It was a candle. When he got closer he could tell that it was sitting in a window. It was so dark that it looked like the window was floating in nothingness. The rest of the house was still invisible. And then another light appeared around the side of the house. This one was much brighter and lit the woods very well. Thaddeus went over to it, knowing to stay several yards away. This must have been the front of the house. The light was coming from a flame perched atop a long stick in the ground.
This little home was unlike any house the boy had ever seen. It was made of wood that looked wet and moldy, like the underside of a fallen tree after a storm. Bugs crawled over it and burrowed into it. Instead of a door there was just a large hole where a door might have gone. The edges were rough and looked chewed in places. Thaddeus shivered at the sight.
He knocked quickly on the soft dark wood. There was no answer. He snuck real close to the entrance and called out a friendly hello. Still no answer. He took a step inside. Surely whoever lived there didn’t mind guests or they wouldn’t have such a huge hole in their home. The light from the flame outside lit half of the little home very well. The other half remained dark.
The half he could see looked old and forgotten about. The floor was the same dark wet wood as the walls. A table set under the window with the candle. A lone chair was next to the table. There was nothing else on that side of the room.
Thaddeus tried to make out what was in the dark half of the room. He called out again but there was still no answer. He went over to the window and looked out at what little part of the woods he could see.
This was probably the home of someone who worked for the park. No one else would have permission to live in the park, unless whoever lived there did not have permission. The idea frightened Thaddeus a little bit and he went back to the door.
A voice appeared from the dark half of the room.
“What peculiar fate is this to bring a little child into my home?”
Thaddeus froze. This voice was old and weary, that of a woman. It had a texture to it that made him shudder.
“I’m sorry.” He began. “I didn’t mean to come in. I saw the light.”
“Did you? You must have been very close to see it.”
“I got lost.”
“You would have to be.” The voice said accusingly. “No one ever comes to these woods at night. And no one ever finds my home, day or night.”
“I’m sorry.” Thaddeus repeated. “Can you show me to the main path?” He looked over to that side of the little house over but could not find where the voice was coming from.
“A path, in these woods? There is no path. No one ever comes out here.”
“The path to the parking lot.” Thaddeus said. He was trembling all over and thought he might just have better luck on his own.
“A parking lot? In the middle of the woods? Whatever are you talking about? There is no parking lot and there certainly isn’t a path.”
Thaddeus began to wonder if he accidentally ended up on someone’s private property. “Isn’t this the park still?” He asked, his voice shaking.
“I certainly don’t have any idea what you mean by all that. You are a very confused child, aren’t you? And not very smart as well.”
“I am smart.” Thaddeus snapped. “I got lost, I told you. I’m looking for my parents.”
“Oh,” the voice sounded amused, “lost from your parents. That is bad news. Maybe I shall help you.”
Thaddeus heard a shuffling from the dark half of the house and backed up to the wall. “I should probably go now.” He said.
Something was stirring in the dark. An old woman stepped out of the darkness and into the light. She had long frizzled hair and wore a long dreary gray dress with colorful patches here and there. Thaddeus gasped when he saw her. She looked normal enough, but something was off ever so slightly in her face. He couldn’t place it. It was so subtle that he could not tell what it was. It gave the woman a somewhat displeasing appearance.
“Won’t you let me help you?” She asked.
“No thanks, I should go now.”
“Nonsense, you just arrived. Stay a little while.”
“I really should be going.” Thaddeus went to the hole where a door should have been.
“What would a child like you be doing out at this hour, anyway?”
He stopped and looked back. “Why did it get so dark so fast?”
“So fast? It’s been dark for hours.”
Thaddeus shook his head and held up his watch. “It’s only two-something in the afternoon. It shouldn’t be dark for a while.”
“Two in the afternoon? Dear child, it’s much closer to two-something at night.”
“No,” Thaddeus said slowly, growing even more frightened. “It’s the afternoon. The sun was just up.” The woman shook her head pityingly. “No,” Thaddeus said angrily. “I was walking with my parents in the afternoon. It’s walk day. We took a walk in the park with the woods and the meadow. I saw turtles and birds and took the path I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have done that. I wish they were here right now.”
The woman smiled in a very mysterious way. “You really were in a park just now? It really was daylight?”
“Yes.” Thaddeus said, tears forming in his eyes. “I really wish I stayed with them.”
The woman looked off into space and smiled. “You should stay here tonight. Yes, I’ll help you find your parents in the morning. But for now you will stay here.”
“No,” Thaddeus said, starting to cry. “I need to go. They’re out there looking for me. I need to find them.”
“Find them? They aren’t looking for you. Why should they? They were trying so hard to be rid of you.”
“They’re looking for me.” Thaddeus said, more as confirmation to himself than answering her.
“No dearest, they couldn’t care less about you.”
“That’s not true.” Thaddeus cried. “Why are you saying that?”
“Because it’s true and you know it’s true.” She sounded so sure of herself.
“No . . . no . . . no.” He sobbed.
The old woman ran over to the boy and grabbed his arm. “You will stay here tonight.”
“Stop, let me go.” Thaddeus screeched, falling to the ground. “I need to get to them.”
“No,” She said angrily, her voice grew deep and contorted. She pulled him across the floor toward the dark side of the room “You will stay here until they come for you, which they won’t.”
With sudden great force Thaddeus pulled his arm away from the bony fingers of the old woman. He got up and ran into the darkness of the woods. She followed close behind, shouting at him. He didn’t hear what she said. He was running so fast into the darkness that it would only be a matter of time before he ran into a tree. He brushed one hard with his arm and tripped over a root, but luckily did not hit one head on. After a while he slowed down and listened. The shouting stopped. Everything was quiet again. He was really lost now. With no light and no way of knowing where he was poor little Thaddeus dropped to the ground and started crying out of fear and loneliness.
He kept hoping that his parents’ soothing voices would reach him where he sat. Surely they would be running around like mad to find him. That old woman lied to him. They were looking for him, he knew they were.
Hours passed and Thaddeus didn’t dare move. Any moment he would hear his parents and run right to them. The darkness all around lessened ever so slightly. A dull gray appeared over the horizon. The sun was starting to come up. A few minutes later the forest came into view.
Thaddeus got up and started in a direction he picked at random. The park was surrounded by neighborhoods, he was sure to reach one in no time. He could ask for a ride and be home before breakfast. His parents were probably waiting patiently for his arrival.
The boy walked on and on and o
n but no houses or neighborhoods came into view in the distance. The woods kept going forever. He tried to keep himself calm by thinking of getting home and seeing his parents, but a fear was growing in him that said something different.