My Sister's Problem

Front cover image by Jailor Eckman

My Sister's Problem is a story idea, originally posted in the Plot Babies book. Angel is planning to write it for Camp NaNoWriMo 2022.

Characters

• Sally Bernstein - A girl who is heavily into sports, and wants to impress her friends. At the start of the story she hears about a babysitter treating kids her age (probably mid teens) like babies; and rather than being horrified she realises that is something she would like to experience.
  • Nadine Newman - Sally's best friend
• Linda Bernstein (Lindy) - Sally's little sister, who has just started wetting the bed again after a couple of years staying dry. She is more into arty hobbies, but loves hiking and exploring the wilderness. She is extremely embarrassed by her problem, so starts putting Sally's hand in a bowl of water while she sleeps.
• Willow Bernstein - Sally and Lindy's mother, who is now single after their father died when they were young.
• Harper Eisen - Neighbour and friend, between the ages of the two Bernstein girls. Lives next door
• Hugo Eisen - Harper's big brother, athletic and confident. Wants to be a basketball pro
• Gregor Eisen and Chel Eisen - Parents of Harper and Hugo, as well as an older daughter we've not seen yet.

Miscellaneous detail

Chapter 1. Dreams

• Sally hasn't wet the bed in ten years
  • Except for one time at a sleepover, when friend Harper Eisen might have put her hand in a bowl of water
• Sally and Lindy used to share a room, but Dad built a partition wall out of fibreboard a few years ago. There's an archway with a curtain across it to ensure they can both get to the en suite bathroom.
• Sally watches Sparkling Thunder Presence: Redux on Netflix, and doesn't want to delay it because Nadine is prone to spilling spoilers at school

Chapter 2. Shopping

• A week after chapter 1.
• Local kids are allowed to go home from school during their lunch break; others aren't supposed to leave the school grounds
  • but it's quite common for others to go to fast food places in town
    • KFC in the town centre is popular
• The town has a shop called Drügstør in the Merriman Arcade.
• Nadine reads trashy romance novels, and doesn't know if she should expect a real relationship to be similar
• Nadine has a boyfriend, Jim, who is double her age
  • She met him online, and told him she's 18. Never shared any face pics
  • Is going to go and meet him in Barrowford. It's a bus ride away.

Chapter 3. Accident / 4. Worst Case

• 3 days after chapter 2.
• Sally has a TV in her room
• Sally has bought a blue bowl, which she keeps toiletries in under her bed. It's supposed to be a "bath boat".
• Lindy is a deep sleeper, almost nothing wakes her, but she tosses and turns a lot in the night
  • She spreads herself all over the bed like an octopus, getting her duvet tangled around her, and with random parts of her sticking out.
  • She sleeps with some soft toys, but they may get catapulted away from the bed by all her tossing and turning
• Lindy's room is a mess with books, clothes, towels, and other junk all over the floor
  • Sally comments that she isn't a neat freak, but at least she kicks everything under the bed
• The girls' rooms have a curtain between, because the MDF partition wall ends where the door to their en suite bathroom is
  • They agree to not go into each other's rooms even though they need to put one foot over the boundary to get in the bathroom
    • Neither of them really follows the rule
• Lindy is a good artist with watercolour stuff on her desk
  • Has a bunch of pictures around. They're not photorealistic, but really good at capturing mood
  • Has an old mug with the handle broken off, which she uses for water. Couple of brushes standing in it.
    • Forgets to empty it, and has been yelled at by Mum before for spilling painty water
• Lindy has two plush gerbils called Bosnia and Zod. One was her last present from her dad.

Chapter 4. Worst Case (second half)

• Lindy is into anime; frequently begs Mum to let her sign up for yet another new streaming service when a friend recommends something
• Bernstein/Eisen mailboxes are close together; both very pretty after Lindy repainted them last year
• Hugo uses the yellow line on the street as his 3 point line when practising basketball
• Sally plays Roller Hockey competitively
  • Three Counties Youth Roller Hockey Club organises a regional league
  • There's presumably also a local club that they are members of
  • Sally does both inline and quads; as do some other team members
  • Harper Eisen is captain of the U16 Girls Inline team
    • The youngest captain in the league, feels like she always needs to prove herself
    • Harper is a huge gossip, and has her hair in a pixie cut. Frequently changes colour
    • Nadine is on the team; Harper calls her "Newman"
  • Maggie is on the team too
  • Other team members skate to meetings/events, or are dropped off by parents. Harper is the only one who comes on a bike with her skates in a boot bag.
    • This is because she can't keep her balance on a hill; she learned ice skating first, and has never managed to skate without falling outside of a rink
• Hugo is heavily tanned, and has groupies