Weekly Prompt-First Day of Fall

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the blog tour and is ready for another great week. To help kick us off, here is a brand-new free read. Check out the original prompt at the other responses here. Enjoy!

Trapped in a Sea of Corn

They were lost. Hopelessly, irrevocably lost. They had been trapped for two hours and weren’t much closer to getting out then when they started.

“Sam? Let’s go this way.”

Samuel Matthews could only sigh as his boyfriend, Artie Junis waved him down yet another row of brown, dying corn.

It sounded like a great idea at the time. It was the first day of fall and Artie wanted to spend it outdoors doing something regarding the new season. And once he had seen the advertisement in the free paper about a two acre corn maze, Artie had been hooked. Nothing Sam could have said or done would have changed his mind. Not that he would try anyway. Sam loved to make his boyfriend happy. Seeing the little dimples in his cheeks were enough to make Sam agree to almost anything. But after walking through the maze for what seemed like an eternity, Sam had to admit that his limits were being tested.

But still Sam wasn’t ready to admit to his boyfriend that he wasn’t having a good time. So he gave his man a little smile and followed him down yet another path. Sam tried to focus on the positives. It was lovely day. He was with his Artie. He didn’t have to work today. All good things. If only he could escape the maze…

“Sam! Here it is!”

Sam let out a little chuckle as he watched his boyfriend run for the station. The goal of the maze was to find nine stations set up all around the maze. Each stop had a hole punch you could use to punch the card given out at the gate. Technically, you were supposed to get all the punches before trying to find the exit.

“Sam,” Artie whined. “Come over here and punch your card.”

He walked over to Artie and gave him a little kiss. No matter how annoying it was walking around a field for two hours, he couldn’t deny being amused at the pure joy radiating off his boyfriend. Artie was like a little kid on Christmas, so excited to see what was just out of sight. Sam might not have understood why Artie wanted to do this, but it was clear he was having fun by the way he was bouncing on the balls of his feet.

 Once their cards were punched, Artie took Sam’s hand and led them back from where they came from.

“Are you okay, babe,” Sam asked quietly. “You’ve been quiet.”

“Yeah, babe,” Sam comforted, trying to force a smile on his face. “I’m fine.”

“But you’re not enjoying this.”

Sam looked over in shock, meeting the baby blue eyes of his love. “What makes you think that?”

“Because it’s true.”

Sam sighed at the blunt tone of his love. “Artie, I’m sorry. I know that you’re having a good time. I was too. I guess I’m just tired of walking around in circles.”

“It’s okay. I know this really isn’t your thing.”

Artie was right there. Sam was much more of an indoor person, preferring video games to spending time in sunlight with all of the bugs.

“Baby,” Sam sighed. “I’m sorry. I know this is something that you really wanted to do.”

“And you came with me, even though it’s not something you like to do. That’s enough for me. I just want to make sure that you’re not completely miserable.”

“With you? Never.”

Sam leaned over and gave Artie a soft kiss on the lips, not caring if anyone saw.

“Good,” Artie sighed as they broke the kiss. “Then why don’t we go get some apple cider? My treat.”

“But don’t you want to find all the stations?”

“Baby, check your card. We already did. So let’s get out of here and hit up the refreshment stand.”

Sam looked down in shock. Artie was right! They were done.

“Okay,” Sam said, a grin slowly creeping onto his face. “You’re on.”

“Cool. Just one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“How do we get out of here?”