My Cottage Diary

Adapted by Ken Dube

August 31

Saturday

10:55 PM

Here we are! Two weeks of rest, relaxation, and fun in the sun. Vacation has finally begun. Carol and I arrived at 10:15 am to a sunny sky and great surf. We immediately hit the store for food. That is where I bought this pad to keep a diary. Carol thinks I'm nuts and I should just let loose for once "after all, we're on vacation." I can't help it. I just want to be able to remember this forever. This is our first vacation since getting married.

11:15 PM

Carol is okay. She screamed because she thought she saw something in the kitchen window. My flashlight revealed two mischievous towels blowing on the clothesline. Which brings me back to where I was when I was interrupted. We spent most of the day in the water riding the waves with our body boards we picked up at a flea market of a store named "Bennys". It was a lot of fun. We were the only ones at the beach except for a few old folks sitting in front of the beach hotel.

Afterwards we had a great Italian dinner at a restaurant towards mystic. Carol had lobster stuffed ravioli and I had veal marsala. The Chianti was almost as luscious as her lips. We plan on doing some book shopping tommorrow.___Gotta go. Three's a crowd.

Sept 1

Sunday

10:38

The locals aren't too friendly to outsiders. Carol and I went to the bookstore a few miles up the road. It was raining, so we decided it was a good time to go shopping. One of the two workers greeted us on the way into the store. Carol got a mystery/romance novel--it took her 20 minutes to decide on that book--and I bought a courtroom drama. When we brought the books up to the register, the two clerks started up conversation. The woman ringing up the book had blond hair and appeared to be in her fifties. She seemed very straight-forward and friendly. She loved Daniel Steele and had already read the latest one which she was ringing up for Carol.

I'm not sure at what point of the conversation they turned on us. I think it was when they found out we weren't from around here. The other woman, sitting behind the counter, had asked where we lived. We told her we were renting the cottage by the Seaside Beachclub for a couple weeks. At that point they looked at each other and didn't say another word except to tell us how much the books cost. I guess they think everyone's lives should revolve around this town. Small town snobbery I guess.

Carol wouldn't go in the water today because of the rain. Good thing. The waves were brutal and the undertow was strong.

A black dog kept her company while I was in the water getting clobbered. Its owner never appeared. When we went inside, it took off.

We ate in tonight. One thing is for sure, we cook well together. Dessert should be just as good tonight. Gotta go.

Sept 3

Tuesday

6:45 AM

Sorry I've been away for a day. We kept very busy in the rain yesterday and I was too exhausted to stay awake and write.

This morning I am very tired and fidgety. I was awoken last night to a dog barking. I believe it was about 2:30 in the morning. We could hear it on the side of the cottage from our bedroom upstairs, near the bathroom. It's strange having three bedrooms up there for only two people, but we adapted. Carol's clothes are spread out on the bed next to our room and mine are on the bed across the hall.

Back to the dog. It was eerie. For five minutes it was barking. I thought maybe it had cornered a raccoon or something. I wasn't about to get out of bed and go all the way down the stairs . It was grinding on our nerves, however. At about the point that I was finally going to get out of bed and strangle the dog, its barking came to a yelping halt. A yelp of agony; as if someone had been agitated enough by it to shoot it. The cry from the dog left an eeriness to the silence, but at least we could go back to sleep. Or at least Carol could. I kept waking up. I don't like getting up before eight o'clock when I'm on vacation, but this morning I had no choice. I was only becoming a nuisance to Carol. I would have heard about it over a cup of coffee. I may still.

Sept 3

Tuesday

2:20 PM

One of life's unpleasant realities was left on our doorstep. After setting up and turning on the coffee at 8:10 this morning, Carol and I went for a walk for the first time in the sun. It was disrupted before we even got near the water. The hind legs and back half of a dog lay in the retreating water. The fur looked like it was the same color as the black dog that had kept Carol company. After looking it over, I quickly started our walk away from the cottage. Except for a stray comment here and there, silence dominated our walk. Funny, we walk so that we can talk about things we normally don't have time to talk about.

We walked about three-quarters of a mile and then turned back. We never saw a person, a dog, or even a bird along the entire walk.

When we approached the cottage, I made sure I walked up towards it ahead of time so that we could avoid seeing the remains of the dog in the water up close. Unfortunately, its bulk could be seen from half a mile away.

I called the local police department and an animal control officer showed up at our back door within an hour. Carol stayed in the house and cleaned up while I went out to the water with the weather-hardened man in a sheriff-like uniform. As he pushed it awkwardly into a black, thick, plastic bag he told me a shark probably got it. He said it probably went out into the water after a seagull and was lured out deep by it. He said it might have even drowned before having a chunk taken out of it. When he got back to his truck he did admit he had never seen this before. I suppose it will make a good story for him to tell his friends at a local bar.

I told him about the noises we heard last night. He said it was probably just coincidence. There was no blood on the sand. When I went to look after he left, I just saw a trail of hardened sand trailing from the cottage to the water. It looked as if something wet had been dragged out of the water. That's probably what the dog had been barking about. Some local kids or fishermen and maybe a small boat.

Sept 4

Wednesday

11 AM

We thought it would be romantic if we went to the water's edge when it was dark. We waited until the outside lights turned off at the resort next door, which was about 9 pm.

We took our drinks with us into the night. As we walked down the slope of sand, the waves sounded louder then ever as they pounded the beach. The moon played hide-and-seek behind the small clumps of clouds. It was amazing to see all those stars up in the dark sky.

It all seemed the perfect romantic setting. But as we looked into the ink-black water with ivory highlights, we could not relax. I felt fear as I looked into the water. I sensed it from Carol as well.

I think it was fear of the unknown or fear of what was waiting in the water for us. Looking back, it seems stupid, but I could not shake the feeling last night, nor could Carol. After standing for a minute or two, Carol asked to go back to the house. Relieved, I agreed. I took a heavy swig of my beer and we headed back.

The wind was strong last night. The windows and doors rattled. At 2 am, I woke up to a crashing sound. With my flashlight, I went downstairs to check it out. I was scared. Behind every corner, I felt like something was waiting.

I nearly died of heart failure when there was another heavy crash. It came from the ocean side door. I shined my flashlight into the back porch. The light reflected off of the windows. I could not see anything, but I felt like something could see me. I felt like I was in a fishbowl behind the large windows. I felt something outside looking at me. The feeling grew stronger.

I shone the light on the door knob and saw that it was locked. That was good enough for me and I slipped back upstairs into bed. I told Carol it was just something outside and I couldn't see it. I told her we could check in the morning.

I didn't sleep much after that as my ears were extra sensitive to the sounds outside. The wind moaned and whistled. The windows rattled around the house at different times. The rain started up and sounded like it would splinter the house and leave us exposed to what was out there.

Why do I feel like something is out there? It's ridiculous. Everyone has silly fears at night. Ones that they can shrug off during the day. But I can't! I feel protection from the sun, but I can't rationalize my fears away like I normally can. For the first time, these ridiculous fears are not leaving me under the light of day. It is something about the feel of this cottage, or this beach. There is an unnaturalness about it. All my instincts tell me I should leave this place. But for what reason? Nothing abnormal has happened. There are no such things as spooks or monsters. We paid good money to rent this cottage and surely we're not going to leave because of childish fears. The strange thing is, Carol feels the same way I do. We don't talk about it, but I can tell. Of course she may just be feeding off of my fears. When two people are close, they tend to feed off of each other's emotions. From here on, I pledge to act positive and reasonable. I am not going to spoil this vacation for the two of us.

I must note that the crashing noise last night was the screen door on the ocean side. It was ripped off its hinges. The strange thing is that I thought I latched it shut last night. Probably the strong winds.

Sept 4

Wednesday

10:14 PM

We tried to go out to eat tonight. With the relentless rain, a pond had formed at the entrance to the parking lot. It was so large, that our car would never get though without stalling. We have no choice now. We can't leave.

Instead, we had a candlelight dinner. It consisted of soup and pizza.

The night is clear. There must be a million stars showing tonight. We didn't want to go outside. The clouds had parted rather quickly around 8:30. They zoomed by the moon.

I turned most of the lights on tonight. They will remain on through morning. Realistically the lights will do nothing but increase the electric bill. But we don't pay for the electricity. Besides, if it puts our minds at ease, I would do it even if we did pay electric.

Sept 5

Thursday

12:10 AM

It may be a clear night, but it is windy and cool. The wind is howling and whistling louder than it had before. We are a huddled mass of fear. Something is out there. We can't see it, but we know it's there.

2:30 AM

It sounded like something crashed into one of the windows downstairs. I had to go down and look. To see if our time was up. Water, seaweed, and slime were oozing down the window which still remained in one piece.

I ran back upstairs and searched out of our bedroom window. The moon made a good night light, but all I could see were shadows. Maybe they moved. Maybe they didn't. My excitement scared Carol, but I could not control myself now. We held each other until we dozed off again.

4:45 AM

We awoke to the most horrific scream or howl we had ever heard. It could have been the wind, but it had some qualities the wind could never have had.

Banging and pounding came from all of the windows and doors. I locked our bedroom door and put a bureau against it. I'm holding a clothes iron in my hand as we're huddled on the bed; not that I think any of it will save us.

5:15 AM

The noises have become louder and more frequent. I don't think we can hold out much longer. Carol is glad I am writing this diary. At least someone else can find out what has happened and stop it. She will not write anything, though. She's shaking too badly.

5:48 AM

We were saved! The sun rose to our left, slower than it ever has. The brightness in the horizon scared it way. It left with a loud, painful howl. I'm not sure if I dreamed this, but I could swear I saw some large, black, mushy shape sinking into the waves.

10:30 AM

I was able to sleep a few more hours. I woke up to a cup of coffee. Carol always makes the best coffee. Back to our normal ritual. We read. We talk. We eat. It makes us feel normal.

We tried to ignore the events of the night. But our ocean side window is a reminder of our death sentence.

1:15 PM

I struggled to clean the black ooze off of the window. It stunk like death. I had to shower and change afterwards. Normally, a dip in the ocean would have been a good remedy.

6:30 PM

The day time flew by. We watched in silence from the deck as our white knight, the sun, turned to rust and dipped out of sight. Carol shook and cried into my shoulder. We couldn't leave and we were too ashamed to call anyone for help. Not that we have a telephone.

8:30 PM

I forgot to mention that I found more of the hardened (dried-wet sand?) all around the cottage. Perhaps I did not want to acknowledge it. I guess rain could give the same affect. But we know it's not the rain.

As I write this, I feel like a man in a cell, waiting for his death sentence to be carried out. At least I am not alone. Although, I would give anything to have kept Carol out of this.

The ocean side door showed weaknesses after last night's barrage. I don't think it will keep it out tonight. We are doomed. Caught in some cruel and twisted joke by the natural elements of the ocean. We used to love the ocean. Now the sounds of the crashing waves strike fear into our hearts like a death march. They are taunting us.

Is any of this real or just in our minds. It could all be coincidence. A couple weeks from now we'll be laughing about it. No. When something is real, you cannot talk yourself into not believing it.

We have moved all of the furniture in front of the doors and windows and have barricaded ourselves in the bedroom. We know all this is futile, but our God-given instinct of survival over-rides all reason. If I am able to read this at some other time, which I know I won't, all of this was just a figment of our imaginations. If someone else reads this--YOU--then let this be a warning to you. We never made it out with this diary. We n___