h Chapter Eighteen g
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Standing together in the clearing, each of them thinking their own thoughts, the children and the Oogie stared silently and solemnly at the spot where the Ogre had been just moments ago before it disappeared into nothingness. Finally, their ordeal was over. The terror and fear that they had had to live with the past two days was slowly melting away. Things would actually be normal again, now that the Ogre was gone from their lives.
After some time, the Oogie herded the children to the far corner of the yard to the root cellar. Making sure that the kids were safely out of the way, the Oogie, using its magic, closed the wooden door to the cellar. The children watched in amazement as the door lifted itself from the ground and slammed shut. The lock that they had broken flew through the air and relocked itself onto the hasp. All the sod and grass that the children had worked so hard to get off magically recovered the door. Everything was back in place- exactly as it had been before the children had accidentally stumbled onto the door in the beginning.
“There now!” said the Oogie, winking at the kids as, back and forth, it rubbed the palms of its hands together. “Everything is now as it should be!”
“But what about my grandpops?” Izayah asked, the worry apparent in his voice.
“Oh- don’t worry yourself about that at all, Izayah.” the Oogie assured him. “Trust me okay?” it said to all of them, seeing that all of the children were very worried about their grandfather. “I promise- your grandfather will be just fine!” “Everything will be fine, you’ll see!”
The Oogie squatted down and took the children into its arms, hugging all of them tightly.
“I’m really going to miss you guys- you all know that don’t you?” the Oogie asked, its nose sniffling as it looked into the eyes of each of the children.
“Ohhhh Oogie…I wish you could just stay with us forever!” Alaysia cried out as she wrapped her arms around the Oogie’s thick neck, hugging so tightly that the Oogie had to pry her loose so that it could talk to her.
“Please don’t cry little lady!” it said to her. “You know how hard it is on me when you children cry.”
Trying to be brave, Alaysia started wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hands.
“I want to thank all of you for setting me free, for giving back my life.” the Oogie said to them as it stood up. “If it weren’t for all of you kids I’d still be locked away down there in the cellar, and maybe no one would have ever found me.” “You guys are special, very special to me- and I promise I will never forget any of you!”
“We won’t ever forget about you either, Oogie!” said Shaylah, smiling at the Oogie with those gorgeous dimples on each of her chubby little cheeks.
“No way will any of us forget you Oogie!” Izayah said with a very serious look on his face.
The Oogie, looking around at the children, noting that there was one child who hadn’t yet spoken, hadn’t uttered a single solitary word. Little Micaiah just stood by herself, silently looking down at her feet, and with its keen hearing the Oogie knew that she was crying.
“Hey you guys- would you mind if I talked to Micaiah by herself for a minute?” the Oogie asked, motioning towards her with a tilt of its head.
Reluctantly, yet somehow understanding- the kids said their last goodbyes, and together they slowly began walking towards the house, leaving the Oogie and Micaiah to be by themselves.
“Micaiah, angel come here and talk to me for a minute, would you please?” the Oogie asked her.
With her eyes still cast down at her feet- Micaiah slowly shuffled over to stand before the Oogie. The Oogie patiently watched her, trying to give her some time to come to terms with saying goodbye. This little one will never know- the Oogie thought to itself- just how hard it was for it to have to say goodbye to her.
After a few moments, Micaiah raised her head to look up at the Oogie. A stream of tears were spilling from her eyes and running down both her cheeks, her chest was rising and falling, because she was sobbing. Watching her, staring into Micaiah’s eyes- the Oogie’s heart seemed to be breaking apart as its emotions took over. A flood of tears welled up and spilled over onto the Oogie’s own cheeks.
“I just can’t believe that you’re really leaving!” Micaiah balled as she ran into the Oogie’s arms. “I love you Oogie!” she cried as it held her, patting her gently on her back.
“It’s the way things have to be Micaiah, you know that!” “You know I wouldn’t leave you guys unless I really had to!” the Oogie was trying to explain to her as they both cried.
“Hey!” the Oogie said, trying to cheer her. “Have you already forgotten, Micaiah, that you carry a piece of me, that you can see me and talk to me anytime you want, remember?” it asked, its hands on her little shoulders, holding her out so that it could look into her eyes. “I will never really be gone little one!” “You and I can never really be apart- not as long as you carry the rock.” “So, come one now- how about giving me a really big hug and telling your friend bye?” “Not forever Micaiah, just good bye for right now?” it asked her, both of them sniffling as their crying finally began to let up.
“Just for now- right?” Micaiah asked, her innocent, beautiful eyes boring right into the Oogie’s, her mouth twitching, trying hard to turn itself into a smile.
“You betcha, sweetheart!” “We got ourselves a deal!” the Oogie replied happily as it pulled Micaiah back into its arms and hugged her tightly, so very relieved that she was beginning to understand that it would always be with her.
After taking a little extra time to let their emotions quell, together, the Oogie and Micaiah walked to the house, just catching up to the others before they’d went inside. With a bit less sadness this time, everyone said their final goodbyes, the Oogie giving each of the children one last hug. The Oogie moved back a few steps and stood there, its eyes taking a long look at the four kids that had returned its life, its huge hand waving goodbye to them. The children watched the Oogie’s body suddenly begin to shimmer, to become transparent. And then- as if it had just evaporated into thin air- their friend the Oogie was gone.