A/N: Hello my faithful readers! I was listening through my iPod, and lo and behold, the song "Heaven's Light" from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame popped up. Suddenly, I was struck with an idea!!!(Ideas feel a lot like rubber bouncy balls from mall vending machines….) So, this story is the result. Please read and review (or the next idea might be a brick….)!
Disclaimer: I do not own Edgar and Ellen cartoons, books, or the Hunchback of Notre Dame…but if I did… insert evil laugh
"Heaven's Light"
Twilight lay over the town of Nod's Limbs like a warm, woolen blanket. Of course, nature ignored the fact that it was the middle of a cool eve in July. Lights shown out of the houses of the inhabitants, but not enough to illuminate the pavement or the trees of the Black Forest.
Edgar looked out from the rooftop of the mansion and sighed. He wasn't up there because he feared any traps Ellen had set for him below or a game of hide-and-seek-and-subdue. He was up on the twenty-fourth floor of the mansion of his own free will. In fact, he had been going up there for quite some time.
He looked down to the streets and saw two figures in the shadow. They looked to be a boy and a girl. They were holding hands and looking at fireflies. The girl was enjoying herself, as was the boy.
So many times out there
I've watched a happy pair
Of lovers walking in the night
Edgar sighed and looked away. He couldn't bear the sweetness of it. But this event wasn't the typical Nod's Limbsian sugar cube sweetness. With the warmth of the night, the flickering insects, and soft, natural smiles, it was something much more precious.
They had a kind of glow around them
It almost looked like Heaven's Light
Now the couple was trying to catch some of the fireflies in their hands. The girl almost had one, but she missed, falling into the boy's arms. They laughed and resumed their hunt.
It made Edgar sick. Not the sweet-feelings of love, trust, and joy the event reeked of, but also the pain it stirred in him.
I knew I'd never know
That warm and loving glow
Though I may wish with all my Might
Anger. Sorrow. Regret. Humiliation. All feelings he felt when he was with Ursula, however briefly. True, she made him feel the sweet feelings in the beginning, but once Ellen revealed Ursula's real plans to steal his beloved satchel, it all fell apart. She disappeared, taking his heart with her.
No face as hideous as my face
Was ever meant for Heaven's Light…
Edgar touched his angular chin and ruffled his wet-down hair. Let's face it, he thought, I'm definitely no stud. Save for Miles Knightleigh, he was probably the ugliest boy in the whole school. No girl except Ellen would ever be seen with his thin, pale, worn self without dropping dead first.
Yet suddenly an angel has smiled at me
And kissed my cheek without a trace of fright
I dared to dream that she
Might even care for me
Only Ursula did that. And of course it was to manipulate, cheat, and steal her way to greatness. Ellen was smart enough to see it, so why wasn't he?
But he learned his lesson. Having your heart ripped out, stomped on, and shredded does that. No more love. Ever. Don't get too close to anyone. Build a wall. Never let anyone in. But every once in a while, that wall would crack. And he would come up here to scream, cry, release any frustrations, or what have you.
He looked back to the moon-lit bug catchers and felt a lump in his throat. They were kissing, fireflies buzzing around them.
Why didn't this happen for him? He should be the one down there, holding the girl in his arms, being debonair, feeling her silky skin, romancing, letting time pass unnoticed. A burning envy for the boy seared his soul. He wanted that, he wanted love, he wanted to be that boy.
But alas, he was Edgar. The freak with a twin. The boy who was so poor he only had one pair of clothing. The starving orphan. The town nuisance. The kid who makes you uncomfortable. The pair of incestuous kids. He heard his classmates in the halls. They whispered and giggled and in the locker room the other boys made snide comments about him and Ellen. He wanted to clock them a good one, but he was so thin that any of them would have killed him if they sat down.
So he pretended not to care. About those boys, about love, about school, about life. It seemed to work for Ellen.
And he let out a long, loud, painful wail into the night like a howling wolf.
That seemed to work for Ellen too.
"Edgar?" he heard a voice from the door.
"Sister!" He turned sharply, falling down.
"Are you alright? I heard you from the first floor."She walked over to him, looking concerned.
"I'm fine sister. Stop worrying."
"Okay," she gave him a hug and went back to the door. Before leaving, she turned and said, "Hey, I'm gonna scare Romeo and Juliet over there with Morella, wanna see?"
Edgar laughed. "Sure."
Ellen smiled then ran down the stairs.
Edgar smiled back.
And as I ring these bells tonight
My cold dark tower seems so bright
It almost looked like Heaven's Light!