This piece was inspired by Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. My skeleton characters look more like him than actual skeletons. (If the title doesn't make sense, their last name is 'Bones') Enjoy!

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As rain poured down on a tiny house, a white van drove up the rocky driveway. A man stepped out, holding a black umbrella and a heavily loaded bag. He walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. When no one came, he set down his umbrella and rummaged through his bag. Pulling out some letters and a large package, he set them down on the welcome mat and walked back to his van. He backed down the driveway, turned around and drove into the rain, never once looking back.

Once the van disappeared, the door opened and an ivory hand picked up the mail. The hand belonged to a boy. He quickly closed the door and locked it. Pushing his dark brown hair out of his face, the boy looked through the mail. Bills again. He sighed as he walked to the kitchen. Money was becoming harder to keep every day. There was barely enough for food as it was. The boy put the bills on the table and looked at the package. He raised a bony finger and traced the name of the sender, making sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Good God,” he whispered before bolting from the kitchen. He ran up the stairs and banged on his sister’s door. “Ruby! Ruby!”

“Benjamin, what the hell?” A girl, taller and slightly older, opened the door. Ben shoved the package in her face.

“Look at this! It’s from mom!”

Ruby frowned and brushed away a stray brown hair that had fallen from her ponytail.

“What? Ben, I don’t-” She took a closer look at the package. Then she gasped and covered her mouth. “My God. How…?”

“Who cares about the how? This means that she’s still alive somewhere!"

“We’re skeletons, Ben. We’re not exactly ‘alive’.”

“You’re seriously getting technical right now?”

“Right. Sorry. Let’s open the package in the kitchen.” They hurried down the stairs and sat at the kitchen table. Ruby pushed the bills aside as Ben ripped the seal off the package and spread its contents on the table. There was an odd assortment of items: two gold necklaces, a book with strange writing inscribed on it, a small sword still in its sheath, a map, and a note.

Ruby picked up the note and unfolded it. She sucked in her breath.

“What? What does it say?” Ben asked, fidgeting. Ruby slowly placed the note on the table and began to read.

Dear Ruby and Ben,

I don’t have much time, so I must make this quick. If this gets to you, know that I’m in trouble and I need your help. Let me explain the items that I put in the package. The book is a spell book, filled with numerous attack and healing spells. Ruby, the book is for you, and only for you. The sword has the power to cut through anything, so be careful with it, Ben. Only you can use it. The necklaces, once you have them around your necks, can enhance the power of the book and sword once you reach my destination. Keep them on you at all times, even before you get here. The map shows where I am and how to get to me, but you will not like the path, nor the destination. I am sorry for dragging you both into this, but I have no other choice. I love you. Be safe.

Mom

The room was silent, except for rain pounding on the roof and the occasional rumble of thunder. Ruby and Ben looked at each other, mouths agape. They glanced at the folded map with trepidation. Gulping, Ben took the map and opened it.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding!” Ruby exclaimed. The map showed a land that every creature feared, that every creature knew how to get to but never knew how to get out of. It was a map of Goblinvale.

Lightning flashed near their house, followed by a roll of thunder.

“She doesn’t expect us to go there, does she?” Ben asked, his voice shaking.

“If she’s there, then yes, we must go there,” Ruby said, putting her head in her hands. Her brother got up from the table and started pacing around the kitchen.

“Goblins hate skeletons.”

“They hate everyone.”

“No, no, they hate skeletons the most! They hate the fact that we even exist! We are no better than flesh-less zombies to them!” On the word “zombies” Ben slammed his hands on the table. He shook with fear and anxiety. Ruby sighed.

“Calm down, Ben. Everyone thinks little of zombies. Here, get a feel for your sword.” She handed him the weapon and he sourly took it. “I’ll start going through my spell book.”

“Great idea, sis. Hand the half-hysterical skeleton boy a sword to play with,” Ben grumbled as he looked over the brown sheath, “Not much of a sword anyway, more like a frickin’ letter opener….” He grabbed the hilt and pulled it out slowly. The metal of the blade shone in the kitchen light as he studied it. He glanced at Ruby. She was flipping through the book, tracing the writing on a page or two before continuing.

“How does it look?” she asked, not moving her head.

“Fine, I guess. Do you really think it can cut through anything?”

“I don’t know. And I’m not so sure about this book, either.”

“Why?”

“I can’t really read the writing. Some parts make sense, others don’t."

“Eh, you’re smart, you’ll figure it out.”

Ruby paused before looking up.

“Did you just compliment me?”

“Don’t get used to it. What do you think is the deal with these necklaces, anyway?” Ben picked one up and stared at the medallion. “How are they supposed to ‘enhance’ anything?”

“I don’t know, Ben,” Ruby said, a little exasperated, “We’ll have to figure this stuff out as we go.”

Shrugging, Ben carefully put the necklace on and let it rest against his sweater. The next thing he knew, the medallion was glowing along with the sword. He gasped as he watched the sword grow longer. Ruby stared open-mouthed at the transformation. When the weapon finished growing, strange symbols appeared on the blade. At that, Ben quickly let go of the hilt and the sword clattered to the floor. It shrunk back to its original size and stopped glowing. Ben slowly sank to the floor and gripped the table with one hand.

“Holy crap,” he muttered, shocked. Ruby just stared, not saying anything.

Lightning flashed again.

“Well…at least we now know how the necklaces are going to enhance our stuff,” Ruby said quietly. Ben took a deep breath.

“What the hell has mom done since she left us?” he asked.

“I’m afraid to find out now,” Ruby mumbled.

“Great. I’m asking when we find her. She has a lot of explaining to do.”