Short Story

The Cabin in the Woods

The cold breeze whirls around my head as the forest seems to warp. If I hadn’t been running for the last ten minutes this air might make me shiver. All I can feel are my legs, my heart, and my lungs. My heart beats loudly in my ears as my feet march to it’s beat and my lungs gasp for air to power my stride. A thick metallic sludge wells in the back of my throat while the rest of my body aches, but the adrenaline flooding my body makes it hard to feel, and I push the thoughts of the next morning’s pain far from my mind. My mind is only focused on one thing right now, what seems to be the only building in this forest for miles. I focus on the old wooden cabin and the crunch of the dry autumn leaves under my boots so as to not think of the thing behind me. I bashed it over the head with a stick, it laid motionless on the forest floor, but I swear I could feel it’s gaze upon my back. I reach the side of the cabin and turn to reach the front porch. As I turn it’s in the corner of my vision and my curiosity burns too bright to ignore. I glance back to where I struck the creature, but I saw nothing but the puddle it had collapsed in. A brand new pit of fears grips all of my organs as I hobble even faster to the front door. I round the railing on the porch and step onto the welcome mat with an audible thunk of my boots reverberating through the old greyed wood. My body slumps against the door frame as I go for the door knob, but I quickly discover it to be locked.

With the fear of the monster that had been chasing me since I entered this forest fresh in my gut I consider banging on the door. Before I can muster the strength to raise my good arm I realize that would only help the monster find me. I limp over to the window to the right of the door and try opening that. It won’t even budge. With fear rising even higher in my stomach I drag myself to the other window to the left of the door. This one has a board nailed on the inside, but since the window looks intact maybe there’s another reason, or it’s just wishful thinking. I tug on the dusty window seal, this time it gives a little. I can see a lock on the inside, but it’s only half secured and looks old and rusty, I can do this. I tug on the seal again, but the old lock is still a lock. I move my arm to get a good point of leverage pushing it up, this time I can see the lock shaking and I can feel the old window open another centimeter. Despite my progress I still can’t open it any useful amount. I was hoping I would be able to do it with my good arm but I need just a bit more force and I know that that lanky beast is stalking me. I take a deep breath, grit my teeth, and tell myself that the pain in the morning is better than no morning at all. I raise my shaky left arm, trying not to look directly at the fresh hole left by the beast, to meet my other. With another deep breath I push with both of my arms and the pain begins to burn even through the adrenaline. I use the pain to push even harder and after a moment I hear a loud clunk and then a thud as the window flies open. I don’t wait another moment before I throw myself through the window nearly ripping the loose board off of the wall as I squeeze past. I hit the hardwood floor with a loud thud, but before I let myself writhe on the floor I reach for the window again and close it.

Once the window slams shut I let out a large sigh of relief before promptly dropping to the floor to writhe within my own pain. At least the monster can’t see me through the windows if I’m in the fetal position. I cradle my arm in this dark and decrepit, old cabin. The air has a strange smell to it that fills my lungs, a mixture of dust and other smells that I can only describe as musty. I consider just sleeping on the floor here, but before I can even recover enough to think of sleeping I hear something moving down the old, creaky stairs across the room. It must be the beast, it knew I was heading for the cabin and climbed in through an opening on the second floor. I can’t pull myself back through the window in my current state. I have to hide, but by the time I’ve gathered my thoughts it’s already halfway down the stairs.