A new adventure begins

The cabin exuded stale cold air as the creaky old door swung open. Chris stifled an urge to sneeze when the disturbed dust swirled around him, and stepped into the dark foyer. As he fumbled for a light switch, he remembered that the cabin did not have electricity.

He set down his multi-colored, heart covered suitcase; the one his wife bought because she said it would stand out at the baggage claim and they would find it easily, though he suspected she just thought it was funny to see him walking around pulling it behind him. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out his smart phone. Expertly, he flipped it to flashlight mode.

Waving the phone around in front of him, he was able to make out various furniture, animal heads mounted on the walls, and eventually, a gas lantern which had been conveniently left on a small table next to the door. Setting down his phone, he picked up the lantern, satisfied that it appeared to be full of oil. He noted there was a box of matches on the table as well, so he primed the lantern, struck the match and in a few seconds filled the room with shadow chasing light.

Other than the dust and cob webs, the places seemed well maintained. He hung the lantern on a hook hanging from the center of the ceiling, retrieved his phone and suit case and yelled out the doorway, "LET'S DO THIS!"

As he stepped in and to the side, holding the door that was instinctively trying to close itself, a small group of people made their way, excitedly, into what was scheduled to be their home over the next 2 weeks.

One at a time, they entered. After Chris, the next through the door was his wife, Nawanna. He admired her blue eyes as the lantern light seemed to sparkle within them. A quick pat on her backside as she walked in drew a chuckle as well as a quick look of frustration at him, but she mostly ignored him, found a place to set her bag, and immediately started dusting off the furniture.

"It is disgusting in here," she stated. "but we will make it livable in no time."

After Nawanna, her friend Shanie walked in with her husband Allen's hand firmly gripped behind her.  They both wore backpacks. Allen, being a pilot, was skilled at packing light and his wife had picked it up from him. They had what they needed, and nothing else, unless you count the trunk load of board games they had brought with them.

"I can't believe we are doing this," Shanie said excitedly. "I have missed you guys so much."

Next in was a tall man who immediately looked at the lantern and grimaced. "That lantern is too close to the ceiling," he muttered, mostly to himself. He set his bag down, pulled a chain from God knows where, placed it on the hook and hung the lantern off of it. "Can't be too careful," he quietly stated. As a fire investigator, he knew what risk looked like and he knew how to minimize it. His wife, Ashley, walked in behind him, took one look at what he was doing and just shook her head.

"Scott, its two weeks babe, take a break from the job," she chided with a hint of humor in her voice.

Scott looked up at her and snickered. "You'll thank me when we all don't die in a ball of fire."

Another male voice sounded from outside. "If my stocks don't swing in the right direction while I am offline over the next two weeks, I am going to wish I died in a ball of fire."

Then a female voice offered, "If you die in a ball of fire, Gary, who is going to help me up these stairs?"

Gary, a lanky fellow with a perpetual smile in his eyes, gently pulled his wife's wheelchair up the stairs.

"You know I got you babe," he said softly. His wife Alisha smiled at him and put her hand over her shoulder to rest it on top of his.

"Now remember," she said to Gary, "no stock talk for two weeks. This is a getaway, so let's get away."

Gary hung his head in an exaggerated slump then snickered and helped her through the door.

Chris was an IT guy, so he shared Gary's fear of being offline for so long, but at the same time, he welcomed it. He needed a break from other people's problems for a while, and a 2 week trip to the mountains in East Tennessee was exactly what the doctor ordered.

As a group, they had met for the first time on a trans-Atlantic cruise. Quickly they became the best of friends, keeping in touch since that amazing trip. This was the first time they had all actually been in the same place at the same time since the cruise, but an outsider would never have been able to tell.

They had no idea of the events that would unfold over the next two weeks, but for now, they were excited, though weary from driving all day.

The cars were unloaded, and the rooms were divvied up between the 4 couples.

One more look around the room and Chris announced, "Remember, PJs only from this point forward. Let's get some rest and when we wake, we can see just how little we can do over the next two weeks."

The others nodded and then retired to their rooms.