Loud Visions

Chapter 4

After looking at the phone photos, Lynn snuck into Lincoln's bedroom without him waking up to grab his sketchbook. Everyone gazed upon the drawings in shock and sorrow, with pensive looks at the depressing and detailed art.

"Lincoln . . . drew these?" Lori uttered.

"Yeah, he did," Luna answered.

"Are these all Lincoln? Did he draw himself in each one?" Lynn asked.

"I think so. I think he drew his feelings," Lucy stated.

"So, this is how he feels? I don't understand. How?" Lori asked.

Lucy explained, "Depression takes on many different forms. The drawing of the tunnel of darkness, in a way, shows that he feels alone. He feels isolated or lost because the light at the end means he's trying to find a way out or find hope. The drowning one can mean that he feels like he can't breathe, like the depression and anxiety are choking him. The chained-up is easy. That means he feels trapped and imprisoned."

"But he's not trapped. He can unlock the doors, and there are no chains holding him," Leni protested.

"Not literally, Leni. He feels like he's trapped emotionally," Lori explained.

"But why? Why does Lincoln feel all these things?" Lana questioned.

"That's the big question. There's something going on that Lincoln is not telling us," Lucy answered.

"Why won't he tell us? We're his sisters!" Lola protested.

Lynn stated firmly, "Well, I'll make him tell us. I'm gonna go march into that bedroom and—"

Luna and Luan grabbed her to stop her.

"No, Lynn!" Luna ordered.

"You can't force him to tell you! It doesn't work like that," Luan stated.

"Then how are we supposed to help him if he doesn't tell us what's wrong?" Lynn asked.

"Yeah! We can't fix something if we don't know what's broken," Lana sided.

"We need to make him trust us," Lucy answered.

Everyone turned to her.

"People open up to those they trust . . . to those that make them feel safe," Lucy added.

"I conquer with Lucy. If we want Lincoln to talk to us and explain his troubling feelings, then we need to make him feel comfortable for him to lay down his emotional barrier in order for him to open up," Lisa explained.

Leni tilted her head with a raised eyebrow, "Emotional barrier?"

"She means by have Lincoln talk about his feelings rather than bottle them up and not talk," Lori explained.

"Okay, but how do we do that?" Lola questioned.

"Perhaps we need to spend more time with Lincoln. If he feels isolated and alone, the best way for him to not feel that way is for him to be surrounded by loved ones, by his family," Lisa suggested.

"She's right. We need to spend more time with Lincoln. We need to show him that we care about him, that we love him. He needs to feel that he's loved. Then he'll feel safe and open up to us about what's happening," Lori said.

"Maybe we should take small steps about this, dudes. There's ten of us and only one him. We won't get anywhere if we all try to hog his attention. So maybe one of us or a few of us at a time would be better to reach out to him," Luna suggested.

Luan nodded, "That sounds like the better idea. So, who wants to go first with Lincoln?"

"Oh! Me! I can take him to the mall. I totes have great ideas for new clothes for Lincoln, and we can try Gus's Games and Grub and play that dancing game," Leni praised.