All summer long—and well into autumn—an elderly woman climbed onto the roof of her house every single day and hammered in sharp wooden stakes.

By the time the leaves began to fall, the roof bristled with them. People were unsettled. Some were genuinely afraid. Most were convinced the old woman had finally lost her mind… until winter arrived 

At first, the villagers only watched in silence. Then the murmurs started.

“Have you noticed her roof?”

“Yes. Ever since her husband passed, she hasn’t been the same.”

After her husband’s death the year before, the woman had withdrawn from everyone. She spoke little, kept to herself—and now this strange, almost threatening construction rising above her home.

Each day, more stakes appeared. The roof looked unnatural, like a giant trap waiting to spring. Rumors spread quickly.

Some claimed she was warding off dark forces.
Others insisted it was a bizarre renovation.
The boldest whispered that she had started some kind of cult inside her house.

“No sane person would do that,” people muttered outside the village shop.
“It’s all sharp. Just looking at it gives me chills.”