ParaNorman Fanfic - Norman's Life

Courtney had been waiting excitedly to see her baby sibling ever since her mother told her that she was going to have one. She had gone out of her way and done extra chores around the house so that Sandra could relax while she was pregnant. When her mother had woken up in the middle of the night screaming, Courtney had immediately panicked and rushed into her parents room to check on them. Her parents were both getting out of bed and her father was putting a coat on Sandra. Courtney tried to ask them what was going on, but Perry just told her to stay at the house with Grandma. Once they were gone, Courtney's eyes widened in realization and she smiled brightly. "I'm gonna be a sister!"

When Perry came home alone, Courtney had immediately begun to panic. "Where's mommy? Is she ok? What happened?" she asked frantically. "Oh, don't worry, Courtney. I'm sure everything's fine." Grandma assured. Courtney looked back at her dad, worry in her eyes. "Your Grandmother's right. Mommy just needs to stay at the hospital for awhile with the baby." Perry explained. The second he said 'baby', Courtney's anxious smile returned and she started jumping in excitement. "Is it a boy or a girl? Do I have a brother or a sister?" she asked, her eyes shining brightly. "Oh, trust me, it's a boy…" Perry trailed off, shaking his head but smiling. It looked more like a worried smile, but it was a smile all the same. "YAY!" Courtney started dancing around the house singing "I have a baby brother!" over and over again until she finally managed to tire herself out.

It felt like an eternity had passed before Perry had finally gone to pick up Sandra and Courtney's baby brother. Courtney waited impatiently at home with Grandma yet again, but surprisingly it didn't take them as long to get home. Courtney had later decided that it was probably just because Grandma had distracted her with a few stories while they were gone. They had come in partway through Snow White, and Courtney had immediately shot up and ran over to the door when she heard them come in. "Can I see him? Can I see him?" she begged as Grandma made her way over as well. "Of course, dear. Just wait a second." Sandra smiled, looking down at the bundle that was in her arms. Courtney went on her tip-toes, trying to get a glance at him. Sandra laughed a little, then had an idea. "Would you like to hold him?" she asked. Courtney's smile brightened and she nodded excitedly. "Careful, now…" Sandra cautiously gave the bundle to Courtney, who took it with care. Sure enough, the baby boy was bundled up in the blanket. "Aw…" Courtney cooed. Suddenly she remembered something and looked up at her parents. "What'd you name him?" she asked with excitement. "Norman." Sandra replied sweetly to the four-year-old. Courtney smiled and looked back down at Norman. "Hi, Norman! I'm Courtney!" she exclaimed. "I'm your big sister!" she hugged him a little closer, making sure she was careful.

Courtney helped take care of Norman whenever she got the chance to. If he started crying, she tried her hardest to find the problem and fix it, though she always left the diaper-changing to her parents. Other then that, she had a solution to each problem. If he was hungry, she knew where the bottle was. If he was tired, she rocked him to sleep. The list went on, and she made sure that she was always prepared. It wasn't all that hard really, until he had learned to move around on his own. Once it happened, Courtney made sure that her bedroom door was closed at all costs. The last thing she needed was for her little brother to eat nail polish. She also kept a much closer eye on him, considering he was constantly trying to get a good look out the window, which meant he was always climbing on top of furniture to get to his goal. "He's a pretty smart kid to be able to manage that…" Grandma had remarked more then once when she picked Norman up off of various furniture pieces. "Maybe he keeps seeing something outside?" Courtney usually suggested afterwards. One day he had even managed to get himself onto the kitchen table. Courtney walked into the kitchen, and the second she saw him waving at something out the window and laughing on the table, she had panicked. "NORMAN!" she exclaimed, rushing over. She lifted him up, glancing back at the window. What was getting his attention out there all the time? "You have to be careful, you could get hurt doing that!" she explained as she looked back at him. He was still trying to look out the window, which made her look back at it again. There was still nothing there. "What are you so interested in? There's nothing out there!" Courtney exclaimed. Norman tilted his head a little, as if he were confused by the fact that there wasn't anything there. Courtney sighed, putting him down. "I really don't understand you." She laughed a little as he rushed off, then followed him after a moment. She had a feeling that he was gonna keep causing trouble if he wasn't watched.

Even after his first words, Norman didn't really speak all that much. In fact, he wasn't very loud at all. If they asked him a question, he'd usually just nod or shake his head in response. He had given up on climbing onto furniture at this point, but he still tried to look out the window every so often. In fact, Courtney had seen him waving at absolutely nothing very often. She hadn't really paid attention to it though. He was turning four in a few days, and she had something very special planned out for him. Now that she could actually trust him to not nearly kill himself by climbing on everything, she didn't have to watch him 24/7. She still kept an eye on him, of course, but now she could actually go do her own thing for awhile without worrying about him hurting himself.
A night or two before his birthday, Courtney had finally finished his gift. Now all she had to do was wrap it and keep it well hidden. She drifted off to sleep quickly, though it didn't seem like she got very much sleep before hearing a loud scream from down the hall. She immediately shot up out of bed and ran down the hall when she realized that the scream had come from Norman's room. "Norman?! What's wrong?!" she asked frantically as she came in, flicking the light on. Norman was sitting up in his bed, shaking. He was curled up into a ball too, hugging his knees close with his face buried in his pajama bottoms. Courtney quickly came over and kneeled down next to him, noticing that he was crying. "Norman?" she tried to get a good look at his face, but she couldn't. He started crying even harder, but she quickly started to shush him. She knew that Perry didn't like rude awakenings, though she was slight confused as to why neither of their parents had gotten up. Had they not heard him? "Hey, hey… What happened?" she asked him softly. He looked over at her, showing how red his eyes were from crying. "I-I saw a scary man in my dream…" he stammered. Courtney was a little surprised that he spoke so fluently, considering his habit of not talking and his age. "Oh… Nightmares, huh?" Courtney scooted a little closer to him, resting her head on his bed lightly. Norman nodded, wiping tears away with his sleeve. "… You know what helps me when I have nightmares?" Courtney smiled, getting his attention. "… W-what?" he asked, sniffing. Courtney smiled deviously, lunging forward and tickling him. He yelped in shock, then started laughing. "C-Courtney! I can't breathe!" he laughed, trying to push her away playfully.
After a moment she stopped, smiling at him. He was smiling again, and that was what she had been hoping for. Norman continued to giggle, though there were still a few tears on his cheeks. Courtney gently wiped them away with her thumb, then kissed him on the forehead. "Goodnight, Norman." she smiled as she got up. Suddenly his panic returned. "W-wait!" he yelped, chasing after her and grabbing onto her leg, causing her to stop and look down at him in slight shock. "W-what if he comes back?" he asked as the tears started to come again. Courtney knelt down to him, thinking. Then she had an idea. "Do you think you could wait here for a second? I'll be right back." She promised. After a moment Norman hesitantly nodded, watching her head back to her room. When she came back, she was holding something behind her back. "I was gonna wait until your birthday to give this too you, but I think you might want to have it now." She explained. Norman tilted his head a little in confusion. After a moment she bent down and put something in his hands. It was a home-made plush. A green teddy bear, to be specific. Norman gasped in excitement, smiling. "Made him myself." Courtney stated as he hugged the plush closer. "Just for me?" Norman wondered, looking up at her with big eyes. "Just for you." She repeated in response. He jumped forward, wrapping his arms around her. "Thanks, Courtney!" he exclaimed. "No problem." She smiled, hugging him back. After a moment they released, and Norman looked at his new bear for a moment. "I think I'll call him…" he trailed off, tilting his head a little. What was a good name for a green bear? "… Teddy!" he decided, hugging the bear close. Simple and sweet. He liked it. "Good name!" Courtney agreed. She started to get up, leading Norman over to his bed and tucking him in. Just as she got up, Norman quickly stopped her. "Uh… Courtney?" he called her name softly, trying to get her attention. She turned around to face him again, wondering what could be upsetting him now. "Yes?" she answered. "C-could you stay in here? Just for tonight?" he asked shyly. Courtney blinked for a moment, thinking. "Please?" he begged. After a moment she sighed, making a decision. "Scoot over." She smiled. Norman quickly obeyed excitedly. "Thanks, Courtney…" he yawned, closing his eyes again once they were both comfortable. Courtney smiled, kissing him on the forehead again lightly. "Goodnight, Norman…"

Norman's first few days of school weren't exactly the best. And they definitely hadn't gotten any better. He really didn't want to go back. "C'mon, Norman… You're a big boy now!" Sandra exclaimed, smiling. "I'm five, Mom…" Norman argued. In his book, that was still filed under little boy. The first day of school had already passed a few weeks ago, and now it was just a matter of getting him to keep going back. Courtney tried her best to help him through it, but he didn't seem very keen on it. If they didn't leave soon, they'd both be late. "… How about he stays home for today, Mom?" Courtney suggested. Norman perked up a little, smiling at her. "Courtney, I don't think that's-" "C'mon, Mom. It's just one day!" Courtney assured. Sandra looked back at Norman, then sighed and got up. "Alright, then… But only for today, alright?" she smiled. Norman nodded, watching her leave the room. Once she was gone he crawled out and gave Courtney a hug. "Thanks…" he looked up at her, smiling. "Hey, we gotta look out for each other, right?" Courtney explained. She knelt down to him and smiled. "I promise I'll always look out for you, alright?" she told him. Norman nodded, hugging her again. "Always…" he repeated. That sounded perfect for him.

School never ended up getting better. In fact, it got worse throughout the year. Courtney would always protect him from bullies, sure, but then Norman started to notice that she was taking longer to come. At first, he thought that maybe she was just busy in some other class. But then he realized that she wasn't getting any quicker. In fact, she was getting slower. It was starting to worry him. He constantly asked her if she was sick, and soon she wasn't answering him normally, she was snapping at him. Maybe he was just bugging her too much? He left her alone for awhile, but after a whole year and a half of nearly coming home with a bloody nose, Norman was positive that something was up. He walked around outside of the school at lunchtime, searching for Courtney. "Where is she…?" he wondered aloud. She could be avoiding him. He tried not to talk to ghosts in public as often, but he still did it. He just did it very quietly. "… Is she… Embarrassed of me?" he wondered, slowing to a stop as he started to think about it. Suddenly he felt himself get picked up by his main pursuer and he yelped. "Lookie here, fellas! Normie seems a little lost!" Alvin laughed. "It's Norman!" Norman corrected angrily. He hated when Alvin and his buddies called him Normie. His attention when to a group of girls that were over by the bleachers, watching the jocks. And Courtney was with them. He gasped as Alvin started to drag him over to the trash bins. "COURTNEY! COURTNEY, HELP!" Norman called out in panic. She looked over at him for a moment, and their eyes looked. And then she looked away. Norman gasped in shock, then screamed as Alvin chucked him into the garbage bin headfirst before him and his buddies left, laughing hysterically. Norman squirmed around for a minute before managing to get out, garbage covering him. He groaned, rubbing his head as she looked up at his sister. His eyes narrowed and he got up, turning away in anger.
Norman managed to convince the nurse that he was sick and he got sent home, where he waited for Courtney after a quick shower. Once she got home, chaos ensued. She immediately saw him glaring at her, and she groaned as she came over. "Norman, look-" "You broke your promise!" he interrupted. "You said you'd always look out for me! But you just turned away!" "Norman-" "How could you?!" "GROW UP, NORMAN!" Courtney shrieked at him. He recoiled in shock, his eyes wide as they started to water. "I can't be watching you your whole life, so you need to stop acting like you're two years old and take care of yourself!" Courtney snapped. "I have better things to do then look after you." "So you'd just leave me if I were in danger?" he narrowed his eyes at her angrily, tears still coming. Courtney froze, unsure of how to answer. Before she even had a chance to Norman stormed upstairs, slamming his door shut and curling up on his bed next to Teddy. He looked over at the plush, thinking. "… So much for always…" he murmured. He angrily snatched the bear up and threw it against the wall as hard as he could. After a moment he quickly rushed over and scooped the bear up again, hugging it close as he went back over to his bed and curled up again.
It didn't take long for him to hear a knock on the door. "If its Courtney, you aren't allowed in!" he yelled. There was a moment of silence before the door opened and Grandma peeked in. "You're pretty upset, huh?" she came over to his bed to see him. "… She broke her promise…" he mumbled, hugging his knees close. "What promise?" she wondered. Norman explained what happened, and he wasn't able to hold back his tears at the end. Grandma shushed him lovingly, hugging him in comfort. "Well, I'm still here, you know…" she smiled. "… I-I know." He assured. After a moment she smiled. "My show just ended. How about we go downstairs and watch something together, huh?" she suggested, gently lifting his head up so he'd be looking at her. "You can choose what we watch." "I… I think I'd like that." Norman smiled, sniffling a little. He grabbed her hand and they headed downstairs to the living room. Norman grabbed the remote and sat down just in front of the couch, setting Teddy down next to him as he flipped through the channels. There wasn't much on that he wanted to watch. He stopped on the ball game for a few seconds, then continued to search through. He had gotten into the habit of watching small bits of baseball games, but only when his dad was watching them. After what seemed like an eternity Norman saw something and gasped, quickly flipping back to the channel and pausing it. "Woah…" he smiled as his eyes widened in awe at the zombie on the screen. He looked up at Grandma, his eyes still wide. "Look at that guy!" he exclaimed before running over to the TV to get a closer look. "He's all green and boney and… His brain's sticking out!" he pointed to the small bit of brain that was showing through a crack in the zombie's head. Grandma couldn't help but stifle a laugh at his enthusiasm. They both looked over at the door as Perry marched in. "Oh, no! You aren't watching this!" he exclaimed. "Aw… But Daaaaad…" Norman whined. "No buts! You'll probably get nightmares…" Perry looked over at the TV, groaning when he saw what the zombie looked like. "Mom, don't let him watch this." He ordered before marching out. After a moment Norman looked back at Grandma. "We're watching it, right?" "Of course!" "ALRIGHT!" Norman cheered excitedly and ran back over to pick up Teddy and the remote then went back and sat in front of the TV, turning the movie back on. Norman enjoyed it immensely, and he found himself imitating the zombies groans quietly every once in a while. Once the movie was done, he was practically cheering. "Best. Movie. EVER!" he exclaimed, falling backwards to the floor with his arms up. He went into a small giggling fit as he thought back to his favourite scenes. Grandma smiled as he suddenly started to blurt out everything about the movie, his sentences mending together in a mass of words. "Alright, alright, calm down…" she laughed. Norman looked up at her, his cheeks starting to hurt from him smiling. "Oh! I know!" he got up and screwed his face up, imitating the zombies. "Braaaaaiiiiiins!" he groaned, trying not to laugh. Grandma cracked up at his silly imitation. Norman finally ended up bursting in laughter as well. He was interrupted by a loud yawn, which was around when he realized how late it was and how tired he had actually gotten. "I-I should probably go to bed…" he sighed, still giggling a little. He went up and gave Grandma a hug before grabbing Teddy and rushing up the stairs so he wouldn't get caught up so late. "Night, Grandma!" he called down as he entered his room. At least he had someone he knew he could always trust.

Norman got used to the abuse at school fairly fast, which he didn't exactly consider a good thing. He was handling it pretty well for an eight-year-old. Soon enough he had practically stopped talking to the ghosts around town in an attempt to avoid it, but Alvin made sure that word of his habit of 'talking to thin air' spread like a fire. Norman didn't bother waiting for Courtney to come help him anymore either. He had started to pay attention to his surroundings, making sure he knew every turn, shortcut and space that Alvin either didn't know of or couldn't fit in. In fact, Norman was getting accustom to running for his life every day. He watched zombie movies with Grandma whenever they were on, and soon enough he had convinced his dad to get him some posters for his room. 'Some' turned into 'enough to cover the whole wall' fairly quickly when Norman couldn't just pick one. He couldn't help it though. They were all so good! The year passed quickly, as did the next, and Norman still attempted to spend some time with Courtney. But she was always 'too busy', even though he knew that was all just an excuse so she could ignore the fact that he even existed. It still bothered him. They used to be so close… He didn't really sulk about it anymore as much as he used to. The fact was that Courtney just didn't care all that much anymore. But Norman still 'cuddled' with Teddy every once in a while when he had really bad nightmares, which seemed to always happen around the same time every year. And that time was the anniversary of some kind of curse. Norman didn't fully understand it, but the rest of the town definitely did. That was proved by the fact that everything was Witch-based in Blithe Hollow. Around the time of the anniversary, Norman's nightmares always became terrible. Sometimes he even felt pain in them as if they were real. But that wasn't the only strange thing that happened around that time. He also saw some old dude running around screaming that time was running out. It sort of intrigued Norman, and one day he worked up the courage to ask him who he was.
On the way back from school, Norman found the man yelling again. So he took a deep breath and walked over. "Uh… E-excuse me? Sir?" he tried to get the man's attention as quickly as possible. The man noticed him alright. He turned, and the second he saw Norman a smile went across his face. "Ah-ha-ha! It's you!" he exclaimed. Norman raised an eyebrow, then shook the thought out of his head. "Um… Right… Erm, what're you yelling about?" he asked as politely as he could. "You mean you don't know?!" the man's eyes widened in shock. Norman looked around, noticing that people were staring at them. Was it really so weird to have a conversation with the guy? "It's the Witch's curse! Tomorrow's the anniversary, and she's going to wake up!" the man explained to him, though he was still running. "When she does, she's going to raise the dead from their graves!!!" he finished with a shout that nearly made Norman's eardrums burst. He rubbed his ears, looking up at the man in slight shock. Did he mean zombies or something? Before he had a chance to ask, he heard a much more familiar voice call out to him. "Norman! Get over here!" he heard Perry demand. Norman quickly looked back at his dad to see him staring angrily at him in his car. "C-coming, dad!" Norman called. He heard the crazy man huff in annoyance and grumble something. "I'm sorry, I have to go…" Norman explained, gesturing to his dad. The man didn't really respond, so Norman went over to his dad and got in the car. They started driving home, and it didn't take long for the lecture to begin. "Norman, you are never to talk to that man again." He ordered. "Why?" Norman asked curiously. "Just because. I want you to forget this ever happened, alright?" Perry looked back at him as he parked the car in the driveway. Norman took a second to think about it. Was the guy a psychopath or something? "… Alright…" he answered, getting out of the car and heading inside. He quickly went upstairs to find something that'd distract him from thinking of what had happened so that he could forget about it like his dad had told him to.

Two years had passed since Norman had been told not to talk to the crazy old man, and he had practically completely forgotten all about it. And he got a weekly reminder not to talk to him, so he just ignored him from then on. Even when the man had started to try and get his attention, he ignored him and continued on his way. Today had been particularly bad for Norman. Alvin had gone extra brutal today, and Norman couldn't wait to just get home, relax and watch a zombie movie or two with Grandma. "I'm home!" he called out as he plopped his schoolbag down on the floor. He went into the living room, not surprised when he saw Grandma asleep on the couch. He looked over at the TV to see that her show had just ended. "You fell asleep during your show again, Grandma." he smiled as he looked back at her. He laughed a little, but it didn't take long for the laughter to fade. "… Hello?" he raised an eyebrow at her. She usually wasn't this out of it. "Grandma, are you alri-" he started to shake her lightly, then froze. Her skin was cold. His eyes widened and got glassy as he noticed the small, glowing orbs that were just above her. "Grandma…?" he whispered in fear as tears began to stroll gently down his cheeks. He knew what had happened to her. "MOM! COME QUICK!" he yelled out, nearly choking on his tears. Sandra rushed down quickly, gasping when she saw Norman with Grandma, still shaking her lightly in an attempt to wake her up. Sandra knew what had happened as well and she put her hands over her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. Norman quickly hugged Grandma tightly, crying. "Wake up… Please, just wake up…"

A few days after the funeral, Norman was still sulking in his room. He looked up at his posters, then took a shaky sigh and hugged his knees close to his chest, crying. He was starting to get worried. Why hadn't her ghost shown up yet? "M-maybe she didn't wanna stick around…" he mumbled miserably, making himself cry even harder. He looked back at his posters, then froze. Did one of them just move? He brought his knees down and looked over, raising an eyebrow. After a moment he gasped. Grandma came floating in, right through on of his posters. "Grandma!" he exclaimed, quickly running over with a bright smile on his face. "I missed you so much…" he cried. "Where were you?" "Just resting for awhile." Grandma answered, smiling. Norman smiled back, relieved. He had gotten back into talking to the ghosts in public, and he didn't bother trying to hide it anymore. He didn't mind the fact that everyone seemed uncomfortable around him. All the ghosts in town were friendly, and he liked talking to him. He felt terrible for not talking to them very much, but he was going to make up for it the best he could. Now that he was talking to them again, he knew that his life was going to get difficult, especially at school. Everything was about to change.