Short Stories 218 — Writing Prompt 51
Write about a person or object vanishing into thin air.
Wither Away (Part 1)
In complete silence, the all-terrain vehicle made a muzzled roaring noise, scaring all the wildlife in the close vicinity, if there are any. Where human eyes can reach, there is nothing but, withered trees and snow, and a thick layer of the latter. Snow enough, to sink a man till his knees. Yet, the muzzled roaring continued, as the bike rolled on top of the snow with its flat and wide tires.
Tim has covered himself in layers and layers of jackets, as he is a veteran raised in this weather. As he crawling on the snow, purely on gut instincts and along with a map and a compass. Half a day has passed, traveling on this foreign land, but he shows no sign of stopping. Without any fear, this marches forward. Taking a couple of breaks to feed himself, but apart from that, the bike doesn’t stop.
While he rides into the unknown, concerned with one situation, not about dying, but worried about the batteries running out of all the equipment in his bag. The bag on his shoulder may be the most important item as it holds all the items required for him to survive in this harsh, cold weather.
Putting all faith in the map, traveling on the road, where the road had faded away long ago, and snow lies ahead of him. Sun is starting to set, that with each passing minute, it gets ever so challenging to reach the destination in the middle of a snow blanket. And after taking multiple wrong turns, Tim is finally on the right track. But the sun doesn’t care as it is on its own journey.
The sun is completely out, so the next best thing has to be brought out, a torch. Unshakable Tim was starting to shake now from all the animal noises like wolves as they are out in the wild. Each passing minute, his heart beats faster which makes him sweat that may lead to hypothermia. Ready to give up and raise a tent, his torch lit a structure, and so did his face with a smile.
Upon inspecting the house, he knew he is at the right place. It looked dead. As if the soul of this house, that is the family, had left a long time ago. And in a hurry. Regular household objects, like jackets, blankets, and even sentimental keepsakes like family photographs were left on the bed as if they left the house in a hurry. Cobwebs are everywhere, along with dust. Floor broken, and the creaking doors. A broken cabinet door dangling on the hinge with a couple of screws. The house is in shambles.
As Tim walked and analyzed the house, he knew by looking at the state of the house, it was long abandoned. The family had rushed in a hurry, or something bad had really happened. After taking a couple of minutes to look around and taking a small break, Tim started setting up his equipment. He started pulling out cameras from his backpack, and set it up on a tripod, on a desk overlooking the room.
Opposite the camera, is a bed aligned next to the wall, horizontally. After all, it is a small room and the family had to adjust. And by looking at the family photos on the wall, it was a big family. The faces of the father and the mother were blacked out, somehow, but the rest of the 5 children were clearly visible. The shelves and the cupboards were not at all useable that were to the right of the bed. Placed an EMF Meter right on the bed.
While setting up the equipment, Tim’s started to feel cold, as the heat from driving that bike had started to fade away and the zero degrees temperature was starting to get to him. He waited for as long as he could, the cold was increasing and it is time to get the fire going. He removed the gas-can burner from his bag, lit it, and placed it right in the middle of the room. And after few minutes, and sealing the broken windows with tape, it started to warm up a little in the room.
A laser grid points right at the main entrance of the door and the small passage in front of it. And right beside the laser grid, another camera to pick something up, otherwise what use would it be to come here all the way? The camera looked at both the door, one was the main entrance and the other was the entrance in the room. Tim also placed a camera in the small space between both the door, and an EMF Meter right next to it.
After going through the cameras to see if they were working correctly, and setting up a couple of more cameras and EMF Meters, Tim is ready. It is already late night and Tim doesn’t have time to waste. HE has a limited supply of food, and electrcity to run all the gadgets. With no plans to stay at this place for another night, and despite being tired, he begins the ghost hunting.
He came to know about this place from a friend of his. A terrifying place filled with spirits and wildlife, in the middle of nowhere. A night enough o make a sane man to crazy. Where the exact words form, this friend that intrigued his curiosity. He was happy that he made it in the house by the night, as this area is notorious for wolves. It is said that no one dares to enter this place, not because of the wolves, but what lies right in the middle of the area.
A house knows to be so haunted that not even animals like to come near to it. In fact, it is aid that the wolves are protecting people by scaring them away before they could enter this place. But Tim made it, alive and well. Not all that needs to be done is to stay the night in this house.
