h Chapter Eight g
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As it turned out, their grandfather slept through the whole evening and into the night- which Alaysia and the other children thought was kind of weird. Alaysia made all the kids sandwiches for supper, let them all watch a little television for a little while, and then she made sure that they all went to bed around nine pm- which is their normal time for bed when they’re at home.
When all the other kids were in bed and sleeping soundly, she went to her grandfather’s room, quietly opened the door, and looked in. Her grandfather was still fast asleep. She could tell because she could hear him snoring loudly. Alaysia turned the knob so that the door would shut silently, and very slowly turned the knob back to the left- allowing the door to latch closed. After checking in on her grandfather, Alaysia was walking down the hall and thinking how strange it was for her grandfather to sleep this long. She had spent the weekend with him before and he didn’t sleep so long like this, she thought. It just wasn’t making any sense to her. Plus- she was a little worried because he said he wasn’t feeling well.
Entering the living room, Alaysia looked at the clock and saw that it was a few minutes before ten o’clock. She sat down to watch some television, clicked through some channels with the remote, but she just couldn’t concentrate on what was on. She got up from the chair, walked over to the window and stared out into the night, thinking once again about the Oogie man out there all alone in that cellar.
Alaysia suddenly had an idea! She went back through the hall, peeped into the girl’s room to make certain that they were still asleep, then proceeded down the hall to Izayah’s room. She opened his door, being very quiet so her grandfather wouldn’t hear, and silently stepped into Izayah’s room.
“Izayah, Izayah!” Alaysia whispered, as she was shaking her brother trying to wake him.
Izayah slowly awoke, rubbing his eyes and trying to focus and understand why Alaysia was waking him up.
“What Alaysia!” he said loudly.
“Shhhhhh, she said, putting her hand over his mouth, trying to keep him from waking everyone in the house up. Be quiet Izayah, everyone is still asleep. Come on, get up and let’s go outside and check on the Oogie man in the cellar.”
Izayah was awake now. Pulling Alaysia’s hand from his mouth, quickly, he got up out of bed and started getting dressed.
“I’ll be in the living room when you’re ready, she whispered to him. You have to really be quiet when you come out of your room so that you don’t wake up grandpops. Be careful you don’t let the door latch click when you open and shut the door because it’s really loud.”
“Okay, Okay- I’ll be quiet Alaysia!” he said to her. “Just go wait for me. I’ll be there in a second.”
Izayah didn’t like it when any of his sisters tried to boss him around and tell him what to do. But he knew that she was right, if they were going to see that weird, hairy Oogie, they had to do it without their grandfather knowing because he had told them that they couldn’t go near the cellar anymore.
Izayah finished dressing and went into the hall, quietly closing the door behind him. He went into the living room, finding his sister standing there, gazing out the window into the street.
“Here I am Alaysia. So what’s your plan?” he asked, figuring that she had worked out something or she wouldn’t have come and woke him from his sleep.
“Plan? What plan? All I know is that grandpops and everyone else is asleep, so I thought that you and me could go out there and see if the Oogie is still there, and see if it’s okay.?
“Okay- But how are we supposed to get that door to the cellar open?” he asked her. “You remember we couldn’t get it opened by ourselves- not until Shaylah came and helped us because it was too heavy.”
“I guess I’m going to have to go in and wake up Shaylah too.” she said, a little frustrated because she had hoped that just her and Izayah could go by themselves and not wake everyone else.
Once again- Alaysia went to her and her sister’s bedroom and, very quietly, she opened the door. Slowly, oh so carefully, she closed it shut behind her and, in the dark- because she didn’t want to turn on the lights and wake Micaiah too- Alaysia went over to wake Shaylah.
“Shaylah--Shaylah.” Alaysia whispered to her sister, trying to shake her awake.
“What?” Shaylah said groggily as she came out of a deep sleep, wondering why Alaysia was waking her. “What do you want Alaysia?” she asked her sister.
“What’s going on down there? What are you guys doing?” asked Micaiah, hearing the noise and commotion her sisters were making in the bunk under her.
Great, Now everyone’s awake! Alaysia thought to herself.
“Shhhhhhh!” Alaysia said to both of her sisters, trying to get them to be quiet. “Come on- both of you and get dressed. But we need to be really really quiet so we don’t wake up grandpops. We’re gonna go out to the cellar to see if the Oogie’s okay.” she said to both of them.
What seemed to Alaysia like a long time later, both her sisters were finally dressed and ready to go. She told them to watch where they walked and not to make any noise. Alaysia slowly turned the knob, quietly pulled open the door, and all three of the girls exited the room and went down the hall and met Izayah in the living room.
“Finally!” Izayah exclaimed as the girls came into the room. “I knew you would wake them both. I knew you would!” he said. Izayah snickered, noticing the look of aggravation on Alaysia’s face when he said it.
“Are we going, or what?” he asked them as he walked down the hall towards the kitchen.
As they were all about to go out the back door Alaysia stopped, then went to the drawer and got the flashlight, remembering that they would need it to see because it was totally dark outside. She was the last one to go out the door, and just as she was closing it Alaysia glanced up at the clock above the stove and saw that it was exactly ten o’clock.
Because she had the flashlight, the others waited until Alaysia closed the back door and let her lead them back through the yard.
“I’ve never been out here at night time like this, Izayah announced. It feels sort of creepy- especially since we’re sneaking out with grandpops still sleeping.”
“Grandpops is going to ground us forever if he finds out!” said Micaiah.
“Then nobody better tell him!” said Shaylah to her little sister with a tone of accusation in her voice.
“I’m not gonna tell grandpops Shaylah. I don’t want to get grounded either.” Micaiah replied.
The children arrived at the location of the root cellar and suddenly they all stopped. Once they were all there, it was as though every one of them were having second thoughts about wanting to be there at all. All four of the kids just stood there. Each of them unmoving, just standing and staring down at the door that led to where the hairy Oogie man lived.
“Give Micaiah the flashlight.” barked Izayah, causing them all to jump. “She can hold it while the rest of us get the door opened.” he said, as he walked around to the side of the door where they needed to grab hold of it.
Alaysia handed Micaiah the flashlight, and she and Shaylah both moved in beside Izayah and they all three bent down and took hold of the door as they had done when opening it before.
“All three of us pull together on the count off three.” said Izayah. “One, Two, Three- Go!” he said.
They pulled up hard on the old, heavy wooden door. Each of the three kids was grunting and gasping from the effort, straining at the weight of the door. For a second it seemed to all of them that they wouldn’t be able to do it- that they wouldn’t get the door high enough. But, after hovering in place for a split second- the door started going over, pulling all of the kids with it until they remembered to let it go. The door fell to the ground with a resounding thud, echoing so loudly into the quiet night that it made Alaysia glance towards the house- thinking that it may have been loud enough to awaken her grandfather. She reasoned that he couldn’t possibly have heard it, not all the way inside the house. But that didn’t make her feel any less nervous.
All four of the children just stood at the edge of the huge hole in the ground as if frozen in time. Standing there in the cool, dark night, there wasn’t one among them that wanted to be the first one down the steps. It had been daylight when the children had opened the door the last time. Doing it at night made everything feel so much more eerie and there wasn’t a single one of the kids that weren’t scared out of their wits.
“Come on Izayah.”- Alaysia urged her little brother, but Izayah didn’t move. He just couldn’t seem to make his feet move from the spot that they were standing.
“Why do I have to go first?” he asked Alaysia, defiantly as he kept staring down into the darkness of the cellar.
“You’re the boy- And boys are supposed to go first before girls!” she said, bumping her brother with her hip trying to prod her little brother into moving.
“But you’re the oldest. You should go first Alaysia!” he replied, quickly backing away from the cellar when his sister pushed him.
“Okay, I’ll do it!” Alaysia said, taking the flashlight from Micaiah and stepping up to the entrance of the cellar. “But you’re just a scared little fraidy cat Izayah.”
Alaysia went down into the cellar. She was taking her time, being extra careful where she placed her step. She could feel the slippery moss on the steps under the soles of her sneakers.
It was Shaylah, not Izayah- that followed behind Alaysia. She reached out with her hand and grabbed a fist full of Alaysia’s blouse to hold on to as she placed her feet in the exact same spots that her sister had before her. Shaylah wanted to be as near her older sister and that flashlight as she could possibly be. Not wanting to be left behind to try those steps without the light- both Izayah, and Micaiah were forced to drudge up enough courage to follow their sisters down into the cellar. Not one of the four children had spoken or made even a peep while going down into the smelly, damp, dark root cellar.
When all four of them had made it safely down the steps without incident and were all clustered together on the dirt floor, Alaysia shined the flashlight toward the back of the room where the Oogie had been before. She couldn’t see anything, no movement- nothing at all.
“The Oogie’s gone! It’s not here!” Alaysia cried out so loudly that it made the other children jump.
Just then- without warning- the room instantly came aglow with many colored lights. The brightness totally engulfing the room. The walls, floors, the ceiling- the entire cellar lit up and sparkling with all different colors all around them. The darkness of the cellar completely disappeared. The kids were in such awe of what was happening that they just stood and stared all around them- looking at the colors of light that just seem to be dancing, bouncing off of every surface, somehow even making them feel warm in the damp coolness they had felt before.
“Look- It’s the Oogie!” shouted Micaiah- her arm outstretched and her finger pointing to the far corner of the room at the exact same spot where the Oogie had been the first time they had discovered it. Seeing the direction that Micaiah pointing her finger- the other three kids quickly turned to look and they could all see the hairy creature. They could once again see the Oogie’s brightly glowing hair. They saw thousands upon thousands of tiny pinpoints of light- shooting out bright colorful beams in every direction, making the entire room swirl with glowing colors.
“Wow! It’s soooo pretty!” Shaylah exclaimed aloud as she was spinning around in place with her arms held high, watching all the colors bounce off her skin.
Having never seen anything like it before, all of the kids were completely entranced in what was going on around them. All of them were just standing still and gawking at the spectacle of lights that filled the cellar.
Izayah, seemingly no longer afraid as he had been- walked to the back of the room and was the first to try to speak to the Oogie.
“How come we couldn’t see you when we first came down?” he asked the creature.
“Because!” answered the Oogie. “I thought you might be the Ogre come back. I was so scared that I made myself invisible- until I heard your voices. I was sure glad to hear it was you guys.” The Oogie said, its hair pulsing with the colored beams of light.
Alaysia was listening to what the Oogie was saying to her brother while she watched her sisters spinning around, trying to grab the light beams out of the air and watching all the colors dance off their skin.
“What do you mean- you thought it was the Ogre coming back?” Alaysia asked the Oogie, stepping next to her brother. “Are you saying the Ogre that chained you down here was here” she asked.
“Yes- Yes!” said the Oogie. “The Ogre was here yesterday. It came down here with your grandfather.” it said nervously- the beams of light suddenly dimming somewhat because just thinking about the Ogre was making the Oogie want to disappear.
“Hey- What’s happening to the lights?” cried out Micaiah and Shaylah, both girls suddenly stopping in their tracks, becoming afraid when the room started to darken.
“Sorry.” answered the Oogie. The beams of colored lights emitting from its hair immediately lit up the room again as the Oogie realized it was just letting itself be scared for no reason.
Alaysia and Izayah looked at each other. Both children just beginning to understand that Mr. Ergo was really the Ogre that the Oogie was so terrified of.
“We saw his weird, ugly green eyes yesterday. But none of us knew that he was really the Ogre!” Alaysia explained.
“Yeah!” piped in Izayah. He was the one that sold this place to our grandpops.”
“You all better stay away from the Ogre. He’s really really mean! Yesterday, when they were down here in the cellar, I heard your grandfather tell the Ogre that it was you kids that found the cellar- and that when you guys come and got him- he found you guys were already down here.” the Oogie told Alaysia and Izayah.
“Why do we have to be afraid of that Ogre?” asked Izayah. “We didn’t do nothing to him.”
“The Ogre now knows that you kids were down here, which means that he knows you know that I’m down here. He knows that you kids, because your human and not magic, that you can set me free. That’s why you have to be afraid of him, because he’ll be after you too if you don’t watch out.”
“What if we don’t set you free?” asked Alaysia. “I mean, we haven’t set you free yet, we haven’t made up our minds about that yet.”
Hearing Alaysia say that the kids might not set him free made the Oogie feel so alone and afraid that it just slumped against the wall. The lights in its hair went very dim, once again immersing the room in darkness.
“Come on- Cut that out!” said all of the children at once.
The room immediately brightened, though it wasn’t the colorful lights that had blindingly filled the room before- but only a dull ambience, barely enough light allowing the children to see.
“Alaysia, you guys come here so we can talk, said Izayah.” “We’ll be right back Oogie, just let me talk with my sisters for a minute.”
Izayah turned away from the Oogie, and with his sisters, led them all to the other side of the room so that he could clue his sisters in on what he was thinking. All the kids huddled really close to each other so that they could hear their brothers every word.
The Oogie, wanting to hear what the kids were saying, strained against its chains, the noise causing Alaysia and Izayah to turn and look at him. Not wanting to make the kids mad at him, possibly sealing his fate of ever being free again- the Oogie just went back to his place by the wall, slumped down to the floor and waited impatiently while the kids returned to their whispering among each other.
“Listen, you guys, Izayah began.” “I think we might as well help the Oogie. I can’t explain why, but I don’t feel like he’ll hurt us. What do you guys think? he asked them.”
“I don’t think the Oogie will hurt us either Izayah! Shaylah exclaimed.” “I never did, she said with her jaw jutted out proudly.”
“Make sure the Oogie remembers that he promised that he would do something good for us if we helped him, piped Micaiah.”
“That’s smart thinking Micaiah, Alaysia said, as she smiled at her little sister.” “I almost forgot about the Oogie promising us that.” “I wonder what it will be?”
“Yeah- I started wondering about that when the Oogie first said it, answered Izayah.” “But the real reason that I think we should help him is because of the Ogre.”
“What do you mean- “Because of the Ogre,” asked Alaysia, concern in her voice.”
“What I mean, Alaysia, Izayah began answering, is that the Ogre knows that we know about the Oogie. No matter if we help the Oogie or not, what I’m wondering is if that will matter to the Ogre. I think the Ogre might come after us just because we already know about the Oogie.”
By seeing the looks on their faces, Izayah could tell that what he was saying was beginning to sink in with his sisters. He wasn’t trying to scare them, though he was definitely feeling afraid himself, but just trying to make them understand that he didn’t think that they had any choice but to help the Oogie by setting it free. In his mind, helping the Oogie might be the only chance they had of keeping themselves safe from the Ogre, though he had no clue as to how. That was the part that Izayah had really been thinking about- the how. What could him and his sisters possibly do to protect themselves against the Ogre and its magic. I wonder what the Ogre will do to us? Izayah thought to himself.
“Okay, Alaysia began saying to all of them- I think that we should all vote on whether or not to help the Oogie.” “You all heard what Izayah said, how it might not matter to that Ogre if we help the Oogie or not.” “But, if we are going to help the Oogie, it’s going to be all of us, or none of us- because, no matter what, we have to make this decision together- all of us.” “So I say we vote.”
“I vote yes, said Shaylah.”
“Me too, agreed Micaiah.”
“Are you really sure that we should help the Oogie, Alaysia asked her brother.”
“No. I’m not sure Alaysia, Izayah answered.” “I just feel like we don’t really have a choice.” “And, maybe- he added, just maybe we can get the Oogie to help us against the Ogre, because the Ogre is his enemy too.” “So- My vote is yes- that we free the Oogie.”
“Well, Alaysia said slowly- everything Izayah said swirling around in her mind, I think you’re right Izayah, and I vote that we free the Oogie.”
“Okay then, Izayah said.” “That’s all of us in agreement that we help the Oogie so let’s go tell him.”
As Izayah was about to turn, Alaysia put her hand on his arm to stop him.
“Izayah- before we actually do set him free, I think we should make the Oogie promise to help us, don’t you? Alaysia asked her brother.” Izayah nodded his head in agreement.
The kids went back to the other side of the room where the Oogie waited, and together, as a group united, they all faced him. The Oogie slowly raised itself up from the floor, worried about what was going on because the look on each of the children’s faces made him nervous.
For what seemed like forever, but was actually only seconds, everyone just stood and stared. Nobody moved. The children stared at the Oogie. The Oogie stared back, waiting, worrying, not certain what was about to come. A very dim, dull yellow glow from the Oogie’s hair barely showing the children’s faces as they stood there staring. It seemed as if the whole world had come to a stop. The room was so eerily quiet, so still, that the children could actually hear their own hearts beating in their chests. None of them had ever felt so afraid.
“We all voted to set you free, Alaysia said loudly, breaking the silence and startling everyone in the process.”
In an instant flash, the Oogie’s hair glowed again, seemingly brighter than ever as burst after burst of brilliant, exploding lights of so many colors were bouncing off the walls and ceiling. The children all threw their arms up, trying to shade their eyes from it. The light was swirling throughout the room, completely enveloping everything in so much brightness that the children- when they looked down, couldn’t even see the floor beneath them, as if they we all standing in the air. The room was just so alive with bright, colorful light, that even with their arms up, the kids had to keep their eyes squinted in order for them to see at all. The Oogie was very happy, and that happiness showed with every beam of light emitting from every strand of hair on its body.
Slowly, very slowly- the blinding brightness of colors began to dim, reducing the radiance to a tone that was tolerable for the kids to be able to fully open their eyes and once again be able to see their surroundings again. Micaiah and Shaylah both had their arms stretched high above their heads, watching the beams of colors play across their skin. But it was the Oogie, standing there with its hairy arms held out towards them, the chains dangling from the wide bracelets that were strapped to its wrists. The Oogie was actually smiling, sort of. Its, leathery, oddly shaped face spread wide. Its thick lips stretched tightly against its teeth. This is what Alaysia and Izayah were staring at when their eyes were able to focus.
Alaysia nudged her brother in the side with her elbow, urging him to say something. But Izayah didn’t say a word, didn’t budge one inch from the spot he was standing because he was frozen in awe at what he was looking at. Even though they had all seen the Oogie’s face, this was the first time in so much light. He just couldn’t get over how weird, how odd and really funny looking it was to see up close. He noticed that the Oogie had hair growing from everywhere. Hair grew from its nostrils, from it’s ears, and it’s eyebrows (if that’s what they really were) had hair growing that hung down in its eyes. As Izayah kept gawking at the Oogie’s face, he saw even more things that were just so mind-bogglingly weird that it just made it too hard for Izayah to do anything, except to stare even more.
Alaysia was just as freaked out by the Oogie’s face as Izayah was, but she knew that they couldn’t just stand here forever looking at it. It felt, to her, as though they’d been down in this cellar for hours, and she wasn’t sure how long her grandpops would remain asleep. Whatever they were going to do, they’d better get it done so that they could all get back inside the house and back into bed before grandpops found out and they got in deep trouble. Courageously, Alaysia forced herself to move and stepped up closer to the Oogie.
“How do we get these chains off of you? asked Alaysia.”
With its arms still held out, the Oogie turned its hairy