Northbrook P1/Intro

Hot gravel popped and crunched under heavy rubber tires that had hauled the old steel clad bronco the two hundred miles north on quiet country highways over the last few hours. It was not dark yet, but the sun had begun to make its exit from the sky, leaving a dim light to cast itself over the old cabin that sat in the clearing they had arrived at. It was old indeed, the kind of old that’s presence imposes an ominous haunted haze in the air. Cracked windows in crudely cut holes in its sides allowed for small strands of light to make their way in past the thick, high trees surrounding it on every side.

“How pleasant” A women said sarcastically from the passenger seat.

“Looked nice in the pictures Marry” a gravely voice sounded from beside her, followed by the squeak of a handle and the steel pop of a door.

              Brian heaved himself out of the old truck slowly, placing leather boots with steel in the toes down into the damp gravel that made up the fifty yards of driveway that led back out onto a road that had last been paved decades ago. The heat washed over him as he stood and glanced about for a few moments, stretching his shoulders out and picking his feet up one at a time to allow his knees to pop.  He could hear his son and daughter in the back seat, shuffling items around and clawing at handles to release themselves from the oven the vehicle had become on their venture out here.

‘Jamie grab a broom and shoo the raccoons out of the place” Brian said before reaching a thick arm back into the vehicle and grabbing a can out of the center console.

              Marry had made her way out now and was walking slowly around the clearing, scowling at the overgrowth that had usurped what had once been a large yard. Several piles of rusty scrap sat amongst the tall grass like mechanical predators that had grown tired and laid down long ago. She scoffed as she swatted at a large mosquito on her elbow, proceeding to take a white cloth from her back pocket to wipe the sweat away from her eyes. They could be in a resort she thought to herself, an hour more and they could be in a hotel with climate control and clean beds, a pool with a bar, and three meals a day that would put her cooking to shame.

              Jamie ran by her a moment later with a long half rotted stick and a grin spread across his round face, the boy was tall and lanky, if he ever filled out like his father, he would be a huge man one day. His red shirt and black shorts hung clumsily around him as he hopped up onto the long porch that made up the front of the cabin and made to pull the front door open.

“Jamie, don’t you run in their without your father” Marry stated loudly as Brian chuckled from beside her.

“Doors locked” He said as Jamie ripped the handle off the screen door and fell backwards, clearing the three stairs screwed to the porch and landing flat on his back.

Marry gasped as Brian began walking slowly over to his son still chuckling.

“Get up boy” He stated while fumbling around in his front shirt pocket and producing a small silver ring with two rusty keys on it.

              Eli watched all of this transpire from beside her mother, bright blue eyes wide as her pupils bounced around to take everything in. She examined the dirty gravel that had left her small white shoes dirty along with the haze of bugs that had begun to congregate around the family before turning her gaze to the dark building in front of them. The wooden siding that held the rain at bay for many decades was now blistered and split, dark with the moisture it had been soaking in for many years past its useable life. The roof full of scars from branches crashing down into it, missing patches of shingles, gutters pried forward under the weight of filth and baby trees that had made their homes in them. The windows were the worst yet, none of them clean and free of cracks, made from old glass that would turn into a sharp pile of glittering exposure at a misplaced step, a bump from an elbow or a broom handle.

“Mother I don’t like it here” she said quietly while brushing at her arms and whipping long brown hair around her face as she shook mosquitos away.

“Me either dear… three nights won’t kill us though” Marry said warmly as she placed a hand on her daughters shoulder and began leading her towards the cabin.