A rewrite of my fanfiction "Lini". There are a ton of changes.
T’was not long ago,
Though long it may seem,
In a place that perhaps
You have seen in your dreams.
For the story that is about to unfold,
Took place in a holiday world of old.
Now you see,
After Jack’s famous ride,
He promised then on,
By the rules to abide.
So he settled down,
And his wife Sally had twins,
And it is with his young daughter,
Our story begins…
Chapter1: Lini’s Lament.
One upon a time a young girl sat upon a hill. She was not very tall, but extremely thin. She was dressed in black and white stripes and had a large red ribbon tied around her neck. Her pale skin seemed to be glowing in the moonlight like the nose of the little dog that looked up at her wondering why she was so sad.
The girl hardly noticed Zero, lost in thought, twirling a lock of her short white hair through her fingers. She looked at one of her flesh covered hands. To the naked eye it looked like a normal hand. It was a normal hand. And that is why she was sad.
The girl’s name was Jaqulene Alice Skellington, or Lini, which is what most had called her since she had been very small. She was the eldest of the Skellington children, of whom there are four, but I’ll describe them later.
She was sad because it was Halloween. Don’t misunderstand me; she
loved Halloween, it was her favorite holiday of all time, every year she looked forward to it with passion…except this year. She had, by her own father, been asked not to participate.
She understood it was not really him who didn’t want her involved, he had been pressured by the mayor and the townsfolk…but it still hurt. He was the Pumpkin King, and her father, he could have told them it wasn’t her fault. That they would just have to live with it and that she had every right to participate even if she was…
adorable. She hated that word.
She should have been a skeleton, or a ragdoll, but no, she was born—she didn’t want to say it –alive. A tear rolled down her face. Then another. And another.
She had tried to be her scary best, but without powers, well…sharp objects made her bleed, she had often been told she looked like a kitten when angry, and a costume couldn’t replace what she just didn’t have.
She knew what they thought of her. Her friends told her it wasn’t true, and that she just hadn’t found her talent yet, but she could still hear them say she was an embarrassment to her family. They used to say it about her twin too, because he doesn’t like to scare people, but last year he showed them he could be as great as Jack; it was just that he doesn’t want to be. Then there’s Andy, he’s practically a prodigy of terror. Everyone suspects he’ll be the next king. As for her sister, she’s a little young yet but at least she has some potential.
Sadly, with a voice sweet and soft as her mother’s, Lini began to sing.
(To the tune of Jack’s Lament)
There are few who deny,
At what I do I am the worst,
For sadly I have been born
To be cursed.
When it comes to surprises
In the moonlit night,
I fail however hard I may be trying.
Despite all my efforts
To have ghostlike charms
I have never yet made a person scream.
I have tried many tricks,
And have done my best to scare
But yet their lack of response is extreme.
And who here,
Would ever understand
That it’s not my fault,
I’ve done the best I can,
And I, daughter of the Pumpkin King,
Only wish to be part of Halloween.
Oh there’s an empty place in my heart,
That only wants,
To be apart,
The praise I long for year after year,
Leaves me just these broken tears…
Another tear rolled down Lini’s face. Zero couldn’t stand to see his master’s daughter cry and snuggled close to comfort her. She petted him gently but nothing could cheer her tonight. In the distance she could hear the celebration. The whole town would be there, along with the rest of her family. So it was quite a surprise when she heard a voice behind her.
“Lini?”
The sound made Lini jump and she stood up quickly trying to hide that she’d been crying. “Lock, you scared me.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to, but I didn’t see you at the celebration and then your brother told me what happened, so I came to see if you were okay.”
His words came out in a bit of a rush which made Lini smile, if only very briefly. Lock, Shock, and Barrel has been close friends of her and her brother since the day Lini decided that they needed to be friends. Lock, Shock, and Barrel had disagreed at first but slowly the five had become an inseparable group.
“How long were you there?” She said, suddenly embarrassed to think he’d heard her.
“Long enough.”
A silence formed between them. Lock wanted to make her feel better but didn’t know how.
“Do…you want to talk, or something?” He said, clearly uncomfortable.
“No, it’s okay Lock. I just need to walk around.”
The two began to walk in silence, Zero following close behind, unconsciously heading back towards town. By the time they got there the celebration was over and awards were being handed out. They avoided everyone as Lock walked her home. The rest of her family wasn’t home yet so she said goodbye to Lock and entered the house with Zero.
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A/N: Much different from the first chapter of the original. I like it, but I'd like to know what you think, so please comment.
