The Cabin at the End of Herrick Road. Derek Wachter
cabin, inside and out, and to each room.
“So what do you think?” asked Christina.
“It is beautiful. Just like you,” said Matt.
Christina smiled and leaned down to give Matt a hug.
“This is going to be an amazing restart to our lives. I love it already,” said Matt.
“You know what, I do too. I’m glad we did this.” Christina smiled.
“Ma’am, would you like to tell us how you and your husband would like to have the bedroom arranged? I believe you have options there, as well as how you want the living room arranged, especially that it’s an open concept design out here. As far as the dining room here goes, it’s a small space and we went ahead and arranged it how we think it would look best, but if you guys have a better idea, it’s your home, you can arrange it however you want,” said the mover.
“No, we like how you set the dining room table up in that corner. That’s perfect. I’m going to go to the bedroom, honey. Is there a specific way you want the bedroom set up?” asked Christina.
“Well, if I had it my way, I would like for the headrest of the bed to be against the wall that’s between the bedroom and bathroom,” said Matt. “That way we can enjoy looking out the window if we want to.”
“So when you’re in bed you want to be facing toward the window?” asked Christina.
“Yes, that’s right. What do you think, honey?”
“That sounds good to me. Then in the mornings we can lay in bed and open the blinds to the window and watch rain or snow or even a sunrise over the trees. Maybe we might even get some deer to graze by in the grass by the window?”
“You never know.”
“Okay, that sounds good to me too.”
Christina walked into the bedroom with a couple of the movers who went to work in rearranging the bedroom for the couple. Matt stayed behind in the living room in his wheelchair, looking through some of the packed boxes in the kitchen.
“Sir?” said one of the movers.
Matt turned around in his chair to face one of the movers. “Yes?” asked Matt.
“Sir, we’re going to rearrange your living room, but only if you want it to be done. We stuck the TV and stand against the wall over by the fireplace, and we put the couch and recliner chair in the corner with it. Are you okay with how it’s all set up?” asked the mover.
“So long as my wife is okay with it, then I’m good,” replied Matt. “If it’s up to me, this looks great. I love how you guys have the furniture set up and the bookshelves and curio cabinet where they are. You guys did great with this move, thank you.”
The mover thanked Matt and went back to unloading boxes from the moving truck into the living room and kitchen area. Matt couldn’t believe how many boxes were being unloaded from the truck into the cabin. Matt wondered if they really had accumulated this much while living together over the last few years. Finally, the movers had brought the last of the boxes in and shut the back door to their moving truck. Christina had since come back from the bedroom after movers helped reorganize the bedroom for the couple. She had spent some time unpacking bedroom items and clothing boxes and putting things away. Two more movers came in and moved a large dresser into the bedroom. After the dresser was moved into the bedroom, the movers were finished with their work. On the way out, Matt had attempted to give the men an extra hundred-dollar tip, but the men would have nothing of it. The lead mover told Matt that their pay can only come from the company, but he thanked Matt for the generous offer. Matt thanked the men and shook each one of their hands, Christina in turn shook their hands as well. Finally, the men left the cabin and the last man out shut the door behind him, leaving Christina and Matt alone in their newly purchased cabin home.
“Chris,” said Matt.
“Yes?” replied Christina.
“Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Nothing. I hear nothing. Remember when we were living back in the city, we would hear our neighbors from next door, hear the sounds of the traffic on the interstate and the roads…emergency vehicles. Even lying in bed 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,