I should’ve known better.
Driving in the dead of night down a dark ribbon of asphalt is enough to put anyone to sleep. Add in the complete lack of scenery, unless of course you count endless rows of giant corn stalks that flank both sides of the road.
I don’t know how they make them grow that tall. Maybe they put something special in the fertilizer. But in any case, rows upon rows of corn with nary a break in sight for miles can make me go a special kind of crazy. That is if I can keep my eyes open long enough.
I wish there was some other way for me to get home at night. Any other way. But there isn’t. I live at the far end of the road, surrounded by corn fields.
Going faster wasn’t an option. With the corn so close to the road, I had no warning if a suicidal deer jumped out in front of me. And believe me, I’ve had plenty of those. Fortunately, I kept to my own personal speed limit of forty miles per hour.
It helped me to avoid making a fur hood ornament out of many a deer. Not to mention the other creatures that seem to think they own the road.
My car was a factor too. At this point, I’m not sure it would tolerate going much faster than forty. The engine light had gone on around a month ago, but I didn’t have the time or money to get it to a garage. I just prayed every time I turned the key that it would start and get me home or to work, depending on what time of day or night it was.
Those were the only places I went anymore, home and work. Occasionally, I’d stop after work and get some groceries, but that was it. When you worked at a factory like me, that seemed to think you were just another machine they could run as much as they wanted, home and work was all your life consisted of.
This night I’d be especially glad to get home. My feet were killing me, and I was exhausted. I was due back at work in less than twelve hours and needed to get as much sleep as I could. Not that any of that was a rare occurrence. My feet were always killing me and I was always exhausted. Even on my days off, all I did was sleep, trying to catch up from a week of working twelve-hour days.
The corn seemed to be blurrier than usual tonight, and I caught my eyes going closed more than a few times.
I woke up to the sound of metal grinding and lights flashing on my dashboard as the car lurched to a stop.
There was no time to pull over, it ground to a halt in the middle of the road.
Futilely, I tried to start it a few times only to be rewarded by the sound of metal grinding against metal.
“No, no, no,” I said. “Please don’t do this to me.”
It ignored my pleas.
Closing my eyes, I turned the key one last time, praying for a miracle. The engine didn’t even click. It was done.
I smacked my head off the steering wheel in frustration, not doing any damage to the wheel but starting me on a headache.
The headlights were still lit, but just beyond their dying dirty yellow glow the overwhelming darkness closed in.
Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I realized I was at least ten or more miles from home. My feet were still hurting from work, and even resting them as I sat in the car wasn’t comfortable. I didn’t relish the idea of walking, let alone for miles.
It was a little after three in the morning. Even if I was able to afford triple A, no one was going to drive out here at this time of night.
For a brief moment I thought about sleeping in the car, but there was always the chance of being run over by one of the tractor trailers that hauled corn from the local farm that surrounded me.
Dying in an accident because I was too stupid to get out of the road would be just my luck.
I decided to avoid that scenario. As much as I hated the thought, I would have to walk.
Grabbing my work bag and a flashlight out of the glove compartment, I turned on the hazard blinkers and got out of my car, knowing it would be the last time.
I only hoped I would get some trade in value for it when I went to buy a used car I couldn’t afford. But with my luck, the dealership would probably charge me more to tow it than they would give me on a trade in.
Not bothering to look back, I turned on the flashlight and started walking. Pain shot through my feet and up my legs with every step.
After ten minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore. I stopped and sat in the grass on the side of the road, digging through my work bag for the bottle of Ibuprofen that I carried and used every day.
Fortunately, there was enough water left in my bottle to wash three of the pills down.
It took every ounce of my willpower to get up and start walking again.
The pain hadn’t gone away, it had gotten worse. I silently prayed that the medicine would kick in soon.
Trying to focus on something, anything other than my feet, my flashlight swept back and forth across the road, sometimes catching the edges of the corn fields.
It wasn’t supposed to be cold today. The temperature was in the lower sixties this afternoon, yet for some reason I caught a chill as I walked. I guess I hadn’t planned on walking home tonight.
It had been warm enough that I hadn’t brought a jacket to work. Now I regret that decision.
As if reading my mind, the wind kicked up, sending a gust my way, causing me to shiver.
‘What’s next, a rainstorm?’ I thought.
I looked up into the pitch-black sky with not a single star in sight, waiting for the impromptu shower that was sure to come. That was the way my luck was running.
As I waited for the downpour, I trudged on, each step delivering pain. I wished there was a way to prove that the company was at fault, sue them, and retire. But I knew there was no proof. Others before me had gone through the same thing and none of them had any proof either. They just slowly disappeared one by one.
Management found some excuse to fire them. And since the company was such a large employer in the town, the fired person was also blacklisted.
I know they say blacklists don’t exist. Tell that to the people who were fired and weren’t even given unemployment because the company didn’t want to pay for it, so they bullied people into keeping their mouths shut.
If only I could get another job, but the company was the highest paying around, by a slim margin. That’s why they built their factory in a depressed area, no competition. And no one could afford to take even a minor pay cut with the way insurance costs were, not to mention such frivolous things like food.
As depressing as the thoughts were, they distracted me from the pain in my feet and legs as I walked down the road, hugging myself, trying to keep the flashlight pointed ahead, shivering from the wind.
As my shaking hand made the light jump all around, I saw a set of eyes peek out of the cornfield ahead of me, then dart back in and disappear.
At first, I thought it might’ve been a dog or cat, but it seemed too big to be either of those. That thought concerned me. Having something bigger than a dog peeking out of the cornfield at me when I was miles away from any help or shelter, wasn’t high up on my to do list at the moment. But the fact that it ducked back into the field gave me a boost of confidence knowing that it was more afraid of me than I was of it.
When I got to the point where the animal had peeked out, I slowed and shone my light in through the impenetrable curtain of corn stalks. There were no eyes and nothing jumped out at me, so I shrugged and continued my painful march toward home.
The wind whipping through the corn stalks sounded like a rainstorm. It made me feel even colder, if that was possible.
Fifteen minutes later, I took another rest break. At least the wind was dying down. With literally miles to go before I sleep, I was taking comfort in anything I could.
After my break, getting up was harder. The pain had gotten worse instead of better. I didn’t even want to think of the blisters forming on my feet, or how I was going to get to work later on today. It didn’t matter if you’d never taken a sick day in your life, the company did everything they could to make you feel like a piece of crap for even attempting to call off.
I truly believe if I went to work with a severed arm, bleeding all over, they’d hand me a mop and tell me to get to work.
As my hopelessness and bitterness fought over which felt more justified, I heard something behind me. It sounded like the corn stalks rustling so I ignored it as the wind and kept walking.
The next problem my mind decided to torture me with was my car. How was I going to get to work without a car and how was I going to afford a car if I couldn’t get to work. A wonderful conundrum I would have to solve later today.
As I wrestled with that problem, I heard the corn stalks rustle again. I stopped and looked around. The wind had died down and the air was still. None of the stalks were moving. In fact, it had become eerily quiet. I shone my flashlight into the corn, doing a slow turn to search for whatever had made the noise. But I didn’t see anything.
Not entirely satisfied, I turned and started walking again. It wasn’t long before I heard the rustle. This time I didn’t stop, and neither did it. I went a little faster, so did the noise. I broke into a run and the noise kept pace with me.
I skidded to a stop, nearly stumbling. The noise in the cornfield stopped as well. There was no doubt about it, something was following me. It was keeping pace with me.
It was stalking me.
I turned toward the field and shone my light into the wall of green. The wind was still and there was no movement. I could feel the stillness. The chill I felt no longer had anything to do with the temperature. I wanted to see what was following me, but at the same time, I didn’t want to know. Out here in the middle of nowhere, I was on my own and didn’t like my chances fighting off a predator.
There was nothing I could do about it. The closest thing I had to a weapon to defend myself was my flashlight. And I was sure that it wouldn’t do much against a determined predator.
For a fleeting moment, my mind thought, ‘You know what, bring it on. At least if something attacks and kills me, I won’t have to deal with walking miles on feet that feel like razorblades are tearing them slowly to pieces.
It’s awesome to realize that your mind is actively trying to kill you.
With nothing left to do but walk, that’s exactly what I did. Trying my best to ignore the pain as well as the disturbing feeling in the back of my mind that I was being hunted.
As soon as I started, the sound started beside me. I did my best to ignore it. Shooting furtive glances into the corn field now and then didn’t have any results at first. But after a few minutes I noticed I could see something pale through the corn.
It was walking next to me in the first row of corn, maybe trying to get a feel for what I was. Funny thing was, that’s exactly what I was trying to do.
Stopping and ripping open the layer of corn stalks was a last resort. I didn’t want to spook this thing into attacking.
For the time being I began thinking of it as my walking buddy. My companion on a dark night with only a flashlight to keep me company. Thinking that helped me keep the fear at bay.
I had no sooner thought it until a light appeared on the road in the distance.
I watched with great curiosity as it came closer. It was moving fast and almost to me. Apparently, it didn’t care if something jumped out in front of it. It was close enough now that I could see it was a big rig truck. It must’ve been one of the ones that deliver corn from the farm.
I waved my arms in hopes of flagging it down and perhaps grabbing a ride home. The problem was it was going in the opposite direction and there weren’t many places on this road where a big rig could turn around. Even if it would.
Waving my arms, I still stayed on the side of the road. If the driver didn’t see me or worse didn’t care, I didn’t want to be found in the middle of the road days later as nothing more than an unidentifiable bloody lump of goo sitting in the middle of the road for crows to peck at.
The truck was almost here. My arms waved furiously, but it didn’t seem to be slowing down. Either the driver was having a hard time staying awake, as I often did on this road, or he was just ignoring me.
It was so near, the headlights blinded me and I had to hold my hand over my eyes.
Just then, I felt something push the middle of my back so hard I lost my balance and fell in the middle of the road with the truck bearing down on me.
My mind went into panic mode, and I scurried like a crab toward the side of the road, the truck’s tires missing me by mere inches.
As I rolled into the grass on the far side of the road, the wind from the passing truck washed over me so strong, if I’d been standing it could’ve knocked me down.
I watched in shock as the truck continued on. It’s brake lights didn’t even flash for a moment.
Hopelessness and rage fought for control as I watched the lights disappear into the distance. It didn’t even dawn on me how I had ended up in the middle of the road until I stopped the think about it.
Someone or something had pushed me.
Someone or something wanted me dead.
I shone my light over in the corn and stared at the other side of the road. Something in the corn stared back.
All I could see was a pair of glowing eyes. They were somewhere between white and yellow. I seem to remember reading somewhere that a predator’s eyes would shine white or yellow when reflecting light.
This, plus the fact that this thing had just tried to commit truckicide, made me think the chances of me getting home tonight in one piece were next to zero.
It must’ve sensed my fear and felt emboldened by it, because it stepped out of the corn toward me.
It took my mind a moment to sink in what I was even seeing. It was hideous, with large protruding eyes, pale skin, and many more arms or legs than any animal was supposed to have. At least any natural animal. The extra arms dangled just behind its neck, but they looked oddly human with the exception of thorns growing out of them and razor sharp claws. It looked like something out of a horror movie. As if someone had been playing around in the gene pool and the lifeguards blew the whistle on them.
It was bigger than a dog, but had no fur, like it had been skinned. The thing that sealed the deal was its enormous sharp teeth that it showed when it hissed at me and started across the road.
I didn’t hesitate, I turned and ran into the field on my side of the road.
When I was younger, my friends and I used to play hide and seek in the cornfields, and one of the first things I learned was, never run in a straight line.
I zigzagged and doubled back as the terror in my mind gave my feet the will and strength to escape.
At least the moon was half full (or was it half empty?) giving me a little light to see my path.
And then as suddenly as I’d started I stopped, dropped, and did everything I could to be as quiet and still as possible. It wasn’t easy, especially at first when my breaths were coming in ragged gasps and I had to cover my mouth, trying to breathe slowly and quietly when my oxygen starved lungs were screaming for more air as quickly as possible.
One of the lessons I’d learned early on in my hide and seek career was when you dropped, make sure you’re in a comfortable position.
I’d forgotten that lesson tonight, maybe out of sheer terror. When I dropped, instead of sitting, I was on my knees in the ready position in case I had to run quickly. A wise position to be in if I were to be found right away. However, after fifteen minutes of sitting on my knees I’d realized my mistake.
I was about to change position when I heard a soft rustling of corn stalks behind me.
Every fiber of my being froze, and I stopped breathing.
It moved slowly, searching methodically. Even though I knew it was trying to make as little sound as possible, I could hear the soft rustle of corn stalks brushing against it and feel the ground give slightly with every step it took.
It was in the row beside me.
I knew it was a bad decision, but I looked over at the spaces in between the stalks at its horrifying body. It was bigger than a dog, but the extra arms it didn’t walk on were covered with sharp looking thorns and claws. I didn’t dare look up as far as its face and mouth for fear I would start running right then.
And then it hit me. If I could see it, then it could possibly see me.
Was this thing just toying with me? I’d seen that so many times as a kid. The seeker would pretend not to see someone hiding and pass by only to jump back and scare the crap out of the hider a moment later.
This creature was almost past me. Was I about to suffer the same fate? Would it pass me, letting me believe I was in the clear only to whip around and sink its claws and teeth into me?
I was about to start shaking, I could feel it. I had to get that under control real quick. There was still a chance it hadn’t seen me. That was the hope I clung to. If it knew I was here, there was nothing I could do about it anyway. I wasn’t that little kid anymore. I couldn’t jump up and sprint at a moment’s notice. I was amazed my feet had allowed me to run into the cornfield.
And there it was. I hadn’t thought about my feet the entire time I was running in fear. But now that I wasn’t, the pain came back stronger than ever.
It was all I could do not to gasp from the strength of it.
I imagined if this creature was chewing my feet off, it wouldn’t have felt much worse. I winced and grimaced but did all I could not to move or make any sound.
Closing my eyes, I focused on anything I could except the pain, in a vain effort to make it go away or at least abate. It was a few minutes until it began to subside.
When I opened my eyes, the creature was gone. Not just further down the down the row, gone, like vanished.
At first, I felt relieved, but then I realized I had no idea where it was. It could literally be right behind me, and I wouldn’t know.
I felt the panic rising in my mind and had to fight to keep it down.
‘Ok, it passed me, so unless it knows I’m here,’ I thought. ‘There’s no reason it would stick around this area with so much more field to search. If it does know I’m here, I’m dead anyway and there’s nothing I can do about it. At least if I die, my feet won’t hurt anymore.’
As strange as it sounded, that seemed to calm me down for the moment. Next, I focused on getting in a more comfortable position. My knees were screaming for mercy. I turned and sat in the cold dirt, making surprisingly little sound.
Now was the time to rest for a minute then consider my options.
I still had my flashlight, but I didn’t dare turn it on. At least I was getting a little light from the moon. Somewhere during the commotion I must’ve dropped my bag. A shame really, because I could’ve thrown it in the opposite direction to misdirect the creature.
Sitting there was an option, but it wasn’t one that would get me home.
I could crawl out to the road and continue on my way, hoping that the creature was so busy searching for me and wouldn’t notice.
I chuckled softly at the ludicrousness of that plan, and then I stopped.
‘Why not?’ I thought. ‘If it already passed me and didn’t know I was there, maybe it would keep searching oblivious that I had quit the deadly game of hide and seek and was heading home.’
The longer I thought about it the more plausible it seemed. At least it was a plan, something to focus on rather than impotent fear.
I turned around as quietly as possible and began crawling toward the road. After a short time, I’d had enough of that and stood. Stepping sideways to brush against as few of the leaves as possible, I found the noise I made this way was less than what I did while crawling.
But it was still noise.
I had no idea how near or far that thing was and if it was close, it was bound to hear me.
The thought made me want to go faster, but I realized that panic would only get me caught. Besides, maybe it was making just as much noise looking for me.
As I comforted myself with that thought, I felt the first raindrop hit my cheek. Looking up I watched the moon disappear behind rainclouds and with it went my light.
At this point it didn’t matter. I was in a row that was heading toward the road (hopefully) and once I stepped out onto the road, I could use my flashlight again, covering it up and only allowing a sliver of light to escape at a time.
I kept walking, glancing behind me from time to time as the rain intensified. It wasn’t long until the fear of the last hour or so gave way to shivering as the cold rain soaked into my clothes. I once again lamented not bringing a coat.
All I could see were a few corn stalks in front of me. The storm had robbed me of even the little light the moon had provided.
The rain pounded harder so that I could barely hear myself walking. I took the opportunity to walk faster, when suddenly the cornstalks disappeared. It happened so fast I nearly lost my balance and fell face first onto the road.
I had made it out of the field. I felt like hooping and hollering, but that would just tell the monster where I was. Instead, I turned my flashlight on and covered it with my hand.
Looking left and right, I remembered which side of the road I was on and turned left to start for home again. I breathed a silent prayer that the thing would stay lost in the field until I was home, in bed, asleep.
The rain was coming down in sheets, but I trudged on through it. The monster chasing me took away any thought of rest breaks. The next time I sat down would be in my living room.
I limped on through the rain, pain shooting through my feet, but I didn’t care. I wondered if I would make it all the way home. It had to be at least six or seven miles away, through the pouring rain, with a homicidal monster hunting me.
I never thought all that would happen when I left for work this morning.
As I pondered my survival, the rain in front of me began to glow. I stopped and watched as a shadowy figure rose out of the pavement. ‘What now?’ I thought. ‘Have I entered the freakin’ Twilight Zone?’
Staring at this growing apparition, I suddenly realized it was my shadow. I whipped around and saw a truck barreling down the road toward me.
It could be my salvation or my doom.
I aimed my light at the driver’s side windshield and prayed for the best.
For one long moment, nothing changed. The truck kept coming just as fast as ever. Then miracle of miracles, I heard it slow with the jake brake and eventually come to a stop beside me.
The driver’s side window came down and a large woman stuck her head out through it.
“Are you nuts?” she screamed. “You tryin’ ta get yerself killed?”
“No, ma’am, my car broke down,” I called back. “I was just trying to get home.”
She shook her head.
“Where’s home?”
I pointed in the direction she was headed and said, “Around seven miles that way.”
She looked at me as I stood in the pouring rain and for an instant, I thought she would roll up her window and leave me standing there. Of all the terrors I’d dealt with tonight, that would be the worst.
“Alright, get in,” she said, nodding toward the passenger side.
I ran around and climbed up into the cab, profusely apologizing for getting her seat wet.
“It’s a company truck,” she said. “It don’t matter to me.”
She put the truck in gear, and it slowly started forward as I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes.
“Was that your car back there in the middle of the road?” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said.
She looked at her odometer.
“Well, you walked around four miles so far,” she said.
I nodded as we picked up speed. Glancing in the side mirror, I saw something running down the road after us, but losing ground quickly. I knew I had escaped death by a margin of a minute.
Sighing deeply, I swore to never walk this road again. Even if I broke down, I would sit in the car and wait for someone to happen by.
We passed the large farm that I knew was her destination and stopped two miles later when we got to my house.
It was the only one at the end of a cul-d-sac. The realtor told me they were going to tear it down because the housing development it was suppose to start, never happened. The company had gone out of business before they could build anything other than the model house. It had sat empty for years, falling into disrepair.
Instead of tearing it down, they rented it to me after doing just enough to make it livable.
“Is this it?” she said, turning partway through and stopping.
“Home sweet home,” I said. “Thank you very much. You’re a literal lifesaver.”
She looked at me with a question in her eyes, but I was already climbing out of the cab and closing the door.
I ran to the front door, dodging raindrops as I dug out my keys and unlocked it.
Closing and locking the door behind me was the best feeling I’d had in a long time.
I painfully pulled off my shoes and left them on the mat beside the door, then went to the laundry room and stripped off my wet clothes.
Next was a shower before throwing on a pair of pajamas and going to bed.
Laying there under my warm blanket in my soft bed made the rest of the day feel like a nightmare. There was still the problem of what I was going to do about a car, and how was I going to get to work, but those would wait until I got a good night’s sleep.
The last thing I thought about was that monster and how I’d cheated death. I wondered how many of those things were roaming around, what it was, and how many people had disappeared like I nearly had.