A Wretched Prophecy

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. I stood quietly, and motionlessly, analyzing the ghostly flicker, and the mesmerizing warm glow.

The cabin was at least 600 feet away, yet from the distant tree line, I could feel it slowly drawing me closer. The flame was towing me into the ambiguous unknown. The luminescence was gradually pulling me in, taking control of me little by little, and piece by piece.

I knew that I was under the influence of something supernatural, far beyond my comprehension. I ached for understanding. My body trembled within the glow of bewitchment. I felt myself slowly drifting through the cool night air, uncaring of what danger might await me within those notched, tapered logs.

I would have impetuously eluded the wickedness that was secreting itself within the mysterious candlelight, but it was too late. I was already allured, and tempted by the haunting flame. Unreality and delusions enswathed me, pushing me closer, and closer to the gnarled, wooden door.

I reached out and touched the door, there was only stillness, and silence within. I watched my hands shaking involuntarily with neither fear or cold, but an overpowering anticipation.

What lingered inside? Was it pure, adverse evil, or possibly something more benign, and gracious? An eerie wind began to whisper through a broken window gap, calling me forth.

As I entered the forgotten cabin, the malodorous scent of wet wood, and mildew invaded my lungs, swiftly followed by the intimate, pleasant smell of rose, and jasmine. My feverish imagination took me back in time, to a place of passion, and innocence. A shiver inched down my spine leaving my heart racing, withdrawing every vital breath from my burning lungs.

Suddenly a whirlwind of pain, and confusion swept me away to a more diverse moment in time. I wept as memories of the past ravaged my mind.

I crouched in an unlit corner, cradling myself tightly, combing through my very soul, searching for any shred of sanity. As I lay crumpled on the floor, I noticed an ornate, wooden box sitting in the windowsill. The unearthly light from the candle highlighted the cryptic, arcane carvings etched on top. Cautiously inching closer, the box seemed to whisper, seducing my mind, tantalizing, and tempting me to release the secrets within.

Cloistered inside were hundreds of long-lived, iron keys, and an ancient, washed-out note. I carefully unfolded the delicate, embrittled paper as tiny pieces crumbled into my hands.

“Each key unlocks a disparate time. You may go back, but you can never rejoin.”

Reminiscences both good, and bad disgorged from deep within. A shiver curled through the hairs on my neck then cascaded down my back. I could hear the formidable sounds of disembodied screams, crying, wailing, laughter, the scritch of tree branches scraping at the windows, rats squeaking, movement in the walls...The nightmarish echoes were all around me.

Salty tears trickled down my cheeks as I tried to find a place to escape the torment. The evil laughter turned into a ghostly whisper “You may go back, but you can never rejoin.” The phantom voice was reechoing inside of my head. It was deranging, and maddening.

I felt the bitter chills, I was uncontrollably shivering. I could see my breath puffing out before me. My legs began to tremble, unable to hold the weight of my body. The floor quivered, and wobbled beneath my feet.

I felt a cold, gelid sweat passing over me like a ghost at a séance. I was numb, and unfeeling. I had fallen, inanimate, and demised. I was a dormant soul now at one with my past.

I had been bestowed the inconceivable opportunity to go back in time, but I could never return. My life would forever be altered for better or worse.

As I tumbled the cool, metal keys through my fingers, I recalled the vast number of mistakes that I could instantaneously correct. The pain, and heartache that I could conceivably preclude, and the elation that I could enduringly relive.... but I could never come back.

I can never leave this forlorn, purgatory isolated within the beguiled, mysterious cabin that once so warmly invited me in. Now, I wait with great desperation for someone to find my light, and to pass the keys.

The burden is now mine, bestowing the confounding keys to those who peruse.

Be mindful of which doors you open, for once you reconvey the yore, you can never come back. A wretched prophecy that I lamentably neglected to thoroughly understand or believe.