Gallimaufry

Alone

Rain tapped lightly on the windowpane as the daylight dimmed, although it was barely past lunch. Clouds blotted out the sky, though they were not dark enough to make one think of thunder. It was too late in the year for there to be much chance of lightning, anyway. A glance out the window told her that the rain could turn into ice or sleet if the temperature dropped any further.

Summer had come and gone, leaving her alone in a small cabin, nestled in the imposing northern forests, a half hour drive away from the nearest town. Her nearest neighbour was probably the old farmhouse she passed ten minutes before arriving at her isolated abode. With a shiver, Emily stood and walked toward the fireplace, having noticed that the embers were burning low.

The wind whipped around the tiny cabin for a moment, howling through the trees with such ferocity that she swore she saw the lights flicker for a moment. Emily found herself holding her breath, hoping that the electricity was safe as she watched the dangling light fixture flicker, then return to its normal steady glow.

She had moved to the cabin after a layoff was followed shortly by a nasty breakup, prompting her to sell most of her things in the city and finally agreed to stay at her grandparent's old cabin. Emily had not been here since her early teenage years, when she had been too concerned with her friends to come visit with the family. Papa and Nana had moved only a couple years ago once his eyesight failed and her hands had become unable to handle the constant work it took to live on one's own.

With only three bedrooms in the place, Emily had a hard time remembering how her family, with her parents and three siblings, had ever comfortably stayed here along with Nana and Papa. Her memories involved mainly the lake and forest, spending hours swimming and hiking. One room had two sets of bunk beds in it, though boxes of things that her family had been unable to part with covered those beds.

Other than the bedrooms, the cabin was a small space that comprised a small sitting room with a fireplace and a kitchen. The kitchen had about a foot of counter space, though it had been renovated since her childhood, thankfully.

The walls were paneled with old barn board and rustic things like lanterns and old hunting rifles hung on the walls, along with family photographs from when her mother was a child. There was a fine line between cozy and creepy in rustic cabins, and Emily couldn't decide which this place was.

The heavy metal door groaned as she pulled open the fireplace, putting a piece of hardwood on the glowing red coals before swinging the brass door shut and latching it closed. Then she walked a circle around the cabin, checking the front and back doors and all the windows to ensure everything was locked up tight.

Emily was in her bedroom, debating with herself about the need to dig out candles and flashlights when the lights flickered, then went off. While Emily stood in the room, bracing for the lights to return, she heard a faint noise, which sounded like a long scratch along dry wood.

She frowned and moved as silently as she could into the house while she listened for the sound once more. The wood in the fireplace popped and cracked, causing her to jump in surprise before laughing at herself.

Then she made her way into the kitchen, searching through the over cluttered utensil drawers for candles and a lighter. As the wind rattled the trees outside and the rain hit the glass of the windows with renewed vigour, she dug through tape rolls, old sunscreen tubes and bills that may have been older than her, before pulling out an ancient box of emergency candles and a box of matches. The only lighter she had found was a cheap plastic Bic lighter that was empty, prompting her to start a mental grocery list of things she would need to go buy on the next shopping trip.

Emily pulled out a couple flashlights, though only one of them had batteries that worked, and the beam of light was fading with the telltale sign that it would also join its dead brethren. She clicked it off and put it on the counter, noting that she would need to buy more batteries. It made sense that nothing had been restocked here. Her parents and siblings had been taking turns checking on the place or spending a couple weeks for vacation over the past few years. Emily had cleared off a summer's worth of debris from the sidewalks after arriving a couple days ago.