Writing Prompt challenge

one last time

Combing through the mess in his drawers beneath his desk while trying to find a file he would need the upcoming day Flynn found an old picture he had placed in here so that no one would find it. No one was allowed to find it after all. He pulled it out and lightly ran a finger over the already slightly faded Polaroid, a clutching feeling in his chest.
It was a picture he took years ago during his last day on his very last summer vacation at that camp and he wished so bad that he could go back there and meet his friends again. To go back to those who truly accepted him for who he was and that made his life actually worth living. But he had been too old for summer camp and now he had work to do. Even if he would be able to find the time to visit that place, he wouldn’t know if they were still there or if they moved on with their lives elsewhere as well.
In the picture he was smiling up at the camera, holding it far above his head so that everyone fit in the frame even if that was an obstacle for itself. The others hadn’t been too happy about actually taking a picture at first but after the first one was shot and had developed, they wanted to take more so that each of them had something to hold onto for when Flynn was gone.
The day had been hard for all of them and Flynn’s face, despite smiling from ear to ear, was slightly puffy from all the crying. He could still remember how Meor refused to let go of him when he had to head back to the tents in order to pack. She even wanted to come along and at least wish him a proper farewell but the others had luckily gotten her off that idea. It would’ve been a disaster if she did.
Nonetheless, when the bus took off and he looked into the woods he could see all 5 of them lurking though the thicket and waving him off for one last time.
“Have you found it?” his father stormed into the room and Flynn flinched before immediately placing the picture back inside the drawer, then he turned around.
“No, I told you it’s not here. It must be in the office,” he commented calmly but his father combed through his hair in frustration.
“We have to go and get it, I’ll get the car, meet me outside,” he said before hastily leaving the room again. Flynn traced one last time over the picture before he pushed the drawer close, a sigh escaping his lips. He grabbed the jacket he had placed on the table and made his way out of the room.
Flynn had been his father’s secretary for a few years now and honestly, he did a horrible job. His father was constantly stressed and whatever Flynn did, it was always wrong. No matter how hard he tried, his father always found something to nag on and was never satisfied.
When he stepped outside his father was already waiting in the car so he walked over to the silver BMW i8 Roadster, the butterfly door that his father loved so much already open. He sat down and pulled the door close, then pulled the seatbelt over his chest but before he could secure it his father already started the car and drove off. Rolling his eyes, Flynn finally buckled up and shifted in his seat until he had found a comfortable position.
“Listen, you have to get things straight. You are supposed to take over my job eventually so you have to pay more attention to your surroundings and…” Flynn looked out of the window, looking at the scenery that zoomed past.
He hated the job he had and he hated the live he was living. When he was younger people always made comments about how amazing and perfect his life had to be, living in such a rich family. That he always had everything he wanted and needed. Only that everyone always forgot that time and affection wasn’t something that could be bought and sadly enough his parent’s lacked that knowledge as well.
His parents never really paid a lot of attention to him, too caught up in their work. When they came home, Flynn had run up to them, wanting to hug them but they just pushed him away saying they were too tired. When he had bought home an A on his math test, they didn’t even pay attention, mumbling a short “nice” without even sparing a glance and when he tried to gain their attention they ended up yelling at him. They told him they were busy and that he should play with someone else.
Even with friends, luck wasn’t on his side. He had always been the strange rich kid.
When he was approached for the first time it had been by a group of other rich kids but he couldn’t stand how they treated those with less money. When he stood up against them when they were bullying someone whose parents didn’t have as much wealth and influence as theirs he just ended up being pushed to the ground as well and became one of their regular victims in the end.
The second time he was approached it had been by a group that saved him from his former friends daily bullying. They protected him and took him in, despite the gap in their family’s position in society. They had told him they didn’t care about ranks and that it only mattered who he was inside. He had spent years with them. Years of them asking him for money or gadgets and he had always compiled until his parents found out. They hadn’t explained to him that his so called ‘friends’ were using him, just that he had to stay away and that they were no good.
Flynn had thought his parents referred to their different family standards and ignored his parents words until they ended up sending him to the camp over summer break as a way of keeping him away from the ‘bad influence’. They never saw that they themselves had been the worst influence of them all.
During summer camp he had been all alone yet again, not really caring about those other rich kids that were send here to spend their summer. He knew how they thought and he definitely wasn’t up for that again. He had gone through enough torture from their likes that he knew better than to get close.
Him staying alone hadn’t exactly been the best choice either though as the others had eventually started to push him around nonetheless. One night they had ended up going through the few things he had bought, destroyed everything they could find and when he had walked in on them, they had laughed at him for crying.
He hated it to cry, his father always told him if he showed tears he was weak. But that night things had gotten to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore and the tears just started flowing down his cheeks.
He had run out of his tent and into a nearby forest, not caring that he lost track of where he was going or where he even came from. He just wanted to get away. Get away from his bullies and from people in general. When the adrenaline had worn off however, fear started kicking in. It had been dark already and Flynn had no idea where he was. Trees were towering above him on all sides and every little slight creak made him jump in fear.
He had wandered around, sobbing whilst trying his best to find a way out of the forest again when he had heard laughter. He had followed it, hoping it would lead him back to the camp but he ended up stumbling into a really weird scene.
There was a big lake in the middle of the forest, a small waterfall on the side and five weird creatures were frozen in place whilst staring at him in horror. Flynn had just dropped to his knees, crying even harder and they had started murmuring. Then one of them had made his way over to Flynn and wrapped his four soaking wet furry arms around him. One by one all five creatures had made their way over to him and had ended up staying by his side until he finally stopped crying.
Thinking about it now, Flynn should've probably run away upon seeing them but he was glad he didn’t. Those five creatures had ended up bringing him back to the camp, making him promise not to tell anyone about them and he could still remember how he had scoffed while asking them who he was supposed to tell. How they had asked if he didn’t have friends or parents but he only said that there was no one that cared enough to listen, even if he would spill their secret.
The next night he had been woken up by one of the weird creatures. It had been the fluffy brown one with three eyes and four arms that was the first to go over and comfort him the day prior. He had ended up letting himself be dragged into the forest and to the lake where the rest of the five were. They had been confused why their friend had bought him, the human, along, saying how dangerous it was but Meor had only said she didn’t care and that Flynn needed some friends.
After that Flynn snuck out every night just to meet his newfound friends and he had actually started to have fun. Among them, he felt like he belonged somewhere. That he finally had found his place in the world. Neither of them cared that they weren’t supposed to be friends. They weren’t allowed to interact with humans as the human race was deemed dangerous and he was never supposed to find out about their existence to begin with. But all they cared about was that they had fun together and that they were all happy.
That was until the 1 month had been over and Flynn had to go back home. Back home to the parents that couldn’t care less about him and back to his so called ‘friends’ where he had finally understood that they had been using him all those years for his wealth and name.
When he got home he had been a lot stronger and he didn’t mind being alone anymore, knowing who his true friends were. He had begged his parents to let him go to the camp the following year again and they had agreed so he patiently waited for that one year to be over. Then, he finally went back home. Home to his true family.
They had went through that procedure for several years until Flynn had turned seventeen, meaning it was his last year that he was allowed to enter the camp. It was also his last year in school and he knew he would have to start in his father’s company afterwards, not allowing him to take time off to visit his family.
During that last year the first day he had met up with them he had already been crying. He hated how they looked at him in horror when he said it was his last time. The last 1 month he would come here. That he wasn’t able to come afterwards anymore.
The first night they all had cried their eyes out until morning and Flynn almost came too late for breakfast but he somehow managed just in time. The night after when he had gotten to the lake, the others were already waiting for him, a weird attire in their hands.
They ended up dressing him up like one of their kind, telling him that they decided to show him their home and boy, he had loved it. It felt so much more like home than anywhere he had ever been in the human world. Everything was sparkling and all those different kind of creatures in all kinds of different sizes and colours made it look a lot brighter and colourful. There were food stands everywhere and Flynn mostly didn’t even know any of what they were selling. His friends had ended up getting him some of the ‘good stuff’ and whatever it had been, it tasted better than anything he had ever eaten before. He never wanted to leave that place ever again but he had to eventually.
The following 1 month they had spent switching from his friends hometown to the lake and then going back to the town, having as much fun on the way as possible until the very last day. They stayed at the lake that night and Flynn had bought his Polaroid camera along, begging them to take a picture with him so he had something to hold onto. In the end they agreed, knowing they could trust him not to show it to the world. Besides that, they had learned that, even if he did show it to someone, most people would only think they were cosplayers anyways.
Flynn’s father parked the car in front of the company and Flynn looked up at the building towering in front of them. He hated being forced into this but there wasn’t anything he could really do about it. The only thing he had left of that magical world he once encountered as a child was the slightly faded polaroid, memories that were buried deep in his heart and the never dying wish to be able to meet those again he called his family for one last time.