Chirping birds outside the window woke Beth, who turned around to nudge her sleeping husband. “Good morning. It’s time to get up. I’m hungry.”
He rolled over so he could look at her. “What time is it?”
“Don’t know. The clock isn’t working. I guess the power’s still out.” She threw the blanket away from her legs and sat up. “It’s cold in here.”
He stretched his arms up high, set his bare feet on the floor, then grabbed his robe at the foot of the bed as he ran his fingers through his hair to push it back away from his face. His long sideburns framed a square face, accented by the dark stubble of facial hair. “I’ll build another fire, but first I hope we can at least have some coffee, and I would like some hot water to shave.”
“How do you plan on making coffee without electricity?”
“That’s right. Do we have some kind of pan to heat water in the fireplace?”
“All the pans we have out here are old anyway, so it won’t make any difference if you use one of them. Just don’t get burnt.” She put her robe on and started for the doorway but turned around before leaving. “I’ll get my cell phone to make some calls. You would think they would have whatever it is fixed by now.”
Carl set the few pieces of kindling inside the fireplace, followed by two logs left on the hearth. The fire took off as soon as he touched the small twigs with a lighted match. “I’ll have to bring in more wood if it stays like this. I thought it would be warmer this morning. Maybe it’ll be better this afternoon.” He stood and stretched. “I wonder what time it is?”
Through the window came the light of the day. “From the location of the sun, I’d say it’s at least ten or maybe eleven,” she told him as she gazed up at the sky through the kitchen window.
Carl opened the refrigerator to get the milk. “There’s some fruit in here,” he said as he opened the bottom drawer. “Two apples and a grapefruit. This should take us past the next half hour. Try those phone calls.”
She dialed and waited. “There’s no ringing…nothing. My cell is out too.” But she tried again with no results after shaking it to try to get it to work. “See, I told you: it’s not working.”
“Okay, let me get a pot of water on the fire. I need my coffee.”
The fire roared, with flames reaching high inside the stone opening. He took one of the pokers from the rack beside the hearth and placed the handle of the pan so he could set it on top of the burning logs.
It didn’t take long before the water with the ground coffee boiled fast and hard, almost flowing up over the rim as it bubbled and exuded the sweet aroma of the coffee.
He pulled the pan out and set it on the hearth.
Letting the coffee grounds settle to the bottom of the pan had him impatiently waiting as Beth brought the cups to the living room and set them on the table next to the sofa. “This looks like mud or something worse. I hope it tastes decent,” he said as he held the pot over the cup. Carefully he poured the hot liquid and sniffed at it. “Smells good.”
“It’s still pretty cold in here, and the fire will soon burn down. You better get more wood from outside. I’ll unpack the suitcase. I wanna look for your watch. We at least might want to know the time, even though it doesn’t matter right now.”
“All right, I’ll go in a minute.” He lifted his cup to his lips, drank, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Mmm, this is not too bad. Go ahead, have some. I’ll finish this before I go get the wood.”
“See if there’s anyone around to ask about the power while you’re out there.” She poured herself a cup of the primitively brewed coffee, then strolled over to the sofa with it. All she could think of was how awful it would be to spend the whole weekend up there with no electricity. How would they ever get along with no TV, no radio, and what about refrigeration? All the comforts of modern-day living might be lost for days.
When Carl opened the door to leave, it let in a sweeping breeze through the cottage, bringing with it the fresh air of season. Beth laid her head back on a pillow at the back of the sofa. She breathed in the pleasant smell of leaves and clean water from the nearby lake. For some reason it seemed more potent than usual, but very soothing to the senses. The very things she liked about the place at this time of year. The trees were all in fabulous color, the air brisk with the coolness, a time for the earth to take its seasonal rest until another year began. She waited for her husband’s return.
The sudden sound of the door being flung open startled her. Carl rushed in with his face pale, eyes wide. He looked like someone who just saw a ghost. He slammed the door shut behind him and put his back against it. Beth hurried to him. “We can’t open this door,” he insisted.
“Why, what’s the matter?” she shouted.
“Just listen to me.” His breath came hard and heavy. “Don’t open it. I don’t know what’s going on around here, but everything out there has changed.” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Our car is gone. There’s no gravel driveway, only trees all over the place, even where the road was.” He put both hands on her shoulders. “There’s nothing out there, not even the other cottages. The road is gone. There are no poles for power or phones. Just trees and bushes everywhere.”
“Carl, how can that be? We are in the mountain park—the campgrounds. You’re teasing me to make light of what’s going on, but I’m not laughing. It’s not funny.”
“This is for real, no joke. The mountains are there, but…” He shook his head hard as he pulled her away from the door. “Don’t go out there. Don’t go outside. There is something very strange going on here.” He held her at bay with no resistance. His expression, his actions, now had her scared out of her wits.
“I’m going to look out the window,” Beth said, pulling away from him.
“Be careful,” he warned.
“Look, it’s all the same out there. Nothing has changed,” she told him.
He hurried to the window. “What?” He looked out. “It does look the same, but…I saw…” His voice trailed off as he ran to the door and opened it. One look outside, and he pushed it closed again. “Oh, no, it has changed. We can’t see it from the window. This is crazy.” He grabbed Beth by the hand and pulled her to the living room. “Sit down.” He pushed her to the sofa. “Don’t move. I’m going to check the back door. Stay here.” With the stamina of a soldier, he hurried out of the room.
“Wait, don’t leave me here alone. You have me terrified.” Beth hurried past the sofa, almost stumbling on her own feet in a rush to catch up with him. “Carl, please, wait for me.”
He left her behind and proceeded to the back of the cottage. The door to the rear was locked, so he searched for the key. “Where is the key?” he yelled out frantically as he reached for the shelves on the wall, his hands fumbling around on the one next to the door.
Beth came up behind him and reached up over the door to retrieve the key, which was up on the ledge of the door frame. “Here. Take it easy, will you? I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’m going to find out. Go ahead. Open the door.” Her challenge was demanding.
He took the key in his shaking hand and slowly put it in the lock. “Stand back. I don’t know what will jump out at us when I open this door.” With his other hand, he pushed her behind him. “Stay back.” His hand gripped the doorknob, turned it slowly. The smell of the earth drifted in as he opened the door just a crack. It was too much for him. He pushed it shut and moved back while shoving Beth further behind him. “I’m not sure we should open this door.”
“What did you see?” she demanded.
“Nothing, but it doesn’t feel right. I don’t think I want to go out there.”
“Oh, don’t be silly.” Beth stepped away from him, grabbed the doorknob, and opened the door. A thick branch of a tree fell through the open door and hit her, knocking her down to the floor. “What on earth is this?” she yelled out. She struggled to push the branch away and tried to stand.
“I told you,” he said as he helped her to her feet. “Now will you believe me? Look out there. It’s nothing but trees and wild growth all the way up to the cottage. You can hardly see the sky.”
“How can this be? It had all been cleared out and a patio put in when they built this place. Where’s the patio?” She held her hand to her mouth as she glared down at the tree branch lying on the floor. “There must be some explanation. Our whole backyard didn’t just disappear.” Her hand shook as she spoke. She bit her bottom lip and began to cry. “I’m scared, Carl. What is going on?”
“I don’t know what this is, but I’m going to find out.”
He lifted the heavy branch and pushed it back away from the door. It sprang back out into the air. He then shut the door and locked it, fear written all over his face as he turned to her. “I want you to stay inside. I’m going out the front door to look around. Just wait inside, and don’t try to follow me, no matter what.” The expression on his face, wide-eyed and pale, had Beth shaking.
“But, Carl, I can’t just stay here and wait.”
“Please do what I ask, and don’t question it.”
She sat on the sofa and cupped her hands over her face, held them there until the front door opened. She looked up at him as he was about to leave. “Be careful and come right back. Don’t go too far.”
He moved slowly as he ventured away from the door. His eyes scanned the area all around him like a searching hawk. The thick brush and trees overwhelmed the surroundings, making it hard to walk. His heart beat so fast, he could hardly catch his breath. A few yards from the cottage, he came to a clearing. It looked as though something had bedded down on the high grass there, now all matted down.
Rustling sounds of something in the brush in front of him caught his attention. He crouched down, held his breath, eyes focused on the direction from which the sound came. The bushes parted with branches spreading wide, and out walked a doe with her fawn, a beautiful deer, the likes of which he hadn’t seen in a long time. Her spotted fawn strolled out into the open, ears perked up to every sound.
He had never seen deer up there before and thought they had been all driven off by the people who took over the land, but there she was with her young in all her glory. He stayed very still until they both wandered off into the forest beyond the area he stood in. What a sight, he thought as he stood, eyes scanning the area. The flattened grass must have been where the doe had bedded down with her young, he was sure of it. He examined the ground, then walked away.
Nothing appeared to be the same—thick trees, far beyond where they had been before, bushes and high grass, but most of all the smell of burning wood drifting through the air.
Carefully, he took steps toward the brush where the deer had gone. Another few feet, then he turned to look behind him, with a watchful eye for anything that might sneak up on him.
Without warning, the screeching sound of a very large hawk flying overhead had him down on the ground. He buried his head in his arms, and squatted low until the noisy bird flew off. He’d had enough. He had to get back inside where it was safe before another creature came lurking. Taking great care not to make a lot of noise, he moved slowly, carefully, toward the cottage. His pant legs got hung up on a round bristly thing hanging down from some of the plants in his path. Even when he pulled away it hung on to him like glue. He could feel the pinch and sting from its thorns on his ankle and up his leg as he made his way to the door.
He reached for the knob, then for the first time, he noticed blood on the back of his hand and realized he had cut himself on something. It stung but didn’t really hurt too bad, though he was alarmed at the presence of his bleeding injury.
Once inside, he shut the door and locked it. Beth hurried to him as soon as she heard him come in. “What happened?”
“We are in some kind of time warp—some kind of…I don’t know.”
“Your hand…it’s bleeding. Let me get something for that. How did it happen?” He held his hand for her to inspect it. “Come on, let’s go into the bathroom. You’re a mess. What’s out there?” she brushed some of the leaves from his coat. “This is getting scary, Carl. I don’t want to stay here. I would rather get out of here as soon as possible.”
“We don’t have any choice. We have to stay here… We have no car. I’m not sure there is any way out of here, even on foot.”
“Impossible. You mean to tell me we are stuck here? I can’t believe there’s no way out.”
“All you have to do is go out there,” he pointed to the door, “and see for yourself. It’s nothing but wilderness as far as you can see.”
“What do you mean wilderness?”
“Yeah, wilderness—deer, hawks, plenty of wild growth, and every kind of weed and tree you could think of. Look at my pants. Where did you think all this came from? We didn’t have anything like it out there before.” He hurried off to the bathroom.
Beth had him sit on the toilet while she searched the medicine cabinet for something to clean his gapping cut. “We have alcohol and bandages, so I’ll be able to get your hand taken care of.” She soaked a tissue with the alcohol and cleaned his wound gently with care not to rub too hard.
He let out a yell. “Wow, it stings!” He pulled his hand away in agony.
“Don’t be a baby. You wanna get an infection? I have to clean it out, so hold still.”
“Just get it done and hurry up about it.” He held his hand out to her again. “I’m telling you, there’s a jungle out there that didn’t exist when we got here yesterday. It’s another world or another time. I’ve heard of strange things, but this one takes it all.”
She proceeded to clean his cut so she could bandage it. “Try not to use this hand much. It looks like it could use a stitch or two. I pulled the tape on the bandage as tight as I could to close it, so be careful with it. I don’t want you to loosen its hold for awhile.”
“Beth, we have to find a way out of here, but I don’t know how.” He rushed to the living room with her on his heels. “Did you try your cell phone again?”
“Yes, I’ve been trying; it’s dead. There is nothing—no sound, no ringing—nothing.” She picked it up. “Here, you try.” She handed him the phone with a hardy thrust.
He held the phone to his ear after punching in a number. After several minutes, he threw the phone down on the sofa. “It’s useless; the stupid thing is dead.”
“That’s what I told you.” She set it on the table. “Don’t even try again. It’s useless.”
A feeling of being caged in, while silence enclosed the cottage, overwhelmed them. Carl raced to the window. “Look at this. It looks normal out there, but when I go outside, it has turned into another world. I don’t understand.” He gritted his teeth and held his hand to his forehead. “How can this be? A full, organized park of homes, cottages, office, roads, and lights don’t just disappear.”
“I don’t know, but you have to get a hold of yourself. You’re acting like a crazy man. We have to think…try to come up with something.”
“Like what, Beth?” Carl threw his hands in the air.
“For right now, we just sit tight and wait. This could be some kind of phenomena that will end, then maybe we will return to normal. Let’s be calm.” She went to the kitchen sink, looked back into the living room at him then turned to face the window in front of her while opening a bottle of water. “I’ll fill the pot for tea. Let’s sit by the fireplace. Put another log in so we can heat this water.”
He set the last of the wood on the fire—it took off right away, with sparks flying upward into the chimney flue. With his hands raised up in front of him, he lowered himself down to the bear skin rug in front of the hearth. He gazed into the flames with darkened eyes. His hand held a tight fist that whitened his knuckles.
A cup of hot tea along with a jellied slice of white bread was just the thing to settle them for a short time. She held his watch up as she sat next to him on the sofa. “It’s after noon already. I wonder if anything has changed.” She rose from the sofa. “I’m going out there this time, and I don’t want any back talk from you.”
“Just open the door, but don’t go out,” he yelled after her.
A cool fall breeze swept past her as she stood in the doorway. It almost felt good, but the sight was not so nice—the same wilderness they’d both witnessed before; it hadn’t changed back. She stood for a few moments looking out into the heavily wooded, weed-infested view. At the top of the trees, she could see the mountains and knew they were still the same, the wonderful Catskill Mountains, but the park was no longer there. Not the developed park they’d known.
“It’s still the same,” she said as she came back to the sofa. Carl stood by the fireplace shaking his head. “What are we going to do?” she asked as she sat down with one leg curled up under her. “I am so afraid.” Tears welled in her eyes. A feeling of despair overwhelmed her so much she couldn’t take a deep breath.
“I don’t know what we can do but wait, or go out there and try to find our way back to…” He stopped there, put his head down. “We don’t know what more is out there, or even if we can find our way back to something civilized, so I guess we just do like you said. Wait.”
The hours passed painfully slowly. Carl kept trying to get the phone to work, while Beth played with the radio only to get nothing, not even static. Tabitha curled up by the fireplace to sleep quietly by the diminishing fire. The only sounds outside were birds in the trees, and a distant thumping noise they could not identify for sure but thought it sounded like drumbeats.
“I’m going out for more wood. I just hope our pile of logs is still there. I just want to make sure we have enough to keep warm. For how long, I don’t know.” He went off to the kitchen and took his jacket from the hook by the door and put it on. “Stay here. Don’t come out there. I’ll be right back.” When he went out the door, she stood with her hand up over her mouth in fear of what might happen next. Chills down her spine weren’t only from the cold.
Outside a cold whisk of wind hit him in the face as he walked along the side of the cottage. He pulled the collar of his jacket up around his neck and lowered his chin into it as he made his way. Low ground vines caught his ankles, causing him to shake them off as he followed the side of the structure to the rear corner where he had put the cut wood.
One of the things he hated most about his trip to the back was cobwebs hitting him in the face. They seemed to be in plentiful supply. But he made it there…and to his delight, he found the wood. He hurried to load as many logs as he could fit in his arms and headed back to the door. His hand started to throb with pain from his injury, but he kept on going.
As he approached the door, he heard an unfamiliar sound in the distance. He could swear it was the beating of drums, but shook it off as just another odd thing going on that could not be explained. He came to the door and set the wood down for a free hand to turn the knob.
Beth met him as he flung the door open. “I’m glad you found the wood. It’s cold in here again. Let me help you.” She bent down to pick up a few logs but suddenly straightened. “What’s that sound out there?” Her eyes widened, her face grew pale. “It sounds like drums, Indian drums.”
“You hear it too? I thought I was imagining it. Drums, yes. Indian drums? I don’t know.”
“Get the wood in and close the door,” she said. “I don’t like this, whatever it is.” With two large logs in her arms, her stride slow due to the weight, she started for the fireplace. “I want you to add one of these to the fire so we can at least have more heat.”
“All right. I think we better learn how to cook some of the food we brought with us. I don’t intend to starve to death.”
Beth stood with her hands at her sides. “Have you figured out what is going on? This whole thing is like a nightmare, and all you can think about is food.”
“I’m not sure, but I think we have ventured into another time, like a time warp, or another dimension. Just walk out the door. You know we are not where we were yesterday when we arrived. I can’t figure it out.”
She brought her fingers to her mouth and ran them over her lips while trying to understand what he said. “There has to be a better explanation. Time warp…this is crazy. How could it happen?” she said with reservations. “I thought this only happened in science fiction stories.”
“Believe me, it can happen. I really think this is what’s going on here.” He put another log in the fireplace. The fire took off nicely. “Go get some bacon and a pan to cook it in.” He stoked the fire with the poker. “And bring a pot of water to heat for tea. It’s cold enough for a hot English brew rather than muddy-looking coffee.”
Beth managed, with his help, to cook the bacon and make sandwiches to go with the tea. She opened a can of cat food for Tabitha before settling down on the sofa with Carl. “I’m afraid. How long is this going to last?” She looked into his eyes for answers he couldn’t give her.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure it will ever end.” He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “Let’s stay here by the fire tonight. I have to think, make plans, and try to come up with something.” He pulled her closer to him. “The cell phone won’t work, but that could be from being so low from the mountains. If I go to a higher point, I might get a signal.”
“Not tonight you’re not. It’s getting dark, and you are not going out there at night.”
“I know. I’ll go in the morning.”