Young Writers Society

A milky glaze hovered above the icy waters. The ducks floated like buoys, occasionally dipping their orange beaks in looking for breakfast. The evergreen trees cast an ominous shadow amidst the gloom; proof winter had claimed the area. The lake pushed through the landscape for acres beyond the gloomy horizon. The ground on the shore was covered in a slushy snow. Stones, with their cracked surfaces from the freezing temperatures, were aligned in a row, their broken edges strewn across the grass. The stones led up to the sunken wooden porch and the front door.

Remy sat frozen. The mysterious fog she'd read about shrouded every inch of the vast and glorious lake spanning out for miles ahead of her. She turned the key, and her car grew silent. Everywhere she looked was nature.

Trees. Squirrels. Lake. Muck. Fog. So this was it. Her breath came out in a thick white smoke, wafting into the canopy of trees above. She diverted her gaze to the view ahead of her- an extremely tiny and incomparably majestic cabin.

The windows were iced over, but huge. Must be for the view, Remy imagined, as she moved slowly closer. She bent down to pick up an irresistible skipping rock and hurled it side-armed. Its sharp edges pierced the top of the water, creating smooth ripples across the flat surface until it sank into the depths.

She stole away from the waters and ambled up the broken pathway. The first step creaked noisily as it gave with her weight. Remy rolled her eyes and mumbled about the place judging her already. She stood atop the wooden porch and took in her new residence.

“Well, this isn’t beyond beautiful or anything,” grabbing the door handle. It didn’t budge. She slipped her icy fingers into her coat pocket and secured a shiny, silver key. The fragrance reached her first. It was one of those aromas where you stretch out your stomach and open up your lungs. Her nostrils flared, she closed her eyes, loudly yelled 'home' to herself enough to send the free-loading mouse skittering across the floor into another hole in the wall. Remy yelped and ran back a few steps, laughing at herself. She fished in her purse and found her cell phone. She saw it was 4:25.

“Wow, San Francisco to Maine, what a trip.”

A huge picture window on the left wall caught her eye as she scanned the innards of the cabin. It looked out across the lake, with the panes seeming to melt into the trees themselves. She walked towards it, not daring to blink. She ran her fingers along the dusty cushion atop the window seat, collecting years and years of time in doing so. Shesat down and thoughts began to rush in her head about her long journey to Maine, God that was a long flight she thought.

The plane was stuffy and crowded; there was a baby three rows back whose job apparently was to cry incessantly without any hint of stopping. Remy wiped her wet face and massaged her bloodshot eyes thinking of Cooper standing in the airport- alone for the first time in five years. He seemed so sad out there, she thought, and a sharp pang of guilt swelled in her chest as she thought of why. Remy gazed around the plane, observing an old couple holding hands and chatting apparently about a household cat who was in need of some sort of medicine. Remy thought old couples to be some sort of entity, as though they hardly existed any longer, how could they these days.

An unexpected sight caught her mid-thought-a guy she had gone to high school with was sitting four rows up in the aisle seat. She quickly memorized his face and tried to fit the name with the person. Joe, John, Jasper…Jim! Jim Halper was his name, and damn he was still good looking. Remy reminisced about how seven years ago Jim Halper was big man on campus-pretty girlfriend, good basketball player, and lots and lots of his parent’s money. He and Remy had history together senior year, with seats diagonal from each other-perfect position for Remy to gaze at his lovely brown hair and protruding back muscles. Remy laughed to herself remembering how she did not know a thing about World War II or Reparations, but she sure as hell knew when Jim Halper got a haircut. A fleeting desire to call his name came and went, thinking it would be silly of her to think he would remember her.

Remy’s daydream was interrupted by a loud creaking noise coming apparently from the area of the kitchen. She got up and went to inspect the kitchen but could not find the source of the noise. Must’ve been that mouse again, she thought. The kitchen donned dark cabinets, with granite countertops, and a white refrigerator. That will have to be replaced, she thought, with a quick shake of her head. A sensibly sized, maple square table stood in the middle of the room, with two chairs cuddled up close on both sides. As she continued her journey through the house she noticed a door on the left, assuming it was her bedroom she went in. Remy breathed and stepped towards the huge bay window at the far end of the room, but this time Remy did not sit down, she gazed out over the view into the forest beyond the cabin. The trees were huge and endless, high and deep. They were pine, oak, and others Remy could not identify. There were crows perched at the highest points, Remy thought to herself how she envied their carefree lifestyle, flying from tree to tree.

Behind Remy in the middle of the room stood a sensibly sized bed, wooden of course, with a head and foot board. Oh thank God, the mattress came, Remy thought with pleasure. She had Bragada ship her mattress last night so she could have a good night’s rest after her eleven hour plane ride and five hour - drive from Augusta to Pine Lake

Next to the bed was a beautiful oak dresser, a mirror resting on top of it. Remy got up to inspect the dresser closer and looked at herself for the first time since the rest stop hours before. At 25, Remy was magnificent with long brown wavy hair, and dark blue, ocean colored eyes. Her olive skin matched her dark eyebrows and long black lashes. Two deep dimples donned both cheeks when she smiled, something she’s always resented since elementary school. At about five-five, she was average height for a woman, and always took solace in the fact that she could wear heels with any date.

Remembering that she had left all her bags in the car, she quickly grabbed her keys and headed back through her new haven.

She opened the front door hard enough to hear a loud crack towards the hinges. Remy jerked her head over to see the door swinging from the middle hinge. Wow, I’m not even here a full 24 hours and the place is broken already, she thought disgusted. Now the repairmen must be called. She gently placed the door closed and made hey way to her car. She popped the back hatch open and grabbed the first of about seven or so bags from the trunk. As she was haphazardly rolling them back into her cabin the sounds of a loud engine came up quickly behind her and she screamed and ran onto her porch ditching her bags in the process. She stood frozen with her hands clasped around her phone, ready to dial. A huge red truck came ambling up the path towards Remy’s cabin, and she tensed as the driver parked it behind her's.

Remy strained her eyes to see who this intruder was, and soon enough he came into view. He was tall, about 6’2, with light skin and a neatly trimmed beard. She waited for him at a distance to say hello or wave or something, but he just kept walking right up onto Remy’s sagging porch. Remy stiffened and took a step back, ready to run. He leaned forward smiling.

“I’m Tasker Fields, your neighbor across the lake to the west over there”, pointing with a long, strong weathered finger towards a mess of trees. “Sorry for the intrusion, but I couldn’t find you in the directory and figured it would be better to meet you in person anyway!”

Remy eyed him suspiciously.

“I’m Remy Bristow; it’s very nice to meet you Tasker.” She smiled still hesitantly.

“So how you liking Pine Lake, isn’t it eerie at night? This fog is just relentless, sometimes I feel like it’s never gonna go away!”

He smiled another big toothy grin.

“I do like it so far, it’s very quiet, which is such a change from where I used to live, and the air seems substantially cleaner too.”

He nodded his head in agreement, “Yea, there is definitely not as much smog here as the city that’s for sure. So how’s the moving in coming, need any help with bags or anything?”

“Well actually if you wouldn’t mind I have a few suitcases left in the car!”

“Ok just tell me where to put them”, he said as he headed towards her car.

He grabbed the two biggest ones with ease and hauled them up the path and onto her porch awaiting direction into the cabin.

“Oh you can just put them in the door way, I’ve got them from here.” Better not invite him just yet, don’t want to give the wrong impression.“Alright. Oh is your door broken?” He held the broken wood in both hands and surveyed the damage.

“Yea, Remy smiled thinking on how she did that herself, “I don’t know my own strength apparently.”

“Well you’re in luck! I myself am an excellent carpenter and have enough tools to fix this in a minute that is if you would want me to!” He smiled at Remy, and his green eyes glowed in the setting sunlight.

“Oh that would be nice; I don’t feel safe with it broken. When would you be able to? “

He looked around as if his daily schedule would appear somewhere in the distance. “I can come by tonight, it would give me more piece of mind, that’s for sure.” He smiled at her again, sincerely surprised at her genuine beauty. He heard a young woman was moving into the old cabin, but he never imagined she would be like Remy.

“Oh that would be great, do you want my cell number so you can call me before you come?” I want some warning this time, she thought.

His eyes lightened up again, and he reached quickly into his dirty jean pocket and produced one of those water, snow, fire, ice, proof cell phones with the ultra hard exterior. “Ok shoot.” And he looked at her expectantly.

“Oh right, she blushed thinking about how long it’s been since she’s given a guy her number. “It’s 555-426-8442.”

He typed in the digits as quickly as she told them and returned his phone to his pocket. “Alright well, I will see you in a couple hours then!”

She watched his large frame walk away and waved as his truck looped around the front of her cabin and drove off down the path. She jumped down the steps, this time with a little more zeal and grabbed the last, smallest suitcase. Its nice having a guy around to help, she thought smiling as she walked back into her new home.