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By Max Masen
-The Next Day-
John, Julie, and Tim had traveled throughout the night and found refuge in an abandoned cabin, the door wide open with a sign next to it reading: Strangers Welcome. The Key is Under the Mat. Thinking it was too good to be true, they approached cautiously but realized the key really was there and it really did open the door to the cabin. They stepped inside and made themselves comfortable. They took different ways, each one with a bedroom at the end of the path. The living room was in the middle of the rooms and had a fake bearskin rug in the center of it, one rocking chair, and a large, decrepit couch facing a flat screen television hung on the wall.
“What have we stumbled upon?” John asks upon seeing that the bedroom he steps into is neatly decorated and the queen sized bed is made and ready to be slept in. It has a sign on the headrest and John pulls it off. It reads: Thanks for stopping in. Clean up when you leave for the next visitors. “This can’t be real.”
Tim rushes into the room with John and says uneasily, “John, I don’t know about you but I don’t like the look of this place. It’s too…”
“Quaint.” Julie finishes Tim’s sentence as she walks in from behind them and hangs in the doorway. “It was obviously set up by nice people that were just looking to give travelers a place to stay.”
“I have to agree with Tim on this one,” John replies, still holding the note and starting to crinkle it in his large hands. “This all is too much. It’s… unsettling.”
“You have to be kidding me,” Julie scoffs. She crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows in disbelief. “We’ve walked all day and night thanks to this jackass.” She points to Tim and continues saying, “We’re not leaving. There’s food in the kitchen even. I checked.”
“Look, the people that own this place could be plenty nice. I’m just saying I don’t know if I want to stick around to find out if that’s true. But we put it to a vote. That’s the only democratic way. Don’t you agree?” John says, attempting to make his voice sound stern and balanced at the same time.
“I think you already my vote,” Tim chimes in quickly, refusing to look Julie in the eyes.
“And mine.” Julie leans on the door and keeps her eyes focused on the ground. “So it’s just on you, John. I don’t know how you wouldn’t see this place as a sign.”
“A sign that this rescue mission was doomed from the start!” Tim screams, bringing his face close to Julie’s. John grabs his arm and thrusts him back to where he was.
“There’s not going to be an easy way to decide this,” John observes, bringing his hands together and opening his eyes wide. “I am tired. And hungry. And we do need a place to stay for the night. This place is- could be safe. And I guess that’s a risk I’m willing to take right now.”
“John, you’re killing us if we stay,” Tim says to John quietly, as if Julie isn’t present.
“You’re lucky you even got a vote!” John screams, pushing Tim into the wall. “You killed a man! You lost us a safe place to stay! Now we’re stuck here, wondering if it is safe!”
Tim looks up to John, trembling and his lips shaking but no words coming from them. “I- I didn’t mean to…”
“You keep saying that!” John pulls Tim away from the wall and thrusts him back into it, this time harder. “Stop! Just stop!” He pushes Tim to the door and Tim keeps his head down, walking out into the living room, quiet and defeated. John breathes heavy and gnashes his teeth together uncontrollably.
“John…” Julie grabs his shoulder and leans in. “Thank you.” John takes notice of her, his breathing suddenly calming down and he nods.
-That Night-
John, Julie, and Tim, after a meal consisting of cod, cornbread, and refrigerated green beans, join around the television and turn it on. They watch a show about travel around Europe, none of them really focusing on the television. They’re all still on guard, anxious about both each other's’ intentions and the possibility of the owners showing up. They watch the show quietly for an hour, night settling in and darkness consuming the outside. A few lights remain on inside from various lamps and candles.
The three of them become lost in thought but a knock at the door suddenly draws their attention from the television. They look to each other, a gasp escaping Julie’s mouth. John holds a finger to his lips to signal for their silence. John gets up off of the couch and walks over to the door. No knocking. John looks to Tim and Julie, a concerned expression appearing on his face.
Was it our imaginations?
They hear another round of knocking. Tim hides behind the couch, holding tightly to a pistol concealed in his boot, one he had been hiding from John and Julie.
“John, get away from the door,” Julie urges, her voice barely going above a whisper. John looks back and forth between Tim and Julie, hoping one of them has some kind of solution that doesn’t involve the opening of the door.
A few more moments pass and they hear the knocking again. A voice from outside can be heard saying, “It says the key is under the mat. I don’t see it. There’s lights on inside. There has to be people in there.”
Another voice joins in, “There is. I saw movement. They can hear us. Knock again.” Another knock at the door.
A third voice adds, “I’ll kick in the door if I have to.”
John suddenly stands up and shouts, “That’s not necessary!” Julie and Tim hide behind the couch, fearing for what John has said will imply. “I’m opening the door.”
“What are you doing?!” Tim shouts.
Julie’s jaw drops, her body starting to shake. “John, no!”
A knock at the door?! Who could it be?! The government?! More resistance fighters?! Norman Bates and Freddy Kreuger?! Stay tuned, folks!
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