The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Warm water trickled down Roselynn’s leg as the well bucket fell from her trembling hands. The still candle’s humble light pierced through the summer night, becoming all there was to see. Roselynn stumbled back. She sprinted back to the village as fast as she could.

Finally, Roselynn reached her home and barged through the cottage door, startling her family inside. Roselynn’s father Malcolm rushed to his feet at the sound of the door banging against the wall. His fear blurred together with concern at the sight of Roselynn’s teary face. Her mother Margaret scrambled toward Roselynn. She tried to remain as composed as she could, hoping not to unsettle Roselynn any further.

“What’s the matter, dear?” Margaret asked, frantically wiping Roselynn’s face. Roselynn took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves. Eventually, she managed to murmur “The cabin-“ she turned her gazed to the floor, unable to meet her mother’s eyes. “The candle is lit.”

Malcolm swiftly came towards her. “Roselynn, are you sure? Are you absolutely sure? Because-“ “I don’t want to go, daddy! I DON’T WANT TO GO!” Roselynn wailed. Her mother cradled Roselynn’s head as she sobbed into her chest. Sorrow quickly advanced through the home as the gravity of the candle’s choice set in.

Mutterings felt like shouts permeating into Roselynn’s bones as the entire village lined up. Everyone there - men, women, and children - stood stiffly on either side of her. Their varying statues created a jagged hall of people leading to the entrance of the cabin. The village priest stood motionless at the end of the path, his yellowed eyes and crooked smiled glimmering in the moonlight.

“Are you prepared for your testing, my child?” The priest asked. Roselynn slowly nodded. Her stomach churned at his words but tried to seem confident. The priest raised the tattered book he held in his hands into the air. Gusts of the night blew the pages around wildly and then settled on a particular page which Roselynn could not make out. The priest’s voice carried through the wind, traveling around to the people of the village.

“Sire,” the priest began in prayer, “we gather tonight with admiration and honor as we offer another testimony of the graciousness You have bestowed Your people. Our beloved Roselynn, Daughter of Malcolm, has been chosen to enter the cabin as an ambassador of this village’s ways. We beseech that Your scrutiny of us be as vast and complete as Your love. May it be so.”

“May it be so,” the village echoed. Roselynn recoiled at the slam of the priest’s large book. His grin widened. Stepping aside, he made way for Roselynn to approach the cabin’s front steps. The face of her parents blended with those of the village people, leaving her to wish them goodnight only in her thoughts. Roselynn made her way up the stairs. She took one final deep breath before slowly pushing open the old heavy cabin door and stepped inside.

The continuous prayers and chatter of the village vanished as the cabin door crashed shut. Roselynn looked over at the candle that landed her there. The flame was still. Mute. Roselynn nervously went over to the window and curiously hovered her hand over the motionless candle. The shadowless flame was still hot.

Roselynn looked through the grimy window and noticed the area in front of the cabin was oddly still. She wiped the cold glass with the palm of her hand. The buildup was thick and sticky. Through the short, smeared streak, Roselynn realized the entire village had disappeared after just being there moments before.

Roselynn was paralyzed in shock, knowing a large group of people could not have withdrawn so quickly. Before Roselynn could react to their disappearance, a building accumulation of whispers behind her seized her attention. She panicked, quickly turning around to exam the spaces around her. The voices rose and fell at random like a sluggish pulse of the cabin. Roselynn slowly followed the whispers through the house. They spoke a language she had never heard before.

Roselynn slowly stepped through the cabin, carefully following the bizarre voices. Winding around the dining area, past the kitchen, and through the short narrow hall. At last, she entered an empty bedroom in the back of the cabin where the increasing volume came to a halt when she came in. The small room seemed to enlarge in the reflection of the mirror leaning against the wall. Roselynn’s reflection in the dusty mirror seemed to be concerned for her. She wiped the thick layer of dust off it to get a better look at her face. Her reflection began to smile. She felt a sense of accomplishment seeing herself cloaked in pride.

“I can do this,” Roselynn shared with herself. She recalled the times in the village where she doubted herself, only to prove to herself that she can accomplish more than she originally thought. She took a moment to examine herself in the mirror. “I know I can do this. The Sire chose me for a reason. It’s not going to be as hard as I thought it would be.” Roselynn lifted her head and smiled as she aligned herself with her thoughts.

Roselynn placed herself on the floor in front of the mirror, admiring her new sense of honor. “I wonder if I could volunteer for all the other village trials,” she thought. “People would gift many loaves and spices to me that I could share with my family. If they deserved them at the time. I could store up and sell them when the village needs them from me.”

The thought of all the good to come from this made Roselynn feel much better about having to endure the trials. She thought of how others in the past had failed and needed to be sacrificed as atonement. Roselynn grinned, knowing she would do much better. “I’m going to complete all the trials going forward. The Sire will rain down many fortunes,” she remarked.

Suddenly, the most beautiful shadow separated from Roselynn and scurried to the edge of the reflection’s view. Roselynn jumped, startled, and then sought out the figure in the room. Roselynn’s shadow remained detached from her, but she was not concerned about the anomaly. Everything in her wanted to drink deeply of the figure’s remarkable allure.

The shadow dashed through the cabin from area to area before entering a pitch black room. Roselynn chased after it but stopped at the entrance of the room. She had no light, and the glow of the moon was quickly dissipating. She hectically peered into the room searching for any sign of the shadow. “Where are you?” Roselynn begged. “I need to see you. Please.” At the sound of her voice, the shadow opened its eyes and mouth.

The whiteness of its pupils and teeth was the only thing visible in the room. The shocked look on its face slowly shifted into a smirk. Its eyes captivated Roselynn, freezing her in position. She began to breath harder the longer she looked at them. “You… want… to see me?” The shadow asked, smiling more and more each second. Roselynn nodded, sobbing at the elegance in the shadow’s voice.

The sound began to arouse Roselynn deeply. The heat inside burn hotter than anything she had ever felt before. “You’re so beautiful,” she said to the shadow. “I want to know you. Please. Please come to me.” The grin of the shadow grew to an inhumane size. It came closer, but still too far for Roselynn to reach. “Aren’t I the prettiest thing?” the shadow asked. Roselynn nodded again, edging closer to the darkness in the room. “Tell me.” The shadow demanded.

Roselynn didn’t hesitate. “You are the prettiest, most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” She continued to weep, doubling over at the overwhelming feeling she had inside her. She wrenched increasingly until she out of energy to cry anymore. “You’re pathetic piece of garbage.” The shadow said in a much deeper, harsher voice. The tone shocked Roselynn, bringing her focus back into the room. The figure was gone. The room had become lit by the last of the moon’s radiance.

“No… wait!” Roselynn shouted. The echo of the vacant cabin revealed to her that she was alone. Roselynn slumped down into a puddle on the floor. The tears started well up in her eyes again. “Why can’t I be that beautiful?” She questioned. “I should be one that looks like that. I deserve such beauty. It should belong to me!”

Roselynn rose to her feet once more to try and find the shadow for retribution. As she made her way through the house, the aroma of fresh bread became closer and closer. The delightful smell soon combined with that of roasted chicken, seasoned potatoes, and her other favorites her mother would cook during the holidays when she was younger. A feeling of nostalgia flooded Roselynn as the scent got progressively stronger.

“Mother?” Roselynn blurted aloud. No one responded. Instead, she was met with a long table full of food., large enough to fit her whole family. Her eyes enlarged as scanned the table of everything it had on it. Foods of many kinds. Cranberries, grapes, sliced apples, juices, milk, jellies, and many other things she had not had in so long since The Sire sent the famine. The spread was dimly lit with candles on each side of the table. Roselynn checked around the corners of the kitchen to ensure her mother or one of the other women in the village hadn’t brought in the enormous meal.

However, Roselynn couldn’t ignore her rumbling stomach for too much longer. After a few moments of looking over the feast, she sat at the center of the table and began to pile as much food on her plate as she could. When it became almost too heavy to hold the plate, Roselynn finally sat down and began to eat. The food was the best she had ever tasted. Moans of gratitude expelled from her food filled mouth. She laughed at the liberating feeling she felt from being able to eat however much she wanted.

Dipping a slice of apple into a glass of milk, she sat back in her chair and considered the night so far. She had no way of telling how many hours passed. She wondered how much time there would be left before the trial started.

Soon after, the elation of the colossal meal began to dwindle. Roselynn had eaten her fill and was now repulsed by the food that lay in front of her. “How much longer do I need to sit here?” Roselynn impatiently barked into the air. “This is bloody senseless. Idiotic!” She threw her fork into the remnants of the chicken left on the table. “If these people aren’t good enough for you, then do something about it! Don’t go on punishing us with this stupid cabin to test our morals!”

Roselynn leaned back in her chair, placed her foot against the edge of the table and kicked it as hard as she could. The table, plates, candles, and silverware plummeted to the floor with a heavy crash. She picked up her wooden chair and began beating the toppled table until the seat broke into pieces in her hand. Roselynn threw the splintered pieces of the chair to the floor. She had become out of breath from all the effort she exerted. Tiredly, she staggered to the living room. A long, stained sofa sat against the wall, opposite of the cabin’s entrance. Too worn to search for an alternative, Roselynn plopped onto to it, signing with relief.

Roselynn laid in the darkened cabin catching her breath. She planned to pick up the mess she made before morning but wanted to rest prior to doing anything else. She couldn’t imagine moving from the plush sofa. Her eyes became heavier and heavier. Roselynn tried to keep her eyes open by focusing on one of the beams that hung overhead. Sounds of her mother’s lullabies saturated her mind, luring her away into the land of dreams she wanted to distance herself from. “I’ll just relax here for little while,” Roselynn stated. “That way, I’ll be alert for when the trials begin.”

Suddenly a banging on the cabin door startled Roselynn awake. “Roselynn!” a voice shouted. It was brittle. Hurried. Distressed. “Roselynn, you are permitted to emerge from the cabin now!” Roselynn sat up from her slumber. Her back creaked as she arose. As she awoke, she realized she was on the floor of the cabin. The sofa she had fallen asleep on was no longer there. Her groggy eyes drifted toward the kitchen, shamefully remembering the mess she made. It was gone.

Roselynn rose to her feet. She cautiously looked around the cabin for a sign of anything that occurred the night before. It was completely empty. As if she had not been there at all. She began to wonder if it was all a dream. If she would have to regrettably confess to the priest and the entire village that she fell asleep during the trial. Humiliation swept over Roselynn realizing that she botched such an important opportunity.

On her way to the door, she briefly caught her reflection on one of the cabin windows. She used it to gather herself together, straightening her dress and brushing off any dust from the floor. Before turning away, she caught her own face in the reflections. Her eyes were beautiful. They captivated her, freezing her into position. She grinned at the sight.

She broke away and as she opened the door, Roselynn was greeted by the entire village. Most cheered as she walked out of the cabin. Some looked on eagerly for any words of praise. But Roselynn remained silent. Her parents and the priest stood on the porch of the cabin with curious eyes. Roselynn smiled wide. The three took a heavy deep breath in unison. The priest placed a hand on Roselynn’s arm. “Well done, my child.” With a gentle smile, gathered the crowd and departed.

“Are you okay, honey?” Roselynn’s mother asked fearfully. Roselynn nodded and smiled. “I am fine, mother,” she replied. “Let’s go home,” her father said with tears in his eyes. The three walked down the steps and made her way toward the village.

“Father?” Roselynn began, smiling intensely.

“Yes, darling?” her father replied, cheerfully.

“Aren’t I the prettiest thing?”

Roselynn’s parents glanced at each other questioningly, then quickly back at Roselynn before she could notice. “Why yes, honey,” her mother replied, carefully. “You are very pretty.”

In an instant, the candle in the cabin window went out.