Chapter 3: Such Luck

Lynn shot up. Sweat ran down her forehead and covered her body. She felt a damp, warmth, under her. Lynn hadn't wet the bed since she was six. And here she was, an eighth grader, pissing herself in her sleep. She turned to Lucy, who was still sound asleep.

Lynn got out of bed. She stood up and looked down at her pants, then to her mattress. "Eww…"

Lynn looked at her phone and checked the time. 10:00 PM. Lynn sighed and picked up her sheets and blankets and tossed them off the bed.

"Well, this is just great, 10:00 PM, we're going to the beach tomorrow at 9:00 AM, and I've got nowhere to sleep!..." Lynn though for a moment. "Maybe Lincoln's got some spa-" Lynn paused her self-only conversation. Her eyes widened and the throat lump made itself apparent.

Lynn disregarded her pee-stained clothes and and rushed downstairs and the backdoor. It was a warm night. Lynn looked around her. She noticed a pair of headlights down the street getting closer. Lynn glanced to the dog house. There he was. He looked so sad in his sleep. Lynn could only imagine what his last moments were. But they weren't his last moments. Lincoln was right there, in front of her- sleeping in a dog-house instead of inside with his family. Lynn hopped over the fence and rushed over to her brother. Lynn placed her hand on Lincoln, who jumped up in fear and hit his head. IT didn't stop him from momentarily struggling.

"Agh! Who's there!?"

"Linc-, it's just me!"

"Oh." He stopped and looked at Lynn he seemed depressed almost. "What are you doing out here?"

"You're coming back inside, come on."

"B-but I'm-"

"No!" She shot at him. "No, you're not. You're my brother, and you're coming in."

"O-okay…" He replied, uneasy.

Lynn picked him up by the shoulder, while he held his pillow and blanket. The two began walking over to the door. Lynn looked over, the car from down the street had slowed down, but when Lynn looked at it, it sped up and drove away.

"Yeah, that's right…" Lynn whispered to herself.

"What was that, Lynn?" Lincoln asked.

"Nothin'..."

.

The sun rose the next morning. Birds were chirping and everything was quiet. Everything except one house.

"But he's bad luck!" Lori stated.

"Yeah, what gives?" Luna added.

"I'm not leaving him here." Lynn stood by Lincoln at breakfast. The entire family against her.

"Kiddo, what if something bad happens to you or your sisters?" Lynn Sr. asked the girl.

"It won't. It'll be a good day and we'll all have fun. Or you guys will have a fun day at the beach, I'm not leaving Lincoln's side," the family glanced at the boy. He hadn't said a word all morning, Lynn had done all the talking. "Were we really planning on making him sleep outside. He's family for peete's sake."

"But you said he was bad luck!" Lola pointed out.

Lynn looked at her, she thought back to the baseball game, then to her… dream. "I've had a change of heart. Plus, he's my brother. If he's bad luck, I'm bad luck."

Lola scoffed. "Let's just leave them!" She looked at the rest of the family.

"I think Junior has a point, sweetie." Lynn Sr. told the six year-old.

"Yeah, I think we're being a little rediculous about this." Rita, having second thoughts on Lincoln's situation.

"I would like to add my vote to mother's opinion," Lisa, now examining her brother. "Judging by the current state he's in, this is putting a psychological and physical strain on our male sibling." The family glanced back over to the boy. Lisa's statement now more apparent to them.

"All in favor of not calling Lincoln bad luck anymore, say I." Lori raised her shoe in the air followed a total of eleven raised hands, including Lincoln's. While counting, Lori noticed one hand not up- Lola's. The family stared at her. She sat in silence for a moment, before finally raising her hand with a conflicted 'I'.

"Then that settles it, Lincoln is back on board!" Lynn Sr. cheered as the family joined in. All except for Lynn and Lincoln. The former lookin at the latter, who was looking at his cereal.

This ordeal was far from over.

THE END

Wait what? The End? Is that it? The ending to Shattered Innocence?

For now, yes. I will probably be writing an epilogue, so don't worry. But life has no specific, happy ending. Just short, little episodes. And this was one of those. I also want to leave it up to the reader's interpretation as to what happens next, because it could honestly be ANYTHING. Verbal fight, somebody dies, Lincoln could turn out to ACTUALLY BE BAD LUCK, who knows? This is just my "happy" ending to this story that just won't die. So I guess that makes me the first person to finish this damn thing. Doesn't it?