Beans

Jack Skellington leant down and carefully scrutinized the plate of beans before him.

“I don’t know about these beans Mayor, they seem a little flat. Not at all animated like they should be.”

The Mayor’s pale white face glanced about nervously.

“Oh… I thought they were scrumptious.”

Jack shook his head silently.

“No… they need something else. Something more - exciting! Fetch me some goats milk.”

“… Goats Milk?” The Mayor said in puzzlement. He spun about and scurried off to the pantry to find some of the marvellous ingredient.

Jack seated himself and waited patiently for the Mayor to return. His bony fingers skated across his knees as the he listened to the Mayor’s rummaging. But before the Mayor could return, Jack heard uncoordinated footsteps stumbling up behind him. He tilted his head backwards slightly and was greeted with a shock of red hair and a smiling blue face.

“Ahh! My dearest friend, how are you?” His bony face twisted into a smile as Sally leant down and planted a soft quick kiss on his forehead.

“Just fine Jack, just fine… I brought the soup along for you.” She made her way over to the table and deposited the large charcoal black pot, the mouldy wood groaning under the weight.

“Oh yes! So are you finally going to let me know what’s in it?” Jack leant forward expectantly as Sally proudly lifted the lid of the pot to reveal the contents.

The room filled with a pale green glow as Jack gazed down into the pool of green liquid filled with…

“Bugs?” He said happily, “Where ever did you get so many good ones?”

“Well…” She blushed violet, “I decided to make the most of Oogie Boogie.” Jack looked at her and raised a bony eyebrow.

“When you’re made out of spare parts, you learn to appreciate the values of not letting anything go to waste…”

“It smells wicked Sally! I am thoroughly looking forwards to tasting it!” He smiled warmly and Sally sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around him.

“How’s the Mayor doing?”

There was a loud crash and a shattering noise from the other room, and Jack winced.

“He’s doing… great.”

Sally had to put a hand over her mouth to stop herself laughing as they gazed into each other’s eyes…

Slowly, they leaned in towards each other…

“I GOT IT!” They turned to see the Mayor, beaming and covered in flour, emerging from the pantry with a grey jug of milk gripped in his hands.

“Hello Sally my dear girl, how are you handling life outside the lab?” He inquired pleasantly, hopping up onto his large black armchair and pulling himself up to the table.

“Very well thank you very much Mayor, Jack has been kind enough to let me stay at his house until I can get back on my own feet.” She explained as the Mayor applied liberal amount of Goats milk to his beans.

“How simply marvellous!” The Mayor replied jovially, pushing his plate of beans over to Jack.

The Pumpkin King plucked a bean from the plate with his long pale fingers and popped it in his mouth, chewing slowly, forehead furrowing.

The Mayor leaned forward, his pale white face snapping around, chewing his fingers. After a moments pause, Jack grinned widely and nodded in approval. The Mayor immediately snapped back happily and rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the upcoming feast - pleased that he was able to contribute in some small way with his modest plate of beans.