A Cabin to Yourself...

(I highly, or even more strongly, recommend enabling the Play Game option before going on. The second chapter is like home base for the story. Different branches come back through it to access other parts that weren't accessible before you've done certain things.)

The door opened with a faint, drawn out squawk.

Pine. The scent wasn't entirely dissimilar to a typical car-freshener. Yet, the authenticity of the scent was unquestionable.

Beyond the doorway, the main room of the first floor of the cabin was little more than ten feet front-to-back. Two shag sofas just to the right of the entry had the appearance of misshapen bears. Very soft and very...

...brown.

Beyond them a staircase rose up and away from the front of the house, turning left beyond the back wall of the main room and continuing upwards parallel to the front of the house. The landing at the top did not overhang the main room, but was bounded by an ornate rail of multiple wood types. It ended at the left wall of the cabin, and two open but dark doorways led toward the back of the cabin. Through one of those would be the room with the north-facing balcony and telescope.

Beneath the upper landing was a wall with one door, also open and internally dark. Finally, at the far left of the lower floor was a simple kitchen. Refrigerator. Stovetop oven. Sink. Cabinets. Table. The last of which was almost in front of the open doorway.

Four legs of different color held up an old-fashioned wagon wheel. A sheet of tinted glass rested on top of the wheel's spokes. Three chairs were spaced at quarter distances around the table with an empty place at the front. Was there supposed to be a chair there? The set seemed incomplete. A quick scan revealed to you that the two sofas were the only other seating on the main floor.

Having dropped your packs on the table, a quick glance revealed the rest of the kitchen to be pretty simple. Matching silver-ish sink, stove, and two-door refrigerator. The latter was definitely a bit larger than the cabin needed. And the wooden handles seemed out of place on the modern appliance. The left handle was noticeably more worn than the right, which didn't seem quite right.

Opening the left door confirmed your suspicions. The freezer was more regularly used than the refrigerator.

On the wall, in the space between the refrigerator and the front door, was a large ring hanging on the head of a nail. Black with bits of silver. It was almost like a spiked dog collar. But the 'spikes' were smaller and not particularly sharp.

The whole place seemed almost elegant... but not quite cozy.