Be Careful What You Wish For

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window…

“So, what do you think?” Sally asked, turning towards Steve, who was engrossed in that morning’s newspaper. “What do I think about what?” He answered distractedly, not looking up from his paper. He was then startled when the cushion sally threw burst through his newspaper and hit him square in the face. “What the fuc..!” he exclaimed.

“Serves you right, you know this is important to me and you’re not even paying attention!” She replied, a little sulkily. “I need to find a gripping opening line for my horror story, something to draw the readers in straight away.”

“And you went with a candle in a window?” He replied questioningly, now meeting her gaze.

“In a cabin in the woods.” She replied, sounding somewhat deflated, and then added weakly, “An abandoned cabin in the woods.”

“Doesn’t really scream horrorfest to me love.” He replied gently, aware of her failing enthusiasm. Sally sighed and turned away from her laptop. “Yeah, I know, but I’m not looking for a blood and guts horror story, more a ghostly, supernatural feel.” She pondered for a while, as Steve gathered together the remains of his newspaper, rustling them into some semblance of order.

Once he had his paper in order, Steve offered,

“How about, ‘Sally could hear the sound of footsteps approaching her bedroom door, even though she was alone in the house?” Sally tilted her head top one side for a moment, as if considering it. But then shook her head and said, “No, too generic. Been done a million times before. I want something gripping, but more up to date, a ghost story for the 21st century.” They both sat in companiable silence for a moment, Sally was quietly pleased that Steve was now taking an interest in her work.

“I’ve got it!” Steve shouted, making Sally jump out of her skin. “For fuck’s sake Steve, you almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry love, but I think you’ll like this. You know Shabby Dave from the pub?” he asked rhetorically, Sally just wrinkled her nose in disgust and nodded. “Well, he was telling me about this new phone App called Randonautica. You type in some stuff you want to find, like a murder site, or something spooky, and it sends you a location and gives you directions on how to get there. What if someone used it and got sucked in to a real-life horror story? It could be creepy as hell, and brings it right up to date using a phone App.”

“I knew there was a reason I kept you around,” Sally responded, her face breaking into a beaming smile. “That is freaking genius!” With that she ran across the room and leapt onto his lap, simultaneously engaging him in a deep kiss. As the broke of he looked up at her and said lustily, “You know, there is that other thing you keep me around for..?” Sally smiled down sweetly at him and responded. “Yes, I do,” she replied and pecked him on the lips. “So, when you’ve put the bins out, I might let you have your way with me.” She jumped up laughing and ran for the stairs, with her husband in hot pursuit, A while later they lay in the afterglow of their lovemaking, curled up against one another. Sally said sleepily, “Do you know what my lover? I think you might really have hit on something with this phone App business. I’m going to sleep on it, nighty night.” There was no reply, Steve was already lightly snoring in the depths of sleep.

When he woke next morning Steve found the space in the bed next to him vacant, the sheets not even warm. From the kitchen he could hear the rattling of pots and pans and smiled, Sally always cooked when she was brainstorming a story, it was one of the reasons he had to go to the gym five times a week, to burn off the extra calories. But breakfast brainstorming was unusual, normally it was an evening meal occasion. So eager to see what she had come up with, he pulled on a pair of sweat pants and headed towards the sound of food. He found Sally in the kitchen frantically whishing what looked like a dozen eggs in a large, Pyrex bowl. Steve wandered over and gave her a kiss from behind, on the temple. “Morning beautiful.” He remarked casually, snaking his arms around her waist. She did not let up in her whisking, but replied excitedly. “I downloaded it last night. That App you were talking about? The one Shabby Dave told you about? Randonautica.”

“Okaaaay?” Steve responded, somewhat taken aback by her un expected enthusiasm.

“It is just amazing.” Sally enthused. “Googled it and watched a shit load of videos on You Tube. So many people have found weird shit after following the directions. We should try it. Really." She swivelled to face him, still encircled in his arms. “I can see you're sceptical. Just go and check a couple out on my lap top while I finish getting breakfast together. There are a couple of tabs open with some of the really cool ones.” Steve gave a theatrical sigh and said as he broke away from their embrace, “Well I suppose there’s nothing else to do while my serving wench prepares my meal.” He turned and was almost out of the kitchen door when the whisk hit him on the back of his neck. Steve stopped and without turning, reached round and drew a finger through the pancake batter dribbling down his skin.” He put it to his mouth, made a lip-smacking noise and then proclaimed. “Needs more salt.” He dived out the door before another projectile could reach him. “Pig!” Sally called cheerily after him.

Fifteen minutes later, Sally walled into the dinning area with a plate of steaming pancakes in one hand, and a bottle of maple syrup and two forks in the other. “Thought we’d share a plate, save on washing up.”

“That’s the lazy bitch I know and love.” Steve responded fondly. He winced as she ‘accidently’ clipped the top of his head with the plate of pancakes as she reached over to place them on the table. “You’re always hitting me and throwing shit at me.” He complained, half-heartedly.

“And you’re always being a dick to me.” She replied matter-of-factly. “Fair enough.” He conceded. He was still staring at the computer screen, listening to the muted voices coming from the speakers.

Sally watched his concentration, and after a short while she asked, “So, what do you think?”

“You’re right.” He replied distractedly, “This is quite interesting. The kids who found the body in the suitcase by sea is well documented. I checked it out on google. But I still don’t understand how it’s supposed to work. At the end of the day, it’s just an App.” Sally pursed her lips for a few moments, then said cautiously. “What if…” She paused for a second before continuing. “What if the App connects us to the spirit world in some way, via the internet. A lot of people into the supernatural believe ghosts and spirits exist as electrical residual energy. There are thousands of documented cases of EVPs, and high EMF readings when in a supposedly haunted place. Perhaps, if you send your will, your own brainwaves through the App, you can in some way influence the results. I mean, we already know brainwaves are nothing more than small electrical pulses.” Sally stopped, and saw Steve was staring up at her, and braced herself for some sarcastic retort. But he surprised her by calmly responding,

“You make an interesting case. But, he continued with some emphasis, “For every hit the App gets, there are hundreds, probably thousands or tens of thousands of dead-end trips that went nowhere.”

“I accept that,” said Sally, “but perhaps they didn’t take it seriously, or the timing wasn’t right to make a connection.” Then Steve surprised her for a second time by saying. “Or, it takes a particular kind of person, someone already in tune with the paranormal to make the connection.” “Yes!” Sally replied excitedly.

“Well, intrepid explorers never got far without a hearty meal inside them,” Steve smiled up at her, “come my fulsome wench and break bread with me. Or at least break pancake with me.”

“Twat.” Sally said, as she sat down and grabbed a fork from the table, while Steve drizzled syrup over the stack of pancakes.

It didn’t take the pair long to polish off the pancakes, and while they did, Sally downloaded the Randonautica App onto her smart phone. She babbled excitedly through mouthfuls of food, explaining how it worked as she set up her account. “You get so many free tokens per day and after that you have to pay for them,” she continued. “While you are generating a location we have to concentrate on our intentions, what we want to find." She punched in some buttons on he phone and then said "There, all done, we’re ready to start our first adventure on Randonautica. What shall we wish for?” They both sat in silence for a while, when Steve sat up in his seat and exclaimed. “I know! Why don’t we ask it to take us somewhere that will give you inspiration for your story?”

“I don’t know Steve. It feels a bit vague. Perhaps we should try something more specific?” Sally said, almost just thinking out loud.

“What, like a body in a suitcase?” Sally pulled a face as Steve continued, “No, think about it. Vague is good, it leaves more options open. I’m sure those kids just wished for a sign of murder, or something scary, not what they actually found.”

“That’s true.” Sally conceded. “Most people I’ve seen on You Tube tend to wish for stuff like ‘finding treasure’ or ‘something spooky’.”

“Right, that’s settled then.” Steve said with finality. “I’ll just go take a pre-expedition dump and then we can get started.”

“That’s why I married you Steve, you’re a true romantic.” She laughed.

“Hey, time and turds wait for no man my love.” He responded jauntily, disappearing up the stairs.

Thirty minutes later the couple were sitting in their four-wheel drive in the drive way, with the engine idling.

“Okay Sal, you ready? Let’s generate the hell out of this App.” Steve smiled across at her, and she held her phone out towards him. “I think it might work better if we both have physical contact when we send the request.” She said. Steve reached out and gripped the top of the phone as Sally held the bottom, her thumb hovering over the generate button. “Go on then,” Steve prompted. Sally looked up at him, and as she did, touched the button. The screen turned purple and began scrolling messages of encouragement. ‘Concentrate on your objective.’ ‘Focus your intentions.’ And such like. Then the phone vibrated and flashed up a map, making them both jump. They smiled sheepishly at each other and then burst out laughing.

“Some explorers of the unknown we are, spooked by a fucking mobile phone.” Steve joked as their laughter subsided. “Let’s see what we’ve got then.” They both looked down at the screen and studied the map. “Looks like a good forty-five minutes to an hour’s drive out into the country.” Steve remarked. “We’d best get going if we want to make our date with destiny. “He revved the engine and rolled down on to the road, heading north out of their quiet cul-de-sac.

They followed the maps directions, on two occasions having to stop and turn back when they missed a turn off. For most of the journey they bantered nervously, discussing what they might find, joking about some outcomes. They sung along to tunes on the radio, and munched on travel snacks they had brought along. The nearer they drew to their allotted destination, the more nervous they became. Their chatter tailed off, and they glanced more frequently at the little blue flashing dot on the map, indicating their location. The directions took them on a left turn onto a narrow winding lane, which soon became little more than a track. Tarmac gave way to gravel, and gravel to dirt. Before too long the trees around them became denser and the light more filtered and they eventually found themselves in a clearing in the woods, no more than fifteen metres square and the trail ended. Steve cruised to a stop at the end of the clearing and killed the engine. For a few moments the couple sat there in silence, not looking at one another, just staring out into the woodland ahead of them.

“Okay. Looks like we’re on foot from here then.” Steve said, as he picked up his phone and opened the driver’s door to exit.

“Wait!” Sally exclaimed, a little more urgently than she had intended. Steve looked back at her, raising his eyebrows questioningly. “How much further is it from here?” She continued. “How far will we have to walk? I’m not really kitted out for a long hike.” Steve smiled at her and said,

”It’s about two kilometres give or take. Not too far. I think I can see a track just over there.” He pointed to the left of the area where they had stopped and Sally could just make out a slightly wider gap between the trees.

“Come on, sooner we get going, the sooner we can be back in the pub for lunch.” He smiled and turned to exit the car. Sally took a deep breath and followed suit.

Once out in the open air, they both noticed a distinct chill in the air and Sally hugged herself, shivering. “I didn’t think it would be so cold out here. I think our jackets might still be in the car from our walk a few weeks ago. Pop the boot for me and I’ll check.” Steve clicked the button on the car fob and the boot sprung open. A few seconds later Sally appeared beside Steve, and handed him his jacket, she had already donned her own. Steve was staring into the woods; along the path they were about to enter.

“You wouldn’t think it would look so dark.” He said distractedly. “I mean, it’s the middle of the day and it just seems so, so… gloomy.”

“Come on, as you said, the sooner we start the sooner we’ll finish. And I can already feel a story coming on.” She said, trying to brighten the mood. With that she grabbed Steve’s arm and marched off towards the path. Glancing down frequently at Steve’s phone, they headed through the ever-thickening trees. The trail became so narrow it was soon no longer possible to walk side by side, and Steve led the way, navigating with his phone. The foliage over head was now so thick that virtually no natural light filtered through.

“Surely, we must be close now?” Sally asked, sounding a little nervous. “We seem to have been walking forever.”

“It’s weird, according to Randonautica the target location keeps moving. One minute were a few metres away, then suddenly it’s another kilometre.” Steve stared at his phone as if trying to will some rationality in to it. But then he was startled as Sally shouted,

“Look. Over there. I think I can see a light.” The pair peered in the direction that Sally was pointing, and there did seem to be a dim, twinkling light. Their enthusiasm renewed the couple picked up the pace, winding through the trees, crunching fallen leaves and twigs beneath their feet. In the clearing ahead they could just make out a building, which was really little more than a shack. Smoke curled from the tin chimney on the roof, and a single light shone in one of the two windows they could see. As they reached the edge of the clearing, they slowed to a halt.

“What the fuck do we do now?” Steve asked, almost rhetorically. “I mean, this looks like someone is there. Can we just rock up and knock on the front door?”

“Well, we’ve come this far, it would be stupid not to find out if this is it. The reason we came here.” Sally responded, with some renewed resolve in her voice.

“But doesn’t it strike you as a bit weird Sal?” Steve responded. “I mean, this cabin in the middle of nowhere. I mean, literally nowhere and this App brought us here?”

“Fuck.” Sally said softly, almost inaudibly. “What?” Steve asked, concerned.

“A cabin in the woods, with a light in the window. Would you like to bet that light is a candle?” Sally replied. Steve was puzzled for a moment,

“Why would you think…” and then the realisation dawned on him. “Your story idea.”

“Yep.” Sally said simply, “The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.” They looked at one another for a long moment, until Steve finally said,

” Well, as my old mum used to say, in for a penny, in for a pound.” They smiled at one another, clasped hands and strode out towards the cabin.

“What if there's someone in there?” Sally asked, the slightest of tremors in her voice. Steve looked across at her, his expression blank. He replied. “Well, as there is a burning candle in the window, I would say there is a very strong chance there has to have been someone in there to light it.”

“Someone. Or something.” Sally replied quietly. Steve looked at her and said, “Did you have to? Really?” She flicked him a nervous smile, and they continued on their way.

Soon they were standing a few metres away from the dishevelled hut.

“Sooo, what do we do now.” Sally asked.

“Hey, it's your party, what do you want to do with it?” He replied, pointedly. Sally thought for a moment, then said,

“I suppose the polite thing to do would be to knock.” And before Steve could react, she strode across the remaining space and rapped loudly on the door three times. Steve quickly shuffled after her and stood by her side. There was no response, but as Sally raised her fist to knock again, the door swung slowly inwards, apparently of its own accord.

Sally looked up at Steve and said, “In for a penny..?” Steve shrugged, nodded slightly, and they stepped across the threshold.

The interior of the cabin was dingy, the only light being cast from the single candle and whatever murky sunlight filtered through the thick canopy above. There were some signs of habitation. A place was laid at the dinner table, and the only other pieces of furniture in the room, a well-worn armchair and side table, looked to be recently used. A half empty (half full?) glass of water sat on the table, and the armchair appeared well used. The chair sat sideways to an enormous fireplace, which dominated the room. Steve went over and cautiously put a hand over the fire grate. He looked back at Sally and said.

“There’s some warmth coming from these logs, this fire was a light sometime in the past couple of hours.”

“We should go.” Sally responded emphatically. “This was a bad idea. Jesus Steve, we could be in a serial killer’s secret lair or something. Come on, Let’s go.” Sally started towards the front door, but Steve didn’t move. He was staring in to the far corner of the room, looking at something that Sally couldn’t make out in the gloom.

“Come on Steve, I want to go. What are you looking at?” She asked.

“There’s a door there. Must be the bedroom. There’s not really a lot of space for anything else and it makes sense. Perhaps we should just take a peek. Seems wrong to come all this way and not check it out,” Steve responded, seeming mesmerised by what he was seeing.

“No! Fuck no!! Steve, if coming in here was a bad idea, going into the bedroom is an apocalyptically bad idea.” Sally was scared and spoke forcefully, angrily. But Steve seemed oblivious and began walking toward the door. He reached out and grabbed the brass door knob. Sally thought he uttered the word “Cold.” Under his breath, almost absently. He then opened the door and plunged into the darkness beyond.

“Steve!” Sally called after him urgently, but received no response. “Fuck!” She muttered under her breath. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she followed him.

As Steve had thought, it was indeed a bedroom. Inside it was even dimmer than the main room. There

were no windows and the only light was the second-hand illumination from the other room.

Once her eyes had adjusted, Sally could make out a small, dilapidated brass bed in the centre of the

tiny room. On the far side of the bed, she could make out Steve’s silhouette.

“Steve, what the hell are you up to? Let’s just get the fuck out of here, it’s way too creepy.” Sally

pleaded.

“We can’t leave Sal. She’ll be here soon. And she really wants to meet us.” Steve responded

Hypnotically.

“Steve, if this is a wind up, I will freaking batter you! It’s not funny!” Sally said in an angry tone, but

laced with an undertone of fear. She started towards her husband, but as she did, Sally heard the creak

of the door behind her being moved. Before she had finished spinning around to see what was

happening, a dry, cracked, weedy voice said,

“Oh, my dear, this is no ‘wind up.’“

As Sally finished turning, she saw a stooped figure in the Doorway. It was an old lady, old beyond years.

But that was all Sally could make out. Her attention was drawn towards the fact she appeared to be

hovering some two feet above the ground.

“Have you come to steal my candle, bitch!?” The spectre screeched, and swooped towards Sally. Before

she could react, the figure passed through her, and she crumpled to the floor. A bone deep chill filled

her body and drained her spirit and she was paralysed.

In a split second she had reached Steve and astonishingly, her spirit bounced off of his body, deflecting

towards the ceiling with a scream. Suddenly shaken from his stupor, Steve looked around, slightly

dazed. Seeing Sally crumpled on the floor, he ran over and cradled her in his arms.

“Sal, Sal, C’mon.” He slapped her face trying to revive her. “C’mon babe. I don’t know what the fuck is

going on, but we have to get out of here. Seeing her eyelashes fluttering, Steve dragged her to her feet

and the two staggered towards the front door. As the passed through the main room, Sally, who had

been unresponsive to this point, suddenly came alive.

“Steve grab the candle, GRAB THE FUCKING CANDLE! It’s her power, it’s how she got us here.:

Steve looked around confused, Wha…I don’t understand. What the fuck is going?”

But before he got an answer, Sally dove across the room and grabbed the candle from the loose puddle

of wax it stood in on the window sill. In one Without pause, she lurched towards the door and threw

the candle into the woods beyond. A banshee wail filled the air, almost indecipherable, both Sally and

Steve heard the words, “Be careful what you wish for.” Carried away on the rising smoke.