The Writer’s Corner features poetry, essays, short stories, satire and various fiction and non-fiction from SCAD Atlanta students. To submit your own work for the Writer’s Corner, email features@scadconnector.com.
For the past four days, my entire family was living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in Elijay. A place with no cell service and terrible internet, which only meant one thing: human interaction.
The day of check-in, everyone was in a different vehicle, and although we left around the same time, our arrivals were hours apart from each other. I was the first one there. My dogs Kodak and Ruby rode along in my beat-up SUV, so I wasn’t alone in the middle of the mountains. However, being the paranoid ball of anxiety that I am, not even the dogs could comfort me whenever a leaf rustled in the wind or a squirrel ran by.
I got out of the car and opened the door for the dogs. Ruby ran off, but Kodak stayed by my side. The room I was in had its own entrance and no connection to the main house from the inside. The dogs would stay in that room with me, and the rest of my family would stay on the main floor. From the entrance of my room, you could see out to a tiny area with a fire pit in the middle. Next to that was a slow-flowing stream, then plants took over the rest of the space.
Throughout the trip, my family did many things. However, the best part of the trip was that first hour I had to myself. It was maybe 20 minutes after my arrival when I heard something moving around outside. I opened the kitchen door and saw the neighbor’s dog roaming around the front of our house. Knowing this would be an issue with my dogs, I went down to let them inside our room and let the other guy do his business. After making sure Kodak and Ruby were all right, I stepped back outside to see that the new dog had followed me down to the room. He ignored my many attempts of trying to make friends, so I decided to go back in to the room where I was truly loved.
As I turned to open the door, my eyes met a new pair of eyes. Something was standing 10 feet from where I was. It was a beautiful doe. I jumped back in fear because my experiences with deer have not been the best. Many roam through my parents’ backyard and they don’t like anyone but themselves. This one, though, was nice. She was very comfortable with the idea of people and is probably used to them gawking at her like something from another world.
Not knowing what to do, I just stood there and waited for something to happen. I’m not sure why I didn’t go into the house or leave her alone, but I’m glad I stayed. The doe, who at that point I’d named Jenny, began to walk over to me. I, honest to God, thought she was going to attack me, but instead she stood next to me.
The rest of my family arrived shortly after my new friend and I parted ways. Groceries were unloaded, suitcases unpacked, and a couple hours of laying around happened all in the same first night. Things got crazy around 7 p.m. when my mom and sister came down to ask if I wanted to join them in the hot tub. In 10 minutes the warmest water ever surrounded my body. An hour in, my father joined us and a last-minute run to Dairy Queen was decided within another hour and a half.
The next day held a similar schedule of events. Another trip to Dairy Queen was made, board games were played and we watched cooking shows all night. One of the things I have learned from travelling so much is that you don’t always have to go somewhere. I enjoyed the time spent in those two days. It was especially nice when the scattered showers came through our space and I could tune everything out. The sound of rain was the only thing I focused on and things felt OK for a few minutes.
