Sweet Rot

Sweet Rot

By Benjamin Boyd

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Its’ glow was the only sign of life among the still trees. The dim light gave an otherworldly aura to the slow passing fog as it drifted by the cabin’s window. Its’ dark frame molding into the forest. With the figures of trees frozen in blackness. Their branches were jagged hands darting out for anything that walked past. The only other light was the faint gray of moonlight scatter among the shadows. The stillness of the forest amplified any movement. Each twig snap was growing closer than the last. It was like a ghost from a forgotten time. The sudden life in the long rotting cabin would be a reason to run, but for Gabriel it was just what he was hoping to find. He would soon wish he had run.

Gabriel had been wondering through the forest for an hour, all in the hopes of seeing the amber flicker. It was barely visible among the collage of shadows and silhouettes. Gabriel removed a folded slip of notebook paper from his pocket. His nicest jeans were soaked up to the knees. The button up shirt his mom bought him for the eighth-grade dance had a tear in one sleeve. He unfolded the sheet of notebook paper. The creases of it worn from overuse. It was too dark to read but over the past week Gabriel had memorized its’ words.

He had found the note slipped into his locker at school on Monday afternoon. It was a folded into a neat triangle like a paper football. Across the blue lines was written, “For your eyes only,” in bold print. It wasn’t until Gabriel got home that he had the chance to read the letter for the first time. In the quiet of his bedroom, he pulled it out. He lay on his be examining the outside. Wondering what could be “For his eyes only?” When he finally unfolded it, a wave of shock washed over him.

"Dear Gab,

'What’s up? I wanted to talk to you after school today, but I have to go to my grandparent’s house for the week, so my parents signed me out early. That is why I am writing you this note. This is something I have been thinking a lot about and I don’t want to wait until I get back to tell you this. I have had a lot of fun with you since we met. I think we like all the same things, and I can’t wait to hang out with you at the end of each day. I even find myself thinking about you when we aren’t around each other.'

You might have guested what I am going to say, but here goes I LIKE you. I Like you a lot. I sometimes think about what it would be like to kiss you. If you just want to be friends, I will understand. But I had to say it to be sure.

My grandparent’s house doesn’t have any phone service so you can’t call me. I will be getting back pretty late Friday night. But I can’t wait to know if you like me back or not. So here is what I am going to do. Remember the old cabin we found in the woods behind your house? Remember how I didn’t want to go into it when we found it? Well, I will be brave for you. I will go to the cabin as soon as I get home. I will pack some snacks and games for us to play. It can be our first date, I hope.

So, you know I am there I will put the candle your mother gave me in the window. Remember the French vanilla one? If you see the light of that candle, I am waiting for you. I hope you show up. I will be waiting so it doesn’t matter if it is late. I really hope you come.

Love, Dequan"

Gabriel couldn’t hide his smile after that. Every chance he got, he pulled the note out and read over the words. Often re-reading the lines “I like you. I like you a lot,” before putting it away. As Friday night approached Gabriel could hardly focus on anything else. That night he had lay awake in his bed until everyone in the house was asleep. Then he carefully got dressed and slipped out his back door. In his excitement he forgot everything but the note. He trudged off into wet grass and moon light disappearing into the dark of the forest.

Now an hour later he was covered in scrapes and bruises from stumbling around in the dark and longed to have the flashlight. Gabriel started to wander if he should head back when he spotted the tiny light. He rushed for it, but soon stopped. There was the sound of leaves crushing under foot. He froze. Was that me? he wondered. He waited but the woods had fallen silent. The musty sent on decay trees hung in the air with just a hint of something sweet. He started walking again, but with every step he thought he heard another one right after it. “Things echo out here,” he told himself. “You are hearing your own footsteps.”

“You fourteen. That is too old to be scared of the dark,” The words of Gabriel’s father played in his head.

“If Dequan could come out to this cabin for me, I can meet too.” Gabriel pressed on ignoring the echoes and sounds that tailed him with each step.

The cabin grew closer. It was a long rectangle, standing on short stone pillars. Half of which had crumbled away causing it to sag to one side. All the windows were boarded up with wooden planks. The flick of the candle was forcing its way through the gaps of one window on the back right side. Over half of the structure was being consumed by kudzu vines. A tattered tarp hung off the roof twisting on the breeze. With the slow creep of the fog the cabin seemed alive. It looked like it was slowly crawling through the trees.

Gabriel approached the cabin from its’ side. As he drew nearer the smell of rotting wood and decay filled the air. It mixed with the sweet smell of French vanilla churning Gabriel’s already nervous stomach. He stopped to catch his breath. He leaned against a nearby tree. His joints trembling. He watched the glow of the candle through the gaps over the window. He pulled his roll-on deodorant out of his other pocket and worked it under his arms. As he shoved it back into his pocket, something moved within the cabin. Slow heavy creaking came from within it. The window went completely dark. Somethings was blocking the light. In that little black box Gabriel could feel eyes looking at him. The faint sound of someone whispering drifted in the air, and then light returned. An unpleasant thing prickled at the back of Gabriel’s mind. It was a question that he didn’t want to ask, but suddenly it was the only thing he could think of. “Did Dequan really write this letter?” These woods were big, and he was a long way from his house. Anyone could be out here.

“Gabriel?” a voice from in the cabin called, “Are you out there?” It was Dequan’s voice. Gabriel exhaled.

“Yes, I am glad to see you,” Gabriel replies, “or hear you I guess,” Gabriel added as he thrashed through the underbrush to the cabins edge. The stench of the mold and rot growing stronger. Gabriel stood under the window his face being bathed in the light escaping from the window. Broken glass lay around the windowsill. Gabriel pushed It out of the way and pushed himself a little higher to get a better view. It was weak under his weight. Gabriel peered into the space. He could see the warm glow and the host of shadows around it. He couldn’t make out the candle itself. Dequan seemed to have disappeared from the window. He had moved back and was standing near the flame. Gabriel couldn’t make out any of his features. He was just a dark form standing at the back of the cabin. From Gabriel’s low position he seemed taller than before.

“Dequan can you come to the window?” Gabriel asked lean close to the boards. Dequan didn’t say anything. Uneasiness rose in Gabriel’s gut. “Dequan?”

“Gabriel come in,” Dequan’s voice was in a low whisper.

“How do I get inside the cabin?” Gabriel whispered back. Another long pause filled the air. The scent of the candle irritated Gabriel’s throat.

“Use the front door. Come in Gabriel,” was Dequan answered. Everything felt odd. Everything had felt odd from the moment Gabriel read the letter, but it was different now. When Gabriel read the letter, he was excited and couldn’t help but smile. Now his excitement had grown into something that left the taste of fear bubbling in throat. Nothing seemed normal. But he knew that once he was laughing with Dequan it would feel right again. He hoped it would feel right again.

Gabriel left the window with Dequan still standing motionless. He followed the wall of the cabin through the overgrowth around it. He traced the rough logs with his right hand. Parts of the wall had been patched with plywood. They stood out from the rest of the cabins shape in the moon light. Gabriel turned the corner to where he remembered the front door being. It was a much shorter side of the cabin. Gabriel stumbled through the brush unable to find any sign of a pathway to the door. There was no porch or steps. There was a sloping square with a pitched roof mostly covered in vines. In the middle of it was a door with a boarded-up window on either side. No light came through the windows. The door was cracked open. The weight of the half collapsing building locking it in place. The doorknob was gone replace only by a hole filled with an old rag. The slight trace of light could be seen just beyond its threshold.

Gabriel forced his way to the opening bending a sapling out of the way. He couldn’t see much through the crack The opening to the door started at Gabriel’s thighs. He took a big step planting one foot inside the crack. He placed one hand on the door and the other on the inside of the door frame. He pulled himself up out of the thick growth of plants. The whole cabin moaned under foot. The opening was too narrow for Gabriel to squeeze past the way he was facing. He let go of one hand letting his other leg swing in the open air. He pressed close to the door frame and made his way into the cabin.

Gabriel found himself standing in the dark. Only the faint traces of objects cluttering the floor could be seen. The hint of gold light just hitting their edges. Across the room stood another doorway and the light was just beyond that.

“Gabriel come in” called Dequan from the other room.

“Why are you still whispering?” Gabriel asked. The only answer he got back was in a hushed whisper he couldn’t make out. The uneasiness jabbed in his mind again. “Can you come here?” Gabriel called loudly. There was no reply. Gabriel’s feet didn’t want to move forward. But the words of the letter were still sharp in his mind, so he forced himself deeper into the room and farther from the only exit.

He moved tentatively waving his arms ahead of himself. He kept bumping into things on his way. He hit an old bookshelf that was blocking his path. He climbed over an overturned sofa all the while he moved closer and closer to the amber glow in the room beyond. Gabriel stopped to get his bearings.

“Come in Gabriel. I’m waiting,” Dequan whispered from beyond the doorway. Dequan’s voice was scratchy and low.

“It is hard to move I’m on my way.” Gabriel called back. There was a large table Gabriel bumped into. He tried to move around it, but the path was blocked by a stack of chairs.

“Come in, Gabriel. There is something I need to show you.” Dequan whispered again. This time Gabriel didn’t respond. The uneasy churning had grown into a full wave. He was out of breath, his hands shaking, tears rimmed just behind his eye lids, and the mix of rot and sweet filled the air making it harder for him to breath.

He finally made his way to the doorway on the other side of the room. He could see the outline of the boarded-up window and the room had the faint amber glow from the candle. But Gabriel didn’t see Dequan. He only saw a room mostly filled with dancing shadows.

“Come in, Gabriel,” Dequan’s voice called out. His voice was low and rough. The smell of sweet rot was even stronger here. Gabriel had to cover his nose. It wasn’t only the smell of old termite infest wood anymore. It was like a dead animal. A dead animal covered in French Vanilla.

Gabriel searched for where the voice came from. There was another doorway. In the right corner of the room. The amber flicker was just inside, and he could see Dequan standing there holding the light to his chest. Gabriel didn’t move. Even holding the light so close to him, Gabriel only could make out the shape of Dequan and the traces of his facial features. In the small light from the candle, Dequan’s face was darker and deeper than he remembered ever seeing it. All the while the tingling pierce of being watched fell over him. Dequan was staring at him from the beyond the flicker of the candle.

“Come in, Gabriel” Dequan said a little more forceful. Gabriel waved his hand in protest. He struggled to catch his breath in the putrid air. The shifting of the shadows around him didn’t help him feel better.

“I need a moment. It stinks in here. Can we leave?” Gabriel asked covering his nose with his hands.

“Come in Gabriel. I have something to show you.” The shadowy form of Dequan said.

“But I can’t brea-,” Gabriel tried to say but was cut off

“I have something to show you Gabriel come in here” Barked Dequan, but it wasn’t Dequan’s voice. It was harsh and irritated, low, and gritty. Gabriel’s heart sunk into his stomach. He wanted to turn around and leave now but he couldn’t take his eyes off the motionless form holding the candle. He inched one foot backwards. “I have a surprise for you, and I’m really nervous. I just don’t want our first date to be ruined.” The form coaxed sounding like Dequan again. “We can leave once you see it.” The words lured Gabriel in.

This wasn’t the first date Gabriel had imagined, but maybe it was all in his head. His excitement and fear were playing with his mind. The shadows made Dequan look strange. That was all. Dequan had games and snacks and they could set in the light of the candle. They could finally talk about how they feel, and they could be close to each other.

Gabriel covered his face with his shirt. It was damp with sweat and uncomfortable, but it was better than breathing in the terrible air in the stuffy room. “You are too old to be scared of the dark” He repeated to himself. Against every urge in his body Gabriel walked closer to the shadowy form of Dequan. With each step the cabin moaned loudly. The floor was slanted making moving difficult and uphill. Dequan’s piercing stare never left Gabriel as he inched closer.

Gabriel watched Dequan as well. He was hoping to see the smiling round face emerge from the dark form standing in the doorway, to see the green gold of Dequan’s bright eye, or his soft earthy cheeks. However, in the light from the candle, he was all shadows. Only pointed traces of a face could be made out.

Gabriel had managed to inch over within a few feet of Dequan. They could reach out and touch each other if they wanted too. The sweet rot smell was unbearable. What looked like another room was only a closet. The only thing in it was the remains of carpet. The form stood in the doorway taller than Gabriel. Taller than Dequan. The sharp features became clearer. It had a long, pointed jaw, a wide thin mouth, a narrow nose, and two sunken cavities where the eyes should have been. Its skin wasn’t human skin color. It seemed to be painted in black tar and oil.

Gabriel stumbled backwards falling flat on his butt. He scrambled on his hands in a retreat until he hit the far wall. The form didn’t move. It just kept watching. Gabriel tried to find his footing. but it was difficult on the slanted floor.

“Dequan!?” Gabriel shout out hoping to find help. No answer came. The black form simple raised the candle up to is pointed face. Slowly the mouth twisted up into broad toothy grin. Showing its rotted jagged teeth. Its head moved one side to the other shaking its’ head no, before, with a puff, it blew the candle out.

Neither Gabriel nor Dequan were ever found. The police eventually found the cabin, but the only traces they could find of the boys were two identical notes addressed to each other and the remains of a burnt-out candle. The official story is they ran away together, but if you are ever in the woods and smell something both sweet and rotting or see the flicker of a little candlelight, you better start running.