The Letter

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

The girl had used this shortcut through these woods on multiple occasions, when leaving after hours from school with nobody to pick her up. It was later than usual as she made her way through the winding trail toward her house that evening. Her mother did not approve of this way getting home, it made her worry and so the girl seldom confessed to having used it. The woods provided a natural shelter from the elements though. The thick lines of trees that surrounded the path shielded her from the rain and filtered even the harshest of winds down to a gentle breeze. A relief from the miles of country road she would have to walk beyond that point, along open fields and pastures. This night however, there was no urgent need for protection from the weather. The air was calm and the dusky sky with the setting sun remained clear, save a few scattered clouds across the horizon. She simply wanted to save time by going this way tonight.

The cabin was visible from this point of the trail, and about halfway home for her. A lonely structure at the center of a small clearing just slightly uphill from where she stood. The trees were mostly dead around the perimeter of the clearing. Long twisted branches stretched just short of reach from scratching the top of the leaf covered roof. The windows of the cabin were scuffed and cloudy but remained unbroken over the years. Miraculous given the fact that this cabin was no secret to the rest of the people residing in the area. A popular place for others in her age range to visit on the weekends. Young lovers taking their first steps into adulthood or those whose only desire was to partake in the sampling of liquor and cigarettes. Teenagers. Kids looking for areas of seclusion to experiment in a variety of things while remaining well out of sight from those who would condemn them for it.

She glanced at her watch. Still enough time to arrive home before it would become completely dark. Though it was not so much the woods at night she was afraid of being alone in as much the thought of being in the cabin itself. Many stories of the cabin's history had circulated the area for as long as she could remember. A witch's home. A haunted house. She had heard them all by now, though didn't really believe any of it and so willed herself into action and approached the window for closer inspection.

The view through the window beyond the candle's glow remained empty with no signs of occupancy inside. A feeling of responsibility had taken hold of her now. She had the power to prevent irreversible damage from happening in that place. How could she bear witness to the source of such a threat to the cabin's future, a historic local legend and do nothing about it? As uncomfortable as she felt with the thought of entering the cabin alone, she did not want it to burn due to someone's carelessness.

She pushed the creaky wooden door open and quickly surveyed the interior. It was much cleaner inside than she expected but contained the subtle scent of earthy musk she had imagined. A fireplace, a wash tub and some old wooden chairs surrounding a table, not much for furnishings beyond these pieces. A curtain hung in the back corner of the room, drawn shut across the entrance to a possible bedroom or closet where she dared not investigate any closer and instead promptly rounded the corner to the window where the candle sat flickering on the sill and quickly huffed out the flame. The room seemed to grow immediately colder.

She pulled the sleeves of her sweater down as far as they would go and made for the open door when she caught sight of something else out the corner of her eye. Another candle burned in the fireplace. She hesitated, trying to replay the memory of looking around the cabin the first time and missing this detail. She glanced, wary of the curtained room then began to approach cautiously towards the fireplace, stalking quietly like a cat as if not wanting to disturb the floorboards with the sounds of her movement going deeper into the place. She crouched low to the flame and drew back a short breath, pausing just a moment to enjoy the warmth on her face when something else caught her attention. It was what looked to be the end of a ribbon, coated in soot and hanging from below the damper of the fireplace. She reached up pinching it between her fingers and gave a gentle pull. There was a slight weight to what the ribbon was tethered to and she cautiously increased her pull-down pressure until the weight finally shifted and gravity took over. A mix of old letters bound together in ribbon and twine spilled down to the floor in a soft cloud of dust.

Dozens of opened envelops in various shades of brown paper, all stamped and marked from foreign countries located overseas and across the world. She picked them up one by one, studying the shaky handwriting on them. All had been sent to a post office box in town addressed to a Theda Rose. She opened one letter, taking gentle care to unfold the dry crumbling paper and began to read.

Dearest Theda,

I hope this letter finds you well. As you are probably aware, the war has finally ended, and I shall be allowed to return home to you very soon. Please don't come looking for me at the nearest port as I still do not know exactly when I will arrive, and I know you would not like the city. Instead, I will return to you the same as I left, through the door of our home where we are most happy. Until then, please light a candle in the window for me at night, so I may find my way home in the dark.

I love you and I miss you terribly.

Elias

She looked in awe of the words written in the letter and allowed the romantic in her a moment to gaze about her surroundings with newly inspired wonder. She then carefully replaced the letter to the envelope and rebound them all together. The thought of reading them before bed that night put a smile on her face as she tucked them neatly into her satchel, and then blew out the candle.

She felt her blood run cold as the cabin seemed to take on a more sinister atmosphere. The wind outside picked up and she could hear pressure being put on the entire structure. She focused her sight on the door where she could still see the outside world and just wanted to be there now. She rose to her feet and began to walk and as she did so the very room appeared to grow, increasing the distance to everything around her. She glanced to the back corner of the cabin and saw that the curtain there was now wide open to the room, yet there was only blackness to see inside. A blackness that spilled out onto the floor like a shadow and slowly crept towards her. She spurred herself to run when the door to the outside world slammed shut in front of her. The room was instantly darker and the temperature dropped again, enough that she could now see her own breath billowing out in front of her like smoke. She reached for the handle of the weather-beaten door which now felt rock solid in her grip. Back and forth she tugged, twisting and turning to no avail. Panic began to set in, a feeling of claustrophobia. Only moments ago the distance she moved to the door that seemed so far away now felt like everything was closing in behind her. She heard a whimper escape her throat as she surrendered the door handle to look for another possible exit. Only the window where the first candle sat was large enough for her to scramble through, but she would need to break the glass first. She quickly scanned the room for something. Discarded liquor bottles in the corner, the chairs, the washtub. Before she realized it she was already dashing around, testing the weight of all these objects and nothing moved. Like they were nailed to the very floor they sat upon. In fact, besides herself the only other thing in the room that did seem to move was the shadow on the floor still extending towards her from the curtained room. That black curtained room, wide open and yet still so dark that nothing could be seen inside. Except, something seemed to be seeing her now. A single pair of yellow eyes staring out from within the depths of darkness.

She finally screamed.

Collapsed to the floor on her knees now she crawled back towards the fireplace and imagined herself in the most unlikely scenario of being able to climb out through the chimney. Still, as her instinct to flee continued to press on she attempted to clear a path and unlike the other objects in the room the candle in the fireplace lifted with natural ease. The thought of relighting both candles entered her mind, if only she possessed the means to do so. The candle in the window however, was no longer an option as she would have to cross the threshold of shadow to reach it now. Instead, she lifted the one candle she now held in her hands high above her head and extended it out to place on the floor before the shadow like an offering. A desperate plea to give something in exchange for her life. Tears coursed down her cheeks as the thing only drew closer. She turned then, unable to face it any longer. Reaching into her satchel she pulled out the collection of letters and pressed herself up against the fireplace, fumbling to replace the brick of envelops back into the spot where she found them. Those dead trees from around the perimeter with their long-extended branches had managed to reach the walls outside the cabin and she could hear them squealing against the window glass. The thought of them breaking through and finding their way to the back of her neck entered her mind so vividly she could feel the physical sensation of them reaching through her hair now like boney talons. She squeezed her teary eyes shut tight, grasped both hands over her face, and waited for it all to end.

And end it did.

The wind died down outside, and everything became suddenly quiet. The temperature felt normal now and she slowly re-opened her eyes to peer between her fingers. It wasn’t so dark anymore and she pulled her trembling hands away from her face. They were dirty, covered in a layer of dusty soot from the letters she had handled. The letters, successfully placed back to their hiding spot in the fireplace. The ribbon, still just visible, hanging below the damper.

She gasped, darting her eyes around the cabin room and saw that the door was wide open again, welcoming her back to the outside world. An invitation she did not hesitate to accept. She did not stop to look back at the room in the corner but could see in the peripheral of her vision that the curtain was drawn closed again, hiding whatever or whoever may have been behind it.

The return home was like a blur in her memory and she told no one in her family about the experience over dinner. She imagined how pleased her mother would be to know how she intended never to use the shortcut through the woods again. As she prepared for bed though, like a waking nightmare the details began to fade slowly away until she eventually questioned if it even really happened. Only the words of the letter remained engraved in her mind as she hung her satchel over the top of the bed post. When from the satchel, something fell fluttering to the floor. It was that very letter. Her heart skipped a beat.

The thought of returning to that place with the letter made her feel ill. It certainly wouldn’t be that same evening but even the sight of the letter being in the room with her now created an ominous presence and she thought it better to put out of view. She opened her closet doors and saw nothing but blackness inside.

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

The End