Fearing the Storm

The Cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years. These teenage boys, Logan, Jimmy, and Bud, went riding one evening on their bikes. The evening was coming in quickly, and it was bringing in dark clouds, looking like a storm was coming. They had been out too long and needed a place to spend the night because the rain and thunder were starting. They then came across this cabin. They noticed a candle burning in the window.

“Someone must be here,” Jimmy told his friends.

“I sure hope so, because I’m soaked and I don’t like the thunder, and it looks like we are in for a bad one. I feel like a target when it lightnings,” Bud stressed.

Jimmy stepped up to the door to knock. No answer. He knocked again and still no answer. Just then the door slowly opened. The boys waited to see if someone would come.

“Hello, anyone here?” Jimmy shouted, waiting for an answer, and then stepped inside, then cried again, “Is anyone here? My friends and I are looking for a place to stay tonight. The thunder and lightning have started.” No answer. Jimmy was one of the brave boys. Looking at the boys, he added, “I guess we can stay. There’s no one here.”

Logan said with a concerned voice. “Maybe someone is staying here and stepped out for something.”

“Logan, what would they step out for? There are only trees, alders, and not even a car track. It looks like no one stayed here and left in a hurry and forgot to blow out the candle.”

“Who would light it, then leave it?” Bud asked in fear.

“I think someone came by to spend the night, to get out of the storm, then decided to leave and forgot to blow out the candle.”

“Maybe they were scared of this storm like you, Bud,” laughed Logan.

Jimmy replied, “You could be right, because when you get afraid of something, your mind goes blank. Let’s get inside and dry off, then make our beds, because we don’t know if we are going to get hit or not out here, for we are all wet.”

“Don’t say that, Jimmy

When they got inside, the place was very dusty. They first looked around.

“Look, this bedroom is big. There’s also a bed in it.” Bud told them.

“Do you want to sleep in it?” The boys joked and started to laugh at him and quickly stopped because they heard a knock on the door. Along with a big clap of thunder.

“Who could that be?” whispered Logan.

They all looked at each other.

“Go check who it is, Jimmy,” said Logan, giving him a little push.

Jimmy walked slowly out of the bedroom with Bud and Logan following behind. They listened to see if the knock would come again. But no knock, only the rolling of thunder. “Maybe it was the wind that caused a tree to hit against the door. You know there are lots of sticks, and alders around this place.”

“That’s right, it could have been the wind,” Logan added.

“Yes, let’s not fret,” Jimmy said, then added, “Let’s go make something to eat. There’s some wood here. We will make a fire and get dried off.” When the fire started trying to burn, they couldn’t stand the smoke. “Something is plugging the chimney. It shouldn’t smoke like this.”

“How will we make us a lunch?” asked Bud.

“We will go up on the roof tomorrow and check it out, or do you want to go now?” Jimmy laughed.

“If you go, we would cook food.”Logan joked.

“We do have can foods and crackers,” Bud told them.

“Look at that, you are lucky, Bud. We would have made you go.” Jimmy and Logan laughed until they nearly cried. They loved teasing Bud.

They sat at the old wooden table to eat their lunch. “Good thing we brought canned food and crackers, along with a few other things, or we would have had not much to eat,” Jimmy said with a grin.

“We should have made a shelter out in the woods and made a fire. I hate it here.” Bud sounded scared and discouraged, but the boys told him to settle down.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t like the thunder?” Logan laughed.

“I don’t like it, but this place gives me the creeps.”

“Not me.” Jimmy rose from the table and went to make his bed, then added, “At least we are out of the storm.” Jimmy was a brave young man and nothing much scared him.

“Can we all sleep next to each other?” Bud asked, looking at Jimmy.

“Go sleep in the bedroom where the bed is,” joked Logan.

“Tonight is a creepy night, and with the storm it makes it creepier,” Bud told them.

“Jimmy, when it gets daylight let us look around more. There are a couple more rooms and it’s too dark to look in them tonight.”

“Yes, Logan, and I’m too tired now anyway, so we’ll wait until tomorrow, or did you say you wanted to go, Bud?”

Bud wouldn’t answer, leaving the boys with a grin on their faces.

The night started peaceful. The boys were in their sleeping bags, feeling warm and cozy. Bud just lay awake, shining his flashlight around when he surprisingly came across a reading hanging on the old cupboard door. It said, ‘Never Hike Alone’. Bud’s eyes got big. “Hey! You guys.” he shook them until they woke.

“What, Bud? We’re trying to sleep.” Logan complained.

“Look over there.”

“Yeah, it just says never hike alone. So what, we aren’t alone, are you?”

“Bud, you’re too nervous. Try to sleep.” Jimmy murmured tiredly.

The thunder was rolling pretty heavy, disturbing Bud’s sleep. He closed his eyes so he wouldn’t see the lightning. This night will be my last, Bud thought. Suddenly, trying to get comfortable, he cried, “What was that?”

“You shouldn’t have come with us. You are too nervous. It’s just a stick hitting the window.” Jimmy told him.

“If I had known it would storm like this, I wouldn’t have come. I hate those bright lightnings and the thunder is sharp.”

“You're here, Bud; now get used to it.”

“I remember my dad, and I went fishing, and we were a long way from home. It started to rain, so Dad told me we would stay a little longer, maybe the fish would bite. The longer we stayed, the worse it poured.” Bud told them, then added, “I told him I wanted to go home, because I could hear rumbles off in the distance. He said, "Okay, let’s go." When we got to the truck and got in it wouldn’t start. I started to cry, and he said, don’t cry; we are inside the truck. Nothing will harm us. Just then the lightning hid the back of the truck, and what a noise. It tore off the back and took off the bumper, and it scared Dad for the first time I had ever seen him so afraid. "We’ve been gone for some time now, and someone will come." He told me. You guys, I never wet in my pants, before, but then I was so scared, I couldn’t hold it. Someone came to pick us up, and I never was so happy in all my life.”

“How did he get the truck home?” asked Logan.

“The next day my dad and his neighbours hauled it home,” Bud told them.

“Is that why you are so afraid of a thunderstorm?” asked Logan.

“I’ve always been afraid of thunderstorms,” Bud snapped. “I think if anyone makes fun of anyone afraid of anything, they will pay.”

“Oh, Bud, so how will we pay?” Logan mocked.

“You will; you wait and see.” Continue.