Lucky Streak

      Two sisters sat in their garden. It was cold, the sun was too bright and you could see the sisters' breath as a misty fog.

      "It's not fair! I know you're cheating!" the younger sister, Thunder the fire Wocky grumbled. "Why else do you always win?"

      The older pet laughed. "Lucky streak," she said, annoyingly.

      "Lucky! Why did I have to be named Thunder? I swear your name is blessed which is why you're always winning! Lucky!" Thunder crossed her arms and scowled.

      The striped Kacheek called Lucky, laughed again and put an arm around her younger sister. "You know we can't change our names. And besides it's not my name that makes me lucky; it's just coincidence. Anyway we share the luck because we always win half and half."

      Thunder didn't look like she believed this.

      Lucky patted her head and said, "How can I prove that to you?"

      Thunder turned her head up to the grey sky as if for inspiration. Then she turned slowly back and grinned mischievously.

      "How about we swap names for a week?"

      Lucky's smile faded. "Oh Thunder, we aren't allowed to change names."

      "But it's only for a week!" Thunder widened her eyes, smiled innocently and cocked her head to one side; she knew Lucky had a weak spot for her 'cute' look. "Please, Lucky!"

      Lucky raised her eyes heavenward and heaved a sigh.

      "Fine. But," she warned, "a week ONLY. However 'lucky' you end up being."

      Thunder laughed delightedly. "Of course! So now I'm Lucky and you're Thunder."

      The new Thunder sighed again. "This is going to cause all sorts of trouble and confusion. I know Mia's not going to be happy... "

      "Oh, she'll get over it!" the once-Thunder-now-Lucky said, referring to their owner. "I'm going to be lucky now! Let's play some more rock, paper, scissors!"

      "Not now," Thunder said. "Look, there's Mia now! Time for dinner!"

      "Race you back to the house!" Lucky said, as she raced off down the garden.

      Thunder chuckled and sped off after her. "I bet I'll win!"

      Thunder won by a mile but the new Lucky reassured herself, "Maybe my luck starts tomorrow. After all, I need to get used to being lucky now!"

     ~*~*~

      "Wake up!" the fire Wocky jumped onto Thunder's bed and jumped up and down.

      Thunder emerged from under the covers, looking rather tired. "Go away, Thunder!"

      "I'm not Thunder! I'm Lucky, remember? It's time for Neoschool!"

      Thunder put an arm out from the sanctuary of her warm covers and pulled the curtain back. She stared at the still dark sky and groaned.

      "Thun- I mean Lucky, it's not even dawn yet!"

      "Yes but if you get up now, we can play a quick game and see who wins!"

      For a moment, Lucky thought her older sister was going to give in and play with her. But that soon dissolved when her sister slammed the bedroom door in her face, having led her out onto the landing.

      "Hrumph!" Lucky scowled. Then she tossed her head back and said, "Just because she doesn't want to lose to me." With that remark, she marched off, towards her own bedroom, head held high full of dignity. At least, she had dignity until she banged into the wall.

          ~*~*~

      "Thunder!" Mia called, from the kitchen doorway where she had set out breakfast. When no one replied, she sighed. "Or rather Lucky! The fire Wocky who is also the younger one of my two and who is being a pain right now!"

      Lucky emerged appeared at the top of the staircase looking sheepish. But she brightened up when she saw Mia was smiling.

      "When are you going to change your names back?" Mia sighed, as she watched her thunder down the stairs. "It's becoming very confusing."

      "You'll have to get used to it!" Lucky explained. "See, it's my turn to be lucky."

      "But, Thu- Lucky, you are lucky. Just as lucky as anyone else."

      "Nuh uh, Lucky is luckier. But now I'm Lucky so I'm luckier!"

      Mia shook her head. "I'm all confused! Maybe I should have chosen a different name... "

      Thunder came into the kitchen where they were and sat down at the table in front of hot pancakes and orange juice.

      "What did you make for lunch today, Mum?" she yawned.

      "Tuna sub and orange juice. Is that alright for you?"

      "Sure. Thanks. I think I'm gonna skip breakfast today."

      "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you can't miss it!" Lucky pointed out.

      "I have to go to Neoschool earlier today," Thunder said, getting up from the table. "I said I'd meet Ivy early."

      "But Thunder! That means we won't have time to play games and see if I'm luckier!"

      "Thought you know you're lucky?" Mia said, after Thunder had fobbed off Lucky's protests and escaped.

      "Well, yes. But I want to prove it."

      Mia sighed and going to the sink, muttered, "Children these days... "

          ~*~*~

      "Can we play now? Please, please?" Lucky begged, running into her sister's very pink room.

      Thunder sighed. "Fine. But be quick, I have lots of homework. Best of five, yeah?"

      "Rock, paper, SCISSORS... Rock, paper, SCISSORS... Rock, paper, SCISSORS... Rock, paper, SCISSORS... Rock, paper, SCISSORS...!"

      The fire Wocky cheered. "I won THREE times! I am lucky!"

      "Thun- I mean Lucky, three wins out of five isn't all that good. It's roughly half and half. See I told you we win half and half. Now can I have my name back?"

      "No way! I like being lucky!" Lucky sang as she danced out.

     ~*~*~

      "Wow! I won! I've never won before!" Lucky gasped, when all three had counted up their money at the end of their game of Monopoly.

      "Yes, you have," Thunder reminded her. "You won last week."

      "No, I didn't," Lucky objected. "You did."

      "Yes but you won the game before the game I won."

      Mia sighed. "I'm sick of this lucky business. I wish I never named you that!"

      "Hrumph!" Lucky crossed her arms and smiled, smugly. "You just can't take being unlucky!" Then she danced out.

      "I hope that this week goes by quickly because I don't know how much more I can take!" Mia exclaimed, her hand held dramatically to her head.

      "Me too." Thunder sighed, mirroring Mia's dramatic gesture by putting her head in her paws.

    ~*~*~

      "I won! I won! Lucky wins again!"

      "You might have won that time, Thunder but I won loads of times before that!"

      "No, Mia! I am lucky! I won five whole games out of nine today against Thunder!"

      "WOOHOO! I win, I win, I win, I win!"

     ~*~*~

      "Thunder!"

      The striped Kacheek turned from her desk as her little sister ran into her room, sobbing. "What's wrong?" she asked, alarmed.

      "I lost a game!" Lucky sobbed, rivers of tears flowing down her cheeks. "How can this be? I've won ALL the games this week but now I just lost to the pet over the road!"

      Thunder smiled.

      "It's not funny! Just because you can't take losing and now you're all happy because now I'm losing too!"

      Thunder held out her arms, nevertheless. Her sister stood crying opposite her for a few seconds but then gave in and walked into a hug. Thunder made soothing noises, stroking her Lucky's black, orange and yellow fur. She let her sister cry all over her shoulder until her own purple-blue and pink fur grew quite damp.

      "I think," she said, "that the one who can't take losing is you."

      Lucky looked up, hiccupping.

      "What do you mean?"

      "Why, all this luckiness is getting to your head. You just expect to win and so now losing comes as more of a blow. After all, nothing is worse than losing when you just expect and know you'll win. You can't take Luck for granted."

      "I haven't! My luck ran out! It's your fault! You jinxed your name!"

      Thunder laughed.

      "No, luck has nothing to do with your name or anything else. It just... happens."

      Lucky wiped her eyes and sat down on the Fyora bed. "Then how come I won so many times this week?"

      "You haven't. Not really. It's mostly been roughly half and half just as it's always been." Thunder sat down next to her younger sister and smiled, encouragingly. "It was yourself. You thought you had luck so you blamed even the smallest wins on the name."

      "I guess..." Lucky murmured. "But I did win four out of five games with you that time when we were playing nought and crosses!"

      Thunder laughed. "Lucky streak!" Then she added, "Want to swap back names?"

      "Yeah, I'm bored of winning all the time anyway."

      And so Thunder became Lucky once more and Lucky became the original Thunder.

     ~*~*~

      "Mia! Lucky!" Thunder called as she came back from Neoschool, dumping her schoolbag in the middle of the hall for someone to trip over later.

      She found Mia out in the garden, putting out breadcrumbs on the bird table with Lucky, discussing what to have for dinner that night.

      "Hello! Have a nice day at school and drama club?" Mia asked.

      "Oh yes, thank you. There's a new pet in our class! His name is Felix and he's ever so good at marbles and noughts and crosses. In fact he's good at everything," Thunder told her owner and sister. "He even beat the class noughts and crosses champion!"

      "That's nice, Thunder," Mia said, absent-mindedly.

      "Yes. But I'm not Thunder anymore!"

      "You're not?" Lucky said, exchanging glances with her owner.

      "Nope, I'm Felix."

      "Why did you swap names?" Mia said, obviously thinking 'What in Fyora's name is next?'

      "It's only for a week. It's because in Latin, Felix means lucky."

The End