The Maze
It was a dark and stormy night… Okay, it wasn’t stormy, but it was dark! And there was a full moon out. A full moon on Halloween. That should have told us something right there. My friends and I thought it would be fun to have a night of revelry at the haunted farm attraction. Every October, they would do a haunted maze in their cornfield, a hayride, pumpkin carving, food, etc. I’d never been to it before, but had heard good things.
Our car stopped and we all got out. I took an appreciative sniff of the air and noted the fall scents: Apple cider, leaves, and kettle corn. My best friend purchased our tickets to the maze. The cashier told us the hayride would drop us off at the maze entrance. We hopped onto the hay covered trailer and the tractor roared to life. With a jerk, it ambled off down the dirt road towards the cornfields. After a couple of minutes, we saw the lit torches surrounding the field.
I’ve never been one to enjoy being scared so I was starting to feel a little nervous. The zombie scarecrow driving the tractor pulled up to the entrance and turned it off. Silently, he pointed towards the maze. He creeped me out. The excited chatter of the people died down a little. I guess I wasn’t the only one feeling a little nervous!
From the shadows of the maze emerged Death. With a bony finger, he beckoned us.
“Groups of three, No more, will walk through this door. Stay together to survive, hold hands, and you’ll come out alive. Monsters will stalk your every move, your mettle you will prove. If you can stay numb, the end will show who hasn’t succumb.” When he ended, he pointed to the first group of three to go in. A few minutes later, the second group.
Oh my gosh, how cheesy. If this is how the whole thing will be, I’m not worried. After the third group went in, we heard blood curdling screams.
I take it back, I’m a little nervous again. My friends laugh and clap. I can tell they are really excited. My feet start backing away of their own accord. “Hey! It’s our turn now! C’mon!” My best friend grabbed my sleeve and pulled me along behind him.
Death growled at us as we passed him. All the noises from the farm faded away as we went deeper into the maze. Every few feet was a torch lighting our way, but keeping us in just enough darkness that we couldn’t see ahead. A rustle on my right, a loud thunk to my left. Someone screamed somewhere ahead of us. Maniacal laughter seemed to come at us from everywhere and a hand reached for us from the cornstalks. I squealed. How embarrassing. We turned down one row and then another. The row we were in dead-ended. Behind us we heard whoosh Whoosh WHOOSH. All of the torches were suddenly going dark!
What happens next?