Poles Apart

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. At first he didn’t believe what he saw, for seventy long, exhausting years he has waited for a sign. Could it really be her? Deep within a part of his soul he longs so much for it to be her. Her perfume carries on the breeze, her whisper in the rustle of the leaves.

Shaking his head and closing his eyes Abe rubs at his temples, but when he opens them the candle still burns and her scent continues to waft to him in the wind. Excitement rising in his chest, his cheeks flushed with anticipation. Regardless of his age and fragility he runs towards the cabin, moving so fast that the ground beneath him seems to fall away.

As children they had always known one day they would marry and have their own family. That was until the war came and tore them apart. Her family fled the country. That was seventy years ago last Autumn. They promised to meet after the war at this very cabin where they used to play. At the time they were still kids, the world was black and white and they thought the war would pass within a few months. They could not anticipate the years that followed.

True to his word Abe waited for her return but he was a young, virile man so eventually he married Sofia and they had 3 of their own children. Sofia was a safe haven but she always knew that Abe’s heart was elsewhere. She and the children have all passed on now and Abe is alone once more. Loneliness and age play mind games with him at times. There were moments when he thought he saw movement in the cabin or heard noises coming from within but it always turned out to be nothing. Never before had there been something as tangible as the flame of a candle.

For most of his life Abe had tended the gardens around the cabin, keeping the vines from engulfing the structure. As he aged it became too much for him to upkeep on his own so his son would help whenever possible. He died 6 years ago and since that time the vines have slowly made their way across the building. Moss covers the front steps and windowsill. Overall the cabin has weathered well and looks much the same as it did when they were kids.

As he nears the dilapidated front steps of the cabin, Abe slips on moss losing his footing. He is close enough that he can read the sign they painted that last summer they spent together. They had joked that they would live here with their family and together they painted a sign that has hung above the threshold ever since. It is faded now but still legible, it reads “Welcome to the Shangri La”.

As he stumbles the ground opens up and Abe finds himself sliding down the bank of a deep ravine into a big, cold lake. His large, strong hands clawing the muddy embankment. Sharp pain courses through him as his nails split filling with cold, wet mud, and sharp sticks stab at his skin. His hands are mapped with blood vessels and age spots but they are still strong so he can’t comprehend why he is unable to haul himself up the embankment. As he tries to regain his composure Abe realises that the ground beneath his hands has turned into a mass of slithering worms. With every grapple he is seizing handfuls of earthworms, pulling them tumbling onto his legs and feet. With every effort he is slowly burying himself deeper beneath the worms. The ravine stands at least three feet above him, he can see no way out. As the hopelessness of the situation sets in Abe feels a deep sense of fear and devastation overshadow him. There is nothing to hold onto to pull himself out, he has to search for something to clutch, something solid. Lifting his tall yet frail frame from the water and sliding onto his back he feels his entire world spinning, aware of the constant wriggling 'neath his body.

Over many decades Abe has walked the path to the cabin countless times and not once was there ever a body of water except for the odd puddle after heavy rains. Yet he cannot deny that right now he is down a deep ravine with a lake and worms as his only company. “Age and solitude must finally be getting to me,” he reasons, convinced he is losing his mind because in the space of a few seconds his entire reality, as he has always known it, has been altered.

Closing his eyes Abe concentrates on slowing his breathing to regain command of his mental state. When he opens them again he can feel his heart racing and sweat beads off his forehead. Plunging his hand into the worms he tries desperately, to no effect, to find solid ground. The worms move constantly beneath his body. As the light of day dims, the thudding of his own heart beats loud in his ears and in the distance he can hear a deep growling noise that resembles a wild animal in distress. It is not a noise he has previously heard in these woods. His senses are heightened and as terror rises within he tries to convince himself that the sounds are imagined, that he has nothing to fear. In reality he knows wild animals can smell fear and is alarmed that he will be their next meal, whatever they are.

Scanning his surrounds Abe notices that he is only about 200 metres from a gnarled and lifeless tree. His movement is hampered by the wriggling worms but slowly he manages to make his way to the tree. Clambering to the top he hauls himself out of the ravine, which is not easy given his age but he does have the advantage of adrenaline pumping through his veins. Pulling himself onto solid ground as the last of the light winks at him from the horizon the growling sound of wild creatures appears to magnify. The hair on his arms stands on end as an electrical pulse passes through his entire body. Bats screech overhead chilling the blood in his veins. His intuition knows that his demise is near. His instinct is to run and never look back. Abe is already standing, his legs are moving but he is getting nowhere. The ground beneath him has turned to quick-sand and the faster he runs the deeper he sinks into it. He just cannot reach the cabin. Impulsively Abe’s muscles turn to jelly and he soils his clothing, though he is already so wet and muddy it is barely noticeable to him. The growling creatures are looming. Abe starts to sob and howl like a wild animal himself. Rapidly the earth is swallowing him up along with his memories, his optimism, his courage and his sanity.

For a brief moment he expects to be startled awake from this nightmare but as he shivers in the cold air beneath the night sky he knows it is no dream. Wolves gather around the quicksand baring their teeth and raising their hackles as they continue to growl. His body kicks and writhes in a manner akin to treading water under the dense sand. Exhausted and about to surrender all hope Abe stops crying and shivering, ready to accept his fate when suddenly the earth appears to spit him out onto solid footing. Although the wolves appear much further away now that he is out of the quicksand they are rapidly gaining ground as the pack charges towards him. Distance and time have warped. His mind cannot determine how long he has before the wolves reach him. His only motivation is to beat the wolves into the cabin. Abe clambers up the slippery stairs of the cabin only to find that the old timber is so swollen that he cannot force the front door. Hanging his head to cry into the palms of his hands he notices that he is only wearing one shoe.

Removing the shoe Abe uses it to smash the window in which the candle still burns. The flickering flame shows no sign of blowing out even as a bitter gust of night air moves through the open window cavity. If anything, the intensity of the light increases filling the room temporarily with bright golden light. Abe tries to take in his surrounds as he expects the flame will die shortly though the candle barely flickers.

Falling through the broken window Abe can feel the shards of glass slicing wounds into his skin. Sniffing the air he can smell her sweet, subtle aroma beneath the stench of fresh blood. Wanting nothing more than to hold her he is also aware that the wolves are right behind him and fears that their ferocity will be enhanced by the scent of blood from his wounds. He has never liked wolves. Before he can devise a plan a savage wolf leaps through the window landing with a thud on the timber boards at his feet.

A blood-curdling cry echoes within the cabin as Abe feels the excruciating pain of being having his toes mauled. The gnawing sensation on his feet sending pain shooting along the nerves of his legs like electrical currents. Lifting his head to vomit in the now dim light of the candle Abe can see that the wolf is also crying in agony as it lies bloodied on the floor being eaten alive by hundreds of rats. Huge, hungry rats with sharp teeth are chewing away at both he and the wolf. The air is filled with the metallic scent of human and wolf blood, the smell of fresh meat making him nauseous. The remainder of the wolf pack appear to have settled. He can hear them moving about outside, sniffing at the air and letting out the occasional howl.

Momentarily Abe is distracted from the horror and devastation as she whispers his name. He still recognises her voice, though it has grown raspier with age. Turning his blurred gaze in the direction of the door he lays eyes on her for the first time in seventy years. She is nothing but bones now, the rats have finished her off but he knows it is her. He can hear her voice and smell her sweet aroma blended with the stench of fresh blood that comes to him on the gusts of icy wind blustering through the cabin.

Grabbing at his chest with a pain equal to that of the rats gnawing at his legs he feels his heart rip from his chest. His body aching, his mind tired, he has lost everything that has ever mattered to him in this world, even his cognizance. Still clutching at his chest, sobbing so intensely that he can no longer feel the pain in his legs he drags his numb and bloodied body across the floorboards to be closer to her remains. It is then he hears her voice even louder this time. “You did this to me. I waited here and you never came. I waited for three years until eventually, one particularly harsh winter I starved, leaving my body to become fodder for the vermin and wildlife. I loved you. I trusted you. I believed in you. But you never came. Now you too, shall endure a similar fate.”

He can’t believe what he is hearing. With the exception of family holidays, and one year when he spent four nights in hospital he came to the cabin every day. Not once did he see or hear any sign of her until today. Unable to speak or scream, Abe wants to let out all of his pain, all of the past and the present. He wants to tell her what he knows to be real. Instead, he lies in silence as the rats eat away at his flesh. Drifting in and out of consciousness he ponders that time has no relevance, life holds no purpose. They have lived on different planes in alternate realities searching for each other all of this time. There are so many questions he wants answered and yet he understands that the answers don’t matter anymore. How could he have known any of this? The light of the candle is extinguishes as Abe drifts into a state of unconsciousness. One day his bones will be found lying next to hers in the rundown cabin and to the person who finds them this horror will look like a love story.

That is of course if anyone survives to find their bones. Word has it that the cabin is haunted. When she was first reported missing the police eventually traced her to this area but five detectives went missing in those same woods without a trace. Her remains have never been found and they now deem it too dangerous to continue the investigation. The cabin is out of bounds to the police department and the case is stamped “closed.”