To Walk Among The Dead - Hugs.And.Kisses (easy readers txt) 📗

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We were just coming home from the special Halloween circus. It was my third birthday. Emily was eight. Mom and Ryan had stayed home, so it was just us three in the truck. We were listening to a kiddie songs tape. Dad was laughing as I tried to remember the words to 'The man on the flying trapeze.'

Then…then a huge shadow popped up in front of the car. Dad swerved out of surprise, slamming into the guardrail. The shadow laughed, a laugh that chilled me to the bone. A laugh I knew far too well now.

The truck was teetering on the edge of the cliff. Emily and I were both crying and had cuts all over our bodies from the shattered window in front.

Dad reached back and unbuckled us both, then shoved open the back window that led into the truck bed. "Climb out, both of you." He had ordered.

We did so, but the sudden shift of weight made the truck topple over the edge. We sat in the back, screaming as the truck flew down the side of the cliff, landing with a crunch and throwing us out of the back.

When I woke up, the truck was burning, with dad trapped inside. Almost all of his skin and muscle was burned off his face, showing the bone underneath. I started screaming again.

xXx

"Oogie killed dad." I whispered. "I knew I wasn't crazy."

"He was trying to kill all of us, Aubrey." Emily told me. "All three of us. If dad had waited even one more second, we would've still been inside the truck when it fell." She pulled me into a hug. "We could both go to Halloween Town at first. We both heard the voices. We both saw the monsters in the closet, and under the bed.

"Mom didn't hire a hypnotist until a year later, your next birthday. I took to it a lot better than you. The guy made you forget the accident, but you still saw the monsters. Now you just didn't know why. Mom couldn't handle it. So after that incident on your eighth birthday, she had you committed."

"Oogie… that's what he meant. We weren't supposed to die that day with dad. I was." I sobbed into her sweater. "The reason I couldn't forget was because I had the key to the door. I couldn't forget because I helped to connect us with Halloween Town."

Emily hugged me tighter. "It's not your fault Aubrey. No one blames you. Everything's okay now, all right? Let's go home."

She started up the car again and started to pull out as I took a bite of my now lukewarm burger. "So… what's up with you and this Lock dude?"

"Emily!"

xXx

"Lock, come on!" Shock called up the stairs. "You're gonna make us late!"

"So?" Was all she got as a response. She turned to Barrel.

"Will you go talk to him?"

Jack walked up behind them. "I'll talk to him. You two get going."

"Okay. See ya' Jack. Come on Barrel!"

"Bye Jack! Bye Sally!" Barrel called, running after Shock. "Hey, wait for meeee!"

Sally walked out of the kitchen. "Give Lock a few days, Jack. He's still probably confused himself."

Jack nodded. "I know." He sat down in his high backed chair. "It's so quiet without Aubrey helping them to cause trouble. They haven't tried to pull anything in almost a week."

Sally hugged him. "We all miss her, Jack."
The End


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Publication Date: 12-04-2011

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