Author's Note: This all started with a picture of an abandoned wooden church in Oregon from the subreddit, r/abandoned. I saw it and had to write about it. For some reason, I ended up adding Finland to the story. I don't think I've ever written about him before. Well, here he is. And look, we have the return of Irene. We'll get back to their little quest before the season is over. I don't know what's coming next week. I am going to have to look back in the author's notes because I think I promised to write about someone and I just forgot. As for the Christmas special, it is starting to come along. For now, enjoy this week's match.
Match Twenty-Five: Old Church:
There is an old church in the mountains. Tino had heard the rumors. Usually, he didn't have any interest in this sort of thing. But lately, he's been experiencing weird memories. For some reason, Tino believed that he died in a church in the mountains during winter. But that couldn't be right. He was still alive.
But why couldn't Tino stop thinking about that old church in the mountains?
He woke up in front of his laptop. There was that picture of that old church again. It wasn't a big building. The Finnish man sat in front of his laptop looking so confused. Why was he looking this church up? Tino took a look at the Reddit post in front of him. How did he even know to come here?
The Finnish man read the post again. The OP said they were hiking through the woods that summer. They got lost when they thought someone was calling them off the trail. They claimed they were wandering through the woods when they came across that church. At first, nothing stood out about it. It was weird to see this building in the middle of nowhere.
It wasn't a big church. The small building was made of cedar. The steps were also made of wood. Same with the rails. Barely any trees hid the church. The OP didn't get a chance to go inside when they heard someone calling them. They explained to the forest ranger that they got lost. To make a long story short, they were guided back onto the trail and finished the hike. The OP attached the photos to the post.
Tino couldn't make out what he was looking at. He felt like he had seen this church before. Only there was snow everywhere. Maybe it was in 1989. Or was it 1991? The Finnish man rubbed his forehead.
"This doesn't make any sense," he said. Suddenly, his phone rang. Tino looked up beside him. Irene was calling him again. What did she want now?
"Hello?" he asked.
"Tino!" Irene cheered over the other line. The Finnish man nervously laughed.
"Um… Irene, hi!" he said. "How are you doing?" There was only one reason why that journalist would be calling him at all.
"Listen, I am coming out to Finland for a couple of days," Irene said. "I heard about that church hidden in the mountains." There it was. Tino shouldn't have been surprised. There was no way he was going to talk her out of it.
"Did you get dumped again?" Tino asked. There was a pause on the other line.
"Now why would you think something like that?" Irene asked. Should he tell her? Should he say it or let her be?
"Look, I wouldn't know where this church was," Tino said. "There isn't anything I can tell you about it. I'm sorry."
"Please?" she pleaded. "I really need this! Please?" He wasn't going to talk her out of this one. Plus, she sounded desperate. Tino sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"And I suppose you have the directions to get there, don't you?" he asked.
"Nothing a little search through Reddit couldn't fix," Irene said. He should've known.
"Where do you want to meet up?" he asked.
"The usual spot," Tino said.
"Great! I will see you at three," Irene said. She hung up before Tino could argue. He stared at his phone. Tino already had a bad feeling about this.
December 23rd, 1989
He's been lost in a manic fog for days. No one really paid much attention to it anymore. They had been used to this for nine years now. They didn't know what was wrong with him. Even he doesn't know what's wrong with him. Whenever winter hits, he isn't all there. His parents wished that it was just sadness during the winter. But that isn't the only problem.
He just sits in his room and stares off into space. He doesn't eat or sleep. He's cut himself off from his friends and his family. He didn't even have any interest in his favorite things. The doctors couldn't help him. All of the drugs in the world helped but only for a short time. But lately, they seemed to have stopped working.
Which all led to that day…
All he thought about was going down to that church. By now, he was gone. He wasn't even dressed for the weather. All he had on was a pair of jeans. No boots or a coat. But he didn't feel anything. All he had to do was walk up to that small wooden church in the mountains.
Present Day
Tino walked up to the coffee shop just outside of his house. He could already see Irene sitting by the window waiting. She turned her head and waved when she spotted him. Tino frowned at first before he forced himself to smile. Too late to turn back now. The Finnish man took a breath and walked up to the glass doors.