Lucid

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Flickering, its light stretched away from the cabin and towards a creek nearby. The light slipped into the creek and together they rushed away, spitting and sputtering through the woods. Eventually, the woods gave away to a clearing, and the creek trickled to an end. But the candle’s light continued on, glowing and pulsing, until it met a lone dark road where a mother and child were driving by…

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The mother was driving down a lone dark road when an extraordinary light glared in her eyes. She slammed the brakes in a startle, spinning the car into a cloud of dust before bringing it to an impetuous stop. Her child, barely a year old, let out a squeal.

The light, as sudden as it had come, was gone. Only the imprint of its luminance remained, lingering in the mother’s vision as she tried to look out into the dusty dark.

From the backseat came another squeal.

The mother reached behind and pulled away the blanket covering her child’s carrier. Their eyes met in the rearview mirror. With relief, she gathered the child into her lap and they sat, hearts beating, waiting for the dust to settle.

As the dust fell, the car began to feel wrong. An indiscernible itch was spreading in the mother’s throat. Sweat was forming along her forehead, wetting her hair. Her vision still hadn’t cleared, and she was blinking fervently, trying to squeeze away the remaining scars from the light. In her lap, the child was squirming into a tangle and the air seemed to be thickening around her. Her discomfort was quickly morphing into a panic. Desperate, she hurtled herself from the car and out into the dark.

Whatever dust had been disturbed was gone. The night air was clean and welcoming, instantly cooling the mother’s head and disappearing any traces of discomfort. Her child lay calm against her chest, and her vision cleared. She could see the car had landed just off the road, its headlights throwing a short circle against a long dark field. The insignificance of the car in the vast darkness was blissful. Smiling, the mother slipped off her shoes and traipsed barefoot into the grass.

She walked out past the perimeter of the headlights, and then further, swaying and humming to the noise of the night. When the car became a small sparkle behind her, she stopped, allowing her eyes to fully adapt to the dark. A tall tree line slowly appeared, stretching across the distant edge of the field. Surveying the inky trunks, she noticed a small opening directly ahead. And then- there. Peeking through the trees, just beyond the opening, was a cabin.

From where she stood the trees were far, though not any further than the dull car waiting by the road. And in the mother’s current state, a trek to the cabin was more desirable than a return trip to the car. So she made her choice, and continued across the field.

The opening she’d seen from the distance revealed itself to be the tail end of a creek, having carved a muddy threshold between the trees. If the mother had stopped there to look back, she would’ve been able to see the car as a tiny pinpoint in the night. But she didn’t look. She clutched her child closer, and stepped into the woods.

Hovering in the trees ahead, the cabin appeared no nearer than it had when the mother first saw it. Still, she moved forward, walking confidently along the edge of the creek. She walked for a very long time. And yet, the cabin remained the same- near, but distant. Teasing her amongst the trees, waiting for her to arrive.

She considered turning back towards the road, to the car. But when she looked behind her, there was nothing but a sprawling blackness. Surely now the cabin was closer than the car. So she went deeper into the woods, paced with anticipation.

In time, the cabin grew larger. Its proximity became tangible. She was there.

Brimming with optimism, the mother approached the cabin. Although the structure had seen better days, she could imagine a life there, spent happily with her child. She was overcome with an irreplaceable feeling- there was a future to be had. Cradling her chest, she fell asleep peacefully on the cabin floor.

The candle in the window, gone unnoticed, snuffed out.

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The mother awoke to the unbearable heat of daytime. Sunlight was entering the cabin through various holes in the roof, marking irregular patches throughout the small room. She gazed around at the shifting scene and, grasping her child’s blanket, had the aching realization she was alone.

Without blinking, she fled the cabin and returned to the creek, frantic to retrace her steps. How could they have been separated? It felt like days had gone by since that long walk in the night. She hurried, holding the blanket as she stumbled through the woods, searching and confused.

When she reached the creek’s end and breached the edge of the field, the sun was beginning to fall. A residual red heat hung over the grass, saturating her as she trudged towards the car. There had been no sign of her child. She needed to get help.

A short distance from the car, she tripped over the shoes she’d left strewn on the ground. Looking down, she noticed her feet, filthy and mangled from the woods. They began to throb. Groaning, the mother opened the car door.

She slid into the stuffy vehicle and turned the keys, which hung limp in the ignition. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing. So she tried again, and again, compulsively jiggling the keys and gasping until she caught sight of herself in the rearview mirror. Her mouth dropped.

Old brown blood was crusted across her face, mounting into a massive congealed matte against her forehead. She raised her hand, feeling for the wound, sucking her teeth.

As she searched in the mirror, her eyes wandered to the backseat, and she began to scream...