The Cabin of History

“Come on you guys. Mom said we weren’t supposed to come near here.” The second youngest of the six siblings, Jerlo, wearily follows his siblings.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s cursed… kids go missing in that area. Blah, blah, blah.” The second oldest daughter, Midie, mocks her mother with added waves of her hands and the notorious teenage rolling of the eyes.

“Seriously, you guys. I don’t want to go missing.” Jerlo reaches out to grab Midie’s hand.

She stops, “Look, if you want, you can wait here for us.”

“I’m not waiting here by myself. Are you that crazy?” He pulls his hand away, “I’m scared.”

Midie bends down and meets Jelo’s eyes, “I will protect you, promise!” She holds her pinky out. He interlocks his with hers, she rubs his head, they hold hands and continue up the barely-there path with their brother, Haro, the third born and their sister, Soem, the fourth born. The oldest sister, Weof, is in college and youngest brother, Limen, is too young to walk.

Hardly enough room for them to walk side-by-side, they make their way single file. The once prominent trail is now over grown and hard to see. Carvings in the older trees is their main guide to their destination.

“I think we’re almost there,” Haro yells to his siblings, from atop this part of the mountain.

“Weof would’ve listen to mom,” Jerlo mumbles to himself.

Once everyone catches up with Haro, “It’s right over there.” Haro points.

There’s an old log cabin that sits within 10 feet to the edge of the cliff. The siblings walk closer to the edge. Adrenaline mixing with fear and curiosity, they each take the smallest steps to see who is the bravest. The group can see the top of the adjacent waterfall that empties out into the lake. Midie, whom is the daredevil of the six siblings, wins. Mid victory jump, she scares the soul out of herself and almost slips off the edge. She begins laughing as the rest of them scold her.

“Let’s check out the cabin,” Midie deflects while still catching her breath.

They all turn around and look at the mysterious cabin surrounded by over-grown grass and vines covering a majority of it. All but one window has been boarded up. Haro yanks at the front door until it gives. Haro takes too long looking in the cabin and Midie rushes past him, forcing the door, and him, to give way to her submission.

Midie walks into a cobweb filled cabin. Screaming and running back out, trying to smash all of the non-existent spiders off of her, the other siblings slap at her and chorus her screams. Now Haro is laughing and Midie is scolding. Once everyone calms, Haro leads them into the cabin. The cabin is still in great shape. The couch hardly worn, the rug a bit dusty but you can still see the pattern, the fireplace full of charred wood, dining table set for four with glasses and candle sticks. Old wooden stove still with a pot resting upon it and cupboards full of jarred foods and grains.

“Even the bedrooms are still set up,” Soem yells from a different room.

Haro opens a door that leads to a ten-foot-long hallway that leads to the back of the cabin and opens a door then immediately slams it shut, “Don’t open that door! Wooooooh, that’s the… indoor, outhouse?” He waves his hand in front of his face trying to push away the smell.

Little Jerlo walks over to the only window that hasn’t been boarded up. He stares out of the window, looking around outside. He tries to open it but it doesn’t budge. He takes a step back and looks at the framing of the window. He studies the quartered window and traces the wood with his finger. He notices a smudge on the window. He pulls his sleeve over his hand and wipes at it. Then he wipes off the entire piece of glass. He traces the spot with his finger after attempting multiple times to clean the window of its mark.

“Is that a fingerprint?” Midie asks Jerlo.

He shrugs and then begins pressing his fingers one-by-one against the spot. Once he gets to his thump, he spreads his fingers, aligns his thump with the spot and presses his entire hand against the glass.

“Jerlo!” Midie yells at the top of her lungs, “Jerlo, where’d you go!”

Jerlo can hear Midie but can no longer see her. He yells back with no response. Midie’s voice slowly begins to fade. Jerlo removes his hand from the window. He looks at himself and is wearing unfamiliar clothing. His hands are dingy and the house smells like freshly baked bread. The sun is shining brightly outside. Jerlo hears screams but not from his siblings. He looks out of the window and sees a scene similar to one of his history books. There are two men in military uniform, with guns pointed at a native. The native is pleading with the officers in his language. Jerlo has no idea what he’s saying but sees his family being held at the edge of the cliff. Jerlo runs outside and starts yelling at the officers. The officers brush him off and yell at him, pointing back at the cabin. Jerlo attacks one of the officers, only further pissing him off. The officers drag Jerlo to the front door of the cabin and tosses him inside, slamming the door closed. Jerlo runs to the window and watches as one of the members of the captive man’s family is tossed from the cliff. Jerlo screams and unknowingly sets his hand back upon the fingerprint.

Jerlo’s swims in the sound of his scream. Jerlo opens his eyes to a fog filled afternoon. His clothing dirty and his hands black from dirt. The cabin smells of fumes from exhaust. A loud cracking sound is followed by a thump that shakes the floor under him. The sound of men are yelling back and forth to one another. He runs outside to see what’s going on. Jerlo is in awe when he comes upon life size toys. Forestry Harvesters are everywhere. Logging the trees surrounding the cabin. A man yells, “Watch out!” Jerlo looks to see a bear coming from the woods. She has two small cubs. A loud bang forces Jerlo to the ground. Another shot causes him to cover his ears. Once the shots cease, Jerlo slowly gets up to see the momma bear and her cubs lifeless on the ground. The man with the gun is high-fiving his fellow workers. Jerlo runs to the bears ignoring the men yelling at him to stop. Jerlo begins crying as he looks at the slain, bleeding cubs. He bends down and starts apologizing to dead bears before the gunman snatches him up and forces him back into the cabin. Heartbroken, Jerlo crawls up against the base of the window in fetal position. Jerlo reaches up and rests his small hand against the fingerprint once again.

A flash of bright light makes Jerlo squint. Jerlo is then jolted by the sound of thunder and a crackling sound. He crawls up on the couch near the window, begging to go home to his family. He misses his mommy and his favorite teddy bear. When Jerlo awakes, he is covered in soot and it’s hard for him to breath. He begins coughing and tucks his face under the brim of his new outfit. The clouds seem to have entered the cabin. Jerlo is hot and thirsty. He crawls to the window and can see the cabin is surrounded by fire. Helpless and only knowing one way to remove himself from his current terrifying situation, he rubs the fingerprint. He closes his eyes and feels the world is spinning around him.

Within three breaths, Jerlo is breathing clean air again. Afraid of what situation he may find himself in, he finds a place on the couch. He pulls a folded knitted blanket from the back of the couch and covers himself. “What did I tell you about letting random children sleep on our couch.” Yelling startles Jerlo awake, “We have enough trouble feeding ourselves.” A man continues to yell while a woman pleads with him not to strike her and repeatedly begs for forgiveness. “If you would just listen!” The sound of an open hand connecting with flesh, is heard once again. Jerlo does not wish to face any more pain or conflict but he cannot help it. He quietly tip-toes his way to the kitchen. He peeks his head around the wall and sees a woman holding her cheek while stifling her tears. A red-faced man is standing taller than her with his hand coiling back to strike again. Jerlo yells, “Don’t hit her!” and when the man turns towards him, Jerlo runs. In his angst to get to the window, he becomes entangled with the blanket that was once offering protection and warmth and now slams into the floor. Jerlo wrestles himself free and just as he touches the window, Jerlo can hear the man getting closer to him, “Come here boy…”

Heart racing and breathing heavily, Jerlo repeats, “I just wanna be home… I just wanna be home…” Once the adrenaline subsides, Jerlo smells nothing but dust. Afraid to open his eyes, Jerlo sits there for a moment. He pulls his other arm down and wraps himself in fetal position. Begging the world to let him go home to his family, Jerlo falls fast asleep. His dreams are filled with memories of his family and his friends. They are filled of wishes for the future and possible avenues he will be allotted as he grows. A pure light speaks to him, “Jerlo, you must decide the history you will leave behind. You must choose wisely.” The spirit fades as Jerlo wakes up to the sounds of birds. Still not wanting to confront another scary situation, he waits and listens for any clues. Only the birds are talking. Only the waterfall streams sound. Only trees sway against each other. Only the outside wind whispers.

Cautiously, Jerlo finally opens his eyes and releases his stance. He slowly pulls himself up onto his knees to look out of the window. A doe passes the window with it’s fawn closely following. Jerlo makes eye contact with the fawn and smiles. Afraid someone is going to hurt the deer, he jumps up and rushes outside. The fawn is followed by a second. All three deer look to him as if they wanted to say something to him and then walk off.

Smiling, Jerlo sits on the cabin stairs and rubs his hands to together. The sun is beginning to set and there is a chill in the air. He notices that his clothes are the same as the day he first came to the cabin. He gets excited when he realizes he is home. He yells out to his siblings but there is no answer. Jerlo stands and walks off of the porch. His clothes feel a little snug and his toes are squished. He’s uncomfortable but is too excited to get to his house and see his family and hold his teddy bear. He rushes into the forest and through the trees. The path in now non-existent. This doesn’t detour him. He just keeps going straight. He notices tattered papers stuck to trees, burned candles and random food items set against trees. There are a few blankets strung up on tree branches. Mittens and scarfs are pinned to trees. Jerlo is confused because none of this was here earlier. Only caring about getting home, he allows the items to lead him from the forest and to the edge of his town. He runs home as fast as he can. His toes sore and a few scratches on his arms from random tree branches brushing up against his bare flesh.

Jerlo makes it home, runs up on the porch and whips the front door open. “Mom, Dad… where are you guys?” he yells. “MOM, DAD!” Louder this time. He hears a door upstairs open. He flies up the stairs on latches onto his mother’s legs. His head is above her belly button now.

Completely caught off guard, his mother drops to her knees and wraps her arms around him. Now sobbing, “Where were you?”

He simply replies, “In the cabin.”

“If I could go back in time, I would have never let you guys go to the forest that day…”

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A majority of history could be altered with a single act.

A majority of history begins with one decision.

A majority of history is made within us and is who we are.