h Chapter Seventeen g
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Out of thin air, amongst noises of sizzling, popping and crackling- the Ogre suddenly materialized. Standing in the grassy clearing, adjacent to the root cellar, the Ogre looked cautiously around, surveying its surroundings, searching for any sign of the Oogie. There was an evil look upon the Ogres face as had never been before. It was angry, immensely angry that those meddling children had helped the Oogie to escape. They had set the Oogie free from the very chains that the Ogre itself had imprisoned the Oogie.
“I’ll teach those kids to interfere!” the Ogre said angrily to itself, it’s nasty, lizard-like tongue gliding over rows of razor sharp teeth, flicking in and out of its mouth, and its green, beady eyes darting this way and that, scanning the area.
Tilting back its grotesquely shaped head, its thick, slimy mouth stretching, forming into something resembling a trumpet- the Ogre let loose a howl, like a wolf baying into the starry night sky. “Where are you Oogie?” it bellowed angrily, “Where are you- you ignorant, furry lump of useless magic?” it called.
Hearing the Ogre’s call, the Oogie’s body instantly stiffened. Quickly, silently, magically projecting its thoughts into the minds of the children- the Oogie beckoned them to gather by its side. Once all four of the kids were accounted for, the Oogie- its finger pressed to its lips, warning them to be silent, gave instructions to the children to keep hidden within the trees.
Making itself invisible, the Oogie cautiously stepped out into the clearing.
Suddenly feeling the Oogie’s presence, the Ogre stopped howling. Looking in every direction, but not being able to see anything, the Ogre cocked its ugly head, listening intently, trying desperately to locate the Oogie. But, the Oogie was nowhere to be found.
Becoming increasingly frustrated, its temper getting the best of it- the Ogre tried drawing the Oogie out from hiding.
“What’s the matter hair-ball, afraid to face me after what I did to you the last time?” the Ogre taunted. “Did I hurt you soooooo bad during our last little tussle that now you’ve become nothing but a hairy little coward, afraid to face the big, bad Ogre?”
Wham! From out of nowhere- something smashed hard into the Ogres face, the impact of the blow causing the Ogre to fall to the ground. The Ogre, shaking its head, trying to clear its mind, tried to get back on its feet.
As the Ogre was trying to get up, the Oogie kicked the Ogre in its ribs with its huge foot, knocking the wind from the Ogre. Again, and again, and again, furiously- the Oogie kept kicking the Ogre. Each time that the Oogie’s foot connected, the Oogie heard a whooooooshing sound escape from the Ogres lungs.
The Ogre was on its hands and knees, still stubbornly trying to rise up from the ground, but the Oogie was having none of that. Using all its force, the Oogie smashed its elbow into the back of the Ogres neck, instantly dropping the Ogre onto its stomach. This blow was so intense that it caused the Ogre to become dizzy- to see a huge white flash and black inky spots behind its eyes. Yet once again, seemingly unstoppable- the Ogre rose up on its knees, blindly trying to focus on where the blows were coming from.
“Coward!” “You’re just a stinking coward!” the Ogre screamed through bleeding and broken lips. Looking all around, unable to see a single thing, the Ogre just snarled and hissed.
The Oogie, baited by the Ogres calling it a coward, stopped using its magic to be invisible. The Ogres head slowly began to clear. As its vision was able to focus, the Ogre could see a kind of semi-transparent bubble directly in front of it. The bubble was shimmering, fluctuating, like some sort of mirage.
When the Ogres eyes cleared, there- standing only a few feet away, was the Oogie.
“I’m going to kill you,” the Ogre grumbled, getting up off the ground. Its legs wobbling so badly that it could barely stand up at all. “I’m not going to put you in chains this time- noooooooo.” the Ogre hissed. “And the best part, snarled the Ogre, its tongue flicking green blood from its lips- The best part is, when I’m finished slowly and painfully killing you- then I’m going to kill each and every one of those meddling children who freed you, and their grandfather too.” The Ogre stood there, fists upon its waist, grinning defiantly as it watched the Oogie.
The Oogie thought of the children, of the kindness that they had shown in setting it free. It thought of the hundreds of years it’d been chained, locked away in that root cellar. All those many years, alone- with only its own thoughts for company, until finally, one day the children had found it and set it free. The Oogie loved those kids, knew that it would never allow the Ogre to bring harm to them. This will end tonight, it thought. And for the very first time in its existence, the Oogie felt rage.
Grinning now, staring ominously at the Ogre, the Oogie’s eyes began to turn a dark, deep, ruby red. Watching the transformation in the Oogie’s eyes, the Ogre now knew that it had made a terrible mistake, that it had underestimated this hairy little creature, thinking that the Oogie’s were just easy prey. Warily keeping its eyes locked onto the Oogie as it staggered backwards a few steps, stumbling, almost falling down- the Ogre suddenly felt very, very afraid.
Slowly, the Oogie began to inhale, taking in a very long, very deep breath. It was as if it was sucking all the air from the sky, not stopping- just steadily inhaling. The Oogie’s hair began to thicken, to crackle, fizzle, and pop as the Oogie’s entire body began to swell.
The Ogres once defiant grin quickly changed into a grimace of fear, its green eyes still locked onto the Oogie’s red ones as it watched the Oogie growing taller and taller, already towering so high above that the Ogre felt as small as an ant next to a mountain. It now realized that this Oogie was truly very dangerous, a force that should not have been trifled with. But- it was too late. The Ogre knew that it was doomed, that its fate was sealed.
Raising its tree thick arms high into the air, boulder sized hands clenched together into fists, feeling as though oceans of pent up rage were now coursing through its veins- the Oogie readied itself to bring it all down on top of the Ogre with one crushing blow. The Oogie was so enraged, so beside itself with hatred for the Ogre. All the Oogie wanted was to smash this evil little Ogre into nothing, totally obliterate it from existence. The Ogre was down on its knees, cringing in fear, its arms covering its head- waiting for the Oogie to deliver that final blow that would most certainly snuff out its life.
At that very moment, right when the Oogie was about to bring the full force of its fists down on top of the Ogre, the children suddenly appeared, standing just in front of the Ogre, their arms waving frantically and yelling up at the Oogie. When the children appeared, the Ogre, seeing a chance to live, crawled to hide behind them, whimpering and begging them for help.
The Oogie blinked, confused. Its mind so clouded with rage that it was blocking the Oogie from being able to hear what the children were yelling. Fists still raised high in the air, every muscle in its body straining from intense anger- the Oogie shook its head, trying to clear away the fogginess—and then he could hear the sounds of the children’s voices, but the haziness of his mind would still not let it make out what they were actually saying.
“Stop Oogie- Stop! Alaysia was screaming at the top of her lungs.” “Please, please Oogie, don’t kill it!” she was yelling, tears streaming down her face as she stared up at the Oogie.
“This isn’t how you are Oogie!” “You’re not a killer!” Izayah was screaming, waving his arms, trying so desperately to get the Oogie to listen, to hear him.
The Oogie began hearing a sort of humming sound in its ear, as if some kind of horsefly was hovering. The Oogie soon realized that it wasn’t a humming or buzzing sound- no…these were words that were being spoken. The Oogie- listening, focusing intently on the words, figured out that it was one of the children speaking, talking right into its ear. It’s Shaylah, the Oogie realized.
Using the gift the Oogie had given her- the “Aura of Flight,” Shaylah flew up to the Oogie. She hovered in place, right next to its humongous sized ear, and began talking to her friend- trying to make it hear her, and listen to her so that it would understand what her and her brother and sisters had been trying to explain. Over, and over, and over, Shaylah just kept repeating the same words, pleading with the Oogie, hoping it would hear her, that it would comprehend.
“You are not a killer! You are kind, gentle, and good!” Shaylah was saying into the Oogie’s ear. “It doesn’t have to be like this, there’s other ways Oogie!” “We love you Oogie, please- please don’t kill the Ogre.” she was yelling, screaming into the cave size hole that was the Oogie’s ear.
Finally understanding, the Oogie’s arms dropped heavily to its sides. The incredible intensity of rage and hatred began to ebb, slowly subsiding from inside the Oogie, its mind beginning to return to normal. At the same time, ever so slowly, the Oogie was shrinking back down to its natural size. Suddenly, the Oogie found itself surrounded by all four children. They were all holding hands, circling the Oogie, laughing and giggling, jumping up and down and dancing all around him. The Oogie watched the kids’ happy faces and smiles as they went around and around, and it began to feel their pure joy and elated emotions. The feelings of hatred and anger it had felt only moments before quickly dissipated, and the Oogie felt like its old self once again.
Looking over the children’s shoulders as they were circling, the Oogie spotted the Ogre trying to crawl away, trying to escape.
“Stop!” the Oogie growled through clenched teeth, causing the Ogre to freeze in its tracks. “I’m not finished with you yet!”
“Please, please don’t kill me!” pleaded the Ogre. “I’ll go away, and I’ll never bother you ever again.” it promised.
“No, you wont! You wont bother me, you wont bother these kids anymore, and you’ll never bother anyone else again… not where your going!” the Oogie snarled, grabbing the Ogre roughly by the neck.
“What do you mean- where I’m going, asked the Ogre.”
The Oogie snapped its fingers, and a set of chains linked to very thick bracelets suddenly materialized at the Ogres feet. The Oogie looked down at the chains. Realizing what was about to happen- that the Oogie was going to do to it as it had done to the Oogie, now knowing that it was not going to die- the Ogre got up off its knees and begun dusting itself off, slyly grinning at the Oogie, its nasty green tongue slithering in and out of its mouth.
“I know what you’re thinking- but you are most sadly mistaken!” the Oogie said, doing a bit of smiling itself as it wrapped the bracelets around the Ogres wrists and twisted the keys to lock them. “You’re thinking that, maybe in a few hundred years, some kind children will come along and find you chained up. You’re thinking that you’ll talk those children into setting you free. You’re thinking that you’ll come back again, and that you’ll have revenge on me and these kids here.” “But- I have already thought of that!” the Oogie continued, an even more sinister grin spreading across its face. “Ogre- the Oogie said, not only am I going to chain you, forever binding these bracelets to your wrists, but I’m going to send you to a place that I know about where there are no children, where there’s nobody at all, someplace where only you will exist.”
The children all watched on as the Oogie stepped back from the Ogre. As if happening in slow motion, everyone watched as the Ogre’s head tilted back, its lips slowly pulled from its teeth, and it’s mouth stretched open so wide that it looked as though its jaw muscles and bones were going to snap. The Ogre let go an agonizing, piercing scream that was just so loud that it made everyone- even the Oogie, cover their ears until the sound of it died out.
The Oogie brought its fists swinging together, and with a crrrraaaack that sounded like two bolts of thunder crashing directly into each other, the Ogre’s entire body exploded, bits and pieces flying off into every direction. All at once all the pieces rejoined, and then the Ogre’s shrunk into a little green ball, hanging in the air. And, with a pop- the Ogre vanished into thin air.