episode 1

Ashley looked out of the car window at the dark woods surrounding the road. She took out her phone that was in the little, dark purple purse lying next to her. She turned it on and immediately frowned - no signal. This only added to her unhappiness. Not only was she supposed to spend the summer at an old house with people she did not know, but also was already driving for 7 hours through the old, bumpy road. She looked at the driver, sitting in front of her in the driver's seat. He was in his mid-fifties, an unfriendly male with lots of wrinkles all over his face. He was very quiet and wasn't very talkative. Ashley tried to make some small talk the first hour of the trip, but he made it clear that he wasn't interested in talking. For the past 6 hours they were drinking in pure silence and if at first, Ashley tried to relax and get some sleep, now she was just bored. The views were exactly the same for the last 4 hours, at first there were some fields and houses, sometimes they would pass a herd of cows or sheep, but then the driver turned down the road onto a much smaller and less used road that leads them into the forest. Now for the past 4 hours, it was just a forest. Ashley took a deep breath and asked how much more would they be driving. There was a pause, but all that came out from the driver's mouth was a small sound that sounded as if he coughed with his mouth closed. Ashley thought that maybe he hadn't heard her question and politely asked again, but this time a little louder. But once again all she was met with was silence. She sighed and leaned on the window. She closed her eyes and decided to get some sleep. Pretty soon she was asleep. She didn't have any dreams and when she woke up her head and eyes hurt. She hated sleeping in the car because it was very uncomfortable. She looked out of the window at the same setting. The only thing that was different, was that it was much darker outside. The trees outside were almost all dark and the only light there was, was the light from the sunset that lit up the tops of the birches, poplars, elms, and cedars they passed in the forest. Ashley came to the conclusion that it must be around 8 PM. She was still looking through the window, still in a state when even though you're awake, you still feel sleepy, when she saw a light in the distance. She focused on the light and soon there were more lights ahead. As they drove closer to the lights Ashley could make out small buildings. And really soon they were driving through a small village. It was made to look like a village from the 19th or 20th century, but there were small details that made you remember that you were from the 21st century. Next to the old-style buildings, there were cars and bicycles, also mailboxes and the glow from television screens that you could sometimes see through the few open windows.

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