Maize

The corn stalks to Andy's left shot skyward, uprooted and yanked into the air by an unfathomable force. In the barren space where the corn had once stood, Andy saw the swirling tornado, headed right for them.

He'd been right all those years ago. There was something horrible inside those winds. And it was searching for someone.

But not for him.

Reuben shrieked and clawed at Andy's chest, but it was too late. Andy closed his eyes and thought of Laura as the tornado swept over them.

The first thing he noticed was silence. He hadn't expected death to be so ... quiet.

He opened his eyes and found himself kneeling in a circular clearing in the cornfield. Reuben was gone. He stood on trembling legs and pivoted clockwise, taking in the destruction around him. He stared at the matted leaves and tassels under his feet.

The tornado had left a zigzagging trail through the corn, just as Andy remembered from childhood. The path followed the same back and forth route Andy had taken while running from Reuben.

He walked along the tornado's path until he reached the edge of the cornfield. In the moonlight, he saw the shape of a familiar house and a small, rectangular storm shelter. After several minutes, three figures emerged. He recognized himself as a young boy, leaning against his mother and clinging to her nightgown. He watched his father wrap him and his mother in a tight hug, as if to shield them from whatever else might be waiting for them in the darkness.

Standing alone in the field, it all became clear. The tornado he'd seen so long ago―the mysterious force he thought had come to kill him as a child―had actually come to protect him as an adult. It hadn't ushered evil into his world; it had cleansed it.

The palm reader's warning, the spiral he'd seen inside the maze, his dream about the tornado overtaking him―these had never been omens of doom. They'd been signposts to guide his way.

All his life he'd felt trapped by the weight of inevitable catastrophe. Now he was free. He'd had to go back to find his way forward.

He turned and retraced the tornado's path through the field until he arrived at the clearing. At its center swirled a whirlpool of torn and jagged corn leaves. Inside the rippling circle, daylight awaited.

He stepped through.

*******

September 2019

Butler County, Pennsylvania

Laura sighed as she slumped onto the porch swing beside him.

"Finally. I thought she'd never go down."

"She's a stubborn one," Andy said, stroking her thigh. "Gets it from her mother."

She punched him in the ribs, then snuggled against his shoulder. "I saw a cute ladybug costume online yesterday. Think Lila would make a good ladybug?"

"Thought you liked the pumpkin costume."

"I do. It's just ... this is her first Halloween. I want her to look perfect."

"She's already perfect."

They sat in silence, listening to the raspy buzzing of the cicadas.

"Storm's coming," Laura said, nodding at the horizon.

"Yep."

"You gonna stay and watch? I'll sit with you."

Andy shook his head.

Laura sat up. "Really?"

"It'll pass."

She smiled, then leaned forward and brushed her lips against his ear. "I know another way we could spend our time."

Laura rose from the swing and took his hand. He followed her through the front door. Behind them, the corn stalks swayed in the late summer breeze.

*******