The Rift

Chapter 14: Groundhog Day

"The Sun is shining in the sky! There ain't a cloud in site!

It's stopped raining, everybody's in the play.

Don't you know? It's a beautiful new day, hey hey."

The radio turned on as Lincoln's alarm went off.

Lincoln's eyes slowly opened. He looked around at his familiar room.

"I'm... I'm home?" Lincoln mumbled. He got up and got dressed.

Was that all just some crazy dream? He thought to himself. He looked at his alarm clock. The red light shined in his eyes, for a second much brighter than usual and he could hear a ringing in his ear, but then the clock returned to normal and the ringing stopped. He didn't think anything of it.

He opened the door and walked out into the hallway. It was strangely quiet. Too quiet.

He knocked on Lynn and Lucy's room.

"Lynn? Lucy? You guys in there?" Lincoln said.

No answer. He opened the door and was shocked and confused at what he saw. Not only were Lynn and Lucy not in the room, but neither were their beds, or any of their stuff. Instead the room was full of a bunch of old junk.

A feeling of confusion and panic washed over Lincoln. What the heck is going on here? He thought. He headed downstairs.

"Morning son!" His father greeted him with a smile. "Big day huh? Last day of school."

"Last day of school?" Lincoln said.

"Yeah, you're graduating the fifth grade! Isn't that exciting?" Lynn Sr. said.

Then his mother entered the room. "Oh, we are so proud of you." She said. "Our little boy is growing up."

"Hey, where did Lynn and Lucy go?" Lincoln asked.

"Who?" Lynn Sr. said.

"Lynn Jr. and Lucy." Lincoln said. "My sisters."

"What are you talking about son?" Lynn Sr. said.

"I got up this morning and the house was quiet. I haven't seen any of my sisters." Lincoln said. "Where did they go?"

"Uh Lincoln, you don't have any sisters." Rita said.

"WHAT?!?!" Lincoln said in shock.

"You're an only child sweetie." Rita smiled. "You know that."

"But, Lucy, Lynn, Lisa, Lori..." Lincoln stammered.

"We thought we were going to have a bunch of kids." Lynn Sr. said. "That's why we bought a house with so many rooms. But, now I guess we just have a bunch of storage space. But hey, it's not like we need any more kids than you Lincoln."

Rite knelt down and placed an arm around her son, looking him in the eye.

"Look Lincoln, I know you get lonely sometimes." Rita said with a warm smile. "But you always have your father and I if you ever need someone to talk to."

"But they were real." Lincoln said. "I have ten sisters, last I saw them we were in space with two rock people... and a talking velociraptor... Wow maybe it was a dream."

Did I really just dream an entire life with these girls that never existed? Lincoln thought to himself.

Then Lincoln noticed the trophy case in the living room.

He walked over to it. It was still full of trophies only, now they all had his name on them. Trophies for things that would usually go to his sisters. Athletics, poetry, academics.