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A Walk Through the Woods

A Family Tradition

By Bonnie WebbPublished about a year ago 15 min read
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The A-Frame Cabin in Early Summer

We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cozy A-frame cabin. Dale didn't know the real look of the cabin, except what he had seen on the B&B website, but I already knew every outside detail of it. I had memorized the roof's jutting points, its front windows, its peaked roof, the mocha color of its siding, and especially its front porch with a green aluminum roof and and dark wooden floorboards. I also knew that it was situated by a creek running swiftly down the side of a big hill and then it took a right and meandered through water logged boulders and past the cabin. I remembered the stone wall and wooden bridge that took you into the woods where I imagined all kinds of creatures, great and small, lived.

I had etched that A-frame cabin and its surroundings in my mind's memory. My parents and I had passed it every every spring and summer on the way to see Grandma and Grandpa. I missed my grandparents. They had passed away a month apart. "When Grandma died Grandpa couldn't get over her leaving him, so he decided to be with her," I remembered that's what Mom said to try and comfort me after his funeral.

"I wanted to live in that cabin when I was a kid," I revealed to Dale. Dale and I were newlyweds and I wanted him to know all about me, especially my childhood dreams, so I continued talking, "I wanted to fall asleep to the sound of rushing water and wake up to the smell of clean sweet air."

"I didn't know you were such a nature girl, Samantha." Dale responded to my revelation.

"Well I am, and I am so happy it's a B&B now. I can't wait to walk inside and actually see what each room looks like. I bet they have it all fixed up for Christmas." I crossed my fingers, hoping I wouldn't be disappointed.

My young adult life had been in turmoil and full of disappointments, until I met my husband. Dale intuitively knows what to do to comfort me and he knows what makes me happy, which was why I wasn't surprised when he presented me with this weekend getaway for my 24th birthday. What did surprise me was that he had chosen the A-frame cabin from my childhood. How did he know? My parents and grandparents were now gone, so they couldn't have told him. I'd asked him how he knew, but he refused to tell me. He said it was a surprise.

"Ten more minutes and we should be there." Dale announced.

I was smiling ear to ear and replied with a girly glee, " I can't wait!"

Ten minutes later our jeep rolled onto the driveway which was packed in snow and ice. "Be careful not to slip and fall," Dale warned me.

"Oh my gosh, how beautiful! I've never seen the cabin during winter!" I was elated as I stepped out of the jeep. The cold crisp air tickled my throat into laughter and the blanket of snow comforted my spirit.

Dale put his arms around me and stated, "I'm glad you're so happy. You deserve it after everything you've been through. "

I scowled because I didn't want to think about the past. Within a space of three years, I'd lost almost all of my family, except for Uncle Jack. Today was a new day, a fresh start; it was my birthday.

"O wow!" I exclaimed, "The trees have grown, especially that one across the creek. I want to stay here forever!" I was glad that the wooden bridge was still there. Dale and I could take a long walk through the woods and maybe even have a picnic.

I rushed inside, slamming the white screen door behind me. Dale grabbed our luggage and the groceries from the back seat of our jeep.

Wide-eyed, I took in the interior of the living room and noticed the Christmas tree's twinkling white lights, with an assortment of vintage ornaments hanging from it's branches. Then I noticed a painting above the decorated mantle of the fireplace. As I stepped closer to it, I recognized the cabin. It was the A-frame, but the tall trees covered most of the front except for the porch. From the porch there were stepping stones leading to the wooden bridge. I also recognized the waterfall feature to the right of the house. The painting must have been painted in early summer because the flowers were in full bloom, the waterfall feature was running, and the trees flourished with a hearty set of vivid green leaves. The tallest tree across the creek look unattended because of the vines running up its canopy of leaves and down its trunk. I bet all of the trees across the creek had vines. I liked it because it meant they were untamed just like the wildlife I envisioned striving to make and keep their home in the wilderness. Then my eyes were drawn to the bottom left of the painting where the artist had signed, "Bella." I wondered if Bella was the owner of the cabin.

Dale came shuffling through the front door with luggage and grocery bags in tow and set them down at the foot of the decorated banister. He looked around and spotted me viewing the painting. He walked up behind me and put his arms around my waist and nuzzled his face against the back of my neck. At first his cold nose startled me, but I soon relaxed in his embrace feeling content, but then a twinge of sadness threatened to replace my contentment, so I turned around to face Dale who quickly planted a kiss on my lips, causing my sadness to dissipate into the cold air.

"I'm cold!" I exclaimed to Dale.

"Well I can fix that!" Dale assured me, grabbing a hand full of logs, kindling and matches.

"I'll fix us some hot cocoa," I stated as I carried the grocery bags into the kitchen. The kitchen was almost as I had imagined, except that there was no kitchen table. Instead, there was a wide breakfast bar laid out across the long kitchen window that faced the woods behind the cabin. "What a good idea," I thought, "More room in the kitchen and a spectacular view." Searching for a spoon to stir the cocoa, I opened a kitchen drawer, but instead of silverware, it held a framed 4x6 photo of a girl sitting inside a sleigh beside a brawny looking man in a red plaid coat. Both of them were smiling ear to ear. The girl looked like she could be the man's daughter. They definitely had the same smile. I brought the picture closer to my eyes to make sure I was seeing correctly. The girl's facial features were very similar to my mom's, and she had blonde hair and blue eyes just like Mom. "Could this be a picture of Mom, but then that man doesn't look like Grandpa. It must be just coincidence," I reasoned to myself, but then I couldn't get rid of that nagging feeling.

My mind drifted to the hospital room where my mom lay seriously ill from the cancer that had spread throughout her body. I remembered her uttering to me, "I need to tell you something Honey," and then Dad walked into the hospital room, and her mouth tightly shut. That night Mom passed away, and I never knew what Mom wanted to say. I mentioned Mom's words to Dad a few months later, hoping he knew, but he said he had no idea.

Tears came to my eyes because it was all so overwhelming. Within a year of Mom's death Dad died when his house caught on fire. I pushed my parent's death to the back of my mind because it was just too dark for me to dive into and I was afraid of drowning in the deep abyss. I had nightmares of my mom gasping for breath and my dad trying to escape through the fire but not making it. I just prayed that it wasn't as horrific for them as it appeared to me.

My darkness was interrupted by the radio sound of my favorite Christmas carol, "Silent Night." Thank God for Dale. Once again he knew what to do. I put a smile on my face and brought the cocoa into the living room. For the rest of the afternoon we sat on the sofa facing the warm and crackling fireplace, drank our luscious cocoa and sang along with the radio.

"Tomorrow's Christmas Eve folks. Don't forget to take a sleigh ride up to the mountain top to enjoy our village's yearly tradition." The DJ announced.

"I wonder what that tradition is?" I asked Dale.

"I don't know, but I can find out tomorrow. I need to go into the village tomorrow to get a couple of things that I forgot, and I'll check into it." Dale replied.

"What did you forget?" I asked him.

Dale replied, "A couple of things. For one, I forgot to bring the Christmas wrapping paper. After I wrapped your birthday gift, I didn't even think about grabbing the Christmas paper. Let me make you a birthday dinner, and then we'll have some of that delicious leftover birthday cake."

"Okay," I said, "I would love that."

Dale took a Cornish hen and instead of roasting it, he chopped it up for frying. Then he coated the small pieces in milk and pancake mix. It was succulent and tasty. The garlic mashed potatoes were whipped to perfection. The corn on the cob was tender, sweet, salty and buttery. I loved that about Dale. He was such a creative and wonderful cook. Then he made me a decadent cocktail with cognac, crème de cacao and vanilla ice cream. He wittingly called the drink a Samantha Alexandria. I was giddy from the cocktail, and so stuffed I couldn't even eat any leftover birthday cake. My eye lids grew heavy and I was ready for bed.

Before Dale and I crawled into our cozy bed, laden in patchwork quilts, I said, "Let's take a walk through the woods tomorrow and have a picnic."

Dale replied, "Okay. I'll pick up some food from the deli when I go into town tomorrow, and then we'll go when I get back."

I soon fell asleep in the comfort of Dale's arms and I dreamt about the path beyond the wooden bridge, but Dale wasn't with me. I was alone and I couldn't decide which path to take. There were so many turns, and ups and downs. There were fallen trees, and wild and hungry wolves. There was a wounded fawn. I wanted to stay and help, but instead I ran, and I ran until I became lost in the thick of the forest. I couldn't find my way out, and then a golden shaft of light appeared through the white canopy, and I ran in its direction. When I reached the light, I awoke to blinding sunlight hitting me directly in the face.

Dale must have already left for the village because the side of his bed was empty and I didn't hear any noise coming from downstairs. I looked at the bedside clock and it read 9:00 AM. I put on my robe and slippers and went downstairs to fix myself a cup of coffee. The coffee Dale brought was rich, dark, soothing and delicious with the left over birthday cake. Then it dawned on me that it was Christmas Eve, so I turned on the tree lights, fired up the chimney and turned on the radio to keep me company until Dale came home. Time passed and Dale still wasn't back, so I started to worry; more time passed and then I started to panic. My thoughts took me to the dark places in my mind that I had grown accustomed to visiting. I grabbed my cell out of my purse. There was no signal, but I tried calling anyway; nothing. I told myself to calm down, but I couldn't. Everything seemed so surreal. I couldn't make sense of my surroundings, and then I remembered my therapist telling me to use my senses to get grounded. I put on my red riding hood cape and decided I would face the big bad wolf and take a walk across the wooden bridge and into the woods. Just as I stepped out onto the front porch I heard our jeep coming up the road and I took a deep breath of life-giving air.

Dale got out of the jeep and motioned for me to help him unload the jeep. Walking towards the jeep, I wondered if I should tell Dale about my PTSD. Would he still love me? I then realized that I had only revealed my good thoughts and good dreams to Dale. I had never really told him about my dark thoughts, my panic attacks, and my nightmares, much less the fact that I had been diagnosed with PTSD. The only reason he found out about my family was that I had to tell him why I didn't have any family to invite to our wedding, except for Uncle Jack. I felt guilty for not telling him before we got married. I told myself that I didn't want to be a burden to him. I wanted to be a loving and devoted wife; enjoying our life together.

When I reached the jeep, Dale gave me a perplexed look and asked, "What's wrong Honey."

I could of replied my usual, "Nothing," but instead I said, "I'll tell you when we take a walk through the woods," and then I asked him, "Why are you so late?"

He replied, "I'll tell you when we take a walk through the woods."

Dale magically stuffed our picnic basket and then we grabbed our snowshoes, flashlights, and one of the patchwork quilts and headed out on my long awaited adventure.

Stepping carefully on the slippery treads of the wooden bridge we safely made it to the entrance of the forest. Yes, it was a forest. Thick with snow, white rabbits, deer, squirrels, birds, and all other kinds of wildlife that either stared or ran away from us. The narrow path sloped downwards as we treaded through the snow. "This looks like a good spot for a picnic," Dale said, motioning to a clearing that had sunlight filtering through it. Déjà vu hit me like a ton of bricks, and then I remembered my dream from last night.

I laid the blanket across the snowy embankment, and wondered if that was the same creek that ran past the A-frame cabin. I sat down and stared at the trickling water melting from the sunlight. I then took in a very deep breath of clean air, and began to divulge my traumatic past and thoughts to Dale. He listened attentively as we ate and drank. At one point I could see his eyes tearing up and then he turned away, got up and leaned his head against a tree. I could see his shoulders shaking and then I heard him quietly sobbing. I got up and took my arms and wrapped them around him and asked him, "Why are you crying?"

He stopped crying and looked straight into my eyes and confessed, "I finally understand why you're so moody and aloof at times. I thought it was because I wasn't making you happy, but now I know the truth. It wasn't me. I've been carrying this heavy burden of guilt since we got married."

I was shocked that my not telling Dale the truth had been a burden to him, and then I started to cry uncontrollably. He then wrapped his arms around me and comforted me in his embrace. "Do you hear that?" he whispered in my ear.

I listened and I could faintly hear a sound of a bell ringing. The bell seemed to be coming in our direction because the ringing became louder as I listened. Then I heard the snorting of a horse, and saw a blonde girl driving a sleigh along the embankment. As she pulled up to our picnic site I recognized the young girl in the photograph, except that she was older now. She looked to be in her early thirties, and looked like an angel with her blonde hair draped over her white fur coat. I watched her closely as she rested the reins on the seat and jumped out of the sleigh. She approached me and took a good look at me. Being satisfied with what she saw, she then introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Bella."

"Are you the artist who painted the A-frame cabin?" I asked her.

"I am," she replied. "I own the place." She then turned to Dale and said, "Hello Dale."

"How do you know Dale?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Uncle Jack introduced us in the village this morning," She replied.

I looked at her and then I looked at Dale demanding an explanation in my glaring stare. Dale laughed and then began to explain. It turned out that Dale had called Uncle Jack to ask about a good spot for a weekend getaway and Uncle Jack knew of just the place. He also knew about Bella because her dad had been his best friend in high school, and he thought it was time that I knew I had a half-sister.

That evening, I, Dale, Bella and Uncle Jack huddled together in the horse drawn sleigh watching the skiers parade down the snowy mountainside with their candle-lit lights. Looking at my family, I thought, "If it were not for the darkness then I wouldn't be able to see the precious light of a family's love and comfort."

"We need to make this Christmas Eve tradition a family tradition!" I exclaimed in delight.

"We sure do!" my family responded in harmony.

Family
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About the Creator

Bonnie Webb

Since the age of twelve I always knew that I would write, and I wrote; but then as I became a little older I felt I needed more life experience, so I quit writing. I've now gathered the life experience and here I am, writing once again.

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