A Ramshackle Cabin in the Woods

There is no way anyone would voluntarily do this, thought Jess angrily to herself, pushing her dripping hair out of her face while glaring daggers into Peter’s back. Peter had begged her to get up at the crack of dawn, don heavy boots and go trekking through the wilderness surrounding their nice cozy motel. Normally she wouldn’t have minded going on hike through the woods, but she had just fallen asleep when he had begun banging on her door, and her borrowed boots were too small.

After getting over the lack of sleep and uncomfortable shoes, they had walked hand in hand, enjoying looking at the huge trees and wildlife. They had stopped at a waterfall, and Peter took out his map, pointing out where they were. When Jess held her hands out, trying to feel the mist, Peter mistook the action as her asking for the map. He handed her the map, which immediately fluttered away, left to be pounded by thousands of gallons of water at the bottom of the waterfall.

Rather than getting frustrated like he normally would, Peter just smiled and shrugged it off, choosing to joke about how funny it was that they would have to trek back like a true ‘Survivorman’, trying to get her to smile. After all, that was the show that they had first bonded over—she had said Survivorman was better than Man vs. Wild. And although he never outwardly admitted it, she knew that he had begun to agree with her. There really was no debate here—the man who goes out on his own was sure to be tougher than a man who went ‘camping’ with camera crew and stays at hotels.

Peter couldn’t help but notice the odd looks Jess was giving him—he knew that he was acting stranger than usual, but he couldn’t help it. He was about to ask her one of the biggest questions a man could ask a woman, and he was nervous! Just as he opened his to ask her the question that would change both of their lives forever, thunder sounded up ahead, followed seconds later by pouring rain.

“We should look for shelter! Or at least a clearing away from all these trees.” He shouted while protecting his face from the icy rain.

She shot him a glare, then silently nodded in agreement, motioning for him to lead the way.

Peter gulped nervously; this day was definitely not doing the way he had planned on it going.

A little while later they came across a dilapidated cabin, with a partly torn down chimney. Peter strode over to the front porch, and loudly banged on the door.

“Hello? Is anyone home?” He called loudly.

Jess peered in one of the windows, and rolled her eyes. Peter was still banging on the door, getting louder and louder with each passing second.

“Peter, no one is in the house.” Jess said, pointing inside the window. “Is there a key somewhere? No one is going to answer the door.”

Peter looked around the small porch in frustration. “Where would they hide a key, Jess? Under the nonexistent welcome mat? Oh wait, there’s a hole on the ground—maybe it’s somewhere in there!”

Jess rolled her eyes, “Calm down. Is the door even locked? Maybe we’re not even the first people who have gotten lost out here.” She said, pushing him aside to try jiggling the door. It slowly creaked open.

Peter mumbled, “Well who woulda thought,” and closed the door behind them. He knew that after everything he had put Jess through today, he would never have the courage to ask her.

They looked around the small cabin—it was quite dark, but luckily Peter had a small flashlight in his pocket, jingling around next to a small metal object which he hoped would soon be important to both of them.

“At least we’re out of the cold now.” Jess said, seeing that Peter had lost his earlier cheerfulness. Although he had dragged her into this… adventure, at least it was that: an adventure. If nothing else, it would be a memorable experience.

Peter despondently nodded, unable to fake relief. He wanted to open his mouth and tell her how sorry he was for dragging her through all of this, that he had planned a surprise for her complete with a present, if she would accept his offer. But the fear of being rejected seemed to have tripled with the realization that this was probably one of the worst days she had ever experienced.

Jess looked over at Peter with a confused glance. She didn’t understand how a guy who was usually so upbeat could turn so depressed just because of a little rain. Either way, she felt that it was her duty to try and cheer him up, especially after she had been so moody earlier.

“Don’t worry Petey,” she said, plopping down next to him. “Things didn’t turn out that bad. I mean, at least we can say it was a memorable trip, right?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it, shaking his head. “I had it all planned out. How I was going to ask you, where we would be standing, everything.” He mumbled.

“Ask me what?” Jess said, her interest peaked.

Peter looked over at her. “What?” he squeaked, horrified that he had spoken his thoughts aloud.

“What were you going to ask me? You said you had everything planned out. I’m sure you didn’t plan on stopping at this run-down house.” She joked.

Peter looked over at Jess. I guess this is as good a time as any. Might as well get it over with. He thought to himself. With a sigh he slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out the smooth, round metal object.

“Jess,” his voice wavered. He cleared his throat and started again, “Jess, I was wondering… I was wondering if you would like to adopt a puppy with me?” He asked, showing her the dog tag.