Frankenweenie II

Chapter One: Terror of The Jungle

(ART IS NOT MINE)

One Year Later

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The sun was setting and birds were chirping as a moving van followed a lone blue car into the quiet suburban town of New Holland. The town usually looked a bit gloomy this time of day. If they had arrived in town earlier, they would have been greeted by the sight of kids playing hide-and-seek while parents drank lemonade on the porches of their cookie-cutter homes and gossiped about the latest happenings.

Both vehicles came to a stop on Maple Lane. The car pulled into the driveway as the moving van settled just out front of the unoccupied house.

The arrival had earned a lot of attention from the house next door. In the attic of said house, Sparky was looking out the window and barked with curiosity, even pressing his nose against the glass to try and get a scent from the strangers.

"Sparky, down boy." The now 12-year-old Victor Frankenstein chuckled, standing behind his homemade movie projector.

They were getting ready to watch one of their many homemade movies, all of which starred Sparky. Victor sat down on a wooden chair and patted the other one. Sparky quickly ran from his spot at the window and leaped onto the chair, earring a pat from his owner. "Good boy."

A title card appeared on screen. It was clearly homemade. It read: TERROR OF THE JUNGLE!

On the screen, Sparky was wearing a small brown fedora that had his ears sticking out of it, and a small leather jacket that Victor had sown for him to wear.

Household plants had been scattered all around Sparky. The Terrier suddenly came to a stop. He growled at a large green shrubbery in front of him.

Suddenly, a large black snake slithered out of the bush! Of course, in reality it was just a long rubber snake being controlled by a set of strings similar to a puppet, but its eyes glowed yellow with the help of old Christmas lights, so it still looked pretty scary. Sparky didn't back down as the snake slithered around him, trying to trap the Terrier.

Sparky crouched down, and then he pounced! He grabbed the snake in his mouth and began shaking his head back and forth. The snake didn't have a chance!

On his chair, the real Sparky got into action. Jumping onto Victor's lap, he began to bark loudly at the screen. "You tell him, Sparky!" Victor shouted, encouraging his furry little friend.

The light from the projector behind Sparky cast his shadow onto the screen, and for a moment it looked almost as if there were two Sparky's. But then the real Sparky moved a little and his silhouette disappeared.

Victor was pleased. The movie looked good, and Sparky was perfect, as always. He was the best dog a boy could have.

On the screen, Sparky threw the big snake into the large shrubbery and barked victoriously. Another title card appeared on the screen. This one read: THE END.

The screen faded to black as the film ended.

Sparky barked in applause before giving Victor a wet sloppy kiss. Victor giggled. "Easy, boy!"

"Victor!" His mother's voice rang from downstairs. "Dinner!"

"Coming!" Victor replied. "Come on, boy!"

Victor approached the stairs, but Sparky had gone back to the window. Victor took his dog in his arms before his attention was as-well caught by the scene outside. Gruff men in uniforms carried boxes into the house. Boy nor dog did not see the family though.

****

Downstairs, Victor had informed his parents about their new neighbours, and they seemed to know a lot about them. Apparently they were customers of Mr. Frankenstein.

"A couple weeks ago, a doctor and his wife from New York heard about the Dutch Day festival and wanted to see it for themselves. The man's a busy guy so he wanted to get it done as soon as possible." Mr. Frankenstein began as he helped himself to so some more pasta. "We met in person and I showed him around the town while we discussed business, and last I heard they liked it so much they were actually considering moving here. In fact, I actually got a call from the guy the other day thanking me for showing them around."

"Well, sounds like someone oughta be in line for a promotion." Mrs. Frankenstein said with a proud smile.

"One can only hope." Edward smiled at his wife.

As Victor cut into his last piece of chicken, Sparky ran to the back door and began to scratch at it. Victor looked over and smiled. "Just a minute, boy!"

He swallowed his last bite of chicken and took one last drink of water from his glass before heading to the back door where his dog eagerly awaited him. The Terrier shot up at his owner's presence and wagged his tail. Victor slid the door open and Sparky ran out and circled the back yard.

Once Victor stepped outside, he closed the door as Sparky came running towards him with his ball in his slobbery mouth. He dropped it down in-front of Victor and eagerly barked.

"Go get it, boy!" Victor picked up the ball and tossed it towards the fence. Sparky chased the ball over to the gap between the wooden fence, where he then barked enthusiastically upon peering inside, wagging his tail. High-pitched barking was then heard from over the fence. Victor smiled and walked over; he reached up and grasped the wood, standing on his toes to peer over.

He saw Elsa's black poodle Persephone rubbing noses with Sparky; she barked happily at the Terrier's presence. Victor didn't realise, however, that Elsa also happened to be there. So when he looked over and saw her, he was startled by her sudden appearance and fell to the ground.

"Victor?" Elsa peaked over the fence, looking down on her neighbour with a look of concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Victor assured as he put a hand to his dizzy head. Sparky ran over and gave him a good comforting lick. The sight of which made Elsa giggle. "Sorry for frightening you." She sincerely apologised.

"It's alright. I just didn't see you, is all." Victor said as he stood back up, dusting the dirt off of his pants. For a few seconds, there was silence (minus, of course, the dogs), until Elsa broke the ice.

"Victor?"

"Yes?"

"Are you, um, planning to go to the Dutch Day Festival this year?" Elsa asked.

"After what happened last year? I doubt your uncle will let me anywhere near that festival. The same probably goes for the others."

Elsa chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right about that."

"Are you?"

"Going?" She sighed. "Unfortunately."

"You aren't the little Dutch Girl again, are you?" Victor asked with concern in his voice. He knew how much Elsa hated wearing that ridiculous outfit and singing in front of all those people last year.

"Thankfully no." Elsa assured.

"Well," Victor admitted honestly. "Whoever is chosen, they certainly won't be able to top you."

Elsa raised her fingers to her lips and giggled as a blush formed on her pale white cheeks. "Thank you, Victor."

An uncomfortable sense of awkwardness washed over Victor. "Uh, gotta go. See you tomorrow Elsa!" He retreated inside his house with his dog in tow.

"Bye Victor!" Elsa waved to her neighbour. She smiled before leaning down to pet her poodle. "We can never get enough of those two, can we Persephone?" The dog happily yapped, agreeing with her owner.