The Light

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

It was Sunday night when Nancy Peterson first noticed a light flickering in the old, broken down cabin. There was a group of high school students camping at the lake and Nancy wandered off to throw up the booze and mushrooms she’d just consumed. After her report, the sheriff drove by on Monday. He said he ventured to the door and gave it a knock; but that isn’t likely. The man is all bark, no backbone. Either way, he spent Monday night at town hall, assuring residents that if someone had been at the house over the weekend, they weren’t there anymore. By Tuesday, everyone was talking about it.

No matter what the sheriff was telling them, everyone felt a sense that there was a danger in town. The cabin wasn’t that far from the main road. It wasn’t that far from the school. The running theory was that a drifter was taking up residence in the cabin and planning an attack on the town.

Tuesday night, a group of parents from the neighborhood watch walked, rifles in hand, up the trail to the cabin and took a photo that they posted to the town’s Facebook page. A dark, moonless night. The two windows on the first story smashed in. And in the center of the photo, it showed a single flickering light dancing in the attic window. A candle.

Jeremy heard about the candle Wednesday morning on the bus. A group of older kids were waiting for the same bus on their way to the community pool to cool off from the summer heat. He knew the drill. He would stay on the bus until after they got off at the pool, so they wouldn’t see where he was going. The bus only had three stops after the pool before it swung around and ten minutes later he would be at his destination.

Preparing for a longer journey than he had planned, Jeremy took a comic book from his bag and slipped it out of the clear plastic. The Sandman #1. His mom loved it when he read her comic books. Especially the dark, creepy ones. Waiting for the bus, Jeremy opened the pages and started looking at some of the images - careful not to read any of the story before he got on the bus.

By the time the bus rolled up, the group of older kids had grown. They all got on at once ahead of Jeremy and most paid their fare, with a few sneaking past in the confusion. It would have been easier to stake out a secluded spot on the bus if the crowd was a little smaller. Twelve kids take up a lot of space on a public bus. Every one of them, unless they were coupled up in a summer romance, required their own set of seats. God forbid two boys’ shoulders touch.

The back of the bus wasn’t a worthwhile option either. It always smelled like piss; but today it smelled like the man back there talking to himself had been sitting in his own piss for the last twenty stops and wasn’t planning to get off any time soon. Luckily, the windows were all open and fans blew from the front, blowing most of the smell out once the bus started moving. Jeremy took a seat near the rear exit door a few rows up from the back. If the older kids weren’t paying attention, he’d be able to get off without anyone noticing.

Jeremy had his comic book out for maybe a minute and a half before giving up all hope of reading. Most of the older kids at the front of the bus were talking loudly in a group about how much fun they were going to be having at the pool, the boys challenging each other to pick up on whoever happened to be there for a summer fling.

“I hope Stacy is there today; have you seen her in a bathing suit?” one of the boys laughed and opened his eyes wide in feigned astonishment.

“Didn’t you ask her out last year?” someone said to a chorus of snickering. “If I remember correctly, it was a hard pass.” A series of shoulder punches and curses followed.

“Whatever,” the first boy said, “she’s probably visiting her wackadoo mom anyway.”

Jeremy’s nails dug into his palms. Stacy wouldn’t be there today. Not at the hospital or the pool. She was doing housework to help out while their dad worked his weekend job. He said they needed the money. But the real reason was that he couldn’t stand to be there in that house any more than the rest of them could. When he wasn’t working, he started to feel crazy himself. The town was treating him like a widower, even though his wife was alive. A ten minute bus ride away.

Trying to calm himself down, Jeremy took a long breath in through his nose. It worked for a second, until the stinging stench of human urine sent him into a coughing fit.

A teen couple sitting in front of him turned to ask if he was okay.

“Fine.” Jeremy said, “Sorry.”

“No worries, kid.” the boy said, “I wouldn’t take any deep breaths until we’re off the bus.” He winked and then turned back around and started talking with the girl again.

After that, Jeremy didn’t mean to listen in on their conversation; but there wasn’t anything else going on.

“Did you see the picture?” he overheard.

“Yeah, the whole thing is creepy.” the girl said.

“But the light in the window; Nancy made it sound like it was a flashlight. I think that’s why everyone assumed it was like a drug addict or something.”

“Yeah, okay. What’s your point, Brandon?”

“It’s a candle.”

“Drug addicts don’t use candles?” Through the space between their seats, Jeremy could see the girl glaring at her boyfriend.

Jeremy couldn’t see Brandon, but he could hear the distress in the noises he was making as he tried to form words.

“Sure, drug addicts can use candles. But it just seems eerie to have a candle flickering in the window at an old abandoned cabin.” Brandon said.

“What cabin?” Jeremy asked.

Brandon leaned forward as they both turned to look at Jeremy through the space in the seat, then they looked back at each other in silence. Finally, they turned back as if a decision had been made.

“You haven’t heard about the creepy light in the cabin window?” the girl asked. Across from her, the boy was smiling and scrolling on his phone.

“Here,” he said, “look at this.” Brandon turned the light all the way up on his phone and held it up for Jeremy to see.

It was still hard to make out a lot of the features. There was a candle in the window at the top. The bottom had a couple of windows smashed. Then he noticed the tree out front. And the bicycle overgrown in weeds leaned up against the side.

Jeremy’s heart was beating hard in his chest. His bicycle. The tree in the yard that Stacy would climb with her friends to get away from him before he was tall enough to reach the first branch.

“Weird, huh?” the girl asked.

Jeremy stared at the phone.

After a moment, Brandon lowered the phone and smiled. “My name is Brandon.”

“I’m Jeremy.” He kept looking past the two teenagers where the picture of his family’s old cabin still floated in his mind.

“Hi Jeremy, I’m Candice. So, it’s weird, right? I remember going camping out there a couple years ago. That cabin looked like it was ready to cave in on itself.”

“It’s definitely ghosts.” Brandon quipped.

“Yeah, it’s weird.” Jeremy said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Brandon smiled and they turned back around in their seats.

Jeremy took out his phone and tried calling Stacy. No answer. He started to dial his dad before deleting the number and locking his phone.

The next stop was a transit center where he could transfer to another bus. Jeremy pulled the cord and got off at the back of the bus, running to get onto the one that had pulled in behind them. He showed his transfer and took a seat, planning out his route in his head.

Now that he was on the 36 bus line, that would take him over to the high school. The school was closed; but they didn’t change the public bus times in the summer, so there was a bus running every half hour from the transit center by the school out to every neighborhood in the district. The 27 was the only bus that got close enough to the cabin for him to walk. Jeremy took a paper and pen out of his bag and drew out a map of the area.

Before his mom got sick, the whole family had gone up to the cabin every summer. He knew the way. Still, it would take awhile to get there. He tried calling his sister again. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up. No answer.

“Tell me your name and number and give me a reason to call you back.” Stacy’s voicemail took over.

Beep

“What good is a car if you can’t explore a supernatural occurrence with your little brother?” Jeremy said. “Dad should give me the car and you should have to take the smelly bus all over town to try to catch ghosts all on your own!” He hung up the phone and checked that no one around him was listening.

By the time Jeremy had gotten off the final bus and walked to the lake, the sun was getting low. He tried calling his sister again. No answer. If he couldn’t get ahold of her, he would have to call his dad to take him home; but that was a last case scenario.

Jeremy continued to hike through the woods, snacking on some treats he had packed in his bag. He tried reading his comic book; but the images were suddenly terrifying as the woods around him got darker and darker.

Through the trees, out of the darkness, Jeremy saw the flicker of light that had brought him there. He paused and checked his surroundings. It was much darker than he had realized. As he had walked from the lake, he had adjusted to it getting slowly darker, but now that he tried to look around, he could only see a short distance in any direction.

Following the light, Jeremy came around to the front of the house and surveyed the scene. It was just like the picture. The tree standing in front, the broken windows, and the candle burning in the attic window. Then he saw something different, a car parked on the side of the cabin. Inching closer, carefully stepping to avoid making a sound, Jeremy finally got close enough to identify it - Stacy’s hatchback.

Jeremy forgot his fears and rushed into the house. Slamming the door open, he was struck by the total transformation. The inside of the cabin looked exactly the way it had all those years ago. The lights were on, the windows weren’t broken, and a fire burned in the fireplace. Standing in the middle of the room, looking back at him, was Stacy and their mom.

“What’s happening? I don’t understand.” Jeremy said.

“It’s me, Jeremy. It’s your mother. Not my body, that’s still back at the hospital. But my spirit is here.”

Jeremy shook his head in disbelief. Stacy walked over, standing behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He could tell that she’d been crying and it made him feel less ashamed for the tears that were once again streaming down his face.

“This cabin, our cabin, is a portal, son. A portal to the world of spirits waiting to pass on. When a spirit occupies the house, the candle on the windowsill upstairs appears lit. I hoped that when someone from town saw the light, your father might come out.”

“Dad hasn’t really been going out - socially. He Just works.” Jeremy said.

“He always did turn to work when he was anxious.”

“I can go get him though.”

“No, don’t go. Thank you Jeremy. You know I love you so much. Both of you. I will love you forever and ever.” She reached out and her hand stroked his cheek. It felt like a cold wind on his face and he couldn’t stop himself from shuddering. “There isn’t time now for your father to come. At least I was able to see your faces one last time.”

“What do you mean?” Jeremy’s expression was detached; but he couldn’t hide the panic he felt. His voice shook and tears streamed down his blank face. “What are you saying? Where are you going?”

“I’m dying. I have been for a long time. But tonight is my last night. I can’t stay here any longer.”

“No!” Stacy screamed. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening.”

“It’s going to be okay, angel. I promise.”

“It’s not okay. It’s not, mom. It isn’t okay.” Stacy sobbed, taking her keys from her pocket and running out the door to her car.

Jeremy heard the engine turn on and the tires screech as his sister rushed to be at their mother’s side.

Putting his backpack down, Jeremy took out his comic book and walked to the couch. “I brought this story to read to you.” He said.

The two sat down. Jeremy’s mom sat far enough away so that he wouldn’t feel the coldness of her touch. She wanted him to remember her as a warm and loving presence. Someone who would always be with him. As he opened the book to read, Jeremy could smell a Thanksgiving turkey cooking and hot chocolate on the table.

By the time he finished, she had gone. The room was dark and cold, the windows were smashed in, and the couch was torn.

Jeremy took out his phone and called his dad, walking back towards the lake.

“Hey, dad. I know it’s late. No, I’m not in bed. I need you to pick me up.”