agrestic
[uh-gres-tik]
adjective
rural; rustic.
unpolished; awkward.
agrestic behavior.
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The family entered the cabin and looked around. The parents, Julie and Will, looked around with dubious appreciation. The two teenagers, Christie and Jim, looked around with obvious disdain. The cabin was not that bad by most metrics. It was not very big, but it had enough bedding. Mostly anyway, since one of the beds was just a pull-out couch bed. It had running water and functioning electricity. Really, it had everything one could need. It was sparsely decorated, mostly with wood carvings and various animal parts on the walls. The floors were bare, with no rugs or carpets. The windows were slightly cloudy and had unobstructed views of the surrounding woods, no matter which window one looked out.
“Well, this is...nice.” Julie said.
“This place sucks.” Christie replied.
“Hey now, it’s not that bad.” Will replied. “It’s...rustic.”
“It’s a serial killer cabin.” Jim said. He was already looking at his phone, even before putting his suitcase down. His sister huffed her own unique form of agreement.
“Oh, it’s not that bad.” Julie said.
“I’m serious, Mom. This is the kind of place where a serial killer will hang out. No cell service. Nobody around for miles. I don’t think there’s even one of those old landline phones. It’s the perfect place for some guy with a knife or something to kill all of us.”
“All the more reason why we should go and get a hotel.” Christie said. “It’ll be way nicer than whatever this is.”
“Okay, first of all, there aren’t going to be any murderers of any kind out here.” Will said. “People know where we are, we have the means to contact someone, and there are other cabins like this one.” He pulled out a large, bulky satellite phone made for use in the cabins, setting it one the table. “And second, Jim, put the phone away. That’s one of the reasons why we came out here. Giving you two some time away from the screen will be good for you both.”
“Oh, please, Dad.” Christie said, rolling her eyes. “Like you aren’t looking at your computer just as much as we do.”
“Well it’ll be good for all of us. Now put them all away. Turning them off will be best, but just down will do for now. Let’s unpack and see what there is to do around here.”
“Other than get killed by a psycho?” Jim said. Everyone else chose to ignore that.
“Ah, here we go.” Julie said, looking at the small, and very old, fridge. There was a handwritten sheet of paper attached to it that she was reading from. “There’s a long list of hiking trails for all experience levels. Several swimming areas. And in town, there’s several museums, public gardens and nature trails. We’ll have plenty to do out here.”
The two younger members of the family did not seem convinced. Both of them thought it would be easier, and safer, to stay in town instead of the woods. But there was no convincing the older two members. Now that their grievances had been voiced, it would be better to just put up with it. At least for now. Neither doubted that there would be a lot more to find fault with once it came time for dinner.
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