A Night in the Storm

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It was a rugged, sturdy cabin that had stood the test of time and had survived numerous Florida storms and hurricanes that moved across the Everglades during the hot summer months. The outside was worn like an old leather shoe. The roof was missing a few shingles, but it still stood. It had no reason to be there, other than someone wanted away from everyone. Noone dared to go out there including law enforcement. It was the perfect secluded hideaway.

Lightning lit up the Florida night sky as the rain poured down. Greg had been lost for hours in the Everglades. What started as an afternoon kayaking adventure to get away from the world for a while had ended up with Greg having no idea where he was and no cell phone signal. Not that the cell phone would matter now. It was in the front pocket of his shorts, soaked through by the rain and clinging to his front leg. Greg could see the eyes in the water as lightning streaked across the nighttime sky. He was sure he would make the wrong move and eventually upset one of the many alligators that called the Everglades home. He wasn’t even sure which direction he was traveling. His food and water had been depleted a few hours ago. Either nature is going to kill me or I’m going to die of starvation and dehydration, he thought.

A new noise startled him. The water moved next to him. He held his knife in the air ready to attack. His heart started pounding as he felt something smooth and leathery slide by him. He looked down to see a six-foot python exploring the swamp. He breathed a sigh of relief and squinted to see his watch through the raindrops. 2:45 am.

Daylight was several hours away but the swamp doesn’t sleep. Keep moving, Greg thought to himself. If you stay in one place, you’re a sitting duck. The rain began to come down harder. The thunder and lightning became brighter and louder. He continued to paddle his kayak looking for anywhere to seek shelter.

Greg squinted. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it but he saw a light. He hadn’t seen any light except lightning. The sky had been pitch black since the sun had disappeared below the horizon several hours before. He couldn’t believe someone else was out here and they had a working light in the rain. He paddled towards the light. The light continued to get brighter as Greg closed in on the faint source of hope.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Greg couldn’t believe his luck. The light was a candle in a cabin. He quickly paddled towards the cabin hoping the occupants would take pity on the lost fisherman, and at least offer him shelter for the remainder of the night. He reached the cabin, securing his small but nimble kayak to a small piece of land close to the cabin, and pounded on the door.

He heard rustling as someone made their way to the door. The knob turned and the door creaked open from years of rust on the hinges. A woman in a long white nightgown with short sleeves and a blue ribbon opened the door.

“Hello, Sir.” She said, “Come in, and get out of the rain.”

“Thank you. I’m so sorry to bother you so late” Greg said. “I am lost and I have been out here for hours.”

“What’s your name, stranger?” She asked.

“Greg.”

“My name is Abigail. Tea?”

“Thank you.” Greg said gratefully as she poured tea from a hot tea kettle that she had taken off a burning fire into a cup and set it in front of him. He looked around the small cabin. It was dimly lit by the lone candle in the window. It was small, and a little run down, but cozy. It would do for the night. “Where is civilization from here? I need to get to a town, and get back to my car in the morning.”

“Oh, you are still miles from civilization. You have to take a boat to get out of here. It’s too wet for a car.”

“Can you take me in the morning?”

“My husband will.”

“Do you have a phone?”

“Never felt the need for phones. We have each other and live off the land. I bet my husband has some clothes that will fit you.” Abigail stepped back into another room and returned with pants, shirt, and a towel for Greg.

“The bathroom is down the hall. You may use the shower if you want to warm up”

“Thank you!” Greg said gratefully. He stepped into the dark bathroom and turned the warm water on. He took off his wet clothes and stepped into the shower. It felt like heaven, as hours of sweat, dirt and swamp washed off of him. He put on the fresh clothes and stepped out to see Abigail having a cup of tea.

“So tell me your story stranger.” Abigail said. “We rarely see people out here. How did you get this far.”

“The shelter is enough, Ma’am.” Greg said. “Please don’t stay awake on my account.”

“I stay up most nights listening to the swamp, and watching the candle burn.”

“Do you light a new candle every evening?” Greg asked incredulously.

“Yes. It’s the only light we have. It’s peaceful. Plus my husband should be home soon.”

“Where’s he at?”

“Hunting.”

At that time, the door opened, and the sound of boots stomping off mud entered the door. A large man entered the door, with wide eyes. He wore a plaid shirt that had several tears and the pocket torn off. His jeans hadn’t faired much better. They had several rips and there was blood around the cuffs. His leather boots had stood the test of time, having been worn several times over but still doing the job. Muttering to himself, he stomped through the cabin. Greg thought he heard him say he lost something.

Abigail sighed. “Well, that was Jim. He must have had a bad night hunting.”

Jim came storming back in. “What’d I tell you about visitors?” He screamed at Abigail.

“But Jim, the man was lost and soaked. He hadn’t had any shelter since early this morning.”

“I hate visitors, and I lost it.”

“Lost what”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m in for it now.” Jim turned toward Greg. “What the hell are you doing this far out in the swamp?”

“I needed to get away for a while. It’s been a bad week. I guess I got too far out and lost my direction in the storm.” Greg replied. The wind whipped outside, A streak of lightning lit up the whole cabin. Greg’s eyes drifted toward the candle. Wax was dripping down the sides of the candle. Greg noticed the candle was getting smaller. He hoped it would last until morning. He really didn’t want to be in a pitch-black cabin.

“Don’t cause any trouble. Two men may be stopping by and when they get here, you two will go to the back of the house and let me conduct my business.” Jim sat down and put his head in his hands.

“What’s wrong Jim?” Abigail asked as she put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t you worry about that?” Jim said.

A spotlight showed through the house, and a sound of a boat engine cut through the rain. Greg wondered how anyone could find this place. Abigail shut the door and they sat in silence in the dark room. Lightning would occasionally light the room and Greg could see Abigail’s worried face. The front door creaked as it was open. Greg wasn’t sure if it was two or three men that entered the house. He heard their voices and they sounded angry. Abigail carefully opened the door a crack so they could listen.

“You promised us eggs, Jim.” The man said.

“I tried. I promise.” Jim replied with desperation in his voice. “I had 20 or so for you, and I barely escaped mama gator. I tripped on a root in the rain and my whole bag disappeared into the water.”

“We paid you a pretty penny in advance for those eggs. You let us down, and no one let us down. You pay one way or the other.”

Abigail stepped out of the room. The candle was down to its last quarter.

“Please,” Jim begged. “Give me one more day. Let me go out tomorrow after the storm.”

Greg jumped as a gunshot went off and he heard Jim scream. Abigail stepped out into the hallway. She tried to quietly move down the hallway but a board creaked and gained the attention of the men. As he heard the footsteps of the men stomping down the hallway, Greg moved to a corner of the room and buried his head in his hands hoping the men wouldn’t come in the room too.

“You didn’t tell me the wife was here, Jim.” The man said as he grabbed Abigail by the arm dragging her back to the main room in the cabin.

“Please. I can barely see your face, I will never tell anyone about tonight.” Abigail begged.

Greg crawled to the 2-inch gap in the door. He could see four shadows on the wall and could hear Abigail crying in fear.

“She’s a liar.” Jim croaked out. “I was trying to protect her. She found another group of men in the swamp that was willing to pay more for the eggs and she sold them out from under me.”

“You’re poaching again.” Abigail yelped. “You promised me after the last time never again.” She looked at the men. “Please believe me. I didn’t know anything about this.”

“Well only a coward would try to pin this on his wife if it wasn’t true.” the other man said. “You don’t know your place, lady, and you shouldn’t have done that. Jim, you stay back or we will shoot you again.”

Greg saw the shadow of the second man reach into his pocket, and hold up a large knife in the air. “You betray us and your husband. You die slowly.” The man grabbed Abigail. The second man stabbed her under both ribs. She let out a loud scream.

“Please, I didn’t do this.” Abigail sobbed. “I’ve never liked poaching. I like animals to live their life.”

“Shoot Jim in the other leg.” The second man said. Greg heard a second gunshot and Jim cry out in pain.

“Time to go.” The man said. “I’ll take Jim, and you take her. It’s time for them to pay.”

“What!?!?!” Abigail exclaimed.

“You’re going to get to see the animals you say should live their lives up close and personal.” The man said with a smirk.

Greg heard the door open and saw all four shadows disappear out the door. He heard the boat engine start and the spotlight turn on heading off into the swamp. He was grateful the men didn’t notice his kayak and ask who it belonged to. He slowly walked down the hall and over to the candle. It was down to a small stub. He got as close to the candle as he could to look at his watch. It read 5:45 am. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. The rain had started to let up and it was getting close to daylight. Greg didn’t care about a ride at this point. If I survive this night, I will go confess to the police, and deal with any repercussions.

He looked around, sighed, and thought back to earlier in the afternoon. He was on a boat with his friend Jaxon. They were having the time of their lives. They had been drinking and not every substance on the boat was legal.

Greg was in heaven. It was a perfect Florida day. Seventy-five degrees with a slight breeze and the smell of salt water as they cruised.

“Can we just do this the rest of our lives?” Greg asked.

“As soon as we sell the cocaine that’s hidden in the bottom room, we can. Jaxon replied.

They snorted another line of cocaine and looked out in the distance. Red and blue lights were very quickly heading their way. Greg slipped the small bag of cocaine he had in his pocket into Jaxon’s pocket.

“You can get to the kayak that hangs off the boat by climbing out the window of the room below,” Jaxon told Greg. We have about two minutes until they are here. Load the cocaine into it, and go through that inlet. That will lead you deeper into the everglades. Find a place to hide it, and I will call you once the cops are gone.”

Greg ran down to the room, loaded the boat, and was lowering it as the cops pulled up to the other side of the boat. He began to paddle away. The cops were asking Jaxon why he was out there alone. Greg heard the commotion and looked back at the boat in time to hear three gunshots and Jaxon collapsed on the boat. Greg continued to paddle. He didn’t know whether Jaxon was alive or dead, but he knew the men he had promised the cocaine to were willing to pay more than the men that Jaxon had promised the cocaine to. He had a cell phone number in his pocket and planned to turn on his google location once he found a place to hide the cocaine and made it back out into the bay.

Jaxon didn’t know Greg had already had the boat loaded and ready to go. He didn’t know it was Greg who had tipped the police off to the illegal things going on in the boat and told them they needed to check it out.

Greg paddled and looked for something out of the ordinary that he could hide the cocaine in or near. He didn’t realize the Everglades were vast and it looked the same for miles on end. He kept paddling, taking breaks when he needed it. He also greatly underestimated the amount of water he would need, and was running low on that. He looked up to see the sun starting to set and clouds rolling in for a Florida summer storm. He was nervous about the storm, but he knew he would take the cap off of his water bottle hoping to catch some rain to replenish his supply of water. He paddled further and it began to rain. It began to pour and the thunder and lightning began. He finally saw a hole in the top of a tree. He paddled to it, secured his kayak between two other trees, and climbed the tree hoping nothing living was in the hole. It was a success, nothing there and dry inside. He hid the cocaine in the tree with a hole, hoping these trees were rare, and kept paddling. Exhaustion and dehydration had taken their toll and he had to rest. Greg looked at his watch. It read 9:00 pm. He laid back in the kayak and shut his eyes.

A hand on his shoulder, and a voice whisper “Greg” startled him back to reality. He spun around and saw Abigail. It was not the Abigail that had answered the door earlier this evening. This Abigail had bug bites on every part of her body that her nightgown didn’t cover. Her body was swollen like it had been in the water for a long time, but she was alive.

“You look like a ghost. Are you okay?” Greg asked.

“You weren’t out in the glades just fishing were you?” Alison said.

“Yes, I was.”

“Those men only show up when someone comes here that is not innocent. So what did you do?”

Greg recounted the story of stealing the cocaine to sell to someone else leaving his friend to take the fall with the police. “At least I called the police and didn’t leave him to the drug lords. That’s got to count for something. Right?” Suddenly, it hit Greg. He looked at the candle with barely a quarter of an inch left to burn.

“What do you mean those men only come when someone arrives that is not innocent? Are you a ghost?”

“Yes, and if you are truly lost out here, you get a place to clean up, sleep, and a cup of tea and are sent on your way or Jim gives you a ride out of here in the morning. If you are not innocent, you get to live out our nightmare and have one of your own. Jim betrayed me and used me to try to save his skin. I was innocent. Those men thought I wasn’t and deserved to be punished. They slit both my sides open so I would bleed slowly, then took me out on that boat, tied me to a tree, and left me. I died a slow painful death as the bugs ate my wounds for hours until the tide came in and I finally drowned. Next, they took Jim to the alligator nest he poached eggs from and left him with his gunshot wounds for mama alligator to find.” She sat back in the chair.

“What happened to the two men?” Greg asked shakily.

“They were struck by lightning, and they still wander the Everglades in their boat.”

Greg glanced at the candle as it started to flicker. It was almost out. A spotlight shown through the slabs. The door flew open and the two men from earlier were in the doorway.

“Well, Abigail. Do we take him?” the first man asked.

“Please. I’ll make amends. I’ll go to the cops. I will never betray anyone again. I will never be a coward again.” Greg begged.

“Take him,” Abigail said. “He let a friend take the fall for both of their doings to save his skin. Let him feel what it's like when you die alone.”

The men grabbed a terrified Greg by both his arms.

“Where are we going?” Greg cried.

“Nowhere you will be found.” The man said.

Abigail walked to the door and smiled. She didn’t take joy in sending anyone with the men, but no one deserves the feeling she had when Jim tried to use her to save his skin. She felt it was justice. She hoped the next person she met would be a lost fisherman and she could just show him some hospitality for the evening.

The first rays of sunlight were starting to light the sky for a new day. She shut the door as the candle burnt out. The melted wax covered the candle holder.

The sun rose to wake the Everglades up for the morning. It rose over the horizon once again over the cabin and the abandoned kayak. It waited to be a miracle for someone lost in the Everglades or to right a wrong of someone who wasn’t innocent.