Troublesome Trio at Skellington Manor

BARREL RUN

Barrel had woken up early and everyone was still asleep. By early I mean it was still pitch black outside. Not a crow's caw to be heard, nor a mayors scream for Jack in the distance. He strolled out the bedroom, careful not to wake his siblings for the their wrath would be unbearable at this hour. Barrel slid down the stairs into the kitchen were a quiet growl sounded, echoing of the walls. 

"Eek!" Barrel quietly yelped, hiding behind a chair for safety. He was never...fond of dogs. No he hated them! Though if he wasn't scared of them he thought he would rather like them. Again the growl sounded getting louder by the second. Barrel was cowering in fear under the chair, hoping someone, preferably Shock, would come save him. He only told Shock about his phobia of dogs. They asked a stranger what it was. It's official term was Cynophobia. They were proud that they knew the meaning of such a big word. It made them feel smart! Anyway, Barrel was silently begging for Shock to appear as the growling slowly turned into barking. He was suddenly pulled into his past, the day his fear appeared.

200 years prior...

Barrel had been running for hours now. A pack of wild skeleton dogs had chased him all the way to the dry forest. There had been three fires here within the month and Barrel did not want to experience the fourth up close. He had just reached the edge and the dogs had gotten closer, A LOT closer. Barrel looked around desperately, he didn't want to go into the forest but it didn't look like he had a choice. Looking behind him he pegged it through the forest, watching as the skeleton dogs got closer and closer. Suddenly a spark lit the forest up in flames. Because of how fast he was running he didn't realise the bones of the dogs rubbing against the dry trees was slowly creating spark. One finally lit up the trees. Barrel was stuck in a circle of red flames, the bony canines slinking back into the darkness to avoid the heat. He quickly scrambled up another tree and clung to it for dear life. Not long after, the people of Halloween Town had put the fires out although they didn't notice the Boogie boy in the tree. He was silently crying but used his lollipop to stop himself from crying out in fear. After the town left he crawled down carefully and went home.

(A/n And that my friends is how Barrel's fear of dogs and fire began but back to the story.)

Barrel was shaking, rocking back and forth under the chair when suddenly a light in the kitchen turned on. The growling immediately stopped and turned into happy yaps. He knew Lock and Shock couldn't reach the light switch so it had to be Jack or Sally. He tried to crawl away but Zero came up to him and continued to growl causing the young boy to yelp.

"Zero down!" Oh no...Oh no! ITS JACK! Barrel hid behind a table leg and tried to stop shaking. 

"Barrel...?" Jack crouched down to the young boys level questioningly. 
"H-Hi?" Barrel stuttered out before dashing out back to his bedroom and diving into bed. A few seconds later the door opened and Jack peeked his head in. Seeing Barrel in bed he closed the door and went back to his bedroom. Barrel had nightmares about that terrible experience all night...

Welp im done. We shall never know why Barrel went to the kitchen. It was just plot convenience. ~K