A Bed for the Night

When I was a child, my great uncle John told me about a frightening journey he had made while traveling by train between villages. He had to change trains at a small, isolated platform with a hut and no other passengers. There was only a dirt road leading into the surrounding woods.

He waited, but no train arrived. It was winter, and the light was fading. An elderly stranger appeared and told him that the train would not arrive until the following day. The stranger offered him food and a bed for the night at a house about an hour away.

Because local travelers commonly stayed with residents, John accepted. He took his suitcase and followed the stranger down the dark road. The walk lasted much longer than expected. Eventually they reached a small two story house. Inside, the stranger lit oil lamps and warmed some soup. Only then did John realize that the person who had presented as an old woman was actually a man.

The host led John upstairs to a tiny room containing a single bed. John thanked him and entered. The host closed and locked the door from the outside. John called out, but received no answer. He assumed the lock had been accidental and decided to sleep.

Before falling asleep, he needed to use the bathroom. He searched beneath the bed in the darkness, expecting to find a chamber pot. Instead, his hand touched a body.

John immediately went to the window, but it was nailed shut. He knew that staying in the room could be fatal, yet breaking the window might bring the host before he could escape. He pulled the body from under the bed, placed it on the mattress, covered it with the blanket, and hid beneath the bed.

About an hour later, footsteps slowly climbed the stairs. The lock clicked and the door opened. John saw someone move toward the bed. Several heavy blows followed as the person struck the body with a large crowbar. The attacker dropped the crowbar on the floor directly in front of John, then left the room and locked the door again.

When the footsteps disappeared, John took the crowbar and slowly pried open the window. He threw his suitcase outside and climbed through after it. He landed with only minor injuries and ran across a field toward distant lights. The lights belonged to a highway, where military and transport trucks passed. One driver gave him a ride to another village, where he caught a train.

He did not report the incident because he feared that the authorities might blame him. He was simply grateful to have escaped and decided never again to accept an unfamiliar bed during a journey.