Kusliga Vista

“I told you we were going too far off trail,” said Clark.

“I thought Ammon said he could read a compass,” said Kit.

“Guys, it’s easy, we just need to find a river or stream and follow it. Those things always lead to civilization,” Ammon said and pushed through thick patch of bushes.

“We’ve been lost for three days. I would do anything to go home,” said Clark.

“Hey guys, come this way, I think I found a… house,” said Sage.

The group followed Sage’s voice through several tall pines and into a grove of aspen trees and, sure enough, there was a small two-story farmhouse. It had a wood beam porch with porch swing and a fresh coat of beige paint.

“Someone’s home, there's smoke coming from the chimney,” said Sage.

“Hold up, where did this house come from?” asked Kit.

“Who cares, they can get us back to the city,” said Clark.

“Yeah, but look, the house is in the middle of the woods. There are no roads, no other houses,” said Kit.

“Who cares? We’re almost out of food,” said Clark.

The boys made their way to the house and up the steps to the porch where Sage knocked on the door.

“Hello, is anyone home?”

“There is a plaque by the door, what does ‘Kusliga Vista’ mean?” asked Ammon.

“It’s the name of the house, my grandparents did that with their house. It used to be a big thing,” said Kit.

“The door is unlocked,” said Kit who had swung the door completely open.

“You can’t just go inside,” said Ammon as the boys all filed into the house.

“Hello,” they each called as they explored room to room, “we’ve been lost in the woods. Took a wrong turn while camping. Trying to get back to the city.”

The house was neat and tidy with an overall cozy farmhouse chic feel to it. There were two bedrooms upstairs and two more downstairs with a large living space, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. The living space had a fireplace, couches, and a small table. There was a burning log crackling in the fireplace.

The table was set for dinner with four plates of food set out. Roasted chicken breast with carrots, potatoes, brussels sprouts, and corn bread. Steam arose from the freshly plated meals.

“Whoever lives here must be coming back soon if they left their dinner,” said Kit.

“I didn’t see any photos of the owners, just all these portraits of goats,” said Ammon.

“I’m starving. I’d rather ask forgiveness than permission,” said Sage who sat down and picked up a fork to dig in.

“Hey guys, one of the bedrooms has fresh clean clothes in our size,” said Clark.

Clark appeared on the staircase wearing a clean pair of jeans and a button up beige and white flannel shirt. He kept on the same old blue trucker’s cap he wore everywhere.

“Dude, not cool. Food is one thing, but those are someone else’s clothes,” said Kit.

“Our clothes reek. I found a washer and dryer we can use, I’ll put these back after my stuff is clean,” Clark said and sat down to eat.

The food got to all the boys and they sat down to eat. They finished their plates and went in for seconds. The sun had set by the time they were done eating and no one ever arrived at the home. Kit and Ammon cleaned up the dinner and washed the dishes while Sage and Clark did a second load of laundry.

Each of the boys chose a room and, putting aside their unease, their exhaustion took over and they all fell fast asleep.

In the morning Kit, Sage, and Ammon all found their way to the main living room. Everything was as they had left it, the fire had burned itself out.

“Where is Clark?” asked Kit.

“He’s probably sleeping late as usual,” Sage said.

They head footsteps above them.

“Sounds like he’s up,” said Kit. He went up the stairs.

“Hey, guys, you need to see this,” Ammon said. He was pulling back a curtain and looking out the front window.

Outside the window and across a small well-worn path was another farmhouse.

“That wasn’t there last night, was it?” asked Sage.

“No, no way,” said Ammon.

“Did Clark come downstairs? I went up to find him and he isn’t in his room. His bed doesn’t even look like he slept in it,” Kit said, joining the other two at the window.

“What the fuck is going on?”

The boys checked the rest of the house but couldn’t find Clark.

“Should we check that other house? Maybe he got up early and saw it before us,” said Ammon.

The three boys walked tentatively to the house across the path. They knocked on the door, but it swung slowly open with creaky hinges.

“Hello? Clark?” called out Kit.

There was no response. They entered and searched the home, but it was similar to the first. This time there were three plates of breakfast, fresh eggs, bacon, and toast, laid out on a long wooden table. Glasses of orange juice left water rings on the wood.

“Something is wrong here, guys, do you feel like we’re being watched?” asked Kit.

“Hey, look, there is someone in the first house, in the window,” Ammon said.

“It must be Clark!”

The boys ran back to the first house and up the stairs, but there was no one there. The house remained empty.

“I’m going to go eat that breakfast. We can’t let it go to waste,” said Ammon.

“Yeah, I’m hungry too,” said Sage.

“Okay, we eat the breakfast, but then I think we should get back to finding our way back to a road. There is something wrong here,’ said Kit.

“We can’t leave without Clark,” said Sage.

The boys ate the breakfast, washed up, and dressed in their freshly laundered clothes before performing a more extensive search of the houses.

“No sign of Clark anywhere,” said Kit.

“He wouldn’t have left without us,” said Ammon

“I couldn’t find a phone or radio either. Not even a map, just more of those strange goat pictures. I think our only way out is back through the woods,” said Sage.

The boys debated their options and decided to wait for Clark to return. If they needed to stay another night, they would, but they would head out in the morning to find their way home.

Ammon stoking a fire for the evening while Kit looked out the front window. Sage was cleaning off the butter knife he’d used to spread mayo on a plate of sandwiches.

“Hey, there is someone out there,” Kit said.

“Where?” asked Ammon.

“The woods. Look, they are just standing there,” said Kit.

“I don’t see anyone,” Ammon said, pushing his way into the window.

“They were just there. Moved, I guess. I swear I saw someone,” said Kit.

Ammon opened the door and called out, “Clark? Clark!”

The sun was setting swiftly.

Sage put the knife in the rack to dry and turned the water off in the kitchen sink. He looked up and squinted out the kitchen window.

“Hey, guys, I think I see someone too,” said Sage as he looked out at a human form just inside the forest’s tree line. As he stared a light burst into view.

“Oh, fuck,” said Sage.

Ammon ran around the side of the house and toward where the torch had lit. Kit and Sage were close behind him.

“Hello, hello! Sir? Is this your home,” called out Ammon to the man.

The man smiled slowly, turned, and walked back into the trees and out of sight.

“Was it Clark?” asked Kit.

“No, it was a middle-aged dude, farmer looking guy. He was wearing clothes just like the ones Clark borrowed. Beige. He smiled at me and he was all… beige,” said Ammon.

“Guys, the sun is setting. Can we go back in,” said Sage, who was already backing away from the woods.

The boys went back into the house. They stayed together in the living room, looking out the windows and nervously pacing.

Kit fell asleep on the couch first, around midnight.

“I saw that torchlight in the woods again,” said Ammon.

“Where?” asked Sage.

“There, see it, I think there is more than one now,” said Ammon.

“It could be fireflies,” said Sage.

“Those aren’t fireflies,” said Ammon.

Sage ended up falling asleep second, slumped over in an armchair nearest the fireplace. The log in the fireplace faded from a deep red to black as a final spark crackled out with a loud pop.

“Those aren’t fireflies,” said Ammon repeated.

The sun rose that morning and Kit rubbed the crust from his eyes. He sat up and shook Sage awake.

“Where’s Ammon,” asked Kit.

We were looking out the kitchen window when I decided I needed a break. My adrenaline crashed.

Kit moved to the kitchen window and looked out. Outside the house was a new house, a third house, next door to the one they were in. The kitchen window of the new house faced theirs and inside the window Ammon looked back out.

“Sage, you’ve got to see this,” said Kit.

Ammon cracked an enormous grin and waved at Kit. He motioned for him to come over to the new house.

“No, Kit, you’ve got to see this,” Sage said.

Kit followed Sage’s vice to the front door. Outside, in the brightening dawn, were two dozen beige men and women in beige clothing. Some carried unlit torches and others carried pitchforks or scythes. They stood, motionless, throughout the small three home street, and stared at the boys.

“Hello,” said Kit, “we’ve been lost in the woods. We needed help and the door was open…”

Kit’s speech was cut off as the townsfolk all struck enormous grins in unison. More townsfolk emerged, slowly and purposefully, from the forest to join the audience.

“What the fu- -uck,” said Sage, drawing out the last word.

“We’re sorry if we’ve caused any troubles,” said Kit.

Footsteps echoed through the forest.

“We can pay for any damages,” said Kit.

“We’re just going to get our stuff and go,” said Sage.

The unlit torches burst into flame as one townsperson stepped forward and tipped back his beige trucker hat. Clark smiled and cracked an enormous grin.

THE END