Stories to Tell in the Dark

Someone Always Comes Along

Hey there. Are you lost? Me too. Aw there there, don't be scared, someone will come along. Someone always comes along. Sooner or later.
I'm Amy. We can wait here till someone finds us. In the meantime, would uh... would you like to trade? Yeah I'll tell you a story and, well... you listen to it. It's a great way to pass the time, you know.
So do you want to trade?
Yeah?
Great!
Ok, my story happened a long time ago, I got lost then too. I kinda feel like I'm always lost, you know?
*****
It was late September when my family and I took the visit to the Great Corn Maze Farm. This was the largest corn maze in the state and we had traveled for nearly two hours just to get here. The farm boasted 5 separate mazes all intertwined into the corn field. They ranged from "Lil' Pumpkin Path" that was the easy level, to the "Devil's Labyrinth" the longest and hardest maze in the field. The Devil's Labyrinth was nothing to laugh about, it wound around and around in horrid circles and had long twisting paths leading to dead ends. Without any direction you could get completely turned around in there and spend hours trying to find your way out. Luckily, you could grab a maze map at the entrance so you wouldn't have to wander around hopelessly lost. Although for me getting lost in a corn maze is usually half the fun.
This maze had a reputation for being creepy and strange. At my high school there were all kinds of rumors about the Great Corn Maze, especially about Devil's Labyrinth. Some kids swore that strange creatures or demonic scarecrows or other such monstrosities lived in the maze and came out at night to steal souls or eat brains or whatever. I never believed any of them, they were just lots of silly Halloween type stories just told to frighten people. Only one rumor floated around that had any kind of menace. It was really simple, just an old newspaper clipping about a little boy that went to the Great Corn Maze last year, he went into the maze, and simply never came out again. No one knew why... maybe he got lost...
But things like that didn't really happen to people, and like I said, I didn't believe in silly rumors. No silly rumor was going to spoil my birthday trip! No way!
Or so I believed...
We drove up to the farm, bumping over the dirt roads. Eagerly I gazed out the window at the huge green cornfield, unable to contain my excitement. I loved corn mazes and this was the best one ever! Late September was my birthday and this year, my family had splurged just to bring me here! I was so excited, I couldn't wait to wander through the rows of sweet smelling corn... We pulled up to the dirt and hay field that served as a parking lot, driving our little Nissan over the rough mud ruts. We all got out, Mom, Dad, my cousin and me.
We passed by the other attractions at the Farm. There was a hayride, a little train ride that went around and around, a carousel, a petting zoo, an obstacle course, an empty field for pumpkin throwing, a typical haunted house, and various other little food vendors and kid playground attractions. There weren't many people here today, and many of the vendors were closed up. But then again it was the early part of the season. Halloween was still weeks away, so it would make sense that not everything was open. Unfortunately.....
"They closed the maze?!?!" I exclaimed as I stared in shock at the cheap wooden sign hanging over the maze entrance, forbidding passage to my birthday adventure.
"Fraid so," mumbled a farmhand that worked there.
"Why?" I asked, disappointed. "Isn't the maze finished?"
"Uh huh. The maze is all there, but um... well the corn ain't ripe enough. Field is still too green."
I didn't like the way he said that; somehow that hesitation in his voice told me that he was lying. "Come on, you gotta be kidding me! Couldn't we just go inside for a little while?"
"No, absolutely not!"
"But why?!" I didn't mean to act like such a baby, but I just couldn't help it.
"I told you why! Field is too green, and anyways we ain't got the maps printed. You can't go in there without a map."
"I don't need a map... "
"Without a map, ma'am... " he leaned in close to whisper to me. "You might get lost."
"Pfff, I don't mind getting a little lost."
For some strange reason this seemed to upset him greatly. "No ma'am. You don't want to be lost in there. You don't ever want to be lost in there!" Then he caught himself and replied more casually, "I sure don't ever want to be lost in there, I always carry a map and so does everybody else, cause no one wants to be lost in there! You hear? We ain't got the maps so the Maze is closed!"