Friday, May 15th

We just arrived at the cabin - Paul is making us all lunch, and Harry and Gwen are arguing over the proper way to start a fire. The cabin is nice; small but cozy, and sort of feels like a time machine. All of the appliances, furniture, and decor is straight out of the 70s. Even the lightbulbs look old. It’s sort of why we chose this place online. A real getaway without modern distractions. We’re planning a cookout on the old charcoal grill outside tomorrow, and going for a hike on Sunday. The cashier of the gas station at the bottom of the mountain warned there was a big storm coming our way, so the cookout may turn into a cook-in. Either way, we’re ready for a week of relaxation and exploration.

Saturday, May 16th

The storm hit us early this morning, so we’ve been stuck inside all day. We tried to watch a movie on my iPad, but it mysteriously died and won’t turn back on. I’ll have to get it looked at when we go back home. The cell service and WiFi here are both spotty, so we’ve been entertaining ourselves with the boardgames and cards the homeowners left. No modern distractions, remember? Luckily, Harry stocked up on plenty of booze, so spirits are all quite high (pub intended). Maybe I’ll check out the cabin’s small book collection after dinner.

Saturday, May 16th - Evening

I found something quite strange in my room. It’s a guestbook where visitors can leave notes of thanks or give feedback. Pretty typical. Some people even left photos. But what’s weird is that the entries start from 1973, and stop in 1977. There are dozens of entries, most of them positive - except the last one. It’s from a group of friends from Iowa. They wrote:

“Our stay started out quite pleasant. The cabin is lovely and the wilderness is beautiful. But starting on the second night of our stay, we noticed a strange blue light coming from the woods. We checked around outside the cabin, but couldn’t find the source. We plan to hike out to the lake nearby tomorrow, so maybe we can find out where the light is coming from.”

There’s nothing written in the book after that. It was probably some light pollution from the nearby town or something. But I don’t really have an explanation for why there aren’t any more recent entries. Perhaps there’s a newer guest book in another room. I’ll search around tomorrow.

Saturday, May 16th - 12 AM

Gwen just came to wake me up. She said she had a weird dream about a strange animal in the woods outside her window. She seemed pretty shaken up. I told her it was probably just a mix of the beer and the storm making her imagination work overtime. She’s on her way back to bed now. I’ve been trying to fall back asleep, but there must be an industrial plant or something not too far from here, because the sky is sort of glowing a bright blue. Maybe we’ll go check it out on our hike tomorrow.