The newlyweds Javen and Carly Breckensen loved their farm house. "Ten acres of freedom" is what Carly called it. They had spent months before their wedding fixing the old place up. Javen's grandfather, a local Historian had estimated the unique frame house was built in the mid 1840s.
Carly loved the deep window casings and thick cedar boards that went halfway up each wall. The house smelled terrible for weeks until Javen cleaned trash and old rotting clothing from the crawl space. He sprayed ten gallons of disinfectant beneath the house.
It was a Tuesday morning in October and Javen kissed Carly goodbye and was running late for his Loan Officer job in Ranesville. When he came out of the bathroom and saw she was wearing nothing but a white apron.....he wanted to stay and play but she giggled while pushing him out the door.
As Carly looked out the kitchen window and waved at Javen...she heard a rustling and a deep moan coming from their bedroom. She spun around and felt a chill come all the way up from her toes... she shivered from fear. She turned to look out the window again and saw Javen's truck disappear down the lane.
She stood silent for a moment and then backed towards the kitchen door. She wanted to run and get her robe that she could see hanging on the bathroom door but she was far too afraid. She reached behind her and turned the door knob quickly and rushed out the door. Carly ran off the porch...through the yard to her car... got in fast and locked the doors. She tugged at edge of the floor mat where the spare key was hidden. She found it and started the car while staring at the kitchen door.
She cussed,"Dammit....I should have grabbed the phone!" She looked far across the fields and saw the Zimmermens silo. Just as she started to pull away fast...she stopped and said to herself,"Jesus Chrysler Carly...what the hell are you doing...you're out here half naked...freezing your ass off over a noise that is probably just an animal in that stupid crawl space."
She backed the car up and shut it off. She sat and stared again at the kitchen door for a few seconds. She dropped the key in the ashtray, got out and slowly walked towards the back porch.
The cold autumn wind was blowing her apron up...revealing her nudity as she hugged herself tightly while running up to the porch. The crunch of the yellow and brown leaves beneath her bare feet seemed so loud. "It must be the intensity I'm feeling" she thought.
