Episode 181: Skip Then Fall (Olida)
Cast
Olida (POV), Orris, Landen/Jentzen
Setting
The Dells, Elesara
One, two, three jumps in a row. Four, five six, more. Seven. Then her feet were caught. She fell back onto the grass and looked at Orris. He’d let her fall. He never let her fall.
“Orri-” Her voice cut short.
From one moment of joy, to a moment of annoyance, to a moment of panic, her heart pounded inside her chest faster than all the horses in the land racing. She felt like she couldn’t hear or see.
“Hey guys,” Landen said.
Landen, with his sharp eyes and his attempt at smiling. Landen, the scary guy who had dragged her out in front of her dad, right before he burned her.
He crouched down. He was really strong; people talked about his muscles and how big they were. He looked at her and she wanted to cry.
“How about a hug?” he asked.
Olida scotted back, away from him. Orris didn’t know how bad he was. He wasn’t running. He could run. He needed to run. She looked at him and wished he could read her mind.
Orris turned away and faced Landen, moving between them. “You should go home before they find out what you did.”
While she scooted further between them, Landen just smiled. “Your dad wants to see you. Your real dad. He’s worried about you.”
Olida didn’t care. She never wanted to see her dad again.
“Our dad?” Orris said. “He’s….”
She watched as he gave in. Olida knew what lying was, and she knew Orris knew what lying was, but he’d always wanted their dad to like them.
“He does?” Orris finished, confirming what Olida knew.
“When he heard about everything, he said he had to. He wants you to live with him.”
It didn’t matter what he wanted, because their grandma would never let it happen. Olida didn’t believe them.
“Orris,” she pleaded. “I don’t like this.”
“It’s Daddy,” Orris said. He took Landen’s hand.
“Orris.” She felt her resolve crumbling. She couldn’t let him face their dad alone, she couldn’t lose him.
“It’s Daddy,” Orris repeated.
Landen stood and waited for her, and she walked beside him and took his hand. “It’ll be fun,” he promised. “He found some new toys for you.”
She wanted him to be telling the truth, but Daddy never gave them toys.
She looked at Orris. Grandma liked twins. Maybe if they were a set, they would be okay. Maybe, because Orris was gone, was why they wanted to get rid of her. Orris had escaped somehow. She was scared and felt alone and she wasn’t sure how bad they would be punished, but she knew it would be bad.
She wouldn’t leave Orris. Even if it meant goodbye forever.