Cabin Break-In

People often had the wrong impression of Ted because of his height. His ancestors came from Norway and he was 6’-4” tall and was very muscular from hours spent in the gym, so many people thought he was not that intelligent. His father was actually a well-known scientist and patented several inventions that resulted in very profitable products. After Ted’s parents passed away, he inherited their sizable estate, and after completing several degrees, he had the ability to indulge his passion, which was writing books. He wrote mainly about technical and historical subjects, but also wrote a few romance novels under a pen name. In real life though, he was not so fortunate in love. He was now 38 years old and hadn’t found the right woman. He desperately wanted to settle down and have a family.

Most women were too petite for him, as he preferred taller women. Petite women were often attracted to him because they were impressed by his height and thought he was a tough guy, which was not the case at all. Because of his intellect, he was not attracted to ditzy women, but some women who shared his intellectual interests were a little boring for him to talk to, as the pillow talk between a man and a woman about astrophysics and quantum theory is not that exciting. He wanted to have a passionate relationship with someone, full of fire and mystery.

He was also not the type of guy who wanted a much younger woman, as he wanted her to have had similar life experiences that a person in their late 30’s would have had. He didn’t want to dominate someone, but also didn’t want to be dominated either. He was also concerned about someone wanting him for his money, but he also found very wealthy women to often be very snobby. He knew he was asking for a lot in these times, when commitment means agreeing to a second date.

Although he lived in the city, he had a cabin in the mountains where he spent weekends. It had two bedrooms, one which he used as a library to write books. It had a large wrap around front porch and was nestled on a large isolated piece of property. Although he was very intellectual, he also enjoyed sports, as well as hunting, fishing and hiking on his mountain property, which abutted state owned property, providing him additional privacy.

Marigold was a woman who was also misunderstood. She was very tall, about 5’-11”, and rail thin, with wispy and slightly curly golden colored hair, which fell slightly below her shoulders. When she was in her teens and 20’s, she was a part time model, but like Ted had also graduated from top universities. But because of her looks and her mentioning her past modeling work, people often misjudged her that she was not intelligent.

She was a highly regarded professional with a successful career, but she had problems staying focused on any one thing for any extended period. She went from relationship to relationship, never even knowing why she did not feel fulfilled in any of them. She found men to be either too passive or too domineering.



Although she was very friendly and approachable, men were often too intimidated by her height and her looks to even ask her out. Although she was in her late 30’s, she still had movie star looks, but was actually very down to earth and was embarrassed if a man focused too much on her looks, and insulted if all they wanted was a short term sexual relationship. Many of her friends and family asked her about her plans for the weekend or who her latest boyfriend was and were shocked when she said she was “highly single.” When they interview models you often find they are very lonely, because men often think they have a boyfriend already or that they will be turned down if they ask them out.

Her biggest issue was that she could be reckless, impulsive and not understand social cues. When she was growing up, she got arrested a couple of times for shoplifting. When caught she would just say that she had the money at home to buy the item, but didn’t have the money with her, so thought it okay to take the item because with so much store inventory, one item didn’t mean much to the store. She got caught for drunk driving and told the officer that she was only two blocks from home, so he should just follow her home to make sure she was safe. Of course, that didn’t go over well. She was the type of girlfriend who would cancel dates, forget to show up, or break up with you and date your best friend without a thought. The type who would not flirtingly eat a French fry off your plate, but suddenly decide she wanted your dinner entrée and you should switch with her, even if you didn’t like the dish she had originally ordered.

With her latest boyfriend, she had clearly pushed him too far. They decided to take Friday off and go hiking in the mountains early in the morning. He told her to bring warm clothes, since it was cold in the mountains, and good hiking shoes, but she hadn’t listened to him and wore a skimpy outfit and lightweight sneakers. They drove up to the remote trail head separately and when they got out of their cars, he asked her what she had brought for food and water for them, since he had come straight from work. She had forgotten to bring either food or water and he flew into a rage, since she had been irresponsible so many times before.

“I can’t take it anymore with you. You are beyond just being forgetful. You are irresponsible and I have to follow you around like a child to make sure you don’t break anything. I can’t believe you can actually hold a job. I thought we could have a nice day, but as usual you have ruined it. I am done with you. You know the way back to the city, so I am leaving now.”

She cried hysterically, “I’m sorry, please don’t break up with me. I promise I’ll change!” It was no use though. Her latest of a string of boyfriends got in his car and drove off. After he left, she got in her car and turned the ignition key, but nothing happened. She had forgotten to get gas. To make matters worse, she also had forgotten to get a new battery, since the old one was slowly dying. She took out her phone and saw that she had forgot to plug it in. In a fit of anger, she threw the phone and it hit the windshield at just the right angle to shatter it. She knew that few people used this trail head, so she got out and started hiking through the dense woods in her sneakers and summer outfit, hoping to find help. She soon got lost, but eventually saw a cabin in the woods up ahead and had hope of being saved.

On Friday afternoon Ted was excited to go to his cabin and took the long trip through the winding mountain roads. He arrived shortly after dark, but something seemed wrong. He saw a dim light on inside the cabin and the front door was slightly ajar. He was afraid that someone had broken in and robbed him and they might still be in the cabin.

He quietly took his hunting rifle out of his car trunk and slowly crept toward the front door. He saw that someone had broken a window next to the door and had left themselves in but left the door open. He was in combat mode now, expecting to be greeted by a gang of prison escapees. When he entered the cabin, he saw that the combined kitchen, dining area and living room was a wreck. There were dirty pots on the stove and food had been pulled from the pantry and tossed all over the floor. A chair had been pulled up to the cabinets to use as a step stool and someone had accidentally put their foot right through it.

There was a fire burning in the fireplace and a half empty bottle of his very expensive twelve-year-old bourbon on the dining room table. There were muddy footprints all over the floor, like a herd of deer had held a square dance in the room. He also noticed that the steel box he kept extra cash in was on the table and had money missing. He slowly made his way over to the bedroom door, which was also slightly ajar. Oddly, he saw that his bed had been moved to a different wall of the room and one of the bed legs had been slightly broken by it being moved.

He was shocked to see a woman lying on his bed with her back facing him. She had on white shorts, a lightweight white top, and white sneakers, all of which were filthy. Her slightly curly golden colored hair was also dirty. He noticed how tall and coltish her body was. She was very tall and very thin. Marigold soon rolled over and opened her eyes to see a very tall angry man pointing a hunting rifle at her face.

“Who are you and what are you doing in this cabin?” Marigold cried out.

“I have the same question for you. This is my cabin and you broke into it.” Ted looked at her and saw that she was similar in age to him. Her face was stunning but was not the face of a young girl. It showed the character and experience of a mature woman. However, if she voluntarily had ended up at his cabin dressed like that, she was not too smart about hiking in the woods like she was going to a tennis match.

“My boyfriend got mad at me for not dressing right for a hike and I also forgot the water and food. He left in his car and I found out I didn’t have gas in my car and my battery was dead. The battery in my phone had also died, and I got mad and threw it and smashed it. I started walking and got lost and eventually found your cabin.”

“So, you decided it was okay to break into my cabin?” Ted asked with an annoyed look.

“It was either that or I might die when the weather got cold at night.”

“Why did you leave the door open after you broke in? Someone bad could have come in here instead of me.”

“I wasn’t thinking. I was just tired and hungry,” Marigold answered sheepishly.

“You also could have wiped your feet so you wouldn’t get mud on my floor. How did you break the chair?”

“I was trying to find which cabinet had food and needed a chair to reach up to the cabinet. I didn’t realize how fragile the chair was.”

Ted shook his head at this clueless woman.