When I was a kid, I summered at my grandparents house. They lived on a 2000-acre farm in a very rural area of Idaho. Their property included a section of the Snake River that was a really beautiful wooded area. I loved to spend my days exploring. This place was so remote that it wasn’t uncommon for 2 or 3 days to pass without seeing any other people. It was just my grandpa driving his tractor and my grandma tending to the peas and raspberries. It was very idyllic.
One morning we were having breakfast around the table. That morning my cousin came over with my uncle. The grownups all took their breakfast on the patio, drinking coffee until the sun was up. My cousin and I were around 6-7 years old at the time, so we didn’t mind being left on our own. Dresden, my cousin, got really excited and started telling me about a little shack in the woods he found the last time he was here. We set out immediately with a backpack full of water and snacks. Kids can’t go anywhere without snacks.
We headed across the fields as a shortcut to the woods. It was only around 6:45, but it was already starting to get hot. We got to the edge of the woods and felt the air cool as we stepped out of the sunlight. There was an animal trail through the forest that we followed for another 10-15 minutes. Then Dresden turned off the trail and started heading deeper into the woods. I followed along, excited for the adventure. We stopped after a few minutes and drank some water.
“How much farther, Dres?”
“Not too…I think it’s just across the creek from here.”
“What’s so great about this place?”
“It’s real old. I bet it was here before gramps was even born, so like forever old! Plus, it’s got all sorts of weird stuff painted in it. Like birds and stuff, but not like normal birds. It’s weird. You’ll see.”
We headed farther into the woods and came up to the creek in a couple of minutes. A quick scurry over a fallen tree, and we were both safely on the other side. A small trail opened up in front of us. The air seemed to get colder the further we went. I distinctly remember seeing my breath at one point.
A few minutes later, we were looking at the side of a small wooden structure. To call it a building would be too kind. It appeared to be made of sticks and branches and tied together with what looked like hair. We figured it was horsetail or some other type of hair used in the old days for things like this. We had no idea that it was pretty unusual to find a stick hut held together with hair. We were young.
Dresden circled around to the front and let out a small gasp.
“Umm Cas? Check this out.” It was barely more than a whisper.
I walked around to the front and was immediately hit by a pungent stench. The door to the shack was broken and lying a few feet away. The entrance was completely dark, even though it seemed you could see between most of the sticks making up the walls. Then I made out what looked like the remains of a deer just inside the doorway. It smelled horrible. Dresden was worried.
“Maybe there’s a cougar in there. Maybe a bear. Or rattlesnakes. I really don’t like snakes, so if that’s what it is, we have to go home now. Cause I can’t do snakes.” He was so matter-of-fact.
I threw a rock into the hut and heard it bounce off the wall. Nothing stirred. Out came my flashlight. The deer carcass looked like it had been torn apart. The chest cavity was splintered outward like something had burst through. I didn’t realize that at the time, but Grandpa mentioned it later. We looked around the room to see if anything was alive in there. Nothing. Not even a spider, as far as we could tell.
The room seemed to be quite large. Big enough to hold a dozen people comfortably. Along the back wall, there was a bench with pieces of rope or hair wrapped around loops every 3 feet or so. I immediately tried to get Dresden to sit on the bench so I could tie him in. He wouldn’t. Just in front of the bench was a long shallow groove carved into the wooden floor. Looked like a drain of some type. It ended in a small basin in the center of the room.
I got my water bottle out and poured about half of it into the trough, which turned a reddish-brown color as it ran toward the basin. That’s when I noticed the birds on the walls. They seemed to be glowing a little. Kind of a blue light. They weren’t doing that before I poured the water. Dresden saw this too. He freaked the fuck out. May as well have seen the devil himself.
“We gotta go right now, Cas! This isn’t right. Daddy told me to run if ever I felt evil, and I think this is it.” He started crying.
“Hold on a sec. I just want to dump the water out and see if it turns off.”
I tried to pull the basin out of the floor, but it was stuck. I gave Dresden my best sad girl face, and he said he’d try. He reached down, grabbed the sides, and pulled. The water sloshed around as the basin started coming loose. The birds and strange symbols on the walls started glowing more intensely. The water in the basin splashed straight up all at once and hit him in the face. I started laughing for a second until the hand shot out of the bowl and grabbed his face where the water had splashed on him. It pulled him in so quickly I didn’t even understand what had happened for a minute. Then I kind of came out of my confusion and looked into the bowl. Empty and dry. There were no birds or weird symbols on the walls at all. The whole place was just silent.
I took a few steps away from the bowl, backing toward the door, when I tripped over the deer carcass. It was very rotten, so I more fell into it than onto it. Covered with ichor and gore, I started screaming. I ran from the room and ran as fast as I could back to the farm. I made it to the edge of the wood and saw my uncle and grandpa leaning on a truck. As soon as they saw me they were both sprinting towards me. Grandpa swung me up into his arms and started heading for the house. My uncle started asking after Dresden. I tried to tell them what happened, but couldn’t say anything over my sobs. Grandma met us at the door and hosed me off in the mud room. I started telling them about the shack and the bowl. My uncle looked at my grandparents and swore.
“I knew we should have burned that fucking place to the ground! What good has it done recently? The crops aren’t coming in like they used to; you and Mom are starting to look your age! Hell, why the fuck do we still have it?”
I was confused. Grandpa grabbed a rifle and headed out the door. My grandma made me some tea to help me calm down. I got into a hot bath a few minutes later, and while I played in the bubbles, I remember hearing my grandma talking to my uncle.
“It would have been Cas, but she’s a girl. Your brother got lucky having all daughters. Unfortunately, it only takes boys. You know this, you helped last time. It all comes to an end eventually. Just know little Dresden didn’t suffer. He will be with your dear wife in heaven now. And we will have a bumper crop this year. I already feel a bit more energetic. It’s amazing how fast it works.”
When I got out of the bath, my uncle was gone. I guess he went to say goodbye to his son. Grandpa came home a few minutes later, and I could have sworn he looked 10 years younger.
This all took place when I was a child. I’m 35 now, and my grandparents are in their mid-90s. My grandpa still works the farm every day and doesn’t look a day over 60. Grandma is still just as active as she’s always been. It’s weird. Like they’ve found the fountain of youth.