A Certain Hut

[MegaWallflower]

Every chapter seems to introduce a new twist! I hadn't even imagined the possibility of a trapdoor, or the little boy turning out to be like this. You're doing really well on this story. :3

[Incognito]

0,0 whoa another good chapter. that boy creeps me out X'D

[KingdomKey]

This just keeps on getting better and better, everytime I read this. I did not expect the boy to say this

"You still haven't figured that part out? Let me explain, then. I am you," he replied.

Now, if what the boy says is true, it would now make a whole lot of sense why all those papers have his name on it. However, does this mean the old man and the middle aged man, we're the traveler as well? Then again, the boy could have lied, and just be messing with him. Because the middle aged man, is dissemble and dead. I would have said its some sort of alternate universe, that shifts every time the traveler comes to the hut. An with that in mind, that the middled aged man is dead, how is it, the traveler still alive?

If the boy is truly the traveler, then that can only mean something happen to the middle aged man and old man. However what could have happened, to either one of them, is still a mystery. How is it, the traveler can be there at the same time and have no memory recollection, each time he has come back to the hut, is another one that bothers me.


Still trying to wrap my head around this, but, its pretty hard to grasp or to make sense out of it all.

I'm also beginning to think, I'm missing the bigger picture of it all. Something like this, could be used as a distraction and make certain things unnoticeable, until the following chapter. Because every detail is important, that it's pretty easy to over look something. I also want to know, if the head was inside of the pot, the entire time the traveler has visited there. Especially when the traveler met the middle aged man, that something else could have been inside of it.

Unless... Yeah, think I'll hold on to this thought as well and wait to see, what you do in the next chapter, Auron. Can't wait to see what happens next and your doing a marvelous job, keeping me guessing.

[Auron0521]

A special double feature day! What has prompted this sudden gift?! He says jokingly.

"What do you mean? You're just a boy, you can't be me!" I argued. As I spoke, my head began to ache, all the memories of the past few days splitting and melding.

"I don't really understand it completely, but there has never been more than one occupant of this hut. You are the only to ever live here. I am the only one to ever live here. Therefore, we are one and the same," the boy explained.

I was stunned. This little boy, no more than a decade old, was supposed to be me? Certainly, we shared the same hair and the same eyes, but beyond that? I could not see the similarities.

But what if what he was saying were true? Does that mean the reason I was constantly being drawn back to the hut was because it recognized me as it's owner? Then who were the elderly gentleman and the middle-aged hunter? Were they also me?

Then how did the hunter's head come to be in the pot? What was the significance behind that? Some kind of ritual you have to perform in order to claim the hut as your own? A spell of some kind?

The hunter's head had not decomposed in the slightest, I recalled. A detached head would've looked at least slightly dead. The head was boiling in water. Water from that underground river, perhaps? Then, was there some sort of magic to it?

It did have a sweet and tempting smell. The water was also what made me drowsy, not just drinking it, but merely standing in it. Was it a natural form of sleep aid?

Then, could it be that the hunter hadn't been dead at all, but a head trapped in suspended animation? That should be impossible, but all of this seemed impossible. That kind of grotesque ritual didn't seem out of place at all.

Also, there were the papers on the boy's desk. Recount of my travels, and travels yet to be undertaken. The middle-aged hunter was older than me, so if I was him, and him me, he would've traveled farther than I had yet to.

If the middle-aged hunter had written his travels down, then that would explain how they had come to be in the boy's possession. He had them on the desk because he was reading them, studying them. Studying them... for what?

I looked around. The fire was spreading toward the hut, uncontrollable and raging. It had lit the fabrics on the clothesline, making it appear larger than it actually was. I turned to the boy.

"I need only ask one question. I have surmised most of what was bothering me, but everything that matters hangs on this one question," I said through the sound of flames. The boy's grin disappeared.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Where does the river lead?" I inquired. The boy thought for a moment, before the expression on his face darkened. I needed no further answer. I charged toward the hut, throwing the boy out of my way.

The fire reached the hut and quickly began to burn through the timbers. The hut was made of wood, unable to withstand flames. I rushed inside and tossed the bed aside.

Just as I was going to open the trapdoor, I felt a weight on my back, and teeth digging into my shoulder. I shrugged it off and turned to see the boy, a bloody grin spread wide.

"I won't be letting you," he growled, his voice that of a feral beast.

To be continued...

Reading everyone's theories gave me some motivation and inspiration, so I thought I'd post the next chapter now. As you can probably tell, the story is drawing to a close. I haven't answered all the questions, and I might not answer them at all. Narrator knows what they are, but he chose not to share them, as he does not want anyone else to use this hut for ill.

Happy reading!

[Incognito]

*O* how do you keep making this more awesome!? i dont know what to think of this and can usually guess a story half way thru!
and damn...that boy just keeps getting creepier >.> ........

it may be odd but the biggies mystery to me is the boy over that river >.> how can he not remember being such a deranged kid? if it some sort of time paradox?

[Auron0521]

I won't explain it in full detail, but it's a cross between a time paradox and alternate dimensions. Let your mind explore the possibilities.

Edit: 201 views on a ghost story with an incredibly lame name. I like.

[Incognito]

oh oh intriguing! >:D never seen both in one story heh heh

[KingdomKey]

That was a pretty quick update, Auron!

Alright, so it all comes down, to where that river leads? I guess, if the traveler were to follow it, he would be able to find out, what's in the water of the river itself. However, will he be able to make it, to the end of said river? Because I remember, he had a lot of twist and turns to make. The boy, will definitely slow him down. Maybe, even kill him before the travler gets there. Unless the water, isn't ordinary water and can catch aflame, like oil would. (A long shot kind of guess, that it's more my imagination at work).

You know what would make this, an even more crazier twist? If both the middle aged man and the old man, happen to be waiting, at end the of said river! That would be mind blowing. I know the head would be an issue, but seeing how it's not decomposed yet, it wouldn't shock me, if the middle aged man's head returned to him and he appeared to be fine. Unless, the time has anything to do with it. Dimension/Alternate Universe/ Time Line, is what I mean.

"I won't be letting you," he growled, his voice that of a feral beast.

Now, I'm wondering if the boy, is even human. Don't know what he could be, still that proves to be quite interesting.

Aw! It's drawing to a close!? Well, you did a splendid job, writing this story, Auron. I look forward to what remaining updates, you have left.

[DMrayZ]

Actually, I've gotta correct you on that bit Auron, the name is perfect for a ghost story!

[nelly <3]

I think he's like having an out of body experience in a third world dimension and he don't even know about it. I may lack imagination but this is good :D

[Auron0521]

"Why do you so wish to be rid of me?" I asked, smoke filling the room. The boy wiped the blood from his mouth and cackled.

"If I get rid of you, the smartest of us all, then this hut will remain mine forever! As long as I remain here, I will never age, never die! But as long as you still, exist, I'll be in danger."

I slowly began to creep closer to the pot, a plan forming in my mind. "But I never meant to do you harm. How am I a threat?"

"Because, while you may not mean to harm me now, surely one day you'll grow fearful of death, and come to wrest this hut from me!" he spat. I could see a tear forming in his eye. He truly felt it would happen, and was scared.

Seeing such emotion, I felt terrible about what I was about to do. Yet, I knew I had to do it, to ensure I could get away with my life intact. I grabbed the pot and flung the lid away.

Throwing the boiling water (and consequently the hunter's head) at the boy, I ran to the trapdoor. The boy screamed in agony, but quickly recovered and launched himself onto my back.

Using the boy's momentum, I threw him over my body and slammed him into the trapdoor, which crumpled beneath the force. I watched as the boy fell into the deep darkness, where no light shone.

Then, the hut itself collapsed. The flames had finally taken their toll. I sprawled myself on the floor and covered my head, pieces of timber falling around and on top of me.

One certain beam fell through the hole where the trapdoor had previously been. I crawled over to the edge and peered down, but of course could see nothing. I did, however, hear a loud grunt.

With the hut in pieces, I stood and looked around. There wasn't much left to look at. The fire had consumed the clearing hungrily, and was now eating away at the forest. I didn't like being the cause of a wildfire, but I hadn't meant to start one, and had no means to put it out.

I grabbed the torch from where it had fallen and relit it in one of the fires remaining in the clearing. Walking to the trapdoor's hole, I placed the torch under my neck, sideways, and began to climb down to the river.

Once I reached the bottom, I checked on the boy. He had landed face up, and the beam was sticking diagonally out of his gut. The boy was still breathing, but his condition was far beyond my help.

As I began to walk away, his hand took hold of my ankle. He wheezed from the effort, and the look in his eyes told me he knew death was coming. Still, he spoke.

"Where... does the... river... lead?" he coughed. I crouched beside him and smiled gently.

"It leads out of this forest," I told him. I had never been interested in making the hut my own, but I was sure that if I followed the river, I would be led out of the forest, unaffected by the hut's magic.

The boy faintly smiled. "Do you... not... fear death?" he sputtered, taking his last breath. I removed the beam from his body and carried him on my back, far away from that hut of avarice, which had claimed so many of my lives.

"Of course I fear death."



Years later, when I was of a great age, I decided to return to the forest, to see if I was still living in the hut. I took a long rope with me, and when I had traversed so far up the river, I tied the rope to a nearby tree and to myself and continued toward the clearing.

The hut once again stood proudly in the center of the clearing. I walked up to the door and knocked. Answering it was a young woman.

"Hello, sir! How might I help you?" she asked. I glanced inside the hut and saw the very same pot cooking. I could not help myself but to chuckle loudly.

The End

So, that's the end of this story. I hope you found it interesting, and that I left mysteries open for you to enjoy reading it for a long time! Well, I don't know what my next project will be, but it won't be a ghost story.

May you enjoy, my supportive readers!

[MegaWallflower]

I loved how you left it open ended, even to the end. And the cycle seems to have taken another person?

I'm actually not usually a fan of ghost stories, but this was fantastic!

[Auron0521]

The hut did claim another prisoner. I made her female so that she was obviously not just another incarnation of Narrator.

[KingdomKey]

So, it finally drew to a close. I'm surprised, that the hut made a come back, and claimed another prisoner. The dialog between the traveler and boy, was pretty touching, towards the end.

Was truly marvelous, Auron.

Kind of sad, that it's over, but I enjoyed reading it, a lot. Looking forward, to future projects of yours, Auron.

[Incognito]

aaaaaahhhh D: its over already oh well great story, tho curious as to how it all not only came back but claimed someone else >.>