Why does it always take so long to realise that horror movies before bed aren’t always the best idea?

It was from this very situation that Cleo Juniper now found herself in her current predicament of fidgeting around in bed, bladder aching from strain, trying to will herself to get up and go to the toilet before it was too late. Logically speaking, a girl her age shouldn’t be scared of some dumb B-rated horror movie, but the mind has a way of ironically making anything scary at the worst possible times. With both her hands squeezing at the crotch of her teal sleep shorts, Cleo tried to rationalise the wild imaginings that were keeping her tethered to the safety of her bed.

Ghosts? No, they don’t exist. Zombies? It’s not possible for dead bodies to reanimate. Ancient curses leading to death? She hadn’t touched or broke anything suspicious recently. Yeah, of course there was nothing scary out there!

..but could she be certain?

No matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, there were always niggling doubts at the far back of her mind that started the vicious cycle of debunking the existence of paranormal beings out to claim the lives of the living. Having a vivid imagination was both a blessing and a curse. Throughout all of the mental turmoil she was putting herself through, Cleo’s concentration lapsed just enough to prompt a small leak to trickle out of her overtaxed bladder, coupled with a painful spasm that prompted her to curl up into a ball.

“don’tcomeoutdon’tcomeoutdon’tcomeout!”

Forcing all her focus into stemming the tides that were crashing against the walls of her inner dam, Cleo held her breath as she squeezed every muscle in her lower body as much as she could, resulting in a burning pain in her lower abdomen as she attempted to hold on when her body really wanted her to let go. The seconds passed agonisingly slow as all of her muscles started to burn from exertion. After what felt like half an hour but was only really a minute or two, Cleo managed to regain control and the tides ebbed, for now. The small taste of relief she had earlier intensified her already very agitated bladder and she didn’t dare to remove her hands from their vice grip. It was now or never, and she didn’t want to bank on her sisters being particularly understanding if she ended up with sodden bed sheets in the wash come the morning.

With systematic and careful movements, Cleo cautiously kicked off the covers and began to methodically get up from her bed to brave the dark corridor that led to the bathroom. Ghosts, ghouls and other creatures of the night be damned, nothing was going to come between her and her sweet relief. Slowly waddling towards the door, hands not moving from their current position for anything, Cleo resorted to using her elbow to push down on the door handle and her foot to pull open the door enough for her to slip through. Never before had she been this thankful for being petite enough to not have to budget for space in the chest area. The only real danger point was when the door pressed against her abdomen and put more unwanted pressure on her already tired sphincter muscles. Another stray spurt escaped her, this one powerful enough to hiss on its exit. Whimpering quietly as she squeezed her legs together, Cleo allowed herself a little time to recover before continuing. Her sleep shorts felt damp but she wasn’t sure if that was from sweat or something else, and she wasn’t about to waste the time pondering it when she could see the bathroom door little more than a few feet away from her. Resisting the urge to sprint, Cleo opted for the slow and steady method, ensuring that she wasn’t about to burst all over the floor before reaching her destination.

Every step was painful, every step caused the liquid inside her overfull bladder to slosh about, and every step led to minute leaks that soon started to rapidly increase in size as she neared the salvation of the bathroom. About halfway there, a wave of desperation hit her, causing her to double over as she felt a spurt that lasted several seconds soak her already damp underwear, resulting in a few droplets hitting the tiled flooring of the hallway. There was no saving her shorts now, they’d have to be thrown straight in the wash, as would her panties. Powering on through the last couple of steps, Cleo eventually reached her long awaited destination. Almost immediately after stepping into the bathroom, she virtually slammed the door behind her, hastily throwing the bolt across it and fumbling for the light switch. Little did she know she’d regret switching that light on...

As soon as she laid eyes on the now-illuminated porcelain throne, her last line of defence gave out. The floods inside battered down the walls between themselves and the exit, hissing out like angry serpents released from their cage, soaking what little dryness remained on her clothes. Though she had reached the bathroom, she was a few seconds too late. Vainly, she attempted to hobble her way over to the toilet but her knees locked up before completely giving way, sending her tumbling to the floor on them with a thud. Mentally, she knew that what was happening was far too embarrassing to enjoy but, physically, the sheer feeling of bliss that came from finally letting out the pent up liquids inside won out. Heaving a contented sigh of relief, Cleo basked in the feeling of her bladder emptying into the rapidly growing puddle beneath her on the flooring of the bathroom. Parts of her cursed her luck for allowing herself to end up in a situation she could’ve easily avoided had she not been foolish, but right now the main thing she was feeling was euphoria.

The river Cleo eventually tapered off into drips before dribbling out the last droplets after around half a minute of uninterrupted gushing. The banks were burst, and now a lake remained as testament to Cleo’s lack of forethought. When her mind cleared from the haze of relief, Cleo was left with the crushing realisation of what had happened. There was no easy way to explain the suspiciously sodden state of her sleep shorts and panties, but at the very least her bed was safe. Although, now she had something else to worry about.

How exactly was she going to clean up the puddle in the bathroom without her family knowing?

Tonight was shaping up to be a rather long night...