A creepy tale about being lost in the woods and finding shelter in a strange and impossible hut.
By: Anne Sewell
In the Night Woods
When I started the hike into the woods, I should have
realized I would get hopelessly lost. Bill and I had yet another
explosive fight this morning. It was the stupidest thing; we couldn’t agree on what to do on Halloween. He wanted to go to a huge costume party, but I just wanted
to drive around the neighborhood and watch the kids trick-or-treating.
After our fight, I felt the need to escape. Be alone for a
while, be able to breathe again. The woods seemed like the perfect place to
chill out and calm down. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
As I walked, it started getting gloomy and I looked up to
see a beautiful sunset through the trees. This made me realize how late it was.
I really wasn't equipped for an overnight camp in the woods! All I had with me
was my jacket, half a bottle of water, and a few snacks – not exactly overnight
stay sustenance.
As the birds' twittering quieted around me and they drifted off to sleep, other woodland creatures awoke. Strange noises were coming from the darkness around me. Something large snuffled close by, maybe a bear, while a coyote or wolf howled in the distance. To my right, an owl hooted loudly, almost making me jump out of my skin. He seemed to be asking, "What are you doing here?" It was a good question.
****
Eventually, the moon came up, so I could at least partially see my way. I kept following the same path, occasionally tripping over a tree branch or a rock.
Around two hours later, I spotted a light in the distance. I
headed towards it and discovered it was a candle, burning in the window of a
tiny wooden hut. I breathed a sigh of relief at the possibility of shelter for
the night.
Candle in the window
I decided to explore and carefully made my way around the outside of the hut. My first impression was right, it was tiny. It was about the size of a small one-car garage. There were no other windows or doors to be seen. I headed back to the front of the hut and knocked again, more loudly this time, shouting, “Hello? Is anyone there?”
By this time, it was getting chilly and damp, so I
tentatively tried the doorknob. As I touched it, the door opened, creaking
spookily. I quietly called out again, “Is anyone there?” Again, there was no
reply.
I walked into the room and almost fell over. It was the
strangest thing. While the hut looked tiny from outside, the indoors was a huge
space – I couldn´t see across the room in the light of the candle. What I could
see was an endless dusty floor. The room appeared to be unfurnished, except for
a chair and a rickety table by the window, holding a burning candle.
I stepped further into the room. As I crossed the dusty
floor, it seemed to stretch out endlessly before me. The far wall felt like it
was miles away. I stopped and turned around, just as the door slammed shut. The
resulting blast of air blew out the candle's flame. Now I was really freaked
out.
It was pitch dark, with just a little moonlight filtering
through the trees and the grimy window. At last, I found a good reason for
smoking, as I had my lighter in my jacket pocket. However, despite the door
being closed, the flame kept blowing out.
I then remembered my phone and used the flashlight function
to try and see into the room. While I was doing that, I checked to see how many
bars I had – of course, there were none. It turns out I wasn't in the best
place for cell phone reception!
Not knowing what to do, I just kept walking slowly across
the room, dragging my feet in the dust, but there was still no sign of the
opposite wall. As I moved, I heard a distant sound, something that was either
some kind of machine chugging, or, even more bizarrely, someone snoring.
****
Suddenly, the walls on either side seemed to close in on me
- cobwebs were brushing my face. I now felt like I was walking through a
tunnel. A few moments later, the floor dipped sharply and I was walking
downwards. I wanted to stop and turn around, but something impelled me to keep
on going, deeper and deeper into the earth.
Suddenly, I felt something sharp prick my left foot – when I
looked down I found I was wearing no shoes. Both feet were covered in dust.
Tentatively feeling the sole of my left foot, I found a piece of glass, and
blood was pouring out.
Seconds later, I heard whispering voices, arguing with each
other. It made the hairs on my arms rise. This instantly reminded me of the
silly argument with Bill. If I could take that back right now, I would.
One voice got louder and louder. Eerily, it was calling out
my name, "Anne." What the hell was going on here? I tried to run, but
it felt like I was running through thick syrup. I couldn’t get up any speed at
all.
Moments later, the floor seemed to fall away completely and
I felt myself falling. The fall seemed to go on forever. With a crash, I
finally hit the bottom and passed out.
****
Seconds later, I came to. I seemed to be lying on some kind
of rug. The room was in total darkness and I had no idea where I was. I was
completely terrified and unable to move an inch. Suddenly, a light came on. I
looked around, totally bewildered.
I was in our bedroom at home! It was Bill who turned on the
light. He called out to me, “Anne, are you OK? Did you have a bad dream?”
I was flabbergasted and probably looked more than a little
weird, with my mouth wide open in shock. I turned to Bill and said, “If that
was just a bad dream, it was so damn realistic.”
I told Bill how I had headed into the woods after our
argument and how I came across the cottage with the candle in the window. He
chuckled, brushing off my story, but in a nice way, and went on to apologize
for our fight.
Bill said, “Something tells me you've already had too much
Halloween and it hasn’t even started yet!” He told me to climb back into bed
and he would make me some warm milk to soothe my nerves.
Was it truly a bad dream, or did this really happen to me?
At every stage, the experience felt so real. Despite my doubts, I laughed, also
apologizing for our silly argument.
I sat on the side of the bed, finally feeling somewhat
relieved – of course, it must have been a really bad dream! However, when he
left the room, I looked down, only to find my feet were covered in thick dust.
Lifting my left foot, I found the sole was sticky with congealed blood.
