Linda Rosary had a hard life. It may have been mostly due to her vain sisters, but it was also because her parents were never really there. They weren't dead or anything, they were just really busy and didn't have much time to spend with their 13 daughters: her mother, Cheryl, was a famous supermodel who toured the globe, appearing in fashion shows at swanky places like Paris, New York, London and Milan. The money she got from appearing at such shows was where the family's richness mainly came from. As for her father, Romeo, he worked a low-pay job as a plumber and electrician, and he had so many houses to visit that he didn't often get back until way after the sisters had put themselves to bed, and then he would sleep for a horrendously short amount of time so that he would get up before any of the sisters (though there was the rare occasion where he would run into one of the elder sisters while she was going on her nightly snack run, more of her later). But Linda knew they both loved her and the other 12 very much, and wanted them to go far in life. Unfortunately, with the parents out of the house most of the time, the sisters had to fend for themselves. They thought that they were too 'special' to do any chores, so ordered Linda to do everything for them- she did their laundry, mowed the lawn, made dinner, washed the dishes and tidied the house, all without complaining one bit as she was a very hardworking person.

Our story begins one afternoon, as soon as Linda had returned from school. She absolutely loathed being ambushed by her sisters the second she closed the door behind her. 'how was school today, Lindy?' Asked one 'did you get bullied 'cause of your outfit?' called out another 'did you like the half-eaten slice of chocolate cake I put in your lunch?' cried a third.

Linda elbowed her way through the crowd and swiftly made her way up the stairs. 'doesn't matter what I did as school today, guys,' She shouted down to her sisters once she was on the landing 'it's rude to interfere with someone's personal business!'. As she strode across the lengthy corridor, she passed the many bedrooms that were shared by her sisters in 2s. there were- Cinder and Spinner, Siren and Miss Mecca, Anne Droid V2.1 and Fay Soff, Samantha and Jelly-Chan, Demonica and Mirage, and Cyan and Spirit (those weren't actually their real names but family nicknames or pet names, and in case you were wondering, their real names were- Carrie, Spirulina, Shaira, Marian, Anne, Fay, Samantha, Jenny, Monica, Maya, Chloe and Sabine). All 6 of those rooms had belongings that clashed with one another and they were a hotspot for arguments.

Eventually, Linda reached the narrow, rickety staircase that led up to her tiny attic room. This was like a safe haven for her, where she could go off and ignore her sisters' shortcomings. She checked that nothing was out of place (sometimes her sisters went up into her room and deliberately messed with her stuff when she wasn't there), dropped her school bag on her beloved, albeit tattered floral armchair, and lay down on her bed to catch up with what she'd missed with Rolie Polie Olie on a VHS recording of Playhouse Disney she'd taped earlier in the day. It was the best show she had seen in a long time, and acted as a form of escapism for her- oh, how she wished to live in Olie's perfect world!

Linda sighed to herself and fondled with her special, green threadbare scarf that had gotten her through thick and thin. It had been gifted to her by her dad on her 6th birthday, and she had worn it ever since. It was also the only thing she valued above every other possession she had, unlike her other sisters, who could and would tell you a greasy, plastic fast food toy was very special to them!

Linda sat there, enjoying her perfect moment of bliss, until one of her sisters, who was about 3 years older than her and named Spinner, interrupted it with a 'HEEEEYDI-HIDI-HO, LI'L SIS!' while cartwheeling across the room.

Spinner was the athletic one in the family; she was a bit muscular, and had her wild, unkempt hair tied in a messy bun. She was also wearing a loose tank top with a logo of a low-poly hummingbird that had 'HUMMINGBIRD SPORTS , EST. 1986' engraved under it, along with tight-fitting, light purple cotton shorts. Seeing as she had just come back from her weekly pickleball game, beads of sweat were dotted all over her bare, exposed skin and her cheeks were a slight shade of pink.

As she excitedly danced around the room without stopping to catch her breath, she gushed 'oh, Lindy, I just thought you might've been a bit lonely so I decided to come up and see you! Do you like my company?' Linda, trying to be kind, just nodded, barely looking at Spinner and trying to concentrate on the continuity on her relatively small tv. It was just then Spinner noticed what was happening and exclaimed 'ooooh, is that the recent episode? The one with Chunk Squarey? I know for a fact that if I was in the episode, I could to the twirl just as well as him! Even better at that!'. She even provided a demonstration, in which she twizzled rapidly around at about a thousand miles an hour, before eventually bumping into Linda's bookshelf, causing a rather thick book titled 'The Definitive Encyclopaedia Of The Animal Kingdom' to fall on her head, and scaring Pumpkin Seed the goldfish, who buried itself under some gravel. 'I'm ok!' Said Spinner, who was now giving a sweaty thumbs up.

Linda grumbled in an annoyed way, and just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, the dinner bell rang. Spinner tugged on her purple and yellow striped sleeveless shirt and beckoned 'c'mon, Linda! You don't want to miss dinner 'cause it's your favourite, steak and fries!'

She was very quiet throughout dinner, compared to her sisters, who were constantly boasting about their fashion senses, and how they were planning to improve them, all while barely eating so their food became cold and Linda had to scrape it all in the bin 'what a waste of a perfectly good meal!' she thought, as she retired to get an early night's sleep.

As soon as Linda had put on her pyjamas, she plodded over to a wall in her room which she had turned into a gallery dedicated to her 12 sisters. This was, of course, in the good old days before they resorted to vanity: there was-

Spirit tenderly holding Linda when she had just been born.

Her and Cinder watching the fireworks on Independence Day together.

Her watching Fay Soff get her ears pierced for the first time at the ripe age of 8.

Jelly-Chan feeding her some of her ice cream. She had chocolate and Jelly had strawberry.

Siren reading her a bedtime story, then singing her the most beautiful lullaby she'd ever heard

Demonica taking her so see a horror movie, and then escorting her out of the theatre when she found it too scary

Her and Samantha in the bath together when they were only toddlers.

Linda just didn't understand. Why had they become so obsessed in their own beauty? Why did they make the things they loved the most their entire personality? Why had they gone a step too far? Why didn't they care about her anymore? Why? Why? WHY?! Those thoughts bothered her to no end.

Before settling off to sleep, Linda gazed out at the cloudless, starry sky of a summer night that seemed to stretch on far beyond her house, town and state. She fondly remembered Anne Droid V2.1 telling her about all the constellations that cycled throughout the seasons, and how they were actually long burnt out because of something about the space-time continuum. She deeply missed when all her sisters were like that, acknowledging her and giving her all their attention. And so, whimpering softly, she cried herself to sleep.