The Stella I Remember

12| Somebody That I Used to Know

June 3rd 2021
Present Day
Sevierville, TN

"Come on, Luna. You gotta eat."

I scooped up some of her dry food in my hand and held it to her mouth. She sniffed it for a few seconds before she turned her head away.

I dropped the food back in her dish and sat back on the tile beside her. When she felt my leg brush up against her, she flopped her head over and rested it on my thigh.

This was the second day in a row that she refused to eat or drink, and she was starting to worry me.

"That's it," I said softly as I scratched behind her ears. "I'm calling Dr. Freeman and scheduling you an appointment first thing tomorrow morning."

Chime-chime

I leaned to the right to dig out my cell phone from my back pocket. That ringtone was specific for any cabin maintenance requests. The guest had only been there a day...what could have gone wrong already?

I read over the maintenance request. Apparently there was a power outage. We had a storm last night. Sometimes it can knock out the power over here.

I sent the guest a message back to let them know I was on my way and would be there within twenty minutes. After I hit send, I got to my feet and grabbed Luna's leash.

"Let's go, girl. I don't want to leave you here alone."

I grabbed my wallet off the counter before I put the leash on Luna and took her out to the truck. Thankfully the truck had a backseat that I always left empty for her. I picked her up gently and put her on the seat before climbing into the truck myself.

The ride to the cabin was smooth. It was up on a hill with other cabin rentals. Luckily, mine was at the end and a little secluded.

After driving up all of the many winding roads, I finally reached my cabin. I saw a black Mercedes in the driveway. That didn't surprise me. Whoever was renting the cabin came from a big law firm in New York. The money was a given.

"We're here," I said to Luna, pushing down on the emergency brake with my foot.

Since Luna had been to the cabin over a dozen times, I didn't put the leash back on her. She knew her way around and always stayed close to me when we were here.

I walked up the stairs and stopped in front of the door.

"Management," I said loudly before using the door knocker.

No answer.

I tried knocking again.

And again.

I glanced at the driveway one more time. If the car was here, they had to be here, right? Maybe they fell asleep. I really didn't want to just leave. They marked the email as URGENT.

I tried the door knob and it was unlocked. I cracked it and stuck my head inside.

"Hello? Management!"

It was quiet inside. They had to be asleep.

Luna suddenly pushed past me and darted into the cabin.