The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. No one knew why it suddenly appeared like that. Perhaps it was a reflection. Perhaps it was a prank played by some local teenagers. Maybe someone had finally taken up residence there.
The discovery of the lit candle in the window had the nearby town buzzing with excitement. It was a small town with almost no excitement other than the odd, mysterious animal death and the occasional unseasonal storm to talk about. Whatever or whoever placed that lit candle in the cabin's window had sure brought the town back to life.
The day after the candle had been spotted in the window of the haunted cabin, Tobias and his friend Anthony decided to ride their bikes to the woods to have a look for themselves. The cabin was pretty run down and overgrown. The townspeople always said the only thing holding it up was the weeds.
Today they planned to peek inside the window to see if there really was a candle there. This time would be different, however. Anthony was excited, and sure they would find it, but Tobias was unusually quiet. The look on his face could only be described as sad, in fact.
Arriving at the clearing, Anthony skidded his bike to a halt and quickly jumped off it, running straight towards the cabin. Tobias stopped his bike gently and took his time dismounting. He walked slowly towards the cabin with his head down.
Anthony was shouting at him to hurry up, but he kept his pace slow and steady. He didn't really want to go close to the cabin. Anthony was already underneath the small window and was trying to peer inside. The outside of the window pane was filthy, however, so he couldn't see much at all.
Anthony asked Tobias to look for something to clean the glass with. Tobias stopped about ten feet from the cabin and stood there.
"Please don't do this, Anthony," he said quietly.
"Don't be such a scaredy-cat!" Anthony replied. "It's just an old cabin."
Tobias sighed heavily, found a large leaf on the ground, and passed it silently to Anthony, who immediately used it and wiped away some of the caked-on dirt from the window pane. Sitting in plain view was a tall, thick, twisted candle within an ornate holder.
"Wow! That's BIG!" exclaimed Anthony. "No wonder we could see the light from so far away! Let's go in and light it!" Anthony declared.
"No," said Tobias, looking at the ground intently.
"Why not? Are you scared?" Anthony asked him.
"It's not safe in there, Anthony, Tobias replied.
"We'll be careful."
Again Tobias let out a heavy sigh before responding. "Please don't do this, Anthony," he pleaded.
"Why don't you want to go in there? Aren't you curious?" Anthony asked him.
"No, I'm not. And it would be best if you weren't either," came his friend's reply.
"What's the worst that could happen?"
"Please don't do this, Anthony," Tobias pleaded with him again.
"What is with you today, Tobias?"
"It's not safe in there, Anthony," he said again.
"If I didn't know better, Tobias, I'd say you were trying to scare me."
"You should be scared, Anthony. You don't know." Tobias replied in a cold tone.
"Why? What don't I know?" Anthony asked him.
"Please don't do this, Anthony."
Annoyed at his friend's strange and sombre attitude, Anthony ignored him and started walking to the cabin's door.
"It's not safe in there, Anthony. Please..." Tobias called out.
Sure that his friend was putting him on, Anthony ignored him and went up the two old steps to the front door.
"Anthony! No! Don't do it!" Tobias yelled.
Anthony, now fiercely annoyed with Tobias, turned around. "Why? Tell me why I shouldn't go in there!"
Tobias hung his head. "I can't. I'm not allowed. Just don't do it, Anthony. Please. It's not safe in there."
"Not allowed? Tobias, what on earth are you babbling about?"
"Please. don't do this, Anthony."
Now seriously annoyed at Tobias' antics, Anthony spun back around to face the door and knocked.
Tobias dropped to his knees and began to cry. "No...."
The door to the cabin swung open. It was dark inside, and Anthony stood there trying to peer in.
"Anthony, please, walk away right now. It's not safe." Tobias was openly sobbing now.
"Tell me why and I won't go in," Anthony stated angrily.
"Because... I died in there, Anthony."
As Anthony stared incredulously at his friend, he felt something grab his shoulder. He was dragged inside the cabin, and the door swung shut with a slam.
Tobias knelt on the ground and listened to his friend's screams for a while. When the woods fell silent once again, he walked back to his bike, mounted it and rode home.
The townsfolk never saw or heard from Anthony again.
About the Creator
DV Wood
Self-Published Canadian Author
DV Wood is happily married and began writing in March 2020 after a thirty-year hiatus. Previously, she published several poems and one short story but has now completed two full-length fantasy novels!
A (Not so brief) History of Mimic
Diary entry: One year had passed since I'd gotten my wings, so I was seven at the time. I was flying back to my little hut after a long hunting trip, the animals seemed to have been hiding from me that day. I had snagged a few jackrabbits, I was so proud of myself for catching them. I landed on the large balcony of my hut that was nestled in the tall trees that were planted a few years back. The smell was always so sweet when I came flying back, the bright leaves rustled and made quite a calming noise, and birds flew in and out of the windows. At least, it usually did. Something was off today, something wasn't right. The birds were hiding, the leaves were still, and the air smelled of something I didn't know, but it didn't smell good. The inside of my hut was wrecked, books all over the floor, curtains ripped from their hooks, fruit and cold meat spread everywhere! It was a total mess, I walked around very confused, I called for my parents, but there was no response... and then I saw the red stuff. There were streaks of wet, warm, red stuff, all over the walls near the back door, and the rear windows. The smell reminded me of the taste I get when I bite the inside of my cheek and I bleed a little. Bleed. Blood. It was blood- I had come home, to find the inside of my hut covered with blood. I flew out of that hut faster than a starving cheetah chasing a gazelle. I flew for hours before finally returning to my hut, I tidied it up, cleaned up the blood, and set everything back to how it was. I mourned for a whole year before I started living normally again. The next three years were peaceful. Lonely, but peaceful, I ate well, and had many long flights around the continent, by the time I was ten, I knew every nook and cranny of pantala. I was having a rather quiet morning on my eleventh birthday, eating bugs coated in honey, (YUMMMMM) and basking in the early morning rays. Just another peaceful day of loneliness. Or so I thought- There was a commotion, coming from the trees, birds, and all the creatures of the forest as something came barreling through. A blur of black scales and bright blue fabric rushed past me, collapsing in a heap on my balcony. This made me drop my treats, (Which was VERY RUDE, by the way-) and jump around in fright. The first thing that came to mind was what happened to my parents was now going to happen to me. But all it was, was a strange jet-black dragon with the night sky for her wings. She seemed to be wearing a bright blue sash of some sort, it would've looked quite pretty if it wasn't coated in blood. I had freaked out a little at the sight of blood, even after all this time, the memory of what I saw that day was engraved on my brain. I ran inside and grabbed a bucket of water, (it was rather cold this early in the morning) and dumped it on the black dragon. She started yelling and flinging about, knocking over my plants and my lovely little chair I'd made a few weeks ago. Now that she was up, I could see that she was covered with open wounds, blood dripping from her body, down to my balcony, and then running over the side with the water. She was in terrible shape, she nearly had fallen over the side, (and it was a long way down, so that would've hurt!) but I grabbed her sash thing and pulled her into my hut. She hissed wildly at me when she saw I was touching her sash, and I had no clue why! That is until I saw what was in the sash. Turns out it was more like a sling of fabric, woven together in spots to create some sort of swing/cradle thing. Inside, poking through the top, was an egg. Now it was rather normal for dragons of Pyrrhia to be here in Pantala, but wasn't really a "Go out and make a bunch of friends!" kinda dragon, so this was completely bewildering to me. After a few hours of sleeping, eating, gentle words, and some coaxing, (Seriously, this lady was PARANOID!-) she finally told me what happened. "There's a group, they call themselves the poachers, they took a page from Burn's book and go around, hunting strange looking dragons, extremely pretty ones also, or even dragons they don't like. They catch them, raise em like cattle if they're still young, then they slaughter them and use their scales for art, decor, even things that you wear!" The lady went on to say that her egg was spotted by said group, and now they were coming after them. There was a noise outside, the lady snapped up, thrust her egg at me, and said, "Take care of my boy- His name is starsweeper. He's a hybrid, Ice/Nightwing. Just don't let them find him." Then she took off, leaving me in shock. I have an egg, in my talons, an egg. A hybrid no less, like me- By the time I came back down the earth, the lady was long gone, I started gathering everything I needed, my books, some food, an old map of pyrrhia my parents had, and a few other things. There was no way I could stay here, my house had the lady's blood all over, who knows what that'll attract. I was grabbing the last of my stuff when I heard a roar, not just any old roar, it was a roar filled with pain and agony. The sound of a dragon dying by another dragon's claws. I panicked and flew, the egg pressed tightly against my chest as I flew faster than I'd ever flown before. (They say fear is a great incentive to do things you can't. whoever "They" were... they were right!) I flew straight to Pyrrhia, thank ClearSight there was no hurricane that day. I landed exhaustedly on the shores of Pyrrhia, and after a brief nap, I took off again. I was taken away by this place, it was huge, and all the new smells and sights, it was amazing! I had flown for about an hour before coming upon a large forest, it definitely wasn't as tall as the one I used to live in, but it was still wonderful. I dug a hole near where I was going to live, and when it was quite deep, I put the egg in the hole and covered it up, then I marked the tree I hid him next to. (Don't judge me! I didn't know how to take care of an egg!?) After I cleared a big (ish) space, I started building. I used to help my parents build things all the time, never huts, but I had the jist of it. . . . It was TERRIBLE at first, it was leaning, and things kept falling off. So yeah, it took me quite a few tries to get it safe to live in. After about three days of non-stop building, tearing down, and rebuilding... I finally got it right. I started setting up on the inside, putting my books away, creating a sort of nest for the egg, and attempting to make it look like a home. Then my stomach rumbled, (I'd never been so hungry in my life-) I realized I hadn't eaten in days. I left the egg in the hut and went looking for food. I'd found a few berry bushes and a good amount of rabbits, squirrels, and large birds. I liked this forest, it was quiet, full of food, and a great place to hide. Two years had passed, and life was great. Starsweeper had hatched, he was just starting to talk and flap his little wings. It was so cute when he wanted something, he'd point at the thing he wanted and squeak until he got that thing. He was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen, he loved meat, yet never hurt so much as a fly. Animals would walk right up to him, a DRAGON, and treat him as if he were one of them. I was happy, so very happy. That happiness did not last long though. As I was coming back from hunting for a snack, I knew squirrel was his favorite, so that's what I got. A nice, fat, juicy squirrel for lunch. I had trotted into the room, acting all very regal, like I was feeding a prince. I opened my eyes... and my heart dropped. He was gone. He was taken. No, he wasn't taken, he was KILLED. Those monsters of dragons had found him, and had taken him from me- I ran, flew, climbed, and screamed until my lungs stopped working. But I never found them. I sat in the little house for hours. Violent but silent sobs shook my body that day, I thought it would kill me. I woke hours later, curled around a single scale I'd found amid the blood scraped across my floor. It took a few weeks for me to gain my voice back, and a few months for me to gain enough strength to move on from that place. I flew. That tiny scale wrapped around my wrist in a sort of bracelet, a promise that I would find a way to bring him back. I flew around pyrrhia for a year before I gave up, I swiveled around and started heading back towards Pantala. I was almost to the shores when I saw it, a mountain, huge mountain. I'd seen it on maps, and in the distance when I was on my journey here. When I landed in a small cave nearby to scout the mountain, I was surprised and confused, I'd never seen anything like it, dragons of all tribes, even my own, living together, learning together. The sight pulled me closer, I had to see it closer, I had to feel the strange feeling it was giving me. As soon as I touched down, very friendly dragons crowded me, asking me questions. They were all smiling, oohing and ahhing at my wings and antennae. It wasn't long after that, that I had signed up for this place. JADE MOUNTAIN ACADEMY. In the few short weeks that I've lived here, I have made five friends, one friend might be a little more than a friend, (AHEM, SHUSH, I am NOT blushing--) Another friend has become my bestest friend in the world. He had found a piece of animus-touched paper, which I used to recreate little Starsweeper's egg. Now with the help of my friends, I can properly raise him, in this safe place, away from harm, and live a sweet, happy life. I'll definitely say that keeping a diary was an excellent idea, and I'll try to keep writing. But that's all for now, I gotta head to class!
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