The Winterton Weeping Woods

Our holiday

What have I done?  This is a bit different to the glossy brochure. Clever marketing had brought us to what should have been a park lodge.   Instead, it is a dingy barn. A barn with a leaky roof, running water and a bathroom.  Sort of habitable, the bargain price makes more sense now.  Where in the UK can you rent a park lodge for £200, for a week in August?  You can’t! I’m sure that wouldn’t even pay for Butlins.  At least Shaun is smiling.  Mike, not so much.  If I hadn’t been left alone to holiday plan, then this wouldn’t have happened.  Mike had liked the price though and had enthusiastically loaded up the car.

Five hours from home and here we are.  Winterton Weeping Woods, weeping was right, this was a disaster.  No WIFI, no heating, I look again at the brochure, did I misread it? Or have we been scammed Luckily, we have thick heavy blankets in the car. The only happy person here is Shaun and he is five. Needing warmth, we build a fire and as darkness truly settles in we became more agreeable to the situation.  We needed an adventure, something to bring us together.  However, a tent in our back garden would have been better then this.  I have never considered sleeping in a barn. This one did at least have beds and duvets, but this was not the holiday I had planned.

Night

As the evening got darker, I started thinking of what could be hidden in the woods.  We were alone, maybe there were other holiday makers equally dissatisfied with their accommodation, we would go for a walk tomorrow, or so I thought.

2am

I am woken by a howl. Something big was outside. Then a loud banging, I just wanted to sleep. I could hear Mike stir next to me.  Pulling up the covers I am vaguely aware that he is going to check on the ruckus.

In life things happen, we make choices, and they are sometimes the wrong ones. Maybe I should have gone to the door, but Mike seemed like he was on a mission to get rid of them.  As all went quiet, I fell back to sleep.

8am

Woken by Shaun, I realised that Mike had not come back.  Looking outside I couldn’t see him, and he hadn’t left a note.  The car was still there though, so he couldn’t have gone far.  Checking my phone there is no message there either. Grabbing Shaun’s hand, I lead him out of the barn and now start walking.  In my worry over Mike, we haven’t eaten or had a warm drink.  I’ve literally just stepped into my trousers, boots and coat and dressed Shaun.

Summary

So here we are, a forty-year-old woman who should know better and a five year old, now cold, hungry and lost in the woods.  No Wifi and phone reception is poor too.  Shouting Dad and Mike had got us nowhere and great, it’s now raining!

Peter

Its now as we sit cuddled up under a tree that an angel appears. Not a godly angel but a man who changed this whole awful drama around.  Explaining who we were and why we are here, he started laughing.

“I’m so sorry”, he said, “I don’t know about your husband but why are you sleeping in the barn?”

“Is this not Winterton Weeping Woods?”

“It is, but the barn is where I go when the missus has had enough of me. The holiday park is just beyond the woods.  I can take you, but we must find your husband.”

Pulling out what looked like a radio, we soon found out where Mike was. Last night there had been an accident and the people involved had knocked on the barn door wanting Peter but found Mike instead.  Mike had then obliged by going with them to the hospital after helping lift the young man on to their trailer.

Peter now told them where Mike was supposed to be, and I could hear laughing.  I guess it is a funny story, but I feel incredibly stupid.  Showing us the pathway back, he offers to meet us in an hour to lead us to the holiday park where we should be.

The weeping woods

Day Two of our holiday was not as we had expected.  The reception staff had laughed too, this is a story that will be retold. The daft family who spent a night in a barn. Maybe the park needs better signs!

However, at least they found Mike and he had been good with the injured man, so a good ending there.

Having now found the park lodge with the hot tub we are no longer weeping. This was more like I had imagined and just as stated in the glossy brochure.

So why are these woods called Weeping woods?  Well according to the internet there is a history of people going missing, taken. On a quiet night, howling and crying can be heard. I looked at my full wine glass and then out towards the woods. Was that howl last night the injured man? Or something more sinister? I looked up at the sky and thanked God that we had met Peter who had brought us to the park lodge where we should be.  That barn had certainly not been safe! I’m sure there is more to this then the locals and Peter are willing to share. Maybe its not his missus that sends Peter to the barn but something else. Why was this holiday so cheap?

Yes, I need to stop thinking about it, relax and enjoy my holiday, playing detective would quite possibly get me in trouble, that’s what happens on television anyway. I could find myself buried in the woods, I shuddered.

Sipping my wine, I now lean back in the hot tub, listening to the rhythmic bubbles I close my eyes.  We are okay, we are safe and all here and I need to quit the overthinking and enjoy my break from work. We are here to relax, not to solve the mystery of the Winterton Weeping Woods.

Written for   Writers Unite! photo prompt

For more see –  Back on the road    written for writers unite