This was it. This was perfect.
Leni Loud beamed with pride as she looked at herself in the mirror. After many minutes of searching through the clothing racks, she'd finally found the perfect outfit. A knee-length, teal-green dress and cute little white boots with buckles. It even matched her white sunglasses! Lori had argued that it was the same thing she always wore, but Leni hadn't bothered to listen. Even at six-year-old, the second child of the Loud family was confident that she knew more about clothing than anyone else in the whole wide world.
Leni reached the doorknob of the dressing room. She could hardly wait to see her family's reaction to her amazing outfit. Her mommy would put her hands to her cheeks and gush over how pretty she was, her daddy would twirl her around like a ballerina, and Linky wouldn't take his tiny little eyes off her until they got home.
With a rush of energy, Leni opened the door and jumped out.
"TA-DA!" She struck a pose, just like the models she saw on TV.
But her model smile quickly faded when she didn't see her family outside. Leni was confused. She was sure they'd been there when she'd gone in. Luan and Luna had been playing hide-and-seek in the clothing racks, Daddy had been trying to control Lynn Jr, and Mommy and Lori had been entertaining Linky as he sat in his stroller.
Maybe this was one of Luan's tricks and they were hiding and about to jump out at her. Yes, that had to be it! Bracing herself, Leni took a few steps forward, hoping that she wouldn't wet herself when the surprise happened.
But there was no surprise. After a few steps, Leni found herself at the end of the children's section. Aside from a few other passing shoppers, she didn't see anyone from her family.
This is when she began to panic.
Where was her family? Did something bad happen to them? Leni didn't think so. Her daddy was big and strong; he'd be able to fight off anything bad that tried to hurt them.
Had… had they just decided to leave her? Had Leni done something that made them stop loving her and want to leave her? No, that was crazy. She was a good girl. She always washed her hands, brushed her teeth, and said please and thank you. She even helped her mommy change Linky's stinky diapers.
So, why would they leave her? Mommies and daddies weren't supposed to do that. Were they even still at the store? Had they left the mall?! Did they even know she was gone?!
"DADDY!" she cried out, tears welling up in her eyes. A few shoppers glanced at her as they walked past, but her daddy didn't appear. As the seconds ticked on, Leni began to shake and feel very cold, even though it was the middle of summer.
She considered asking someone for help, but her mommy had taught her to never talk to or go anywhere with strangers. Her head darted left and right, looking in vain for somebody she knew; her parents, her friends, her friends' parents. But there was nobody.
Leni's eyes went wide at the sight of the back of a dark green sweater exiting the store. Could it be?
"Daddy, wait!" Leni dashed after him, waving her little arms up and down to get his attention. "Daddy!"
She watched helplessly as he stepped into the sea of shoppers, not sparing her so much as a glance. Desperate, Leni rushed in after him, but only after a few steps found herself being bumped around by passing shoppers like a bumper car at the fair. Some gasped in shock, others sneered, a few yelled at her in mean voices as she was hit by waist after waist. She even got hit in the face by a passing handbag.
Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and the little girl retreated to a nearby corner, now even more terrified than before. The mall was normally her favorite place, but now it seemed like something out of a nightmare. The person who she'd thought was her daddy was long gone and she was too scared to rush back into the mob to look for him.
Whimpering, Leni hugged herself as the constant rush of people and the mall's air conditioning made her feel even colder than ever. She didn't even know where she was in the mall anymore. She had no idea what direction she'd gone after leaving the clothing store and there were no signs she could read or stores she could hide in. All around her were giant grey walls and strangers in all shapes and sizes, wearing every color of the rainbow. She couldn't have pointed out her family even if they'd been right in front of her.
Suddenly, Leni felt her lower body grow warm and a strange tickling feeling on her leg. Looking down, she realized in horror that she'd wet herself. Her face went red with embarrassment and her body went numb with shame. While she did have to wear "special undies" at night (though her mommy had told her over and over again that they weren't diapers since she was able to put them on and change them herself), Leni hadn't wet herself during the daytime in years. She cried softly as she looked down at the mess she'd made. One of her happiest 'accompishments' in life had been getting potty-trained and becoming a big girl like Lori and now she was back to wetting herself like a baby. Would she have to start wearing diapers again? Fashion models didn't wear diapers; they'd look horrible under their dresses!
The dress! Leni's tear-filled eyes went wide in shock as she realized she was still wearing her dress from the store. Her daddy hadn't paid for it yet, so that means it was stolen! She'd stolen it! That means she was a crimimal!
Leni's cries became louder as thoughts of being arrested and being taken to jail filled her head. Jail was a scary place for scary, bad people and they all had to wear stripes. Stripes! She'd never get to go back home and play with her sisters or watch Linky grow up or even see the season finale of What Not To Wear.
"Hey, there she is!" Leni looked up and nearly fainted. Coming out of the crowd towards her were two men in what looked like police uniforms. Uh no, the clothing store must have turned her in! She was going to go to jail!
Terrified, Leni ran away from them, blindly rushing into the crowd. She was jostled like a pinball and even knocked down a few times, but she never stopped moving. She could hear the men chasing after her. She couldn't let them catch her. She couldn't go to jail!
Suddenly, the lights went out and everything went dark. Leni screamed, she was blind! Reaching out in front of her like a zombie, Leni blindly ran forward, every bump sending her into a new direction, every sound ripping at her poor eardrums, until
SMACK!
Leni collided face-first into something hard, stopping her in her tracks. It was so sudden that she forgot what she'd been doing. Everything hurt and she tasted something that could have been blood in her mouth. Overwhelmed by the suddenly onslaught of pain and exhaustion, Leni's knees buckled and she fell into a heap on the floor.
For a few moments, she couldn't make sense of anything. Eventually, her ears started working again and she heard voices all around her. Adult voices. Leni jolted as she suddenly remembered the dress and the police chasing her, but she was too tired, scared, embarrassed, and in too much pain to even think of trying to escape again.
No, all she could think to do was curl up into a tiny damp ball and cry.
Two hands grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up off the floor. More voices, but Leni couldn't hear them over the sounds of her own wails. Completely helpless, she waited to be handcuffed and dragged off to a police car.
Instead, her head was pressed into something soft and fuzzy, while a pair of arms hugged her body. Leni was confused until she heard a familiar voice in her ear.
"My baby. My beautiful, beautiful baby."
Leni somehow opened her useless eyes as she recognized the voice.
"M… mommy?"
Suddenly, she was hit by blinding light as her vision somehow returned. Squinting, she saw a dark green color. "D… daddy?"
Her father, green sweater and all, smiled back at her. "Hi sweetie-pie."
"Oh baby, we were so scared!" Rita cried, choking on her own sobs as she tightly hugged her daughter. "We couldn't find you anywhere in the store and we were so worried someone had snatched you up!"
"You literally nearly gave Mom a heart attack, Leni."
Leni turned around and saw her siblings standing nearby. Lori had her hands on her hips, Luna and Luan were hugging each other, Lynn Jr was mimicking her father, and tiny little Lincoln was reaching out for her from his stroller. They all had expressions that ranged from annoyance (at least in Lori's case) to relief.
"I… I" Leni stammered, struggling to find her words. She felt like she'd just woken up from a terrible nightmare. "You left me."
"That was all my fault baby," Lynn Sr explained, "Lincoln made a stinky while you were in the dressing room, so Mommy took Lori and Luna to the bathroom to change him. After they left, Lynn Jr broke free and ran off to look at the sports jerseys and Luan chased after her. I got so scared, I forgot you were in there and ran after them."
He glanced at his three-year-old daughter and sighed.
"Man, she's fast. I didn't catch her until we were at the other end of the store. Then Mommy and the girls came out and asked where you were and I realized you were still in the dressing room. By the time we got back, you were gone."
"I thought I saw you leave. I followed you out."
Rita sighed. "Leni, you know you're not supposed to follow strangers." She wiped some sweat off her face. "I'm not mad at you, honey. I know you must have been scared."
"I was," Leni said. "There were so many people and I couldn't see where I was going and I tinkled all-" She stopped, her face filling with red as she realized what she'd just admitted.
"Hehe, urine trouble now," Luan giggled, only to receive a sharp elbow from Luna and a scowl from her mother. "Sorry."
"Mommy, I didn't mean to! It was an accident!" Leni cried. "Please don't make me wear diapies! I wanna' be a big girl!"
"Leni, we're not going to make you wear diapers. It was just a little accident," Rita said, pulling her back into another hug. "Everyone has accidents when they're scared. Your daddy's a grown-up and he has accidents every Halloween."
The kids giggled as Lynn Sr's face went red. Leni did too, until she realized that the policemen were standing behind her siblings. Screaming, she hid her head in her mom's arms. "Don't let them take me, Mommy! I don't wanna' go to jail!"
One of the cops chuckled. "And why would we be doing that?" He asked.
Leni slowly looked up at him, afraid to meet his gaze. "B-because I…" She felt guilt rising inside as her, "because I stoled the dress and I tinkled in it and I ruined it and I…"
"Honey, you were scared," the cop said, "We were more worried about you getting hurt than the dress."
"The man at the counter saw you run out of the store and called us," the other cop said. "We were worried when you ran off."
"I thought you were gonna' awest me," Leni said, resting her head back on her mother's shoulder. "And then I got blind."
"You mean these?" Lynn Sr held up her smashed glasses. "They must have fallen over your face." "You really shouldn't wear them," Rita added.
"But they look so cool," Leni whined. "Wha-what about the dress? We can't give it back."
Rita smiled, "We'll just pay for it and wash it at home. It's no big deal. I'd say you've earned it after everything you've been through."
"We also need to get you some new undies too, sis," Luna said.
Lincoln babbled, still reaching out for her. Smiling, Leni walked over and hugged her baby brother. "I love you Linky."
"He was so scared when you went missing," Luna said. "He wouldn't stop crying."
"Yeah, he was really Loud! Get it?" Luan said as everyone groaned.
After the cops made sure everyone was okay, the Louds made their way back to the clothing store. Lynn went to fetch Leni's original dress from the dressing room and buy her some clean underwear while Rita, Lincoln, and the girls all took Leni to the bathroom to get cleaned up.
"Leni, stuff like this is literally why I keep telling Mommy to give us all cell phones." Lori stood in the stall with her, holding her soiled clothes at arms length while Leni cleaned herself.
"I'm sorry, Lori," Leni said. "I want to be brave like you. You're the bravest, smartest person I know."
Lori sighed, unable to stop a smile from spreading across her face. "Don't beat yourself up, Leni. At least you had a reason to be scared here," she blushed a little. "I can't even talk to that cute boy Bobby at school without getting butterflies in my tummy."
"EWWWWW!" Leni squealed, causing them both to laugh.
Lynn Sr soon arrived with her dress and new undies. Her ruined clothes were stuffed into a plastic bag and the family made their way out of the store, making sure to keep a tight grip on each other's hand.
"Crazy day, huh kids?" Lynn Sr said as he buckled Lincoln in.
"You can say that again," Luan said.
The family stopped for ice cream on their way home, but Leni was too tired for a sugar rush. Even after a double scoop of chocolate, she still managed to fall asleep before Vanzilla pulled into the driveway.