inside the cabin

I was sleeping soundly in my bed. Then I get woken up by a pounding outside my cabin. At first, I thought it was a wild animal, as those are the only creatures other than me which are around. But then I hear what sounds like a voice and I am immediately wide awake. Animals don’t speak, only humans do. Is there another human at my door?

“… I got lost in the forest and can’t find my way home!” I hear a low voice say, followed by more banging. “Hello?! Anybody home?!”

Shit. Another person? The only human I’ve known other than myself is my late mother. Where did this one come from?

I hurry out of bed, grab the oil lamp I have on my bedstand and turn the light on.

“One moment.” I call out to the person knocking on my front door.

I quickly throw on some clothes I have lying around and hurry up to my door. I place the oil lamp on a nearby table and make sure to hold my broom before opening the door. Just in case. I unlock the wooden bolt on my door and carefully open the door. When I look outside, I see indeed another person. It’s another human! A male too, and … he’s naked.

I am shocked at the first man I lay eyes on to also be completely nude. I quickly let my eyes go down his body and back up again. I hardly believe what I am seeing.

“I apologize for my appearance.” The man tells me while he keeps his hands over his privates. “I can assure you that I have a good explanation for being naked. If you were to provide me shelter from the cold and maybe give me something to eat and drink, I will tell you everything you want to know.”

In his defense, I am curious why he is nude. But that is not the only thing I want to know. I also want to know where he comes from, how he made his way to my cabin, who he is, and a whole lot more. He also seems too preoccupied in covering his privates to be able to be aggressive. So, I feel it is safe to let him inside.

“Uhm … sure. Come in.” I manage to say.

I open the door and place my broom behind it. After the guy has entered, I close the door behind him and put the bolt back in place.

“One moment, I’ll get us some more light.” I inform him.

I then grab the oil lamp and walk over to the fireplace to get it going. I am sure the man is going to feel a bit cold from being nude in the forest at this time.

With the fireplace on, I turn back at him and stare around my home a bit confused. I’ve never had to deal with a stranger before so I have a hard time thinking about what next to do.

Well, he asked for some food. I guess I could give him that. I point at my table and tell him, “Please, sit down.” I also collect one of my aprons and place it on the table. “Here, you can take this to cover yourself.”

After he places the apron over his lap, I ask the man, “So … what’s your name and what brings you to my cabin?”

He tells me his name is Rowen. That he lives in a village not too far from here, as he literally walked all the way to my cabin. That is very interesting. I have been living all alone in this cabin together with my mother, and she always told me there weren’t any people around. It’s the reason why I felt it wasn’t worth exploring the forest too much. I wonder why my mom lied to me. Was she perhaps afraid of those villagers? If so, I may need to be careful about this Rowen.

He next informs me about a tradition they perform every year at Samhain. One where the unmarried fertile women from his village head nude into the forest to dance around a bonfire for the souls of our ancestors to see. That actually sounds very similar to what my mother told me. According to her, Samhain is a day where the barrier between this world and the next is lifted and the souls of the dead can visit us again. It was one of the beliefs I held on to after my mother passed away. That on every Samhain, she would come back to watch over me. She would not be able to let me know she was here. I would just have to have faith in it. With Rowen here telling me the same thing, my belief in this idea is strengthened. I wonder if she is here right now, watching me talk to this guy. Would she support it? Or not at all.

Rowen continues his story by saying the men eventually go naked into the forest as well. They are challenged to find the glade where the women have their bonfire dance. Once the dance is over, the women are to head back home. There is a path that women can choose to stick to, but men are forbidden to step on or jump across. But those women who are in search for some excitement in their lives, are free to leave the path and traverse the part of the forest where the men can catch them. If they do get caught, the women have to provide sex.

I get a bit alarmed when Rowen says the word ‘sex’. With him being naked, it means he was one of the guys who went into the forest in search for a naked woman to have sex with. Now he didn’t find one of the naked women from his village, he found me instead. And I am a woman too. Suddenly, I feel incredibly nervous.

“S-so … you went into the forest to find a woman and … mate with her?” I ask with a trace of fear in my voice.

Then Rowen describes one of his Samhain events with me and how it is not quite as focused on forcing women than I first feared, but that the women are permitted to present themselves to be chased or not. That certainly alleviates some of my worries, but it left my question of him catching me tonight and doing things to me unanswered.

I would have asked him more, but that is when his belly rumbles and I realize I haven’t given him anything to eat yet. I apologize to him and quickly move to my kitchen to fetch him something.

Now that I am alone for a moment, I can better collect my thoughts about this Rowen guy showing up. I am so not prepared to deal with another person. For the longest part of my life, it was just me and my mother and both of us were women.

I once saw two bunnies mating in the forest and I was so confused about what they were doing that I asked my mom about it. She then explained to me that they were a male and female bunny making new bunnies. Ever since then, I wondered if humans reproduce the same way. If my mother did something like that with a human male to get me. Or if one day I would have to do that to a male. But no male ever showed up … until today.

What’s more, Rowen is not merely a male of my species that showed up. He also did so naked. While in the purpose of a mating ritual. The more I think about it, the more I end up thinking that Rowen ended up at my cabin to be my mate. To fulfill his Samhain with me. He might not have intended it and based on his behavior; he doesn’t seem to push for it either. So, maybe it was just the ancestors that guided him to my cabin? Or was it the spirit of my mother which guided Rowen to me. Did you send this man my way mother? If so, do you want me to … mate with him?