The Nightmare Before Christmas Page #11

SALLY:

Experiments?

Suddenly afraid for Jack, Sally wheels around and stumbles OUT

INTO THE:

HALL:

and UP THE

RICKETY STAIRS.

CUT TO:

INT. SALLY'S ROOM. NIGHT/MOMENTS LATER.

Sally rushes in and hurries across to her window. She stands on

tip-toe and strains to peer out. In the distance, between two

other buildings, she can just MAKE OUT A CORNER OF

JACK'S TOWER.

A strange glow emanates from there.

Sally stares for a long time, biting her lip with worry, then

decisively:

Sally turns to her desk. She takes out a piece of paper and a

pen and writes, reading aloud as she goes:

SALLY:

Dear Doctor... Please don't

come after me again. Please

let me go this time. I am all

grown up and need to find my

own life now. I hope you will

understand, some day at least.

Signed -- Sally. P.S. I'll

come visit very soon. P.P.S.

There's fresh soup in the

'fridge. P.P.P.S. It isn't

spiked.

She adds some x's and o's to the bottom of the letter, then sets

it on the pillow of her bed where the doctor will be sure to find

it.

She takes a needle and spool of thread out of her drawer, stuffs

them into her dress, then without warning,

JUMPS OUT HER WINDOW

with suicidal abandon.

CUT TO:

EXT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S HOUSE. NIGHT/CONTINUOUS TIME.

Sally lands on the street outside -- sprawled, torn apart,

stuffing flowing out, stitches burst.

In a moment, she flops upright. She pulls out the needle, the

thread, threads the needle and, glancing every so often over her

shoulder at the Evil Scientist's house, hurriedly proceeds to sew

herself back together again.

The job done. She stashes the needle and thread and wobbly (her

stitches are looser than the doctor's) gets to her feet to go --

only she's sewed one of her legs on backwards -- so that when she

takes a step, her legs walk in opposite directions and she falls

right over.

She lets out a little moan of frustration. Swivelling, she looks

back at the house, afraid of getting caught...

She works even faster now, ripping out the stitches on the leg

she replaced backwards and basting it back on facing forwards.

These stitches are really huge and ungainly. Still, they're

substantial enough to allow her to get to her feet and totter

away, though limping rather badly.

CUT TO:

INT. JACK'S TOWER. SUNRISE.

Jack has worked through the night and continues to work,

concentrated, intent, doing his methodical best to study

Christmas.

-- He stares at an image of Sandy Claws he's drawn on the

chalkboard -- with giant red lobster hand and elaborate

raingear -- then erases it.

-- He leafs back and forth through the Christmas books, every so

often stopping briefly on an image -- RUDOLF, THE RED-NOSED

REINDEER OR FROSTY, THE SNOWMAN OR AN ANNOTATED ILLUSTRATION OF

"THE STOCKINGS ARE HUNG BY THE CHIMNEY WITH CARE."

-- He scrapes a little bit of the shininess off a Christmas tree

ball. With a mortar and pestle, he grinds the flake of shininess

to a sparkling powder, then sprinkles the powder over himself as

if it were fairy dust. He strikes a pose and waits -- but no

transformation occurs. In another beat, he turns back to his

work table, freshly determined.

JACK:

Sooner or later this Christmas

will yield up its secrets to

me. I'll crack it! I will!

-- He studies a strand of tinsel under the microscope. It

reflects his own hollow eye socket back to him.

CUT TO:

EXT. JACK'S TOWER. DAY.

Hiding in the shadows of the building across the street, Sally

stares up at Jack's room.

She pulls back out of sight once -- when the Evil Scientist

passes, obviously looking for her -- but steps out again as soon

as he's gone.

Other citizens of Halloween look up at Jack's windows as they

pass and shake their heads with concern, but only Sally keeps a

vigil.

CUT TO:

INT. JACK'S TOWER. DAY/LATER.

Jack stands at the chalkboard where he's scribbled elaborate

formulae:
Good Cheer + Roasting Chestnuts + Sandy Claws =

Christmas Fun. Sugar Plums + Christmas trees + Rudolf, the Red-

Nosed Reindeer = Christas Fun. Presents + Mistletoe + Snowballs

= Christmas Fun. If A = B and B = C and A = C, then what isn't

D?

He feverishly crosses out some phrases, corrects others,

substitutes, modifies.

CUT TO:

EXT. JACK'S TOWER. DUSK.

Using a pulley, Sally surreptitiously hoists up a basket of food.

CUT TO:

INT. JACK'S TOWER. DUSK/CONTINUOUS TIME.

A TOY STEAM ENGINE

now chugs along tracks laid around the perimeter of Jack's room.

Puffing smoke, it hauls a string of open cars filled with

Christmas dolls and toys. Jack adds more toys as the tiny train

cars pass him.

He looks up at the ODD SCRAPING SOUND of Sally's food basket

knocking against the window.

AT THE WINDOW,

he unhooks the basket and lifts it in. Inside is dinner,

lovingly wrapped in a napkin -- a skeleton chicken, a couple of

apple cores, and a cold bottle of newt juice.

Jack leans

OUT THE WINDOW:

to see who sent this to him. His gaze locks with Sally's -- far

below. A beat. He nods his thanks. She waves -- slowly, in

tragic sympathy. He pulls back into his tower.

ON THE GROUND,

Sally keeps staring faithfully up at Jack's window.

IN HIS TOWER,

Jack dances around a Christmas tree, giddily tossing on

decorations.

CUT TO:

EXT. JACK'S TOWER. NIGHT.

Sally is back at her post across the street, watching

JACK'S WINDOW

where a TALL CANDLE BURNS.

AS IF IN TIME-LAPSE, the candle burns all the way down while the

NIGHT PASSES INTO

EXT. JACK'S TOWER. DAY.

Sally sleeps curled in the doorway across the street. She wakes

to

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote