Brody Barlow decided to rent out a cabin in the woods for one month to help him recover from the nervous breakdown he recently experienced. His boss had placed him on an indefinite leave of absence and had recommended an extended vacation. This cabin, suggested by a coworker, was a lakeshore property surrounded by forest. There was a dock and a private boathouse. The nearest neighbors were about a half mile away. The town was on the other side of the vast lake and it was about a forty-minute drive, twenty minutes by boat, away. It was a quiet and serene place, perfect for relaxing.

Brody arrived at the cabin in the early afternoon; he had wanted to get settled in before a storm that was forecasted began to move in. He made sure that the pantry and refrigerator were stocked before unpacking his suitcase. Once everything was in place, Brody went for a walk down to the boathouse. The crisp air was refreshing to Brody’s fragile spirit. The clouds were darkening, and small drops of rain started to fall as Brody made his way back up from the boathouse. The small drops turned into a downpour after Brody made it back inside.

Brody set to work making dinner: a hearty chicken noodle soup. Once all the ingredients were added to the pot, he sat down in the living room and turned on the TV. When the soup was ready, he pulled up a stool to the kitchen island and enjoyed his meal there. As he ate, he read the pamphlet the owners of the cabin left for their guests.

“Welcome to the Mullins House. This home has been in our family since the cabin was built more than one hundred years ago! Great-great-grandfather Mullins purchased the property in 1899 with the fortune that he earned during the gold rush in this area (from the 1870s through the 1910s). The cabin itself was built in 1905 and much if it still remains as part of the ground floor. The house has expanded and been modernized over the years. The upstairs was added in 1914, as the Mullins family grew. The 1950s saw the kitchen and dining room merge into an open-floor concept. Remodeling in the 1960s opened and expanded the living room to give the space more natural light; this is when the deck and original hot tub were added. The 1990s saw the master bedroom expand into the master suite, with a walk-in closet and grand bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub. More recent renovations in the 2000s and 2010s have seen the modernization of the electricity and plumbing. The hot tub on the deck was upgraded in 2015. The bathrooms and kitchen have new tiling and cabinets as of 2016. The whole house had new flooring put in just last year in 2022.”

The pamphlet went on to talk about Great-great-grandfather Mullins and his family, including photos; it named the architect of the original cabin as Lloyd W. Franks. It even had advertisements for the contractors who did the more recent renovations from the last twenty years. It was very informative and interesting. It gave a brief history of each room; it turns out that the downstairs library-office space was once Granny Mullins’ bedroom.

Brody got himself ready for bed. The storm outside was getting stronger and louder. Brody figured it was best to ride out the storm from the comfort of his master suite. He went downstairs to get a glass of water when he heard a knock. He assumed it was the wind and thought nothing of it. The knock became stronger. He walked over to the front door and listened; the knocking was coming from the other side of the door. He crept closer and heard something he did not expect.

“Help me!” said a voice from the other side of the door.

Brody leaped back in fright.

“Please let me in!” said the voice; it was faint, but Brody could tell it was feminine.

Brody opened the door, a beautiful woman dressed in all white was standing on the doorstep soaking wet. She had pale, porcelain skin, long sandy brown hair, crystal blue eyes, full pink lips, and a sensuous curvy body. She looked familiar, but Brody couldn’t place her.

“Oh! Um! Come in, come in,” said Brody, moving his body out of the way. “Are you okay?”

“I’m much better now,” the woman said.

“Let’s get you warmed up.”

Brody led the woman to the fireplace and turned on the gas-fueled flames.

“Oh, that feels so good,” the woman said. She placed her hands near the fire.

“I’ll find you something dry to wear,” said Brody.

He dashed upstairs and into one of the unoccupied bedrooms. He found two bathrobes in the closet, but nothing else. He took one of the bathrobes and returned to the living room. The woman was still warming herself by the fire.

“Sorry, miss,” Brody said. “This robe is all I could find.”

“That’s alright,” she shivered as she accepted the robe. “It’s certainly better than nothing.”

“I’ll show you to the bathroom so you can change. Feel free to take a warm shower; the owners left out some toiletries you can use. I can wash and dry your wet clothes when you’re done."

Brody led the mystery woman to the bathroom. He was curious about the woman, but he thought it was best to question her after she warmed up.

“Thank you so much for your hospitality,” said the woman.

She went into the bathroom and closed and locked the door. Brody heard the shower turn on and he went back to the living room. He had so many questions: who was this woman? Where did she come from? Why was she out in the storm? How come she looks so familiar?

It was too dangerous to send her back out or to drive her anywhere. He figured he can let her sleep in one of the unused bedrooms. He went into the kitchen and started boiling water; he wanted to offer her a warm beverage. He then went upstairs into the hall closet to find extra blankets for the woman, and placed them on the bed in the spare room. He went back downstairs to check on the kettle. Brody was a little startled to find the woman dressed in the bathrobe in the kitchen.

“Oh! Uh, hi,” he said. “I was making you a warm beverage. I have tea, hot cocoa, coffee– it might be a little late for coffee–, uh, something else?”

“I’ll have tea,” said the woman.

“What flavor?” Brody asked. “I have chamomile, lavender, peppermint, lemon, and ginger.”

“That’s quite an assortment of tea. I’ll take a chamomile.”

“Excellent choice.”

Brody fixed the woman some tea, and made himself a cup.

“Thank you, Mister–?” the woman started.

“Brody, my name is Brody.”

“I’m Almira.”

“Nice to meet you Almira.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Brody.”

They shook hands. Brody couldn’t help but feel as though he had seen this woman before. Why did the name Almira ring a bell? He didn’t know anyone by that name.

“Almira, may I ask how you came to this cabin, in this storm?”

“I was driving home. I live about a mile up the road, and my car got a flat. I couldn’t get phone service out there and the rain was coming down so hard; I went to the closest house I could find.”

“I have a spare room you can sleep in tonight, then we can get your tire fixed in the morning.”

“I’m not imposing on you?”

“No, I’m glad to be of service to you.”

“Thank you, Brody.”

Almira settled in upstairs, and Brody took her damp clothes to the laundry room and washed them. He then went back to the master suite. He turned off the lights and got into bed. He tried to read an eBook on his phone, but he couldn’t stop thinking of the beautiful woman in the next room. Her curvy, voluptuous body aroused him; how warm would it feel against his. He thought of her full lips, how he wanted to kiss them. He imagined her soft, brown hair; he wished he could run his fingers through it. His thoughts turned into dreams as he fell asleep.

Brody wasn’t sure how long he had been sleeping when he woke to the sound of the bedroom door opening. Almira walked in, wearing nothing but a smile. She closed the door softly before she tip-toed over to Brody’s bed. Her body appeared to be glowing in the moonlight. She slid into the bed next to Brody. He turned to look at her and she kissed him on the lips. Perhaps Brody was still asleep; surely this must be a dream, a very pleasant dream.

Almira’s kisses grew intense with need. She placed her left hand around his head; her right hand massaged his chest, then his stomach, then down to his growing bulge. Brody sat up and took off his shirt. Almira pushed him back gently, still massaging his bulge. Brody pulled her closer, kissing her neck, grabbing her breast. Almira moved herself up on Brody until her breasts were at his mouth. He took turns kissing and sucking both of them. She moved herself up on Brody again, until her thick thighs were straddling his face. She rocked her hips as his tongue glided along her slit. He sucked on her clit and made circles with his tongue; Almira came hard in his mouth.

She moved back down him slowly, allowing him to kiss and lick her body. She kissed his forehead, down to his nose, down to his lips; she kept moving down, kissing his neck, his chest, all the way down to his sweatpants that covered his bulge. Almira pulled his pants and boxers down, revealing a long, hard, thick member. She kissed the tip, her tongue going round and round. Slowly, she moved her mouth down on the shaft, her hands massaging his balls. She took his cock all the way to the back of her mouth until it tickled her throat. She sat up, then straddled Brody’s waist. She guided his hard cock into her wet pussy. She rocked her hips; she started slowly, but picked up pace as the momentum in their nether regions built. They climaxed at the same time.

When Brody woke up the next morning Almira was gone. He was thinking about the amazing sex they had last night when his phone rang. It was Beth, his wife. His wife! How could he forget that he had a wife? Panic settled into his chest. He cheated on his wife with a stranger. He had to explain to Almira, that what happened should never have happened, and it could never happen again. Does he admit to Beth what he did with Almira? He wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to break his beloved wife’s heart.

“Hey Beth, what’s happening?” Brody said.

There was no answer. He supposed that they lost the connection. He shot her a text instead.

“Hey, babe. Just woke up. Ttyl. Love you lots.”

That should buy him some time to think about what to do with Almira. He needed to look for her before she left so he could talk to her. He leapt out of bed and pulled his pants back up. He ran to her room and knocked on the door, no answer. He slowly opened the door and poked his head in, she wasn’t there; her bed looked as though she never slept in it, the blankets he had placed on them were gone. He ran downstairs to the kitchen; Almira wasn’t there either. He checked in the laundry room, still no sign of Almira; he checked the washer and dryer for her clothes, they were gone. He ran back to her bedroom and checked the closet; both bathrobes hung on their hangers, untouched and unused. He checked the whole house from the attic to the basement. She was no longer in the house. He ran outside to find her or at least her car with the flat; they were both gone.

Brody went back into the house feeling defeated. He realized he had left his phone in his room and went to retrieve it. There was a message from Beth.

“Good morning, love. Just wanted to check in on you. You didn’t call or text me to tell me that you made it to the cabin. Let me know that you’re alright. I love you.”

Brody replied to Beth’s message.

“I’m so sorry I made you worry. The service up here isn’t great. I sent you a message a little while ago, hopefully you received it. I will talk to you later. I need to go to the town to pick up some things. Love you lots.”

Brody wasn’t exactly lying. He was going to the town, but to pick up some information. He wanted to find Almira. Hopefully someone in the town knew who she was. He went into the kitchen to make some coffee before he left. There was no sign of him ever making tea the night before, no used teabags, no dirty teacups. Was last night even real? Perhaps it was all just a dream. The knot in his stomach loosened a little. If it was a dream then he did not cheat. Yes, the amazing sex with the beautiful woman was all a dream. However, Almira seemed so real. Surely, she must have come to the door last night in distress. Did she, or was that all a dream too? Brody was confused and scared. Not being able to distinguish dream from reality is what caused him to have a breakdown. Getting out of the cabin for a couple of hours might do him some good.

Brody got to the little town of Myersville around ten that morning. Not many shops were open yet. He walked around the town looking into the windows of the shops. He found that the library was open and went inside. It was a quaint little building with a resource desk; behind the desk were portraits of notable citizens of Myersville. Great-great-grandfather Mullins’ portrait hung with a placard with his given name of John H. Mullins. Next to John Mullins was his wife Emily Smith Mullins. The next portrait shocked Brody to his core. It was Almira Mullins Myers, the beautiful woman who came to his doorstep last night, the daughter of John and Emily Mullins. Brody turned around and left the library in a hurry. He ran back to his truck. This confirms that what happened last night was all a dream. The knot in his stomach unclenched completely.

“It was all just a very vivid dream,” Brody said to himself. “All just a crazy dream.”

Brody drove down to the lake to take a walk, get fresh air, and think. He supposed that he saw Almira’s picture and name in the pamphlet that the owners of the house left behind. He subconsciously found her attractive. All alone in the cabin, he was bound to fantasize about a beautiful woman; he usually fantasized about Beth, but last night was different. He fantasized about a different woman, but that was okay, right? It wasn’t cheating, was it? No, Brody concluded. He couldn’t control his thoughts or his fantasies. He was relieved that he did not betray Beth.

When Brody pulled up to the cabin a little while later, he was surprised to see an ambulance and fire truck parked in the driveway and police tape surrounding the house. An officer was standing guard over the driveway entrance. Brody parked his truck a little way off, past the police cars; there were at least three police cars parked along the road. He walked down to the edge of the driveway where the police officer stood guard.

“Excuse me, Officer,” Brody said. “Could you tell me what’s going on?”

“Evans!” shouted a voice from behind. The officer turned to look.

Four men were walking out of the house, two were wearing suits and two were wearing police uniforms. One of the men in suits had a thick mustache, he was the one who shouted at the officer called Evans. The six men walked toward each other and met in the middle of the driveway.

“Yes, Chief?” replied Evans.

“Anyone stop by?” asked the chief.

“No one, sir,” replied Evans.

“Well, I did, sir,” Brody said. “I’m rent––”

“Good,” interrupted the chief. “We’re still waiting on the coroner’s office to arrive.”

“The coroner!” Brody exclaimed.

“What happened, sir?” asked Evans.

“It seems that the homeowners got a call from the renter’s wife,” said the chief.

“Beth? Why did Beth call?” demanded Brody.

“It seems she hasn’t heard from her husband in a few days,” continued the chief.

“But I did text her!” protested Brody. “I texted her this morning!”

“Normally, we don’t open an investigation after only twenty-four hours,” the chief went on. “But the wife said that her husband’s mental health was shaky, and she was scared for his safety. She called the homeowners, and the homeowners asked us to do a welfare check. That’s when we found our man Brody Barlow deceased.”

Brody was speechless. Surely the chief wasn’t talking about him. There had to be some kind of mistake seeing as Brody was standing there right next to them.

“I’m not dead,” Brody said. “I’m standing right here.”

“There doesn’t seem to be any signs of foul play,” the chief continued, ignoring Brody. “But that’s for the coroner to decide. I think this is a simple cardiac event.”

“No!” Brody shouted. “I’m not dead! I am standing right here!”

“Chief,” said a woman in a firefighter’s uniform, walking to the small group in the driveway. “We have confirmed that there was no carbon monoxide leaking in the house."

“Thank you, Brit,” said the chief.                                                                                                  

Brody could not get any of the officers’ attention. He ran into the house and up the stairs to the bedroom. A black body bag was on the floor, and EMTs were zipping it up. He caught a glimpse of the face before they covered it. It was a deathly pale version of Brody. Its eyes were staring straight ahead, its mouth was agape, its skin was an ashy gray. But how could it be? How could he be lying that bag when he was standing right there?

The End?