The Night that Changed My Life

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The Night that Changed My Life

The night’s darkness blanketed the cabin and the landscape like a mother and her newly born child. The winter snow on the ground illuminated the moon’s light and made it very easy for seeing into the distance, but there was nothing to see; for miles and miles tall pines and rolling terrain contained nothing but Mother Nature. I lay silently in my bed and watched out my window the snow drifting methodically to the ground. The tall pines stood watching over the cabin and their shadows seemed to have a life of their own. The howling wind caused an occasional screech and moan of the old wooden door. I was alone in my cabin except for the wicked cold, which made me a number of times reach for my blanket as it nipped at my exposed body. I trembled and my teeth began to chatter as I read my newspaper by the candlelight. As I began reading I came across an article about an escaped madman from a Maine jail. I looked at the picture and for some reason I thought I knew the man, but in reality I knew I did not. I continued to read as I tried to pass time as I expected the arrival of my girlfriend, Michelle, who like myself, was looking for an escape from this harsh world. This isolated spot in Northern Maine had great privacy and seldom had visitors. I lay patiently awake and a wait a knocking on my door.

Suddenly, without warning, the candle blew out and a chill came across my body that was indescribable. I quickly rose to my feet to relight the candle, but I soon realized that I was out of matches. I hesitated to move, I hesitated to breathe, but then there was a knocking on my door and my heart suddenly dropped into my stomach. BANG, BANG, BANG. I stood frozen in the middle of the room like a deer caught in a car’s headlights. I practically crawled to the door to see who it was. I prayed after each step that it was Michelle, but for some reason I knew it was not. I went to the door and stood silent, almost like I was waiting for that person on the other side to open the door before I did, but they didn’t. I searched for the handle in the darkness, but I need not to find it.

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