at night asleep I would hear the sound of the lamp posts along the city streets. But out here, I hear nothing.”
Christina quietly paused for a minute to listen. The silence was eerie. Christina had never heard the sound of nothing before. Even in Packwood, growing up she still heard the sounds of traffic along the Skate Creek Road where her parents’ home was located, but never quiet like this. There was almost an internal fear of why things were so quiet around her, as if there would be an unexpected jump scare, waiting around the corner like in a scary movie. Christina walked toward the front door and opened the door to take a step out onto the covered wrap around deck of the cabin home. While outside she listened for any sound, wondering if she had gone deaf at some point during the trip to the cabin today. Finally, Christina’s ears picked up the faint sounds of the Elwha River flowing not too far away from the home and the sounds of the wind blowing through the blades of grass in the field and the trees out in the forest that caused a whistling sound.
“Okay, so I haven’t lost my hearing. That’s good,” said Christina.
Matt smiled and laughed. “It is beautiful up here. Well, should we get to unpacking these boxes, babe?”
“Yeah, I suppose we should. They certainly won’t unpack themselves.”
For the next six hours into the evening hours, both Matt and Christina unpacked cardboard box after cardboard box. Matt would help unpack the boxes and organize what was in them for what room they belonged in while Christina would put the things away. They unpacked the chilled storage boxes that contained all their food, both perishable and nonperishable. They put the refrigerated items quickly in the refrigerator in the kitchen. The refrigerator in the kitchen was an old fridge left behind from the owners of the cabin before—a four-legged orange fridge that looked like it could stop a cannon ball from penetrating it.
The couple took a break from unpacking and putting things away for dinner. They made a quick and simple dinner of macaroni and cheese, nothing extravagant. After dinner they both cleaned up the dishes together and went back to putting things away in the cabin. Slowly the living room of the cabin emptied of filled cardboard boxes into broken-down cardboard boxes. Their possessions were nearly completely organized throughout the home. Darkness started to settle in the mountains, and the sun set behind the trees nearly an hour ago. Christina flipped the lights on in the home. The home came to life with bright light throughout the living room, along with an elk horn chandelier that had lights in the tips of the horns. Christina knew she would have to try and give this chandelier a chance if it was going to be in this cabin. After what seemed like an eternity of unpacking and manual labor, the last of the boxes were finally put away—a box filled with toiletry items for the bathroom. It was finally time now for Matt and Christina to relax. Matt made his way to the couch first, taking the corner edge of the couch, followed by Christina who sat next to him and leaned up against his right side.
“Hey, you want me to build a fire in the fireplace?” asked Christina.
“You know what? That sounds great,” said Matt.
“Christina opened the firewood storage box and grabbed some pre-stored pieces of firewood. She placed them in the fireplace and organized some kindling around them. She grabbed the matches from the mantle of the fireplace, and in a small aluminum garbage can next to the wood storage box were previously rolled up pieces of newspaper from the previous owners. Christina grabbed some newspaper along with the kindling and stuffed it between the cracks of the firewood. She lit the newspaper and kindling on fire first and the fireplace roared to life. After building the fire, Christina stood up and walked over to the light switch on the wall. She flipped the switch and turned the lights off in the living room. The only light in the cabin now was coming from the fire in the fireplace. Christina walked back to the couch and sat by Matt’s side, and the couple snuggled together on the couch while watching the fire begin to consume the logs in the fireplace.
“I can’t believe we haven’t done this before. This is so nice. I’m happy we did this,” said Christina.
“I don’t want to be the one to say I told you so, but I told you so,” said Matt with a smile on his face.
Christina looked at him and chuckled while she buried her head into Matt’s chest. His arm draped around her shoulder. Nothing could stop the peace of the moment but one thing. In that moment Christina heard a sound—not the crackling of the fireplace, but the sound of scratching on wood. Christina raised her head up to listen closer.
“Matt, do you hear that?” asked Christina.
“Hear what?” replied Matt.
“That sound.”
“Are you messing with me? There’s a sound coming from the fireplace from the fire?”
“No, it’s not the fire. It’s almost like a scratching sound.”
“Maybe it’s mice?”
The couple listened quietly for the sound when they heard it again.
“Is…is that coming from the front door?” asked Christina
“Is it? What the hell could it be?” replied Matt.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, stay here I’ll go check it out.”
“No, no, it’s fine I can go check it out. It’s probably a raccoon or squirrel or something.”
Christina got up from the couch and walked toward the front door of the cabin. She could still hear the faint sounds of scratching coming from the opposite side of the door. The scratching was coming from the bottom of the door though, not near the door knob or above the door knob. Christina finally was face-to-face with the front door, only a few feet away.
“Chris, I’d feel better if you grabbed a knife before you open the door. Just in case,” said Matt.
Christina gave Matt a weird look for recommending such a thing. Finally, Christina grabbed the door knob and slowly unlocked the deadbolt in the door and then the door knob. She turned the knob and slightly pulled the door open toward her and looked out. There on the front porch she saw a dog—a border collie with black and white coloring. The dog was completely filthy, dirty from mud and debris, and looked skinny and frail. The border collie saw her and walked toward her, panting, shivering from the cold autumn night air.
“Oh my god,” exclaimed Christina as she swung the door wide open.
“What is it?” asked Matt.
“It’s…it’s a dog.”
“A dog?”
“Yeah, a dog…the poor thing…he looks lost and near death. He’s just skin and bones.”
“Well, bring it inside. Does it have a collar or chain on it?”
“Yeah, it does.”
“Well, does it say anything about his owner? What does it say?”
“It just says ‘Max.’”
“Max?”
“Yeah, Max. That must be his name.”
Christina brought the dog in to warm up, shutting the door behind her. She took the dog to the bathroom.
