Olive

0. misfortune

misfortune
noun
• an unfortunate condition or event
∞

• June 2015 •

"COME ON, OLLY," Fynn Grayce muttered as he gently hit his phone into his palm. He bit his lip anxiously as he waited for a response from his best friend Olive Cayman. His room was dark, the only light coming from a streetlight outside the window of his apartment. Despite it being almost midnight, Fynn was fully dressed as he sat on his ruffled covers, his boot tapping the floor every few seconds. A minute passed and Fynn decided he had had enough. Jumping up from his bed, he dashed for his keys at the counter and swung out the front door, letting it close with a slam.

As he ran down the stairs to get from the third to first floor, he contemplated what he might say to Olive. Was she angry? Was she upset? What had he done wrong? When leaving his apartment building, the lady at the front desk smiled as she saw Fynn leave this late once again. He had just stopped in the doorway and looked back at her. Her smile faded when she saw the worried look on his face. Leaning forward on her desk, she opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by him.

"I'll be right back, Bea," he said and hurriedly made his way down the street. The street was quiet as it usually was. The silence was normally peaceful and full of the anticipation that he was going to see his Olly. However, this silence was deadly and the air was heavy as fear settled deep in his stomach. Fynn sped up his pace and practically ran through the familiar streets that seemed to be haunting him now.

He was almost there. The park, Kingstone Park, was only a little further. It was midnight then, the start of Monday June 8, 2015. A light breeze picked up and relaxed him just a little. He was probably being irrational; nothing could be wrong. Olly would be sitting on the swing just like she always was, dangling her feet and smiling up at him when he got there. Her golden hair would frame her heart shaped face, her deep brown eyes would twinkle at him with joy, and her wide smile would warm his heart as it always did.

Just as he reached the tall iron gate of Kingstone Park, Fynn could sense something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. The grass bristled in the wind until it slowed down and stopped altogether. The gate was left barely open, which was the first odd sign. Olly never left the gate even a smidge open. She knew Fynn always liked to climb over the bars just for the thrill of it.

He gently pushed it open and scanned the park. It was very broad, consisting of a grassy field, a long swing set, a playground, and a lake that took up half of the space. A forest stood behind the lake and stretched on for miles. The scenery always made an uncontrollable joy rise up in him, the laughs that the trees echoed would ring in his ears. Yet, that joy didn't surface today. Instead, dread weighed on him heavily when he saw the vacant swing set. Everything was deserted. Alarm bells pounded inside his head and suddenly, all of it frightened him. Olly's favorite swing was the only thing moving, even if it was the slightest sway before it came to a stop.

Fynn spun in confusion. Then he noticed the lake. It was the only thing that could calm him besides Olive, and she wasn't there. He sat down at the edge and eased his boots off his feet. The water was a dark blue-green that swirled gently around his ankles when his feet dipped in. Where could she be? It was only hours earlier that she told him she'd be here. He'd told her to wait because he would be awhile, but it was hours later that Fynn gave the go ahead and still there was no reply. He tried calling, but she wasn't answering her phone. Fynn fiddled with his own phone as he stared into the lake, watching; waiting.

He stared. A flash of gold. He frowned. The water shifted. Then, he knew. Feeling sick to his stomach, he backed away slowly, removing his feet, his shaky hand dropping his phone. It hit the ground with a thud. A moment of dire silence passed. All of a sudden, he snapped into action. Fynn's fingers snatched his shirt from his torso and his body dove into the lake.