|The Other World| (Coraline Reader Insert)

Chapter Thirteen

The girls fling themselves through the doorway, shuts and locks the door and press their weight to it to stop the Beldam from coming for them. A splitsecond later, the OTHER WORLD door catches up with a crash. (Name) and Coraline is thrown back slightly. But the real-world door and lock, hold. It's over...

The sisters lies on their backs tired and relieved that it is all over. The two stand up and suddenly Coraline is locked in a loving embrace as the room is brightly lit by sunlight, the first since they moved here, and the sky out the windows is blue with white clouds.

The two hug before remembering about the snow globe were their parents were trapped in. Coraline opens it up and searches for it but found nothing. She gets on all fours, starts searching the floor as he sister watches her after she saw the broken snow globe where it originally is.

As the last of the snowy liquid drains from the globe, the sisters' faces clouds with confusion and fear. What does  this mean and where are her parents?

"(Name)? Coraline? We’re home!" Their mother calls from the hallway with snow dusting on their shoulders and hair.

"Mom! Dad! I missed you so much!" Coraline runs to her parents and throws her arms around them with (Name) watching her from behind with a smile on her face.

"Missed us?" Mel notices the broken snow globe. "Oh no, who broke my favorite snow globe."

"I didn’t break it. It must’ve broke when you escaped." Mom spots her bloody knee and looks at (Name) who smiles apologetically at her mother.

"(Name), I told you to look after your sister. You know how adventurous she can be..."

(Name) quickly went to dig out the first aid in the boxes and luckily she didn't take long to find it.

"Well, get yourself cleaned up so your sister can bandage you up, we’re going out tonight." She looks at (Name) who is carrying the kit. "You clean up, too."

"We gotta lot to celebrate!"

"You’re talking about... your garden catalog?"

"Of course! What else?" Their parents turn to leave the room.

"But look at the snow on your clothes...?" But the snow melts without a trace.

Confused Mel asks. "What’s gotten into you, Coraline?"

Her parents walk off as (Name) pats her back. Coraline looks back to the broken snow globe on the mantel. She  cocks her head, deeply puzzled.

"Beldam probably erased their memory to protect herself." (Name) says leading her sister to the bathroom.

The younger sister sits in bed pajamas washed and patched,  wounds-dressed, hair shining. The key hangs from a string around (Name)'s neck who is helping her mother unpack their things. The moon shines in the clear night sky.

Charlie wrestles with a blue stuffed-toy squid like it's an alien face-hugger then, feigning death, falls on the bed making the girls laugh.

"So, gonna order the tulips?" Charlie opens one eye, pretends he’s never heard about this.

"What’s that?"

"For the garden party!"

He sits up and kids them, tickling Coraline's her face with the squid after (Name) dodges him while laughing. "I have no idea what you’re talking about."

"Dad!"

She turns to Mom, arranging things on a shelf. "So, Mom. Sis. Invitations? Don’t forget the invitations."