She glared. “I suppose I shall call you Master Fire, because that is apparently your new name.” She clipped handcuffs onto Master Fire, and they walked out the door.
The other Candles flooded out of the room. “We heard everything,” they said breathlessly. Corduroy looked out the window. The squad of cops had formed a tight circle around Master Fire, glancing behind him. He saw Corduroy and mouthed Bail me out. Then he was shoved into a police car.
“Anyone know what bail means?” Corduroy asked the Candles. Nobody knew. Corduroy sighed. “I want to go back to Heidi and Jack’s to ask. This time, we’ll stop and take shelter halfway to cool down.”
∂∂∂
The door opened, and this time it was Heidi and a girl, her eyes wide with surprise, standing there. “Why, hello, Candles, this is Kathleen, and she just came back from her sleepover,” she said, “Your Master Fire stopped by a couple hours ago.” She did not sound happy.
“What does bail mean?” Corduroy asked as the other Candles and Kathleen rushed into the house. Heidi narrowed her eyes.
“Why?”
“To bail Master Fire from jail.”
Heidi gasped and cried, “He’s in JAIL?! Oh, that’s no surprise. He deserved it.”
Corduroy looked at her out of the corners of his eyes. “What have you got against Master Fire?” Corduroy asked her.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she answered defiantly. “Bail means payment to get a prisoner out of jail, before trial.”
“Well, how do we bail him out of jail?” Corduroy asked.
Heidi sighed. She mumbled to herself, “Even if he did that, still…” She glanced up. “I have no idea. It depends how much the bail is set for. And it is probably going to be very expensive.”
“Why?”
“You are full of questions, young Candle. Well, Master Fire didn’t just smuggle. He stole vehicles with the group of his, and robbed a home. Like I said, he deserves to be in jail. Let Master Fire sit for a while and rethink his choices.”
Corduroy managed to stammer out, “No, because He – I mean, “he” told me to bail Him, er … “him” out! I would betray him if I didn’t!”
Heidi frowned. “Okay, then, we’ll see what the bail fine is. It’s going to be news, all over town.”
∂∂∂
The news spread fast. Master Fire’s bail fine was $20,000. That was a shocker. When Heidi received that news, she looked at Corduroy sadly. “You’re not going to spend that money, are you?” Corduroy asked, and Heidi shook her head.
“Let me tell you something, Corduroy,” she said. “My family is not very rich. We only have this huge house because Jack inherited it from his rich father. But Jack doesn’t make too much money from being a writer, and we have three – no, now, two kids to support because we can’t find Cedric, and as I am a lone scientist, I work by myself, so I don’t work on those experiments those scientists in the city work on. I do my own little experiments, and I only get paid for the successful experiments I send to the scientists. I can’t afford it.”
Corduroy looked up at her. “I have an idea. See, when Master Fire was explaining things to me he lit himself on fire with a match. I was thinking, if I invented something that lights somebody on fire without them having to do anything except flip a switch…”. Corduroy turned around and hurried up the stairs.
∂∂∂
Triumphant fire lit his eyes, and Corduroy picked up his new invention, named the fire lighter. It was around the same height as he was, and there was a switch to flip that turned on fire. He called Heidi to help him carry it, for it was very easy for her, fitting as it did in the palm of her sweaty hand.
She kept looking at him in disbelief, saying, “I can’t believe it. I just can’t.” But eventually she stopped, and smiled at Corduroy and said, “Congratulations, Corduroy.”
“Listen, Heidi, can I patent this?”
“Yes, but it needs to be registered with the US Patent office!”
He watched Heidi carefully put the fire lighter in a box and take it to the post office. Then Corduroy had to experience the most excruciatingly slow time of his life.
∂∂∂
A few mornings later, Beverly and Kathleen sprinted into the house, holding an envelope together. “They sent a fancy envelope!” they cried. “The last time they sent it, Mom had sent them a good experiment!” Corduroy was practically jumping out of his wax. Instead of handing the envelope to their mom, the girls bent down and gave it to Corduroy. “You invented it, you open it,” they said solemnly. Corduroy could barely contain his excitement. He carefully peeled off the gold sticker and took out the letter. Enfolded inside the letter was… money!
Heidi gasped. “That’s a lot,” she said. Corduroy couldn’t count, but the stack was quite thick. Then it was all a blur. Heidi counted out twenty thousand dollars, and she and Jack went to bail Master Fire out. Corduroy begged to come along, though the other Candles didn’t want to. Candy followed Corduroy out of the house, so he gave her a quizzical look.
Candy smiled broadly. “Me come to bail Mastaw out of bad place.”
Corduroy was in shock. “Candy, where did you learn to talk like that?” he asked.
“Me listen to talking,” Candy said. Corduroy was silent for the whole trip.
When they arrived at the court, Heidi handed over the box of money. After the judge counted the money, she raised her eyebrows at the Davises. She was silent for a count of ten seconds. Then she remarked, “Don’t waste time. What are you doing, staring at me? You better get home and wait for him to be sent back.”
On the way back, Candy and Corduroy climbed a tree. Jack didn’t want them to because they couldn’t hold on well, but Corduroy reasoned that if they broke they could be put back together. So Jack and Heidi put them in a tree. Candy laughed in glee. Like a shot, she fell off the tree branch. Corduroy gasped and looked down. Candy looked perfectly fine. Now Corduroy fell off the branch, and he was fine too.
“How come you didn’t shatter?” he asked Candy.
She beamed again and answered, “When us melt on grass, me feel good!” Thoughts clamored through Corduroy’s head. Melting must have moisturized Candy’s wax somehow. So there would be no more random breaking. On their way back to the cozy house, Corduroy and Candy chest bumped.
∂∂∂
Everyone just sat there, staring out the window, waiting for Master Fire to come back. Heidi was fidgeting a lot. Finally she turned to Corduroy. “I must admit something to you once again,” she said, “Master Fire? He is my son. Cedric.”
Corduroy groaned. “Why are you keeping things from me until the last moment?” Heidi didn’t answer.
It was pretty soon when a police car pulled up to the driveway and Master Fire/Cedric stepped out. Corduroy could see the resemblance between him and his parents. Cedric had brown hair, like his dad, and the same eyes as his mom. Kathleen rushed out the door, screaming, “Cedric, you came back!” Beverly was close behind her. They tackled him and he laughed.
Then Jack and Heidi walked up to him. He lowered his head. “I’m sorry,” Cedric whispered. But Heidi and Jack just hugged him. At long last, it was Corduroy’s turn.
Cedric picked Corduroy up and looked him in the eye. “I know what you did,” Cedric said. “And I thank you for bailing me out.”
The Davises went to eat dinner, and the Candles went up to the beds. The Candles closed the door behind them and looked straight at Corduroy. He was very self-conscious. The Candles said, “We want to stay in this house.”
“Of course we will!”
“But the Davises don’t know that. Can you tell them that we are?”
Corduroy slid down the stairs and into the dining room. He coughed a little, and the Davises looked at him expectantly. “The Candles want to stay.”
Heidi smiled. “Sure! Cedric is staying too! We’ll buy an extra bed, because we have the money!”
Without warning, Cedric looked up. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you for destroying my plant,” he said. “It was really precious though.”
“What did the pot say?” Corduroy asked.
“It said: To our dear Cedric. Love, Heidi and Jack. I guess I don’t need the plant anymore.” Cedric smiled brilliantly at his family.
That night in the attic, when Corduroy was lying in the new bed Jack had gone and bought, Cadence whispered to him from the other bed , “Corduroy, are you awake?”
“Yes.”
“Remember in the den how you didn’t like your name and wanted to change it? Well, now’s your chance to do that.”
Corduroy Candle thought of all the things he and his name had been through. “No, I think I like it,” he said softly, and watched the moon shine on the bedroom floor.
John Bellairs was influenced by a real-life Mrs. Zimmerman so much that he decided to create an unforgettable character about her for his Lewis Barnavelt series. We all know Mrs. Zimmerman in the book had no family – her husband has died and she didn’t have any children, but the real Mrs. Zimmerman that Bellairs met ten years before the publishing of his book? She “was a widow with a married daughter and two grandchildren.” Well, so what? If there are differences between the two, is that normal, as Bellairs perhaps just lifted her name from his memory and used her for inspiration? No, there are a few tie-ins. For one, Mrs. Mary Zimmerman was a highly creative type who has published plays: “The D.P., The Chocolate Milk Cow and Tradem Squaw – all of which have been widely produced.” Well, that’s nice, but is the fictional Mrs. Zimmerman a playwright? No, but she is rather creative. Is that it? Well, here’s the hook, line, and sinker: Mrs. Mary Zimmerman was a fetishist ( a person who has an excessive and irrational devotion or commitment to a particular thing) with the color purple! Inside her house “there were purple perfume bottles, purple nosegays, purple soap dishes with purple soap, and purple bathrobes. There were purple window curtains in the purple bathroom. The other bedrooms were all in purple. Finally coming down to breakfast Sunday morning, we realized that everything in the house was purple.”
So what can we conclude about Mister John Bellairs’s creative imagination, with regard to Mrs. Mary Zimmerman? Well, we can be sure that he was a highly-impressionable person, and that, at the least, he had a wonderful time with the old lady when he was visiting Milwaukee for a wedding.
How did John Bellairs partly transform his inspiration into the Mrs. Zimmerman we know of in the Barnavelt series? Well, we don’t know for sure, but he might have just started off his inspiration and then tweaked a few non-exciting things about her into more interesting things. Why was Bellairs so inspired by Mary H. Zimmerman? This we do not know, but I guess he must have been really surprised when he saw actually how obsessed she was with purple things. “Besides both being kind elderly widows with a certain flair for individuality, both are steadfast in their dedication to the color purple.”
