Week 1 Story: The Dreadful Journey

The Cabin in the Middle of the Woods
Source: FineArtAmerica

In an attempt to escape the chaos and noise of the city, the Smith’s decided to rent a cabin in the woods during the holiday season. The Smith’s loved the outdoors and openness in the woods but they were forced to live in a big city because of their jobs. They were recently married and were eager to have their first real vacation together in the isolated cabin.

The Smith’s loaded up in their car are drove as close as they could get to the cabin. They hit a dead end in the road and pulled over into a small dirt parking spot. A small wooden sign with the paint peeling off pointed towards a trail and was labeled with the cabin's name. They had read that the cabin was located about a mile west of the dead end road and that they would have to hike through the forest to reach it. They strapped on their hiking boots, took their backpacks and hit the trail eager to reach their cabin getaway.

The trail was a narrow, dirt path in which could only be walked single file. Mr. Smith lead the way using his ax clearing the path as he went to ease the hike for his wife as she was not quite as outdoorsy as him. After hiking only a few minutes, Mrs. Smith became paranoid hearing the rattling of what she suspected was a rattlesnake. The couple had decided to move a little quicker in order to avoid any run-ins with snakes when an earthy toned rattlesnake looking to be about four feet long slithered across their path. They froze in fear hoping the snake would continue moving and pay them no attention when the snake paused, lifted up its head and looked them straight in the eye. The couple slowly began to move backwards when they realized another snake was located behind them and next to them. They were surrounded with nowhere to run.  Hearing his wife shriek, Mr. Smith decided he had to act. He grabbed his ax, took a deep breath, and swung at the rattlesnake in front of them slicing his head off and yelled “Run!” The couple took off down the path sprinting.

After a few minutes they slowed back down to a walk relieved that the snakes had not followed. The couple was now panting and sweating and even more eager to reach their destination. They walked at a brisk pace until through the trees off in the distance, they had the cabin in sight. They were so excited, relieved and exhausted that they both almost walked straight into a large, sticky mud puddle. They decided to leave the trail and venture out into the woods in order to get around the bog. They followed the dry land all the way around the bog until the cabin was back in sight. The couple took off at a full sprint through the forest until they reached the doors of the cabin. They had never been more excited to have reached a destination and more terrified for the trek back at the end of their vacation.

Authors Note: This story was inspired by Tom Gauld’s cartoon titled “Map of the Area Surrounding our Holiday Home. The cartoon shows a pictured of a cabin in the middle of the woods surrounded by many dreadful things. For my story, I began at the furthest eastern point and went in the direction of the cabin.

Bibliography: "Map of the Area Surrounding our Holiday Home," a cartoon by Tom Gauld from his book ROBOTS, MONSTERS Etc. Web source.