Strawberry Island (girlxgirl)

Haven

The ferry moved agonizingly slow, the smell of the murky water made Florence back away from the rusted railing with the color drained from her face. She covered her mouth with her hand and rolled her eyes at the babbling seagulls flying overhead, she always hated the ride over to the island. It was no more than a 70 minute round trip but Florence had grown accustomed to vomiting every year they traveled, something her Grandpa loved teasing her about. Florence spent a few seconds hopelessly waiting to hear his croaky voice and his signature chuckle. Instead she was met with an ear-splitting horn that practically made her jump out of her skin, that was the final straw Florence needed to remind herself that the calmness of her car was much more pleasant. She threw herself into the back seat of the sedan. 

"You almost made it 30 minutes without feeling sea sick, must be a new record" her mother, Ophelia, tapped her wrist watch. Florence groaned out in response, as her stomach turned. Her father, Malcolm, turned up the volume on the podcast that was playing: Investing In The New Age. Ophelia eyed Malcolm out of annoyance. Florence knew how much it irritated her mother when he played his boring monotone episodes when the family was together. 

The Ainsworth family traveled to a small Island every summer, it was tradition. This year would be different, this would be the first summer trip since Grandpa's death. Cornelius Ainsworth was the head of the family, he wrote the rules because he was the one writing the checks. He came from a long line of hard workers, he just so happened to be the hard worker that struck immense riches. He put the Ainsworth name on the map, on top of buying and selling big companies, he made brilliant investment choices. By the time Cornelius was 25 he had more money than he knew what to do with. The first extravagant thing he bought was an island on Lake Michigan, he re-named it Strawberry Island, after he and his wife, Rosemary, received a basket of the fresh fruit that came with buying the territory. 

The Island had changed dramatically over time, it went from being a few acres of forrest and grass fields into a town with a little over 200 people, mostly occupied by retirees and families that had enough extra cash laying around to buy a summer home. Cornelius funded the construction of roads as well as the town's lighthouse, lookout tower, diner, chapel, and fire station. He also built his own mansion on the Northern end of the island, and later three more Ainsworth estates would pop up, each one for his children. The Ainsworth area was nearly secluded from the rest of the town, Cornelius believed in family solitude, outsiders had no reason to be involved with Ainsworth business and for that, should keep their distance. Cornelius was known as a closed off family man but he did a lot for his town, and for that he received the up most respect from the citizens, many who were just grateful that they were allowed to escape to a quiet haven every once in awhile. 

 Though deep down Cornelius did fear the modernization would wreck the natural beauty of the island, he ended up leaving a few fields, lakes, and woods untouched. He loved to say that he only did it because Rosemary told him to, but everyone knew that was a lie; Cornelius had way too much pride to admit that he cared. 

Cornelius and Rosemary had three children: Malcolm, Gwendolyn, and Delilah. They were all adults now, with families of their own. Malcolm who was the eldest married the successful neurosurgeon, Ophelia Kane, they ended up having one daughter. 

"Plastic bag?" Florence requested sickly. Ophelia grabbed one from of the glove compartment and handed it to her. "Sweet Florence hold tight, we'll be arriving in five minutes." Ophelia comforted as she blew on her freshly painted nails. Malcolm cracked the window to get some fresh air, the nail polish odor always gave him a headache. "Do you have to do that right now, 'Lia" He grunted with his hand on his temple. "Why dont you loosen up, honey. Its summer vacation." She sighed while twisting the cap on the bottle of the ruby red liquid. "We still have five minutes until it officially begins, right." He let out a chuckle. "Oh Mal." She smiled to herself and let him carefully intertwine his hand with hers.  

Florence had grown familiar with her "vacation parents" who were overly friendly and exhaustingly generic. They weren't the same people that they were back home, in their hometown of Scarsdale, New York, Malcolm and Ophelia were distant and occasionally apathetic. Due to their high stress jobs, Florence's parents were rarely able to relax. They only ever sat down for family meals together when they were at Strawberry Island. This was not out of the ordinary for the Ainsworths, who lived by a code; success was manageable for those who were invulnerable. This meant that every family member, ranging from Malcolm to Cordelia's seven year old son Nunzio, knew how to build a wall around their emotions. Putting up a cover around outsiders and strangers was second nature for the Ainsworths because reputation was everything. 

Florence often wished summer vacation would last forever so she'd never have to return to the real world. On Strawberry Island there were no slamming doors, no fights, no talks of money, no yelling, and no worries. It was Florence's safe haven. She knew that once she stepped foot onto the dock a weight would be lifted from her shoulders.