The Cabin

The Moon Shaded In Red

I stopped talking with the woman in the chair, and she pointed to a door for me to go through. I bid farewell to her and went through. I went through, and I looked up to see the sky red. Then I saw the moon and it was all red. It was as if the moon itself was bleeding, dying from something. The only light was from the moonlight. All around me was a shade of red. It was like putting on sunglasses with red tint. Down the path, I saw a light that seemed to be from a campfire. When I got there; there were two men: one with the outfit of a pastor and the other covered in scars. They didn't see me at first, but when they did, they stood up hastily. The man covered in scars put his fists up while the pastor remained neutral. I started telling them, "I am not here to cause either of you any harm. I am simply a wanderer of the forest. I mean you no harm." Then the scarred man said,"And how can we know you don't mean us any harm. This forest is mysterious and filled with many things that have come for not only me but for him too. Give me evidence on why I shouldn't throw you to the ground like the others." I had no response to this. For me, there was nothing I could say or do that could diffuse this situation. The pastor, seemingly not interested in the situation, started walking towards me. He said to me in a soft but monotone voice, "Oh child of god. Do you have faith in some higher power? For the man that has no faith is no man, only a monster in sheep's clothing." I started to get lost in thought at his question. Did he mean whether I believed in a religion? Perhaps he meant whether I had faith in them. At that moment, though, for some reason, I didn't care what he meant, and I answered the question by how I wanted to answer it and said, "I do have faith. Faith in myself."

The pastor's neutral expression turned to a sincere smile. He ordered the man covered in scars to stand down, saying that I had no malicious intent. The scarred man asked the pastor how he knew this, and the pastor answered with, "A man without faith is no man. This man does have faith, so he is no monster. I have met many men with false faith. He is not one of them." Finally, they sat down and asked me to sit around the campfire. The pastor introduced himself. "My name is Michael. This big guy next to us is Sisyphus. You'll have to forgive his behavior as he is not the trustworthy type." I introduced myself and said,"My name is Edward. So far, it has been interesting meeting the two of you. I do not blame Sisyphus's distrust as I am just a stranger to you two. I hope that onward we can proceed more smoothly." Then Michael says,"I hope things go smoothly too, Edward." Sisyphus then grabs a water bucket beside him and puts out the campfire and says,"This bleeding moon can not be a good sign of things to come. We must get a move on."

I didn't know what was in store for me or what I wanted, so I decided I would follow these two. It didn't take long for the forest to make our worst fears alive. As we continued walking through the forest, the trees around us started to bleed. The entire forest was in pain, and the forest was alive! But what was causing the forest's pain none of us had a clue of. Michael pulled out a bible and cross. He pointed the cross at the bleeding trees and started to read a verse from his bible. After a minute or two, the trees stopped bleeding. Instead, they grew eyes, all kinds of eyes. Every eye that any living thing could have was focused on Michael. He continued to read from his bible, hoping that it would do something, but instead, it seemed to have angered the forest. Michael was relentless in his hope. Perhaps he hoped that his faith was stronger than whatever the forest was. A giant eyeball appeared in front of Michael. He was truly at the center of the forest's attention. Michael would not back down in his prayer, actively defying the forest. At that moment, it seemed as if Michael was greater than anything. He was glowing, but that glow would fade quickly. A caterpillar about to hatch, quickly stomped down, denied the access to greatness. The trees grew mouths. All of the mouths started laughing. The entire forest showered with laughter. Michael, in desperation, screamed out, "Oh God, please let this evil begone. My faith is ENOUGH!. GOD IS ENOUGH, HE WILL SAVE ME." The mouths stop laughing and start chanting,"little preacher boy. Kicked out of his community, belittled. Holding on to futile faith." Sisyphus screams to Michael.''STOP PREACHING MICHAEL. I WILL NOT DIE AGAIN AT YOUR HANDS." Michael stopped praying. All the eyes and mouths disappeared from the trees. The only thing that remained was silence in the air and that bleeding moon. Sisyphus turned to Michael and pointed at a tree stump and said, "Put your hand there." Michael seemed confused at the order and asked,"Sisyphus...Why do you want me to do that?" Sisyphus answered with "so that you can never pray again. If your faith is so strong, you don't need to pray." Michael started having a deep sadness in his eyes. He then says to Sisyphus, "Prayer is an essential part of my faith. You can't simply ask me to toss It aside! Sisyphus standing tall and determined says, "If you want to survive in this forest, you must cast it aside. Have you not learned anything from what just happened? Michael, seeming defeated, says, "Fine. I will prove to you that my faith is more than just prayers! He puts his left arm down on the tree stump. Sisyphus raises his right arm up in the air to swing it down on Michael's wrist. He cleanly sliced his hand off as if the entire weight of the world had been laid down on it. The Moonlight, finally turning back to normal, illuminates a TV in the distance.