~~~~
The freezing winds beat at the shaky
walls of the old log cabin, while she curled up closer to the dying flame in
the fireplace. The situation was undoubtedly dire, but she hadn’t begun to
panic yet. She didn’t have the energy to do anything so stressful.
“Not much longer,” she told herself,
“it’ll pass soon, and then I can return.” She observed her satchel, which was
carelessly discarded to the side. It was empty, and she knew that, yet a small
part of her still wanted to peek through it again. Maybe this time she’d find
more food. “Forget it, I know better,” she warned herself.
The weather outside persisted in its
intensity. The walls creaked and screamed from the pressure. She held her
breath, waiting for the cabin to fall in on itself, but the event never
happened. The wind finally died down a little, and the walls settled back in
place.
“Thank god,” she sighed in relief
and allowed herself to close her eyes. “It’ll only be a short nap, nothing
more,” she assured herself as she slipped into sleep.
A sudden, sharp creak of the walls
snapped her eyes back awake. The wall to her right was leaning in on the cabin.
She quickly backed away from that side, but before she could settle, the sound
continued along. Her eyes followed the source of the creaking until it curved
around the corner and moved past a window.
There was a figure, with a coat of
pure white, standing taller than the cabin. Its clawed hand dragged along the
window, leaving deep scratches. The figure stomped past the window until it
reached the front of the building, where it stopped in its tracks. Out of view
of the window, it pounded on the front door, splintering the wood and letting
cold air leak in.
Her breath died in her throat as she
felt her heart stop in panic. She scanned the room in desperation, seeking any
tool she could use to defend herself. Her vision snapped onto a fire poker,
which she snatched up quickly. The front door finally caved in from the
figure’s relentless assault, as she held up her makeshift weapon to defend
herself.
The figure ducked to enter the
cabin, hunched over the unknown entity still towered over her. It’s soulless
black eyes stood out from its white coat, while its sharp, yellow teeth were
only barely visible. The beast took a step forward, and then another, slowly
approaching her with no hurry or speed.
She held the fire poker in trembling
hands, her eyes could barely stay open as her heart beat faster. The figure
continued its approach, unthreatened by her stance until it stood right before
her. It reached out one long, white arm, marked with yellow claws at its end.
She readied the poker to stab it right in the eye.
Her breaths were labored, she
sweated bullets, and her head was dizzy. She pulled back her weapon, ready to
counterattack. However, she was so tired, and her eyes were so heavy she could
barely see straight. Her body failed her, and she felt herself collapse to the
ground, right as the clawed hand reached past her into the fireplace.
She snapped back awake in a panic,
scrambling for the poker, but it was nowhere to be found. Her eyes scanned the
room to find her weapon, but she stopped as she realized she was now alone. The
figure was gone, her fire had gone cold, and the poker was in the far corner.
She turned to the front door, which had collapsed to the ground covered in
snow. The same was true of both windows, which had cracked open.
“A dream?” she shivered as she
realized how cold she actually was. It was then she noted that the storm had
passed, and it looked quite pleasant outside. She gathered her belongings and
left the old log cabin. It would be a long journey back, but she did not care.
Dream or not, she wanted nothing to do with that long cabin anymore. She spared
one last glance at the structure, and for a moment, she could see the figure
again, in all its terror and glory. Yet, after a single blink of her eyes, it
was gone again.
~~~~
The ailing mind loves to play tricks on itself, you can never tell what part was real or imagined. Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
~~~~
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