Prison Break - When LJ... (Re-enchanted)
Title: When LJ... (Re-enchanted)
Rating: G
Category: Gen
Character: LJ
Word count: ~ 590
Summary/Prompt by chromo-2003: LJ and the sentence “I’m / He’s too old to believe in fairy tales.”
Notes: Thanks to happywriter06 for her help with the translation ( Original version).
He’s too old to believe in fairy tales. Definitely.
* *
When LJ was fifteen, his mother and step-father were killed right before his eyes and he was accused of the double murder. He found himself on the run with the cops - not to mention a couple of hit men - hot on his trail. Maybe LJ was too old to believe in fairy tales, but he still needed a few days to realize just how badly the whole story would turn out.
When LJ was twelve, his father was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Maybe LJ was too old to believe in fairy tales, but he didn’t buy that his Daddy was guilty. But then he assumed that very few kids would believe their parents to be guilty. Still, LJ's loyalty to his Dad was no proof of his father's innocence and a jury indeed decided that he deserved to be executed. Uncle Mike put a hand on LJ’s shoulder and told him to have a little faith, but LJ had made up his mind: this time around, he would do his best to skip the visits to the jail. He’d already been there before.
When LJ was eight, his Mom got married. LJ’s step-dad wasn’t a bad guy, quite the contrary: he had his good days and he had his bad days, but all in all, he was a pretty decent and kind fellow. He was just totally unable to cook praiseworthy blueberry pancakes - nobody but Dad was able to do that, to cook praiseworthy blueberry pancakes. The daily presence of his step-father made LJ realize his parents would never ever get married. Except for that, if his life was nothing fairy-tale like, it was pretty pleasant.
When LJ was six, he understood his Mom and Dad weren’t married, had never been married and would never get married. He had had a hunch for a while. It was only when he asked and noticed the awkward glances between Uncle Mike and Veronica that he knew for sure. There would be no marriage, they wouldn’t live happily ever after and LJ wouldn’t get a lot of brothers and sisters.
When LJ was three, his Dad went to jail for the first time. Well, it was the first time since LJ was born anyway. Not that he remembers visiting him, even though he knows that he did. He has fuzzy memories of grey walls and dusty scents, and of Dad squeezing his fingers so hard it almost hurt.
When LJ was really young, just a baby really, he lived with his Mom at his grandparents, in a pretty, very middle class house. Later, he gathered from the whispered conversations that his grandparents watched his mother even more carefully than they watched him. When he thinks about it, he wonders if this wasn’t the sole time of his life when he did believe in fairy tales. He kept telling himself that one day, his father would come and get them out of here.
Twelve years later, he was still waiting.
* *
He’s too old to believe in fairy tales. Definitely.
But when LJ was sixteen and a day, he saw his father’s face on a TV screen (his father who should have been bracing himself for the chair), along with the word ESCAPED and the reporters’ frantic prattling. It didn’t give him a reason to believe in happy endings but the moral of the story, he thought with a hint of sarcasm, was that Uncle Mike might have been right, a few years ago, when he had told him to have a little faith.
* *
Rating: G
Category: Gen
Character: LJ
Word count: ~ 590
Summary/Prompt by chromo-2003: LJ and the sentence “I’m / He’s too old to believe in fairy tales.”
Notes: Thanks to happywriter06 for her help with the translation ( Original version).
He’s too old to believe in fairy tales. Definitely.
* *
When LJ was fifteen, his mother and step-father were killed right before his eyes and he was accused of the double murder. He found himself on the run with the cops - not to mention a couple of hit men - hot on his trail. Maybe LJ was too old to believe in fairy tales, but he still needed a few days to realize just how badly the whole story would turn out.
When LJ was twelve, his father was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Maybe LJ was too old to believe in fairy tales, but he didn’t buy that his Daddy was guilty. But then he assumed that very few kids would believe their parents to be guilty. Still, LJ's loyalty to his Dad was no proof of his father's innocence and a jury indeed decided that he deserved to be executed. Uncle Mike put a hand on LJ’s shoulder and told him to have a little faith, but LJ had made up his mind: this time around, he would do his best to skip the visits to the jail. He’d already been there before.
When LJ was eight, his Mom got married. LJ’s step-dad wasn’t a bad guy, quite the contrary: he had his good days and he had his bad days, but all in all, he was a pretty decent and kind fellow. He was just totally unable to cook praiseworthy blueberry pancakes - nobody but Dad was able to do that, to cook praiseworthy blueberry pancakes. The daily presence of his step-father made LJ realize his parents would never ever get married. Except for that, if his life was nothing fairy-tale like, it was pretty pleasant.
When LJ was six, he understood his Mom and Dad weren’t married, had never been married and would never get married. He had had a hunch for a while. It was only when he asked and noticed the awkward glances between Uncle Mike and Veronica that he knew for sure. There would be no marriage, they wouldn’t live happily ever after and LJ wouldn’t get a lot of brothers and sisters.
When LJ was three, his Dad went to jail for the first time. Well, it was the first time since LJ was born anyway. Not that he remembers visiting him, even though he knows that he did. He has fuzzy memories of grey walls and dusty scents, and of Dad squeezing his fingers so hard it almost hurt.
When LJ was really young, just a baby really, he lived with his Mom at his grandparents, in a pretty, very middle class house. Later, he gathered from the whispered conversations that his grandparents watched his mother even more carefully than they watched him. When he thinks about it, he wonders if this wasn’t the sole time of his life when he did believe in fairy tales. He kept telling himself that one day, his father would come and get them out of here.
Twelve years later, he was still waiting.
* *
He’s too old to believe in fairy tales. Definitely.
But when LJ was sixteen and a day, he saw his father’s face on a TV screen (his father who should have been bracing himself for the chair), along with the word ESCAPED and the reporters’ frantic prattling. It didn’t give him a reason to believe in happy endings but the moral of the story, he thought with a hint of sarcasm, was that Uncle Mike might have been right, a few years ago, when he had told him to have a little faith.
* *