The Cabin, the Flame, and Angie

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Randy remembered that cabin and that candle. The cabin was made of old, random sized logs that are showing their age. Angie would light a candle in the right front window when she was free to meet him. He would go to their place in the woods and wait for her. He loved Angie. But he had failed to protect her. The past came rushing back to him as he stood watching the flame.

Angie was a quiet and pretty girl with long blond hair and sky-blue eyes. She did not have many friends, but he did not care. She was his best friend and became his lover. They spent every day together. They laughed, they talked about everything. He could not get enough time with her. Looking back, it could be called a typical teenage affair but in reality, it was much more. Their relationship grew from trusting to share their inner worlds with each other to loving what they found.

He was ready to spend his life in a marriage with her, but they were only sixteen. They both knew that they were too young to get married in any circumstances.

“Randy, I love you but it's too early to make marriage plans.”

“My love, I know, and it hurts me, but we can plan for now and for the future.”

“I wish my mother was still alive, she was always able to guide me.” Angie smiled coyly, “She could tell me what to do with a tall, dark, and handsome man like you.”

So, they made a vow to stay together, to stay true to the love they had. He had since stayed true, but Angie never got the chance. He had never found another woman who could replace her in his heart. He was ready to face a lonely life but he was happy to know he had found his one true love. He hated the way it had ended. He hated himself more for not protecting her.

The last time he saw that candlelight was five years ago. It was another full moon night in the fall of the year. He was walking by the cabin on his way home when he looked through the branches in front of the house and saw the bright light from the candle. It flickered slightly but he knew it was for him. He hurried to the clearing off the old logging road and softly called her name. He called to her again and only heard a whimper. He ran deeper into the clearing looking everywhere for her. What he found was her drunken father leaning over her body on the ground. The father looked up at him with a demented expression and crazed eyes. His white hair had fallen down over his forehead giving him a sinister appearance. He immediately waved a pistol in Randy’s direction.

“I know what’s going on with you two!” he shouted as he staggered away from Angie. “She not yours boy, she be mine. Ya never see her again!” He fired the pistol from his wobbly hand. The bullet came nowhere near Randy.

“Angie, get up! Run!” he called but she laid not moving on the ground. “Please, run!” He said as he turned to run back into the woods. Another shot rang out, but it still missed the mark.

He ran home as fast as he could and told his father about what he saw. His father told him to mind his own business. His mother was silent as usual. He called the sheriff but when he went to the cabin the next day, there was no one there. Everything was gone. The sheriff said there was nothing he could really do. Angie and her father simply disappeared. Randy, lived with the anxiety and guilt. He walked by the cabin every day, always hoping that Angie would return but, in his heart, he knew she was dead.

He suddenly returned from his memories, still feeling the agony as if it had happened yesterday. He stood in the shadows and watched the flame closely. He soon realized there was not really a candle. The flame slowly danced around the window. That alone should have sent him back to his home, but the flame beckoned. Like a moth he was drawn to this light in the window. He walked up the broken steps. The porch creaked and snapped as he walked to the window. He looked closer at the flame and realized that it was burning from the palm of a hand. Nothing else just a hand. There was a voice.

“Come to me Randy, come now.”

The hand closed around the flame and disappeared. Randy flew backwards off the porch and fell to the ground. He laid there with his heart pounding. He tried to relax and understand what was happening. He looked around and saw that he was alone. No one was pranking him. He was sure Angie was dead, but he needed to follow the voice and the mysterious, dancing flame.

Randy hurried up the logging road to the clearing. As he entered he saw a woman dressed in white, with her back to him. She was shimmering, almost translucent, but her long blond hair and everything else about her screamed Angie to him. He threw caution to the wind and rushed to her.

She called out, “Stop Randy, you must not see my face, wait. I'm Angie in spirit only.”

“I have waited for years; I don’t care if you are a spirit.” But he stopped and waited for her to continue.

“I know but I will explain. I came here to tell you that I have seen your life. I love your devotion and continuous love. You have no idea how rare that is. We could've had a long and happy life.”

“Yes, I remember you every day, I miss you terribly and I'm so sorry that I didn't stop your father from hurting you. I feel an aching guilt that you suffered, and that I ran.”

“I understand but I'm here to tell you to forgive yourself. You're such a loving and compassionate man, It hurts me to see you live your life this way. Start your life over and find happiness. I can forgive you because there was nothing you could have done. I don't want you to stop living.” He started to walk to her. “Randy, stop, when I returned to this real world, I have to appear the same as when I died and crossed over to the other side. Please remember me as I was.”

He walked slowly around to her and stopped when he saw her face. One eye was swollen shut, her upper lip was split, there was blood on her cheeks, but the worst of it was the bruises on her face and the obvious broken nose. “My God! I am so sorry.” he stopped to wipe his tears away. “I don’t know what to say. I love you so much. You didn't deserve this; we should have been together.”

“Randy when you came into the clearing that night, I tried to warn you. When you left, I was already dead.” She paused to look over his shoulder.

Randy began to feel heat on his back, the air was full of a rotten smell that he could not identify.

He swung around and saw a demon rising from a black hole in the ground. The white hair, the crazy eyes, Randy was sure it was Angie’s father. The demon continued to rise from the ground until his huge body was towering over them both. There was smoke in the air and the stink of sulfur. Now he understood what he had smelled was rotting flesh from the essence of Hell.

“Noooo, Papa, go away!” She yelled.

“I told you boy, you can’t have her, you'll never have her.” His evil grin showed his pointed teeth, his eyes grew large and blood shot, he began to swing his peeling arm to hit Randy but missed as he ducked and rolled. The demon moved quickly to prevent Randy’s escape.

“Boy, I’ll drag you back to Hell with me. You need to suffer for taking my Angie from me.”

“You took her away, you killed her you idiot!”

The demon’s gnarly hand grabbed Randy’s leg and began to pull him toward the black hole. Randy dug in his feet, he grabbed at anything to try and get away, but demon’s grip was painfully hot and strong. As Randy was fighting for his life, Angie began to fight for him too. She flew at the demon’s head and forced her hands into his eyes. He immediately howled and dropped Randy.

“Randy get up and run, he has no power outside this clearing. He'll recover soon. Run!”

Randy was frozen on the ground; fright and the noxious fumes were overwhelming him. He struggled to his knees but could not take his eyes off of Angie. As she pleaded with him, he finally found the will power to stand. He stared into her eyes, “Come with me Angie. Please come with me.”

“Randy, I can’t leave this place. This is where it all happened. I must go back. But you go and live a good life. Do it for me, for the love we had. I came back only for you. Go!” The demon roared and appeared disoriented. He began to look for Randy when Angie dived at him again to create a distraction. “Run!!” she yelled. Only the memory of the demon’s hand and the black hole to Hell gave him the motivation to move.

Randy ran to the edge of the woods on wobbly legs and stopped to look back. Angie was soaring around the demon and then just disappeared. The demon was howling at the moon and swore, “Come back here boy, I saved a place in Hell for you!”

Randy never looked back again. He never returned to the clearing. He swore to himself that he would make Angie proud. He trusted her. He would forgive. He would start again.

the End