Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: EERIE (07/28/16)
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TITLE: The Cabin on the Hill | Previous Challenge Entry
By LeslieJean Anderson
08/04/16 -
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I loved the cozy cabin we built. The fences are up and I have electricity. I finally moved in and I should be happy. But I can’t sleep at night. I bolt the doors and lock myself in when the sun goes down. The windows are all bolted too. What if I lock myself out? I shudder at the thought. I’d have to walk a mile in thick darkness to my son’s place. Gotta remember to hide some keys somewhere in the yard tomorrow.
My son. Now I remember. That is why I am here. He needs me to help him raise his daughter. I wonder if I should tell him how scared I am at night. No I can’t tell him. He would want to know why. He doesn’t need to know why. I vowed I would never tell him. I don’t want him to know about the death threats.
I hear a wild animal howling. And what’s that scraping sound? I glance at my guard dog. She twitches in her sleep but she doesn’t stir. It’s 3:00 am. I think the sound is a branch on that tree that’s too close to the house. Would the dog wake up if there was a prowler outside? Or does she just guard me during the daytime? I need her to guard me at night! I can see during the day, for crying out loud. And if I can see, I can shoot.
He’d threatened to kill me more than once. Finally one night he held a gun to my neck. I was sure I was going to die. When I told the police, they called him in for questioning. But by the end of the interview, he’d convinced them that I was unstable, hysterical and hallucinating.
I left him for good after that, and by the time the divorce papers came, he’d spread stories about me all over town. So I left the town too. Moved three thousand miles away, hoping he’d never find me. He never did, but it was years before I could sleep without pills.
I found a new town, a new life and best of all I found God’s love. His love replaced the fear and the anger. That’s why I’m back. My son and my granddaughter both need to know about God’s love. But how was I supposed to know that my old fears would be waiting for me out here in the woods? He can’t even hurt me now. He’s dead. And I have forgiven him. But his grave is less than a mile away.
I need to pray and give this fear to God. It is bigger than me, but not bigger than God. I’ll just let go and let God handle it. I can’t make it go away, but He can. I have got to decide to let Him. OK, I’ll let Him. I guess that means I can put the gun away now. I’ll just stick it under the bed. God is my guard dog now. God doesn’t sleep.
So God, You can take over now. Maybe you can send some big angels to protect me while I sleep. Fear has to leave the house when You and Your angels come inside. I invite You – no, I beg You to please come inside my house and my heart.
So be gone, spirit of fear! Right now! God has commanded you to leave me alone. Leave this cabin. Leave this land. Leave this forest! You cannot touch me. Doggie and I are overshadowed by the Most High and His mighty Angels. That makes this land sacred soil, under His command.
I whisper the Lord’s Prayer. That’s all I can do.
Funny. I hear other sounds now. Crickets. The doggie breathing. Pine trees making that soft swishing noise I love. My heartbeat. Its slower now. My own breathing, also slower…
729 words. Inspired by a true story.
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