Come Home

“Thank you,” Megan reached out for the hot tea her sister had mad with cold hands. The summer heat still lingered, but the autumn leaves blew in the chilly wind. Megan took a sip to warm insides snuggling deeper in her sweatshirt.

“I can get the blanket for you.” Her sister, Hailey, offered.

“No, I am OK. Thank you, looks like there is going to be a storm.”

The sisters both looked around the porch ceiling attached to the little wooden cabin that was nestled deep in the woods at the looming gray sky.

“I know you just got here, but it might be safe if you leave.” Hailey loved having her sister over, but not at the cost of getting caught in the storm.

“Not before I talk to you. Mom said she tried to call you, and then when I did, the number was disconnected.”

“I didn’t want any distractions. I just wanted to come here and paint. I have my cell phone in the car.” Hailey explained, sipping her tea sitting on the porch swing with her sister.

“Hailey,” Megan sighed, “This is a good summer cabin, but you know you can’t stay the winter. You need to come back home.”

Hailey started off her gravel driveway, which curved and went into the woods that would eventually lead to the little town.

“Did you know we weren’t going to come up here this summer? Because of the baby, we agreed to stay in the city. I brought her here the first summer when we were just dating because the thought of being away from her for just those two months was too much. Also, I knew she would love to escape, even for just a few weeks. She wrote her first book here.” Hailey said.

“I know, we all miss Jess and baby Tiffy,” Megan said with a lump in her throat.

The accident had been almost six months now. Megan could not imagine what her sister was going through losing a wife in her early thirties the way she had plus losing their baby.

“I still have a few more projects I want to get done here that I can’t in my studio loft. Tell mom I am fine.” Hailey stood from the porch swing.

“I thought I would stay the night. You came up here so early this year.” Megan did not mention how her sister came to the cabin barely a week after the funeral in May. “I miss you.”

“You can’t stay the night.”

“I know this is your place. Your place to get away, but let me…”

“Megan…” Hailey leaned on the porch’s wooden rail, “you can’t stay the night.” Suddenly, the rain broke the silence between the two sisters. “It is getting dark, and it is raining. You have to go.”

Megan watched her older sister walk back into the cabin, not inviting her in. For a few moments, she sat on the porch swing listening to the rain. Knowing her sister meant it when she said she could not stay, she stood from the swing. Looking at the window next to her, she saw a single candle unlit on the inside of the windowsill.

Dismissing the seemingly unimportant candle, Megan walked in the rain to her car. As she started to make her way down the gravel hill, her phone started to buzz where the signal could connect. As a phone call came through, Megan turned the blue tooth on in her car to answer the call.

“Is she OK? Did you see her?” Their mother asked frantically.

“She is fine, Mom. She didn’t want me to stay.” Megan told her mother.

“You are coming home?”

“No, I am going to stay in an inn I saw down here and go back in the morning.”

“She needs to come home. She can’t lose her wife and baby and then just be alone.” Her mother scolded.

“I know, mom, I...” Megan let out a scream.

“Are you OK?!” Her mom called out.

“Yeah, it is pouring down rain, and the car slid a little it scared me.” Megan tried to see through her window.

“OK, just be careful. Call me tomorrow.”

“OK.”

Suddenly, Megan saw a branch on the road and tried to miss it. The car’s wheel crunched on the gravel in the sudden swerve. Another scream escaped her lips as her car slipped down the hill and went into the lake next to the road. Megan woke up screaming with water in her lungs. Swimming to the top, she gasped for air. Kicking her legs, she made it to the bank.

The woods were pitch black as the rain continued to pour down. Drenched, Megan started the hike back up to her sister’s summer cabin. Shivering, Megan pushed her feet into the wet gravel up the hill until she finally saw the light. Unsure what it was at first until she walked a little closer.

The light was the lit candle she had seen in her sister’s window. The cabin came to view, and she pushed herself the last stretch to get inside. Walking in, Megan looked around the little cabin. The first floor was a kitchen, living room, and studio facing the lake. She needed new clothes and a towel, but she didn’t want to wake her sister. Instead, she laid on the couch, falling asleep.

Waking the next day to the sun filling the room, Megan looked around her, confused. As she got up, she looked around the cabin for her sister. Walking up the stairs, she looked in the two rooms on the second floor. However, she couldn’t find her. As she started to climb down the stairs, she looked out the window. Hailey was outside, sitting on the dock. Megan walked through the back yard of overgrown grass as she came up to her sister. Hailey sat there in sweatpants and a sweater reading a book on the dock next to the lake.

“I had an accident. I think I am OK. We need to call mom. Do you think you could drive me to town on Monday?” Megan asked. Her sister seemed so distant from her.

“You can stay.” Her sister said as she stood from her sitting position, walking to the house.

Megan stood on the dock, sighing. She wished her sister would talk to her. Suddenly, she saw something in the water. A face, for a brief second. Quickly, Megan walked off the dock, looking back at the lake. There was something wrong. She could feel it. Megan looked through her sister’s books in the studio and spent the day reading as her sister painted on her canvas outside. At dinner that night, Megan watched her sister eat.

“I would like to be able to talk to you.” Megan tried again, “I know you are mom don’t get along, but she has offered for you to stay with her. We know you were in the process of getting rid of the studio for a house with Jess. Hailey…”

“Bedtime,” Hailey said as she washed the dishes. Striking a match, Hailey lit the candle and went upstairs. Megan looked at the candle noticing the baby comb and the wedding ring next to it.

Megan looked around and assumed she was to sleep on the couch. However, first, Megan needed to clean up. Going to the bathroom on the first floor, Megan started the bathwater. She sat on the edge of the tub, watching the water fill up as she ran her hand under the running faucet. The water transfixed her as she stared into the tub. Jumping back, she saw the face again. Quickly, she turned off the water, looking into the tub as the water settled but saw nothing. The longer she stared, the more she felt the water pulling her. Suddenly, she gasped for air as she sat in the tub, fully clothed as she emerged from the water.

How did she get in? She wondered. Climbing out, she dried off, deciding she needed sleep more than a bath. However, she kept tossing and turning, having nightmares about the accident. Waking up, she spluttered water from her mouth, coughing hard. Once she got her breath, she looked at the candle still burning.

Standing, she went to blow it out, worried it would start a fire, when she heard footsteps upstairs. Then, she heard a baby crying. Megan looked at the wooden ceiling above her head, curious what was going on. Slowly, she rested her hand on the stair rail, walking up the steps. As she got to the middle of the steps, she heard singing. The voice sounded like Jess’s, but Megan knew that it must be her sister’s. The voice sang,

“I left my baby lying there, lying there, lying there.

To go and gather blaeberries.

Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go,

Gorry o go, gorry o go;

I’ve lost my dearest baby-o

I saw the little yellow fawn

But never saw my baby.

Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go,

Gorry o go, gorry o go;

Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go,

I never found my baby-o”

Megan took the last step to the top of the stairs walking to the singing voice, which was coming from the second bedroom. There, she saw Jess standing with her back to the door, rocking baby Tiffy against her chest.

“Jess?” Megan could not believe her eyes.

“Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go. I never found my baby-o.” Jess sang and then suddenly stopped.

She stood still, rigid as a board. Slowly, Jess turned around with the baby snuggled between her bosoms.

“You are lost too…” Jess said.

A puddle of water touching Megan’s feet made her look down. When she looked up, Jess was only a few inches from her face making her scream as she sat up from the couch. It took a few seconds for Megan to realize she had to have been having a nightmare.

Sighing, laid back down on the couch wondering if her mom had ever sung that song to her… although she doubted it. Where did that song come from?

Meghan saw the lights of a police car outside, getting up. She looked out the window. There she saw her mom crying and hugging her sister. What was wrong? How did her mom get here so soon?

“Mom!?” Megan called out, “Hailey?” But no one seemed to hear her.

As she stood at the windowsill with the unlit candle, Megan watched her mom get into her car to drive back to town with the cop and ambulance following her. Hailey went back inside the cabin, going to the candle with tears falling from her face.

“I light this candle to bring you home. Baby Tiff, Jess,” Hailey sighed heavily, “and Megan. Come home.” Megan watched Hailey place her necklace, which she didn’t realize was not around her neck, next to the baby comb and the wedding ring.

Megan looked at the lake, realizing her fate. She came to bring her sister home, and instead, now this would be home with her sister trapped in a memory tied to the burning candle on the windowsill.