Escape from the Maze
I’
“A Farm!” Josh exclaimed.
“Do you think any of the eggs are hidden in the corn fields?” Zoe questioned.
All Josh could do was to shrug his shoulders.
“Where do you want to start?” she asked.
“The Goo-Ster coup!” Josh announced with confidence.
Together they headed for a large structure that looked a lot like a barn, only smaller. Inside, there was a set of shelves on both sides filled with hay... and Goo-Sters.
“I wonder if they bite?” Zoe questioned.
After looking around, they spotted a basket and two pairs of heavy leather gloves.
Josh handed Zoe a pair and put the other one on, then picked up the bucket.
As they approached the first empty place, they quickly gathered up a amazing seven eggs.
“At this rate, we should be done in no time,” Josh said.
Zoe smiled and agreed.
Each empty section yielded between five and eight eggs. In know time, the basket was full.
They headed for the farmer’s front door and knocked.
No one came!
They knocked again... still no one came.
Then they heard the voice, “ Time is running out!”
Frustrated, Zoe yelled, “Where is the farmer?”
The voice replied, “In the corn field gathering Goo-Sters!”
“When will he be back?” Josh asked.
“Later!”
They decided to leave the eggs on the porch next to a swing so Zoe could watch them while Josh went to look for the farmer.
A very long time later when he returned, Zoe was asleep and the basket of eggs were gone.
It took them quite a while to find the basket... You guessed it!
“Empty!” Zoe said in an angry voice.
Once again they went into the coup, but this time all of the shelves were filled with Goo-Sters.
They looked at each other as if to say, “What do we do now?”
“I hope they don’t bite,” Josh said as he approached one of them.
As he reached out his hand, it snapped at him.
Fortunately, it’s bill was round and didn’t do any harm, but he wasn’t able to get any eggs either.
Zoe decided to pet the back of its long neck to see if being kind would help them get the eggs. However, all it did was make it relax and cover its eggs ever more.
After Zoe stepped back, Josh waved his arms and screeched at it. Since it had two front webbed feet and two claw like back feet, it couldn’t move very fast... but it did move and Josh and Zoe were able to collect the eggs.
They repeated their arm waving and screeching until the basket was full again.
Back at the front door, Josh put the basket down and knocked thinking this time the farmer would answer because the coup was full of Goo-Sters... so he must have come back... right.
Instead of the farmer, a little girl about six years old opened the door.
“Hi,” Zoe quietly greeted, trying not to scare her.
“Daddy!” she yelled in her loudest voice several times.
A few minutes later, the farmer came to the door.
“You have some eggs for me?” he asked.
“Yes sir!” Josh announced proudly as he picked up the basket.
It didn’t take Josh long to realize the really light basket was empty.
“Come back when it’s full!” the farmer snapped and slammed the door.
“Do you hear that?” Zoe asked Josh after the door was closed.
“Giggling?”
“Yes!” she replied.
“Where is it coming from?” Josh wondered.
“Inside!”
“No over there,” Josh said pointing in the direction of the coup.
They headed in the direction of the laughter until they found a boy about eleven lying on the ground holding his stomach...
“Did you take our eggs” Zoe demanded.
“There not YOUR eggs. They belong to my Dad!”
Next thing they knew, he was gone.
“Well, the cliché is “The third time is the charm!” Josh supposed and they headed back to the coup, waved their arms, screeched and filled the basket.
Back at the front door, they both held onto the basket, knocked and waited to give it to the farmer.
When he came, he smiled and took the basket inside.
“Great job!” the voice said, then told them that the exit was on the far side of the corn field.
At first they followed a straight line, but as the corn got taller and taller the straight line began to curve until it dead ended and went around to the left. They continued for some time until they came out onto a grassy area as far as they could see.
When they turned to go back, the path was completely closed off by the now over grown corn. There was no way back.
“Maybe there’s a door we can’t see from here,” Josh suggested, so they began to walk forward.
As they walked, the grass started slowly downward until...
“A door!” Zoe called out as she ran towards it with Josh close behind.
When they got there, they discovered it was on the other side of a bubbling pond of chocolate.
In front of them was a railed sidewalk.
They held hands and stepped onto it.
Immediately it began to move forward carrying them across, stopping every once in a while to let Goo-Sters walk across in front of them before continuing to the other side and stopping in front of the exit door.
Wasting no time, they yanking it open and racing through it into, yet, another room that was empty except for a screen on the far wall with a picture and a note that read:
This is where the Stor-Awks live.
They are really in need of your help!
Because they have Flew-Sickness,
they can’t deliver the baby Stor-Awks.
Mommy’s are patiently waiting.
The babies are all crying.
“Go through the door. Time is running out,” the voice warned.
When it began to open, Josh and Zoe ran through it as quickly as they could to find themselves in a housing project much like their own.
In front of them were two racks of baby Stor-Awks crying for their mommy’s.
As they stepped onto the walkway, it began to move in opposite directions before turning straight.
Now standing some distance apart, they were moved until it stopped at their first house.
After knocking on the door, a much larger Stor-Awk answered with tears in her eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for so long for you to join our family,” she said as she took the baby and closed the door.
On down one street after another they united the babies with their new mommy’s until the walkway stopped in front of doors they both recognized.
They looked at one another and in unison called out, “This is my front door!”
When it began to open, they continued to look at each other from across the street feeling very sad.
“Bye Zoe!”
“Bye Josh!”
The walkway began to move them each through their doors and into their homes.
Josh hurried to his room. It seemed cold and empty.
He made his way to his computer chair and sat down... glad he was finally home, but sad that he would never see Zoe again.
A short time later, the room became bright causing Josh to become startled.
“Well, how did you like our little game?” the person standing in front of him asked.
“Who are you? How did you get in here?” Josh demanded.
“Our race is called, “Mecca-Human”. Your people would refer to us as “Androids”. You were beta testing our latest computer simulated game. Did you enjoy it?”
Josh sat there for a while thinking about all he and Zoe had been through. Finally, he... “What is your name?”
“Fran-Lyn!”
Dual name... dual-animals... Well, that makes sense.
So you are what we call, “Female?”
“Yes... About the game?”
Now that I understand what was happening... it was kind of... fun.
“So you think we should tell our testers that they...”
“No! I think that would ruin the test. It would take away the adventure factor.”
“Thank you for all of your help,” she conveyed and then was gone.
Over the next week, Josh thought a lot about Zoe. Should he try to find her? How would a long distance relationship work out?
He would be graduating in the spring and then be off to college. He could find one that was near her.
All the speculation did not give him any answers. He kept going back and forth... Should I or not?
It was the morning of the seventh day since he returned. It was a Saturday and he was out the door and on his way to his car when he heard a sweet voice say...
“Josh?”
“Zoe?” he replied.
The End!
At least for now!
A new story:
“Trapped in a Very Old Mansion”
will start next week!