Silhouette of a Wilted Flower

Fall

Branches caught her hair and scraped into scalp.

Her broken heel caught on a stone, and stumbling for balance, she glanced at Kel and Hero ahead. "Is it much farther now?"

"Nope!" Kel called back. They side-stepped through the last construction signs and disappeared through the foliage opening.

With Polly drawing ahead of her, Akiko carefully avoided the puddles and mushy ground. She remembered it being just as much of a hassle when she came here looking for Sunny to come home early for dinner.

Kel spun in a slow circle, taking in the overflowing lake, marsh ground, and old toys sinking into the mud. "Man! The good ol' hideout spot. It's like it never changed."

"Except for the flooding." Akiko stepped gingerly around the sinking ground.

"And the construction signs..." Hero added. "Are they planning on building here?"

"Well..." Kel's smile briefly faltered. He brightened up again in a blink and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Y'know, they never follow through on that stuff! Just look at all the old roads still under construction. It'll be fine!"

With how the water is so much higher than usual...if Sunny had been here, could he have fallen in?

The thought was so shocking, she instantly rushed closer to the dingy dock, investigating the lake and praying not to see floating black hair anywhere.

Passing Kel, she heard a mutter, "...Probably..."

She cast a sympathetic look at him, and when he caught her eye, he gave her a slightly startled, wide grin.

"Anyway!" Kel pumped a fist. "We could look for footsteps, right? Since the ground's muddy, we could probably spot something if they were here!"

"The rain could have washed that away if there was anything," Polly said. "But it's worth a try."

They separated into different directions. After scanning with paranoid eyes for a minute longer, she managed to convince herself that her baby boy didn't drown.

A thought had crossed her mind at some point.

That maybe Sunny ran away...to...not come back.

The idea had honestly come to her relatively early when she found out he was missing.

She knew...that Sunny's...lifestyle for the past years isn't one...someone...happy would be living.

She... she should have done something sooner, but...

Well, the move was her trying to do something now. Some sunlight and a change of pace were just what Sunny needed.

And she didn't have to worry...as much! Basil being gone and likely with Sunny means it probably wasn't anything like that.

Or...could it?

Akiko wandered from the dock to the entrance, picking at her cuticles with her thumbnail.

What if Basil took Sunny for that reason, though?

Planning on stealing him and never coming back?

Like she said, that boy was always too attached to Sunny. It wasn't right!

She had a hunch about it back then, but dismissed it. She thought it was natural for little kids to be clingy with their closest friends. But now?

She should've stopped Sunny from playing with him long ago.

And now what? Her son could be dead in some forced suicide pact with that disturbed child!