@blacklux had a fabulous idea to create a story chapter by chapter, Steemwriter by Steemwriter. If you look at the #makeastory hashtag, you can see the first two chapters, the second of which was written by the fabulously talented @ginnyannette, who then nominated me. I haven't written a story for a while, and I'm a little rusty - but who can turn down a challenge like this? So here goes.

---

---

Cabin in the Woods: Chapter 3

It was very dark and very cold by the time they got into bed. Laura had never cooked a meal in her life, but that did not stop her complaining about the tinned soup Josh had managed to heat up in the old fireplace.

He had not had a great deal of success lighting it, as the wood was damp and the only paper he could find was a shopping brochure in her fake Gucci bag. She only very reluctantly parted with it, being told it was either that or starving. As the gloss coated paper burnt blue and green in feeble flames, he was horrified to catch himself seeing the face of a lingerie model with her face, the fire eating first her pelvis where the paper was folded and crushed, and then licking up her belly button to her cleavage, and finely her haughty features as they disappeared in the flames. He looked at Laura, but she was too busy trying to catch her reflection in her small pocket mirror, painting her lips as if someone may pay them a visit at any moment.

In the end, she did not make much effort to eat the meal he'd prepared, and under the covers, the cold seemed worse somehow as she turned her back to him in reproach. He wondered why she came in the first place, and couldn't help but think perhaps it was the thought of selling the place and taking her share with her as she left.

For Josh was scared of being alone.

He had been left alone in this house before, and the feeling of the gaping ravine in the moonlight had never left him, as it may swallow him whole. When his parents had travelled Europe, he was left with his grandmother and a promise that they'd bring him treasures from far off lands, but instead, his father had returned without his mother, who'd married some Parisien who owned a vineyard and seemed to satisfy her far more than his father ever could.

It was much easier for Josh to agree to Laura's whims, which seemed to please her and keep her close. He wondered how she'd feel when she discovered he wasn't worth much after all, and the small inheritance left to him by his mother was already frittered away on Laura's expensive tastes.

He didn't want to sell, though. Something about being here felt right somehow, as it it was going to tie up the loose threads of his life by allowing him to remember what really happened that night long ago.

His night was sleepless. The front door opened twice in the night, letting in the rain and wind and once he'd had to chase Bella out into the night as she seemed intent on leaving, sitting not at their bed like she normally did, but by the front door whining.

Josh also dreamt of his grandmother.

He dreamt his was in the doorway of the bedroom, watching her play with the stones. Clickety clack, they chattered, as she moved them from one hand to another and then tap tap tap arranging them on the dresser, first in circles, then lines. The candlelight howled in the bones of her face. Josh wanted to ask her when his mother was coming back, but the words were stuck in his throat.

Clickety clack, went the stones. Clickety clack.

All night the stones were arranged in piles, lines and circles, then swept up again in liver spotted hands. Even when Josh woke, he imagined he could hear the stones, and when he fell back asleep, there he was in the doorway again, and tappety tap they went. Tappety tap, clickety clack.

When the dawn broke feebly, pale light illuminating the empty side of the bed, he was suprised to find himself alone. Laura never rose before 11, and certainly not before he brought her tea.

There was also a delicious smell wafting through the house, a stew perhaps, reminscent of his grandmother's goulash, spiced with paprika and caraway seeds. Had Laura cooked? He nearly laughed out aloud. Perhaps he was imagining the smell. Had she gone mad? Next she'd be telling him she'd taken Bella out for a walk, which was his job too, after he'd brought her tea. He whistled to the dog, but there was no familiar scratching on the floorboards. Puzzled, he rose groggily out of the bed and moved toward the kitchen, where he could see Laura in the shadows.

"Laura?" he said softly, not wanting to disturb her overmuch, as it was too early for an argument.

Something bubbled ferociously on the stove.

She turned toward him, the light catching the charm around her neck where it sparkled like fire, the ruby stone at it's centre aflame. Her hands began to turn something over and over, and the clickety clack, clickety clack filled the dusty air for a moment or two, before she turned the stones onto the table and arranged them there, tappety tap.

End of Chapter 3.

---

---

As per rules, I now nominate @sue-stevenson to carry on with chapter 4. Here are the rules from @blacklux's Chapter 1, for those of us that like to follow them (or intentionally break them):

Its simple, I will post a pic and start a story. Then I will tag a person to continue the story. After that person writes a new chapter it will nominate another person to continue the story. It will continue like that until we reach 10 chapters.

The nominated person have 7 days to come up with a new chapter for the story, if the nominated person don't write a new chapter then I will nominate another person. All the posts related to the story must have the hashtag #makeastory and tag me on them.
Also you have to add a pic or drawing related to your chapter of the story, if you don't have any you can use the one provided here. Once the ninth person writes the ninth chapter it have to nominate me to write the last chapter. In other words, I will write the first and the last chapter of the story.
The writers can do whatever they want with their part of the story. Whatever their imagination desires, there's no right or wrong in this story. The minimum word count its 100 words. The title must always say: "Let's Make A Story: Cabin In The Woods" and the number of the chapter eg: Let's Make A Story: Cabin In The Woods - Chapter 1. You can name the chapter if you want. And most important: HAVE FUN WHILE CREATING THE STORY!

---

---

Please excuse any formatting issues with this post - I'm on the road and it's not easy to do on my phone!

---

---

Want to find more quality posts about helping the Earth and humanity and generally making the world a better place? Check out the #ecotrain and #tribesteemup trails, and consider adding them to your autovoting. Please ask if you're unsure what this might mean for you.

You can read about the 8 Pillars of TribeSteemUp here