The Curious Cabin

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Lindsay walked past this cabin every summer with her sister, and despite being abandoned, the cabin always appeared untouched as if it were frozen in time, perfectly preserved. On this night, she was walking alone for the first time in years as her sister decided to spend the summer with her best friend. Something about the abandoned cabin was mesmerizing, but all the locals had warned it was cursed and advised against exploring it. She couldn’t help but wonder what it looked like inside with the way it was beautifully preserved on the outside. The candle burning in the window was almost like a warm invitation to come inside. Had her sister been with her, she would have told Lindsay to keep walking and reminded her of the local warnings, but she wasn’t there, and Lindsay decided it was time entertain her curiosity.

As she walked up the wooden steps, she could see the front door was slightly cracked open with the light from the candle softly glowing through. She opened the door and to her surprise the inside was just as seemingly untouched as the outside was. Off to the left another candle burned, illuminating an old living room with a wooden rocking chair and a small couch perfectly arranged in front of a fireplace. The art on the walls were paintings of the surrounding forest and lake. Above the fireplace she could just barely see a few framed photos, so she moved closer to make out what the pictures were. As she approached the fireplace, she saw that these photos were of a lovely older couple that once lived in this cabin. The first photo was of them standing hand in hand in front of the cabin, both with smiles on their faces. The second photo was the older woman happily cooking in the kitchen while the man sat at the table reading the paper. The third photo was the couple sitting in the living room on the small couch together embracing each other in a loving fashion. Not a single spec of dust was on the photos which Lindsay found to be odd being that this cabin had been abandoned for a long time. At that moment, an overwhelming smell of fresh baked bread and beef stew filled the living room.

Naturally curious, Lindsay began heading out of the living room to find the kitchen where she was sure the smell was coming from. When she found the kitchen, she also found the room lit by three separate candles and the dining table set for one person with a fresh bowl of stew and a piece of bread. Lindsay had gone on her nightly walk while her mother was preparing dinner and was quite hungry. The smell made her hunger grow and she began to consider sitting down to partake in the meal that seemed to be prepared just for her. Then Lindsay began to realize she had no idea who had lit these candles or prepared this meal and decided it was better to explore more and see if she could find the source. She exited the kitchen and went down the hallway following a dim light coming from a room at the end of the hall. The closer she got to this room the more uneasy she began to feel. Her footsteps became slower as she approached the room. As she entered the room a wave of cold air hit her and as she looked around, she noticed this room had not preserved the same way the rest of the house had been. The only light in the room was from the moonlight coming through a broken window giving the room enough glow to be seen.

It was a bedroom, with a broken window, old dead leaves scattered across the wooden floor, curtains torn and tattered from the natural elements, and an old rickety bed with the sheets missing and an old, stained mattress ruined from years of weather and neglect. Lindsay tried to make sense of why this room was the only room that had not been preserved the same way the rest of the house had been. The more she thought about it the more scared she became. As she looked around the room, she noticed there was another door next to the broken window. Even though Lindsay was scared, she wanted to know what was behind the door and if it might lead to any answers about the cabin. Lindsay went to turn the doorknob and found that it was jammed. She pulled and pulled and tried to wiggle it open but began to think maybe it was not worth it. Right as she stopped, the door creaked open and that’s when a horrible smell leaked out and permeated the room. Lindsay began regretting stepping foot in the cabin, terrified about what she was about to find behind the door. As she pulled the door open, it was pitch black inside and she could not see anything. She pulled out a small flashlight she carried with her to see what was inside. To her horror she found two skeletons embracing each other. Lindsay screamed in horror and turned around to run out of the cabin.

As she sprinted down the hallway, she saw the front door slam and prayed that it was just the wind, but there was no wind that evening. She went to open the front door and despite every effort she could not open it. She ran to the kitchen to find another escape. As she flew into the room, she saw that the dinner that had been sitting there was rotten and crawling with maggots. She ran over to the only window in the kitchen and tried to pry it open but was unsuccessful. She began grabbing old pots and pans and attempting to break the window. Nothing would even begin to crack it. Lindsay then decided to try to escape through the living room where she came to find the rocking chair violently rocking back and forth without a person in it. Lindsay was sobbing, desperately trying to find any way out and ignore the unexplainable activities around her as best as she could. She decided her only way out might be up through the fireplace. When she ran over, the photos on the ledge were now dusty and cracked and contained faceless people. Just as Lindsay was about to crawl into the fireplace, it exploded into flames. Lindsay turned around to run and try the front door again but was startled by two dark figures standing behind the couch. Lindsay froze. The two dark figures started to move towards her, but her fear would not let her move. All she could do was let out a piercing scream.

The sound of glass breaking and a heavy object crashing to the floor followed Lindsay’s scream. Someone had thrown a brick through the window next to the front door and was loudly running up the steps to enter the cabin. The cabin door flew open and just as it flew open, the horror of the cabin disappeared before Lindsay’s eyes. Lindsay’s dad came bounding towards her, scooped her up and quickly left the cabin. As she was being carried away from the cabin, she looked back and saw that there was no sign of the window being broken and that the candle in the window was burning bright. Her dad told her to never wander off like that again, and if she was that tired, she should have stayed home. Confused by his last statement, she asked him what he meant. Her dad told her that her and her mother began to worry when she didn’t make it home for dinner, so he went out to find her and that’s when he saw the cabin with a candle burning in the window and found her asleep inside. Had Lindsay dreamt the entire thing or was the cabin truly cursed? She would never know.