101 SECONDS
The wretched noise of an old Massey Ferguson rumbled the cabin windows and it almost felt like the walls were going to crumble down with the vibration. “Out of all 12 cabins, it had to be mine that’s right by the road. I really should have thought this through,” rambled the young man. The gargantuan white Kangal whined in fear and started looking for a place to hide from all the noise. As he led the dog outside with a large bone treat in his hand, he took the view in and thought to himself:
“Really though, how many days would it take them to notice if something happened to me? I’m in the middle of the mountain, I don’t get mail, I don’t get visitors, none for me, anyway. The ones that stay in the cabins? How long do I even see them? I get their IDs, that takes a solid 30 seconds at least. I give them their keys, so that’s 10 seconds? On the way to their cabins, I show them where they can get wood for when they’re cold, and food when they’re hungry, that takes me a minute, and it’s the best part for sure. What more? The occasional awkward hello when we inevitably see each other the next day, not even a single second sometimes. A hundred and one seconds of their time, that’s what I’m worth. And I haven’t even gotten a customer for over two weeks. When was the last time I’ve genuinely spoken to someone? When’s the last time someone genuinely spoke to me?”
While the fluffy and under-groomed white Bolognese dog was playfully walking around the cabin, the young man stood thinking by himself. A battered car made its way up the hill and parked outside. The old, red hatchback was battle-scarred for sure. The roof rack had plenty of outdoor gear that was loosely packed, and the back seats were full of something, although it wasn’t visible because of the slightly tinted windows. A tanned woman rolled down the window to look at the reception. She looked for a few seconds before removing her sunglasses to make sure someone was in there. As she removed her
glasses, she saw the young man sitting at his desk and looking at her. The young man didn’t have any thoughts, he didn’t make any smart deductions. He looked at the schedule on his computer screen that noted the arrival of a single visitor. Maybe that was why he pondered on his loneliness. Though his eyes were fixed on the stranger in the parking lot, he was still thinking about the 101 seconds.
The blonde walked in with a warm smile and as she entered the cabin that was allocated for the reception, she looked around the walls that were filled with memorabilia. The antlers looked as if they came off a deer that was the size of a mammoth. The wood cups, sculptures and planks so carefully carved, were just as good as one could imagine a simple piece of wood could be. He looked through the wood carvings and other handcrafted pieces with a closeted sense of pride in his chest and although everything the eye could see was made by him, except the cabins, he never told any of his visitors about his work. The cabins were made by a craftsman from Istanbul who fell in the lake during the construction, he still chuckled when he remembered that day.
“How could those logs from the other side of the earth be two times as cheap as the logs from the forest nearby?”
He never did find an answer to the question, but he didn’t get much help while thinking of an answer.
“Hello,” she said with a bright smile that even lit her ears up. The time started ticking.
“Welcome, do you have a reservation?” “Yes, it’s under İzlem.”
“May I have your ID card for registration?” “Of course.”
He quickly dialed in the information. İzlem Günal. Born thirteenth of March 2000.
Woman. Single, even though that’s none of his business. “You’ll be staying in Cabin #2. Here are your keys.”
He got up from his chair and walked to the door without making any gestures, just looking forward. When he got to the door, he looked back at the woman; and only then did she understand that she was meant to follow him. With a timid laugh and a silent “Oh!” she wrapped her rugged bag around her shoulder and started following him. On the short walk to the cabin, he showed her the wooden building where she could get her firewood and mentioned the small restaurant that offers local breakfast and fish just up the road. This was the exact moment he felt proud. The cabins were his idea, yet he didn’t nail in a single piece of wood during their construction. He didn’t feel anything looking at them. The small lake that they had made by cutting the local lake off: His idea as well. But his brother was responsible for that, so he really couldn’t feel anything looking at that either. Nobody ever took a second glance at the miscellanea on the walls, except her of course.
“Wait a minute!”, he thought. “She did look at the walls, didn’t she?”
The realization came too late, as they were already at the door of cabin number two. “This is it,” he said. “You can tell me if you need anything.”
“Thank you!” she cheerfully said. As she entered the cabin, he couldn’t help but take a peek inside just before the double doors were closed. She was looking around as if she was awed by the beauty of the cabin.
“She is interested in the place.” He thought to himself before getting back to reception. It was a late check-in, and the weather had already started to get dark. There weren’t any lights other than the ones in the cabins, and even at 18:34, it was too late to go
outside. He called it an early night since he wasn’t expecting any new guests, and the season for unexpected ones was still a ways off.
The next morning, he got out of bed a few minutes after sunrise. It didn’t seem like he had anything in mind. It wasn’t much different than watching a river flow, watching himself perform his routine. Just as the water follows the creek; he got up from his bed, went to the toilet, fed the animals, cleaned the house, swept the yard, and put some new firewood in the small depot. He would never be surprised, or even have anything slightly unexpected happen during the hour and a half it took him to perform all these tasks. Every single step he took, every move he made, it all added up to a single result; a single purpose. So much so that he didn’t even notice his neighbour wave hello from the road while he restocked the firewood. He didn’t notice the visitor playing with the cat that he fed from time to time; he was too busy milking the cows. He didn’t even notice the small Bolognese stealing the large bone that was almost twice its size from the monstrous Kangal.
“Good morning, can I have some clean towels please?”
“Of course, let me fetch them from the back. I’ll be right back.”
While he folded the two clean towels he took from the shelf and went back to reception, he noticed the girl tracing the engraved abundance charm pattern on the big piece of wood hung on the wall with her fingers. The pattern looked like the head of a battering ram and it was carefully carved and polished.
“I made most of the decorations myself.” he hastily said.
“They look beautiful. This is why I love this region so much; something is enchanting about this place. This one’s made of walnut, right?” she said as she held the plank that had the abundance charm.
“If you’re interested, I can show you how to make one,” he said. After all, local activities were listed on the promotion page. Her eyes lit up with enthusiasm.
“I would love that! You have to show me the dragon charm, that’s my favourite.”
He went back to his little workbench to bring back some tools and brought back the very best of the wood he had left. He couldn’t help but be amazed by her knowledge, he didn’t know a single person other than his grandfather that knew about those charms. He taught her about a basic pattern to put on a piece of wood that was no bigger than her hand.
“That way she can take it with her anywhere.” he thought to himself.
By the time she had finished, several hours had passed. They went back and forth as she made some mistakes, and even though the mistakes were hardly ever fixed, the thrill of making another mark kept her spirits high. She thanked him sincerely and went back to her cabin with her work. When he looked at his watch, he realized that the time for lunch was long past. He thought about the 101 seconds that made him feel worthless and realized that nothing had changed. He was the same, what he knew was the same, what he had was the same, and yet he felt better. As the new white SUV pulled up to the parking lot, he quickly checked his computer screen to see two new visitors coming in. He tidied himself up and went outside.
“Welcome to the Valley Lodges! How was the drive up here?”
“Steep and narrow, but the views were worth the struggle. We have a reservation for today; it’s under Deniz.”
“I’ll help you get settled in, and we can check you in afterwards.”
“Oh thank you,” the man said while taking the mountain air in and looking around. “The cabins look even better than the photos.”
“They’re beautiful, but not local,” he said with a smile. “I just can’t understand how some trees from the other side of the earth cost more than the ones here.”
He was in for a treat now, as the two visitors started bashing the economy. He felt a newfound sense of peace resonate in his soul. He had never realized how beautiful the little lake was, or how good the food tasted.
