The Lure

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. I stopped and stared at the glow on the glass. What was I seeing? I had hiked passed this cabin for years, but most of the time in the daylight, but tonight I was a bit late as I headed back to the trail and it was dark. The candle burned in the window. Was somebody living there?

My curiosity was piqued. I had wanted to stop into the cabin for years just to look around, but I always felt like I was trespassing and always stopped myself. But tonight, I cautiously approached the front door. I stared at the candle, just to make sure that my eyes were not deceiving me. As I approached the front door, I saw that the candle flickered brightly. I went to the window and placed my hand on the glass. I could feel a slight warming from the flame. It was a real candle. I looked through the window, but the interior was dark, and I couldn’t really see anything beyond the light of the candle. There didn’t appear to be anyone there.

I took a deep breath and started to turn toward the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw movement in the cabin. I whipped my head back to the window, but it was dark. Nothing was there. I stepped away from the window and looked out at the woods. Darkness had fallen and was engulfing the surrounding trees and foliage. I took a deep breath, I still had about a ½ hour hike out to the fire tower where I would spend the night. I really wanted to investigate the cabin. I had to think, what should I do? I decided to leave and get to my campsite for the night. I turned and walked away from the cabin in the woods. As I was leaving, the candle suddenly went out. It startled me and I jumped. Someone was there, then I heard a crash and I started to run away from the cabin. Someone was there! I ran about 100 feet, stopped, and hid in the woods, it was very dark, I just listened. There was no sound other than the wind in the trees. I had a backpack on my back, my flashlight was in it. I took another deep breath and walked out from my hiding place, turned on my flashlight and headed for the fire tower. I was spending the night there and it was staffed by a Ranger named Sid.

I hiked back to the fire tower as fast as I could and went inside. Sid was there waiting for me to return.

“I thought you got lost for minute there,” Sid said.

“No, just got a late start. Something weird happened,” I said.

“What?”

“You know the abandoned cabin in the woods. There was a candle burning in the window. I stopped to check it out, I thought my eyes were deceiving me.”

“What do you mean?” Sid asked.

“There was a candle in the window. I put my hand to the window, it was real. Somebody is staying in that cabin. They blew out the candle as I left. Someone is there.”

“What, that’s ridiculous. That cabin had been abandoned for years. The owner of the cabin, old Mr. Hanson died 10 years ago. He had no heirs. The park service just lets it sit there for now, they plan to tear it down someday.”

“Well someone is squatting there then!” I said as I prepared my sleeping bag for the night.

“I’ll check it out in the morning. Don’t worry about it. Good night.” Sid went to sleep on his cot.

I woke up early the next morning, around 6:30 am, and looked around. Sid was gone. His cot was empty. I sat up and stretched.

“Sid? You here?” There was no answer. Sid was not in the fire tower. I got up, got coffee, and went up to the tower part of the structure. I looked out on the woods. I couldn’t see Sid or the cabin in the woods.

I decided to go back to the cabin, it was around 8:30 am when I left the fire tower for the cabin in the woods. Seeing that candle burning in the window last night made me wonder who was there and did I really see someone inside or was that just my imagination. The dark lonely woods can play tricks on the mind, but someone lit that candle. Something was going on.

I hiked the ½ hour to the cabin in the woods, hoping to see Sid there. He was not there. I was an experienced hiker and had been in these woods many times. No matter where I hiked or how many times I went someplace, I always carried a large knife with me and a large flashlight. I had them with me day, or night, without fail. I had them in the backpack today.

I arrived at the cabin in the woods, there was no candle and no sign of Sid.

“Sid?” I called out. No response. I approached the cabin and looked in the same window that had the candle in it last night. The candle was still there, but it was not lit. I looked beyond the candle, it was just a dusty, old, log cabin. There was nothing remarkable about it. I went to the front door, I knocked. As I stood there, I took out my knife and my flashlight. I set the backpack by the door. I knocked again, no answer.

I tried the handle on the door, it was unlocked. I was not surprised, the cabin had been there a long time, and Sid often had reports of teenagers squatting in the cabin. He would go out and run them off. He often told me. Sid and I had been friends for years. We knew each other as children and kept in touch throughout our lives. Sid became the Ranger out here about five years ago. He knew I liked to hike. He called me when he became Ranger and told me that I could stay at the fire tower any time he was on duty.

Anyway, I pushed the front door open and looked inside the cabin. I did not enter right away. I looked at the interior. There was a small kitchen, and living space on the right, a table, and chairs on the left inside the front door. There was one bathroom beyond that and a separate bedroom in the far-right corner.

“Hello?... Anyone in here?” I called out, there was no answer. I took a deep breath and entered the cabin; flashlight and knife in front of me, one in each hand. I looked right, behind the door, no one was there. I looked left, no one was there. I cautiously approached the bathroom. The shower curtain was open and falling down, no one was hiding behind it. I turned around and looked at the main part of the cabin from a different angle, still empty.

I went into the bedroom, there was a bed, a dresser, and a closet. There was also a window over the bed to the outside, but it was painted shut and looked like it hadn’t been opened in years. I went about checking the bedroom, looking in the dresser and closet both were empty. I was just about to leave the bedroom, when the front door, which I had left open, slammed shut.

“Whammmm!!” I jumped, I took a small step backward and stayed in the bedroom. I listened. There was no sound, I cautiously approached the door, and something caught the corner of my eye. Someone was there, in the main room, moving around. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and I saw what looked like a shimmer.

I pressed myself up against the wall in the bedroom and tried to calm down. I still had my knife and large flashlight that could be used as a weapon as well. Was I going to have to defend myself? I was close to hyperventilating, but I managed to calm myself down. The front door was my only exit at this point. The window in the bedroom would not open, and there was the one window, with the candle in it, but whoever it was would see me if I ran for that window. I didn’t know if I could open it.

After a few minutes of listening, I heard nothing. I summoned up the courage to go back in the main room. I took a deep breath and stood in the door frame of the bedroom looking at the main room. I stood there, there was no one there, but the front door was closed. I crossed over to the front door and turned the handle, the door would not open. I tried a second time, and the door would not open. I sighed, and then I went to the window with the candle in it; I looked out. I could see the woods beyond the cabin, I tried to open the window. I was not able to open it. I looked for something to break the glass. I was getting out of here, by any means possible! As I turned around to grab a chair, to throw at the window, I again saw movement. I looked carefully, there was something in the kitchen area shimmering. There was a presence, something was here.

I picked up the chair but couldn’t break the glass on the window. I started looking through the cabinets in the house for something that I could use to escape. Everything was dusty, and old. I had a hard time finding something that would be useful. I kept an eye on the shimmer. As I was looking around, I kept checking the window in the main room for an escape route. I could see the outside; I was anxious to escape. I tried hitting the window with my flashlight, it didn’t shatter. I tried the end of the knife, being careful not to cut myself, and I was unable to escape. I kept checking the rest of the cabin for the shimmering presence that I saw earlier. I felt a breeze on my neck as I turned away from the window. I looked around, there was nothing there. Then I saw the shimmer, growing, getting brighter.

I was trapped in the cabin. I kept watching for the shimmering image, and I saw it occasionally. It started to get stronger, and more formed. I was scared. I ran into the bedroom in the cabin and closed the door, it did not lock. I had left my backpack with food and water outside, and all if had with me were my flashlight and knife.

“Sid where are you? I need help.” My mind screamed.

I hunkered down in the corner of the room and stayed still, I heard thumping on the door. I saw that someone was trying to open the door. I crouched down. The thumping got louder and the door was encased in light around the frame. The door itself was glowing.

“Go away!” I shouted. I hunkered down, the thumping got louder and louder and the door was pulsating. Then the shimmering light entered the room, the door crashed open. I was breathing hard, the shimmer moved towards me. I curled up in a ball and hid my eyes, cowering. I felt like I was going to die. The shimmer moved towards me and I started to feel warm. The shimmer moved over on top of me. I closed my eyes and prepared myself. I knew I was going to die. The breeze got more intense, and the shimmer got brighter. It covered me. I was scared, I felt warm, but that was it. I started to scream.

“AHHHHHH……” I screamed as the shimmer encompassed me. It was scary. After about two minutes, I heard the front door fly open, and someone entered. Sid ran in, “Get out!” he shouted.

“Leave her alone!” Sid yelled. Sid moved towards the shimmer and reached his hand out towards me. I tried to reach him, I reached out. Sid and I touched hands. The shimmer was between us, he pulled on me, and eventually pulled me through the shimmer. I dropped my flashlight and knife. He pulled me towards him and out to the main room. He pulled me out towards the front door, we ran out. I left my backpack at the door as we ran into the woods. We ran as fast and as far as we could, away from the cabin. When we were a good ½ mile from the cabin, I stopped Sid.

“Sid… stop…” I was breathing hard. “What was that?” I asked.

“Ghost,” he responded.

“What?”

“The ghost of Mr. Hanson. He lives in that cabin.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Legend has it that Mr. Hanson died in that cabin after a bear attack. He was alone and he died in the bedroom in the bed. His spirit lives in that house. Most of the time it’s not inhabited, but every ten years or so, the candle burns in the window and the spirit summons a companion. This time, it was you.”

“How do you know this?” I asked.

“Local legend, told by Rangers all throughout the woods. But we are sworn to secrecy.”

I looked at Sid with an exasperated expression. “WHAT??”

“When you told me about the cabin last night, I told you I would check it out. You are now sworn to secrecy too!”

“Yea, so.”

“I didn’t expect you to go back. I went out for a morning hike and got busy with some bear tracks. When I returned to the fire tower and saw you weren’t there, I knew you went to the cabin.”

“I couldn’t get out.”

“Mr. Hanson is a crafty ghost, trying to trap you in the cabin to become his companion.”

“And you freed me?”

“Yes I did," Sid said.

I sighed.

“I never saw the candle burning, but it’s a lure. That’s what the ghost wants.”

“What the ghost wants!” I repeated.