The Cabin

Joseph and Amanda were already upstairs asleep but he was still awake. Peter was left lying on the couch to spend the night. He had this faraway look in his eyes. His ears were straining to hear any sound that might be coming from the woods. Satisfied that the night was quite peaceful, he surrendered himself to slumber.

His dream was about what happened earlier during the day. He had not planned to visit this cabin nor get acquainted with these two friends. He only planned to get away from this wretched place and settle in a town far from where the mountain was located.

Peter’s peaceful night was shattered when he heard the initial piercing sound from the woods. He sat up immediately and tried to listen carefully for a few minutes.

Silence.

He did not go back to his previous position on the couch immediately. He listened more for about two minutes before trying to get a wink for the night. His back hadn’t even touched the couch when he heard this long piercing sound. He quickly stood up and listened carefully.

He heard the gut wrenching sound from the woods. He was about to go outside when Joseph and Amanda appeared on the staircase. He could see that she was crying because of fear. Joseph wrapped his arms around her. Peter restrained himself from going out of the cabin. He looked at the cabin’s front and back door.

“Go back to your rooms,” Peter commanded.

“What was that,” Joseph asked.

Peter did not answer. He knew that he needed to do something. This was the thing that he was dreadfully avoiding since he came to the mountain this morning. He knew that this would happen. He heard the stories. He knew about the rumours. But these people inside the cabin were innocent. They did not know what was happening. Joseph and Amanda did not have any clue at all.

The two were already with him in the middle of the room. They did not obey him. He could hear Amanda sobbing violently beside Joseph. He was looking around the room thinking of what to do. “I told you to go back to your rooms,” he exclaimed.

“How can we if we are hearing those eerie sounds,” Joseph answered.

He was right. Peter remained silent.

There was a strong gust of wind against the window. Peter was glad that the wind did not break it. They could hear the wind whistling loudly outside as if there would be a storm anytime soon. Then it became quiet again. Joseph sensed that Peter was all tensed up. He looked at Peter but could not read his face.

Then, they heard an animal howling in the stillness of the night and the piercing eerie sound came right after. This was the last straw for Peter. He ran to the front door of the cabin and went outside.

“Peter! No,” Amanda exclaimed.

All they could see was Peter’s back. The wind blew angrily again almost knocking Peter from his position. To their surprise, Peter gave a loud cry which could be heard throughout the woods. Amanda and Joseph could not move when they heard him scream.

They were looking at him from inside the cabin when they witnessed something bizarre. Their unexpected guest was not the one they knew earlier. Peter’s short brown hair became long and white. He shouted something to the woods in a language they never heard before.

Amanda was staring at Peter as if she saw him before, a young man with long white hair under the evening sky. She did not know that she was walking towards the door until Peter’s piercing blue eyes looked at her and shouted, “No!”

It can’t be, Amanda thought. She remembered him very well. Peter’s blue eyes and white hair were always been part of her dreams, of her past childhood memories. She suddenly saw herself outside near the river picking up flowers. She felt something was looking at her from the woods. She pretended not to notice anything. She slowly moved away from her usual spot and moved to the flowerbed next to the woods. She let her eyes scanned the woods and saw a pair of the bluest eyes and the whitest hair she ever saw. Still pretending she did not notice anything weird, she averted her eyes towards the flowers and went back to the cabin for lunch.

Amanda’s thoughts went back to the present and looked at Peter. He was standing still and calmly looking at the woods. Joseph pulled her back towards the cabin.

Peter was having a telepathic conversation with the angry mob of spirits in the woods. His ancestors.

Do not hurt them! They are innocent, he said.

A tall man dressed in a long light blue robe with the same white hair and blue eyes emerged from the woods. How would you know that they are innocent? How could you tell that they are not pretending not to know in front of you?

Because I’ve been observing them since the very beginning, Peter said. Their ancestors did not tell anything about our past and what had happened.

The tall man walked towards the cabin but Peter blocked his way. “Close the door, Amanda,” Peter said.

Amanda closed the cabin door obediently. She and Joseph were watching through the windows. She turned to Joseph and said, “Remember the boy that I told you about when we spent the weekend here when we were kids?”

“The one who was looking at you from the woods,” Joseph asked.

Amanda nodded. “He is that boy,” pointing to Peter.

Outside, everything looked calm and peaceful. They could see that Peter was standing in front of the cabin as if he was guarding it. However, they could not see the tall man with the white long hair and blue eyes.

“They cannot see you, great grandfather,” Peter said. As if on cue, he heard Amanda’s surprised scream. He knew that his great grandfather showed himself to Amanda and Joseph.

The tall man looked at Peter and said in a forgotten language, “Their ancestors defiled our lands. They destroyed almost all of the sacred trees that we grew and took care. If we had not interfered almost a century ago, this mountain would not be standing here. That cabin would not be here!”

Amanda turned to Joseph, “Did you hear what he said?”

Joseph gave her a puzzled look. “I couldn’t understand their language!”

“What,” Amanda said. She heard them very clearly about what the tall man and the others like him did a century ago. And what about this cabin? Why did she understand what they were saying?

Without hesitation, Amanda rushed outside and stood at Peter’s side. Peter was surprised seeing her looking at his great grandfather. “Who are you,” she asked.

The tall man with white long hair like Peter’s stared down at her but she did not buckle. He ignored her and turned his gaze to Peter. Peter knew what his great grandfather would like to say.

“Amanda does not have any idea about her ancestry. She does not know that our clan warned her ancestors about harming the woods and to stay away from it. She does not know that one of her ancestors disobeyed our clan, dishonoured the pact and built this cabin here in the middle of the woods,” Peter said.

“But I promised her father that I’ll protect her and the cabin,” Peter continued.

“Her grandfather was the reason why our family has been separated ever since,” Peter’s great grandfather said. “He lived with that human and formed their own family outside of ours.”

Amanda gasped. She did not know that she was only half human. She heard stories from her grandfather about deities and spirits in the woods, how they got angry when one of their own betrayed them for love and how they had protected the woods since the very beginning. Her own history was entangled with all the past histories this mountain had. She now realized why she understood Peter’s and his great grandfather’s language.

“She and that boy have to go now,” the tall man exclaimed. His outrage towards humans was felt up to their bones. Joseph shivered as he heard the shrill in the tall man’s voice.

“No,” Amanda said. “We won’t leave because we have a right to be here.”

“What,” the tall man exclaimed.

“Joseph and I may be one of the descendants of those who nearly killed the forest and the mountain but we are different from them. We don’t chop down trees for unnecessary use. We only chop them down if we need wood for the fireplace. We don’t kill animals here unless we don’t have anything to eat anymore,” Amanda paused.

She looked at Peter’s grandfather and continued, “I did not pick flowers and let them die. I pick the flowers for my mom when she was alive. I planted seeds at the back near the river so they can grow to beautiful plants and flowers.” She wiped the hot tears coming down like a river. "My grandfather built this cabin and educated my parents and I about taking care of the forest and the mountain."

“Peter always reminded me to stop picking the flowers when I was young. He always made his presence felt when I had enough in my hands,” she said and turned to Peter. His white long hair started to turn into brown.

She turned to the tall man and said, “I love this mountain as much as you do. I promise you that I will protect it with all the strength and power that I have. Please. I beg you. Don’t harm us.”

Peter, his hair went back to the short brown one, turned to his great grandfather and said, “You heard her. She made a promise to our family that she will protect the mountain. Just let your anger go and let them live in peace.”

Peter’s great grandfather looked at Amanda and directly addressed her, “We will leave for now. We will continue to watch you and see if you and your descendants will keep the promise that you made with us tonight. You will know what will happen if you break it. You might be one of our descendants but it doesn’t mean that we will give you another chance after this one.”

Amanda smiled through her tears and gave her thanks to the tall man. Before the Peter's great grandfather went back to the forest and disappered, she felt a something warm on her left hand as if a hot cup was on it. She heard him in her mind, "That will be a sign of our agreement and this will be passed upon your descendants to remind you about tonight. If anyone from your family break this pact, I assure you that we will destroy this cabin and hide this mountain once and for all."

Amanda nodded while soothing her left hand. She then ran inside the cabin and told Joseph the whole situation.

Peter was smiling now. He could feel the tension had eased. He turned to the tall man and said, “Thank you, great grandfather.”

He looked at Peter with affection and said, “I’ve been watching you since the day her family first came here.” He nodded towards Amanda and continued, “You’ve been watching and protecting her diligently since she was a child. I know about you affection towards her but I hope that you’ll think about what you are planning this whole time.”

Peter looked back at the cabin with Amanda and Joseph inside, with the light from the fireplace still burning brightly. He smiled at the tall man and said, “I already did.” He turned his back to his great grandfather and went inside the cabin to be with Amanda.