The Light

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It was a particularly dark summer evening as the new moon rose in the sky, providing only a halo of shimmering clouds over the pines.

Laura, Peter, and Elaina had been camping outside the old cabin for four days and were surprised to see that they had company. Few campers knew about this site; probably because it was technically the back yard of a condemned cabin where a murder had taken place twenty years prior. This made it the perfect location for the three friends to reunite after their freshman year of college. It provided a quiet place where they were guaranteed not to be disturbed, or so they thought.

"Who would be crazy enough to go into the murder cabin?" asked Elaina. She was typically the most cautious of the group and it was a miracle the others had convinced her to go on the property in the first place.

"I don't know, probably just some of the local kids trying to have some fun. Maybe we should sneak up and give them a proper murder cabin welcome," replied Peter.

"I don't know. It just feels odd. Why would kids choose spooky candlelight over a wholesome movie or something? Maybe we should call the cops," said Elaina, concerned that it could be a criminal hiding out.

"And tell them what?" Laura interjected. "We just happened to be strolling past the condemned cabin in the middle of nowhere that clearly has signs saying 'No Trespassing'? I'm not sure that would go over too well."

"Laura's right," said Peter, "If you're that worried, Elaina, we should go take a look. If it's just kids, we stay the night. If it's a serial killer, we'll run away screaming. Deal?"

"That sounds like a terrible idea, but I guess I'm not going to sleep otherwise," Elaina grumbled.

The three friends proceeded to walk the quarter mile up the decrepit walkway leading up to the front of the cabin. Cupping his hands around his eyes, Peter peered through the dusty window. After a moment, he gasped, stumbled backwards, tripped over a tree limb and landed flat on his back.

"What happened?" Laura exclaimed, "Did you see someone?"

Unable to maintain his composure any longer, Peter curled up into a giggling ball as his friends scowled down at him.

"You should've seen your faces!" he cried between fits of laughter. "You really fell for it!"

Elaina's eye roll was almost audible. "Quit messing around Peter," she said unamused, "did you see anything at all? Someone had to light that candle."

At that moment, the soft glow emanating from the pale cylinder of wax flared and jumped to three times its size, lighting up the entire cabin and sending light piercing through the window.

Laura and Elaina jumped back, startled by the sudden explosion of light. Peter, still on the ground, went perfectly still and became solemn for what seemed like the first time in his life.

The candle burned furiously for a full minute before going out entirely, leaving them shocked, blind, and terrified.

"So, I think we're going with the serial killer and run away screaming option," whispered Laura.

"What are you talking about? There was no one in there, we're not leaving! We were supposed to stay the whole week," Peter replied, "One candle isn't going to ruin the whole trip."

"One candle that lit itself, exploded angrily, then put itself out, isn't ruining the trip? We get it Peter, you're brave, but I'm pretty sure now would be the time to run away screaming," Elaina whispered, her eyes never leaving the window.

"I can't believe the two of you. It's gotta be some kind of prank," Peter said. "Would you at least humor me and help me look through the cabin before we run from an inanimate object?"

The girls glanced at each other before agreeing to walk around the cabin once to see if they had been pranked.

As the three approached the front door, the candle's flame re-appeared.

"Ummm, that's not normal," said Laura, "and it's not a prank unless the kids are into some sort telepathic flame work."

"We agreed we would look around, right?" Elaina answered quietly. "Let's just get this over with."

The once gold doorknob was rusted shut, leaving it up to the designated black-belt of the group, Laura, to kick the door in.

The solid oak door creaked and groaned its protest as they pushed their way inside the small cabin. They entered into what appeared to be an ordinary living room. An over-stuffed floral-pattern couch sat facing a modest brick fireplace and a simple wooden desk faced the window with a chair turned as if someone had just gotten up. The only sign that this was the infamous murder cabin was the inch-deep layer of dust that covered everything in sight.

"There's nowhere to hide in this room. Plus, this dust is so thick the pranksters would've left footprints in it!" exclaimed Laura.

"I don't know, Laura. It's weird, I'll give you that. There's just a couple more rooms to look through. Get it together and let's see what's going on," Peter responded, sounding much less confident than he had a few minutes prior.

Suddenly, as if in response to Laura's observation, the group saw footprints appearing in the dust that previously lay undisturbed on the rough hardwood floors. It looked as if an invisible person were walking in slippers directly towards them. No sound accompanied this movement except the yelps coming from Peter, Elaina, and Laura.

The three friends leapt out of the entryway and into the small kitchen, wheeling around to face the front door as it slammed itself shut.

"Is there a back door?" Elaina screamed, looking frantically around for some sort of weapon with which to defend herself from the invisible door-slammer.

"I don't know but we're breaking a window if we have to," Laura replied, picking up an old iron skillet. "There's no way I'm sticking around to see what else this thing can do."

Peter stood frozen, staring at the ground as the footprints chose a new direction. They turned from the door and crossed the small living room to the fireplace which suddenly blazed to life, with no wood in the grate.

The sudden burst of light made the group jump and cast long shadows across the room that danced with a life of their own. One shadow in particular didn't appear to have a physical source.

The silhouette of a woman lay across the floor. The profile of her face suggested she, or it, was looking across the room to the kitchen where the three friends cowered in shock.

"Oh, heck no!” Elaina cried. She grabbed her friends’ hands and ran down a narrow hallway toward the back of the house.

They had only made it halfway to the door at the end of the hall when it slammed shut. The old 80’s style light fixture overhead began to buzz and flicker to life. The newly provided light revealed the shadow woman once more. She now appeared to be standing just two feet away from the friends.

“What do you want?” Laura screamed.

“Let us go!” cried Peter.

Elaina stood deathly still, staring intently at the shadow that lay across the splintering wood floor.

The light overhead began to buzz, softly at first, then rose to an almost deafening pitch. The bulb grew brighter and brighter until finally shattering, raining shards of glass upon the group and casting them all into darkness.

The three friends cowered in the pitch black, unable to move or speak for fear of angering the once more invisible woman. The air felt thick with tension. After two full minutes of silence, a soft voice broke the eerie stillness that permeated the cabin.

“Why have you broken into my house?” the voice said, barely even a whisper.

Shaken and alarmed none of the friends responded. Was this the shadow woman? If so, was it the ghost of the murder victim or that of the murderer from so many years ago?

The minutes passed like hours as the group held their breath, waiting for the woman to speak again.

Suddenly, Laura yelped and pulled away from her friends, making a mad dash down the rest of the hall and pounding on the door.

“Laura!” Peter and Elaina cried in unison as they attempted to run after her. The near pitch black of the cabin caused them to run full force into their friend and knocked them all to the floor.

The splintered wood felt like needles beneath their palms as they pushed back to their feet.

“What happened?” Elaina whispered. “Why did you scream?”

In a quivering voice, Laura replied, “She touched me… I don’t know how... but I felt someone grab my arm. Her fingers were like ice!”

The disembodied voice spoke again, this time with much greater force. "I said, why have you broken into my house?" The woman's voice held the texture of gravel, as if she had smoked cases of cigarettes her whole life.

This time, she was not nearly as patient waiting for a reply. The hall light that had just blown suddenly blazed once more. The light spread across the ceiling in both directions as if the old wiring itself were alight. The buzz of electricity was nearly deafening as the entire cabin exploded with white light that cast the group into a new breed of blind vulnerability.

Laura swung her improvised weapon blindly through the air, finally making contact with the door to the back bedroom of the cabin. She screamed in desperation, beating ferociously on what seemed to be an impenetrable door.

"Stop this!" Peter screeched, falling to his knees with his hands clamped over his ears and his eyes squeezed shut.

"Just let us out!" Elaina cried, "We never meant to disturb you, we are so sorry! Please just let us go!"

With that, the light slowly ebbed from the cabin, leaving a single orb of brilliance in the center of the hall. The glowing sphere hovered five feet above the ground and emanated a soft green light. The shadow cast by the orb was that of the woman.

Slowly getting to his feet, Peter spoke to the orb softly. "Thank you. Who are you? We mean no harm. We only entered because we saw the flame in the window."

The girls stood silently with their backs pressed against the door, staring at the glowing source of the shadow woman.

The orb's glow intensified slightly as the woman's voice became audible once more. "My name is Marie. This is my home. I was just writing at my desk. I bought this cabin so that I would have the peace and privacy to do so." When the three unexpected visitors remained silent, she added, "You should really learn to knock."

In spite of the sheer terror the last couple of hours had brought, Laura chuckled softly. "I'm sorry I kicked your door in, but we didn't think we would be disturbing anyone in an abandoned cabin."

"Abandoned?" Marie replied. "What do you mean?"

Unsure how to respond, Laura slowly explained that the cabin had been left uninhabited since a murder had taken place there twenty years ago.

"Oh." Marie said in a small voice. "Now I remember. I guess I had blocked that part out."

"Blocked what out?" Elaina asked gently, her sympathy growing as she realized the tragedy before her. "Do you mean you were the one murdered here?"

"Yes." Marie replied, her voice flat and hollow. "Not a very pleasant memory. There haven't been many live people around to remind me, I suppose."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you," Peter said, his voice soothing. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you still here?"

"I suppose because I was going about my daily lif--" she caught herself and laughed lightly. Her laughter sounded like chimes blown by a gentle summer breeze. "I suppose that's not the correct term anymore. Perhaps I'll move on eventually, but this whole being dead thing is a lot to take in. I've been existing here undisturbed for years apparently, so I don't see the point in rushing to move on."

Awkward silence settled over the group for a moment as they all pondered the implications of what had just happened. Always the logical one, Elaina was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry you had to be reminded of such a terrible memory, Marie, but do you intend to keep us trapped here forever because of it?"

Marie's enchanting giggle rang out again. "Certainly not," she replied. "The only reason I chased you into the hallway was to get some answers. You're welcome to leave if you'd like, I do have one condition though."

"Anything!" Peter cut in. The whole experience seemed to have checked his confidence.

"I was mostly kidding about the condition part," Marie said between chuckles, "but if you're up for it, I'd love for you to take my manuscript to a publisher. It's finally done and seeing as I now know I'm dead, it may be a bit challenging getting it to the office without causing public panic."

Touched to be able to help the victim of such a terrible crime, Laura replied, "We would love to. Thanks for not holding us here for all eternity, by the way."

"I chose to come live in a cabin alone in the middle of the woods. I don't exactly want roommates, especially not screaming ones," Marie said. "Well, the script is on the desk. If you all don't mind, I'd like to go back to my regular afterlife. I'm sure you remember where the front door is you kicked in," she said in a playful tone.

"Got it, we'll just be going then," said Peter. He looked as if he were contemplating which way to run around Marie's orb.

After collecting a large stack of papers from the desk, the three friends walked back out the front door in stunned silence. They did not stop at their camp site, just kept walking through the moonless night until they reached the edge of the woods where their three cars were parked. Laura broke the silence and put what they were all thinking into words.

"Did that just happen? Did we just have a regular conversation with a woman whose been dead for twenty years?"

"I guess so," Elaina replied. "How else would we have the manuscript for an entire book?"

"This is unreal. I vote we all go home and sleep it off," Peter said. "I've had enough adrenaline for about five lifetimes. Good night."

As Peter walked to his ordinary sedan, their lives seemed suddenly mundane. If one can be unaware of their existence in death, what else could they be missing?