Tall Tales

“The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.”

The boy leaned closer to the campfire, the reflection of the orange flames twinkling in his eyes. “We had been out of school for only a couple weeks, and it was staying light out for like, forever.”

His older brother interrupted, as he always did when Ben told a story. “Longest day of the year, first night we saw it. Fireflies were going wild that night.” The older brother locked eyes with Emily, the only girl there, sixteen, the oldest one of them all.

“Who cares, Zach?” Ben poked at the fire, rousing it, and then tossed on a few more logs. “Anyways, it had been hot that day, way hotter than usual, and we went out to the creek after dinner and didn’t have to be home til dark. We used to go by that cabin all the time, hunting after snakes and who knows what other cool stuff. We even went inside once, but it was empty except for some old furniture and cobwebs. But we weren’t ever worried, it had been empty for like my whole life.”

“Way longer than that, I’d bet.”

“Zach and I brought our bow and arrow, and had tied fishing line to the arrows, like we used to do down at Lake Anna. Remember, Matt?”

“Yeah, and then we shot that alligator and the arrow bounced off his head like nothing!” Matt grinned at the memory.

“Anyway, we were walking back, basically finding our way by fireflies and the setting sun and it didn’t feel too late, but it was probably close to nine o’clock. We had walked pretty far, trying to find big fish to shoot, and next thing I know, Zach stops walking beside me and grabs my arm.”

“I didn’t know what to say.”

“I turned and looked, same old abandoned cabin we had walked past a million times before. Candle burning in the front window. And smoke coming up from the chimney.”

“I wanted to go closer, but…”

“No!” Ben shouted, “You said you wanted to leave. Don’t try to act brave now just cause Emily is here.” The other teenage boys chuckled. “I was the one who wanted to go closer, but you tried to stop me.”

“Big brother has to protect little bro, obviously.” Zach said coolly and tried not to glance at Emily.

“Well, we didn’t stick around for too long, but get this…” Ben leaned forward again, looking around at his rapt audience in the warm orange glow of the fire.

The two neighborhood boys, Logan and Mike, sat quietly on their rotted wooden log, just glad to be invited out for the sleepover. Ben and Zach’s two cousins, Tyler and Jake, stuffed handfuls of sour gummy worms into their mouth, but chewed with their mouths closed, still listening intently. Emily, older sister of Matt, glanced at Zach, but turned back to Ben quickly.

Ben’s best friend Matt was smiling, already excited for whatever came next.

“Despite Zach trying to stop me, I crept a little closer to the cabin. I wanted to get a peek in the window.” Ben stood up at this point, too excited in his storytelling to keep himself contained to his fold-up camping chair. “I tip-toed up towards the door.” He mimed tip toeing around the fire. “And I got about ten feet away, and this weird breeze blew out of nowhere. Cold as Christmas.”

“I felt the cold breeze too,” Zach added, nodding, “and it had been a very warm day.”

“I took one more step and the old iron doorknob on the cabin turned, real slow-like, almost like slow motion.”

“No way.” Matt said.

“Yes, way.” Ben replied. “I was frozen in place, and I heard Zach whispering my name, like trying to get me to leave. But I was stuck on the path, like some invisible evil hand had reached up out of the ground and grabbed me around the ankles. And despite every instinct in me telling me to run, I just couldn’t. I just watched as the door knob finished turning and then the door creaked open, slow. Just as slow as molasses. Almost as if wasn’t happening at all.

“But it was. My heart was beating so fast. Inside the cabin was dark, but as the door opened wider, you could see the fireplace at the back of the cabin, and it was roaring with fire. And that bit of firelight revealed, as the door opened further, this… silhouette standing in the hallway. This silhouette of a beautiful lady in a wispy dress, almost translucent. It was almost like just a shadow or something. But she just stood there, with the door open, and I just stood there, and Zach just stood behind me. Then she said, clear as if my own mum had said it, ‘Come inside, Benjamin, it’s getting cold out there.”

The boys and Emily all stared at Ben, leaned forward, hanging on every word.

Ben’s arms had gotten goosebumps, but he continued, his voice barely a whisper.

“When she said that, the breeze blew again, real cold again, and I wanted to go inside, but I also somehow knew if I went inside, I might never leave. And so, I thought really hard and tried to resist really hard and was able to take like two or three steps back. When I did… well, the silhouette, it kind of changed, or shimmered or something, and then it rushed towards the door, like sprinted towards the door, and I thought it was going to rush out and get me.” Ben stopped speaking, frozen in thought.

Zach cleared his throat, and Ben continued, “All of a sudden, an arrow flew past me and plunked into the wooden door. Zach yanked on the fishing line and the cabin door swung shut, just as the… shadow woman… was about to clear the doorway. Zach shouted ‘run’ and we hightailed it out of there.”

“I never heard the voice,” Zach added, not looking at anyone in particular, just staring into the fire, “Never heard the voice that Ben did, but I saw something too. It didn’t look like a pretty lady’s silhouette to me though. It looked like a shadowy bat, the size of a bear, and when I shot the bow, I wasn’t trying to hit the door, I was trying to hit it. But I shot the door, so I yanked it closed on the thing and we got out of there, fast.”

“No way…” Matt said, in awe. “No way…”

“So that brings us to why we are all out here tonight.” Zach looked up from the fire, glancing towards Ben with a smirk leaking onto his face.

“We’re going back. Just to see what’s really in there.”

“Who’s brave enough to come?” Zach looked around, eyes lingering on Emily.

Matt spoke first. “Well duh, I’m brave enough.”

Emily said, “I don’t believe a word of that story, so I’ll come too. I know that cabin. It’s half rotten back into the ground. Nothing could be out there but maybe a family of raccoons.”

Jake and Tyler tossed the sour gummy worm bag onto the ground next to them. “Let’s go find the cabin.”

Mike and Logan looked at each other, clearly in over their heads. “I think our moms wants us home, like soon, I think.”

“It’s a sleepover- they don’t want you home until the morning, obviously.” Ben stared them down, waiting to overcome any other excuse they might come up with.

“Are you chicken?” Matt asked.

“Well, uh, no, we aren’t chickens.”

“Great, we are all agreed.” Matt turned back to Ben and Zach. “Do we have flashlights?”

Zach unzipped his back pack. “Enough for all of us.”

Emily groaned, “You’ve been planning this the whole time?”

“Of course.” Ben chirped in.

Five minutes later they had left the fire behind and in a single file line, everyone holding flashlights, they tromped into the woods.

“How far is the cabin?”

“Not very far, just keep up.”

“Is that story you guys told really true?”

“Every word.”

“If we do find something, what the heck are we going to do?”

“You can curse, Jake, our moms aren’t out here.”

“If we do find something, what the hell are we going to do, dammit!” His curse words seemed to bolster him a little, and he walked taller than before, despite being the shortest of them all.

“I’m not going to miss again.” Zach whispered. He had the bow slung over his shoulder, and Ben carried a quiver of arrows.

“But what if you do?”

“I won’t. Now quiet, we’re getting close.”

“Everyone, turn off your flashlights. We’ve got to do the final part in the dark.”

Zach found Emily in the dark and whispered, “I can help guide you through the dark, if you want, just grab my hand.”

“I’m not scared, and I’m older than you! I don’t need your help,” she said, but she smiled as she said it, and after a moment, reached out and took his hand. “I’ll help guide you through the dark, since you’re probably trembling in fear.”

Ben and Matt took the lead, and as they poked ahead, they saw something flickering in the distance.

“No way,” Matt said. “There it is. The candle in the window.”

“I told you,” Ben said.

“Guys, I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Mike’s voice cracked as he whispered.

“Mike, shut the hell up and quit being an asshole.” Jake smiled, his cursing gaining steam, giving them all confidence.

They edged closer, staying quiet. Zach let go of Emily’s hand and unstrapped the bow around his shoulder. “Hand me an arrow, Ben. Matt, get the fishing line.”

They tied the arrow to the spool of line, and Zach notched it loosely. They took a few more steps ahead, and the wind blew through the trees, and the leaves shook on their branches.

“Cold wind.” Tyler muttered.

“Uh huh,” Ben agreed.

They pushed forward, circling to the front side of the cabin.

“If we step out from these bushes, we will be out in the open. But it might be what we have to do to get a peek in that window.”

“Or draw the monster out to us.” Matt added, a grin still plastered on his face.

“I’ll go first.” Ben stepped out of the brush and hesitated. Nothing happened, so he moved closer. Matt and Zach followed, with Jake and Tyler right behind. Emily came next, but Mike and Logan stayed in the bushes.

“Mike, Logan, come on!” Tyler said.

“Don’t be chickens.” Matt added.

Mike and Logan didn’t respond. They stayed in the bushes.

“Forget ‘em.” Zach murmured, his eyes still glued to the flickering candle in the window of the abandoned cabin. He led the rest of the troupe down the overgrown walkway leading to the front porch stairs.

He hesitated before the bottom step.

“Jake, Tyler, Emily, hide in those hedges there. You can be the lookouts.” He turned to the other two boys while the rest scurried into the bushes along the stairs. “Should we go up?” He asked when everyone was in position.

No one spoke, but Ben edged up next to him, and with slow, cautious movement he lifted his left foot and placed it gently on the first stairstep.

Nothing happened.

He took another step. Then waited.

He took another step.

Zach kept the bow aimed up at the door and followed behind his little brother. Matt held the rod-less fishing reel and stayed right on Zach’s heels.

They all stepped up onto the porch. The door sat frozen just five feet away.

Jake, Tyler, and Emily peeked out from the hedges below, watching.

Eventually Jake whispered, “Well, do something, dammit.”

The door knob spun, not slow this time, but supernaturally fast, and the door flew open.

At the cusp of the door stood a raven-haired woman, her skin as smooth as fresh laundered dry-cleaning, her eyes as bright as the moon and as green as the deepest forest glen. Her hair cascaded down past her shoulders and landed in the deep neckline of a shimmering silver dress, catching no light, and yet sparkling all the same in the dark.

“Zachary, are you going to come in, or are you going to shoot me with that big, bad bow?”

“Benjamin, are you going to come in, or are you going to pierce my heart with those sharp arrows?”

“Matthew, are you going to come in, or are you going to hook me and reel me in with that long, strong line?”

The woman spoke these questions all at once, in a melodic sing-song voice, and each boy heard what she intended for them to hear.

The bow fell from Zach’s fingers and clattered onto the porch. The quiver of arrows fell from Ben’s hands and Matt dropped the spool of fishing line. The three walked quickly forward, the woman swept them into the cabin with a shimmering wave of her flowing silver dress, and the door slammed shut behind them.

A loud, heavy bolt clinked into place as the doorknob tumbled over and then the cabin was silent once more.

“Uh-oh.” Jake said.

Tyler gulped. “What was that thing?”

“Thing? It looked like an ancient mummy.”

“No, it looked like a werewolf!”

“Guys, guys, stop.” Emily pushed the cousins apart and held up her finger. “I saw an old dead zombie looking lady, Zach told us he saw a giant bat before. I think we see whatever that thing wants us to see. And it clearly said something to the boys, it like hypnotized them.”

“Okay, well, now what?”

Emily looked back at the bushes where Mike and Logan had been hiding. They were gone.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “But it’s just us now.”

“What do we do?” Tyler asked.

“We’ve got to go tell adults.” Jake said.

“No,” Emily said. “It’ll be too late by then. Look.” Smoke was beginning to drift out of the chimney. The smell of burning cedar drifted down to the three young teenagers.

“Come on,” Tyler said. “Let’s try to get a peek in those windows.”

They scurried out from the hedges and around the side of the cabin. No candles burned in the side window, but through the old mildewy glass they could see the fireplace glowing orange as the flames picked up. Nothing else moved inside.

“It’s not that big in there,” Tyler said. “Where could they be?”

“You think the monster is going to cook them and eat them?” Jake asked.

“Don’t think about that, Jake. We’re going to stop it.” Emily said. She rubbed at her eyes, then pulled on her curly hair, unravelling a strand, and then letting it pop back into place. “Tyler, can you see if that window is unlocked.”

Tyler reached out, sticky gummy worm fingers flattening against the glass. He pushed, and the window slid up slightly. He pushed again and threw the window open another six inches or so. He pushed again, and it stayed put, just where it was.

“That’s as far as it’ll go.”

Emily and Tyler looked at Jake. He was the only one small enough to fit through the window.

“Oh, hell no,” he said.

“Look Jake, take the arrow, and we will tie the line around your wrist. If something happens, just tug on the line, and we will pull you back out.”

“That line won’t hold me!”

“Don’t overthink this, Jake! Get in there and save our friends!”

“Crap! Dammit!” Jake took in a big deep breath and said the worst word he knew, the word his dad said when he dropped a tool into the engine of his broken down car on the side of the road, the very word that would get his mouth washed out with soap for a month straight.

“Shitballs!” Jake said, proud for mustering the courage to say such a great curse word. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Emily and Tyler gave him his arrow and tied the fishing line around his wrist, then knelt down so he could get up onto their shoulders. Before he climbed up, Tyler took a moment to remove his silver cross necklace and hold it out for Jake to take.

“That should protect you.”

“It will?”

“I mean, it might. Couldn’t hurt, right?”

Jake frowned at his older brother but begrudgingly took the necklace.

“Wait,” Emily said. “Might as well take this too.” She produced a small lighter from her pocket and held it out to Jake. Jake took it with a nod and stuffed it down into his soccer shorts.

He climbed up precariously onto their shoulders, found his balance, and then stuck his head and arms through the window. He squirmed through and plopped onto the ground inside. The floor was just dirt, and he made barely any noise as he landed awkwardly inside the cabin.

“I’m in,” he whispered. “Now what?”

“Go unlock the front door and then go save them! Don’t get caught by the monster, set them free and then run, run as fast as you can. We will wait by the front door!”

“Okay.”

Jake was frozen in place for a moment, scanning the dark interior. Through the hallway ahead of him he could see the flashing fireplace, but everything else was cast in shadow. He pulled the lighter from his pocket and clicked it a few times, and finally it lit up.

He was in a small child’s bedroom. There was a crib and small little toy chests everywhere. The crib itself was on a little rocker system, and it wobbled slowly and gently, back and forth. There was no breeze or fan in the room. How was it rocking like that?

Jake took two steps towards the rocker, then stopped. Did he really want to see whatever kind of baby monster was in there?

“Hell no,” he whispered to himself, leaving the haunted little crib behind and exiting the bedroom.

The living room and entry way was one wide open space. He could see the front door, and it was unguarded. His three friends were crumpled on the ground in front of the fireplace. Jake took two steps towards them, then a gush of cold air rushed over him, and his lighter went out. He spun in the dark, panicking and bumped into something solid… and soft.

She wrapped her fingers around his neck and the ghostly prickle of her touch froze him to his core.

Tyler and Emily waited and waited.

When they couldn’t wait any longer, they pounded on the locked door. Then they went back to the window, and abandoning all caution, tried to break it open, but the glass wouldn’t break. They screamed and shouted and challenged the monster inside, but it was still and silent.

Eventually they returned to the campfire, looking for Mike and Logan, trying to rally the remainder of their troops. But the two neighborhood boys were gone.

All said, the disappearance of six children into the woods at the foot of the Shenandoah National Park made national headlines, and then slowly faded from the general population’s thoughts. The three sets of families were grief stricken and were certain something nefarious had happened that night they let their children go camping, but they never really believed Tyler and Emily’s story. When they returned to the cabin it was empty, same as it always was, and every room was full of nothing but dust and old furniture and cobwebs.

The only strange piece of evidence they found was a half-burnt candle, sitting on the front windowsill, the wax still warm and soft, as if it had been burning only a few hours before.