A short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage.
- Lorrie Moore
Sometimes we don't have the time for a long novel or story. Sometimes we just want the best glimpse of the most intriguing event.
This is a collection of short stories or novellas...
There was a compact silence for quite some time before Cora felt brave enough to move. She turned her head a bit to listen behind her better.
The cabin seemed quiet, so she turned her head a bit more to glance over her shoulder. She almost expected to see something, but the room, bathing in moonlight, was empty.
She sat up and looked at the wide open door to the hallway. She wasn't surprised to find the door open, even if she knew she had closed it before bed.
Slowly, she moved her feet to the floor and felt the cold draft creeping up her legs. A draft that could only come from an open front door.
She got up as quietly as she could and moved one step at the time until she reached her door. Her heart was beating hard, while the silence seemed to press against her ears.
She took another deep breath and leaned forward to look in the hallway.
The hallway was empty, so she leaned a bit further to look towards the living room.
The open front door came in to her vision when she leaned forward far enough. So did the creature sitting squatted by the stairs from the porch.
She froze like a statue while pure fear trickled her skin like electricity.
The creature had human proportions, but it looked wrong. The arms were too long and there were gaps and holes between the ribs that shouldn't be there. There were little bumps on the spine that gleamed white as bones on the pale body in the moonlight. Long, black strands of hair fell like a net over the bony shoulders, as if it flowed like water over the skin. The hair was thin and left bold spots on the gray scalp.
The creature raised the head and started to turn around.
Cora jolted back in to the room and quietly closed the door. She moved as fast as she dared without making a sound and locked the door. She then stood for a good while, staring at the closed door. She listened for any sound from the hallway, but the silence seemed to be left unbroken. Her tremble could be heard in her short breath while seconds passed like slow minutes.
After a while, she slowly moved back to bed and quickly got back in to her sleeping bag. As soon as she laid down, Zander wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Cora leaned in to his embrace, thankful for the company and comfort.
The cabin seemed eerily quiet.
Cora stared at the door for several minutes, if not hours. After what felt like an eternity, she started to feel tired. The hallway remained silent, and she dared to relax enough to fall asleep.
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A heavy rain hit the window when the light of a gray dawn woke her up. Cora still had her back pressed against Zander and his arms around her waist.
The first thing she looked at was the door.
It was still closed.
She felt some relief, but the memories of the night still haunted her. She had a guess what she had seen. She had heard enough spooky stories from the locals to know what that thing was. An old house owner that had chosen the dark path. She was unsure if she could call it a witch considering it wasn't much of a woman anymore. It had once been, but now it was closer to a skinwalker. One thing she was sure about - she really needed to talk to the others. The nightly visit had happened for a reason, and that needed to be discussed.
