The Forest Cabin

"Here it is! I came to my grandmother's place three years ago."

Billy drove the little car along the forest path, cautiously making his way to the cabin. If this BMW got scratched, he would have to pay for it with all of next week's living expenses.

It was a simple, rustic cabin, raised more than a meter off the ground to keep out the damp.

Two mounted deer heads hung along the veranda outside the cabin, where people could sit and enjoy the shade. Living in such a remote area of the Northern Suburbs, surrounded by undeveloped forest, meant that hunting in the woods was their main form of entertainment.

As Billy slowly climbed the steps to the cabin, he said, "My grandfather passed away the year before last. Since my grandmother couldn't take care of herself, she moved in with my family. That left this suburban cabin completely vacant."

"Two years? Wouldn't it be filthy inside... Billy, you didn't trick us into coming here to clean, did you?"

"Of course not! How could I, Billy Don, bring you out to have fun and make you do such boring chores? A few days ago, I had my mother hire people to clean the cabin from top to bottom. See the lawn around us? If no one had maintained it for two years, it would probably be over a meter high by now... Come on in!"

When Billy led them inside, the rustic cabin looked brand-new, as though no one had ever lived there. A real bear hide had been spread out in front of the living-room sofa.

"This bear hide was my grandfather's pride and joy. He moved here when he was fifty-six, and not long afterward, he encountered a great bear in the forest. After a battle that