Leah strolled along the main walkway of the park glancing in to the booths as she passed. She saw a few other staffers as she went by, but like Valerie they didn't seem much concerned with working. However, there did seem to be someone hard at work in the concession stand across from the porta potties. A pit stop would probably be a good idea before tackling the maze she reasoned, so she availed herself of the facilities then ambled over to the food booth. The attendants name was Carrie and she seemed pleasant enough. Leah perused the goodies in the booth and asked if she could take food into the maze. Sure, Carrie said. So Leah purchased a bottle of water and a licorice rope. She thanked Carrie, put the water in the pouch of her hoodie and wove the licorice through her belt loops. Once everything was situated to her liking she continued on down the main path in the direction of the maze.
She could see the sign for the maze at a distance and once she walk out from underneath the awning of the ball pit there it was, towering above a caramel corn cart. It was painted in fluorescent colors that hurt the eyes if you stared too long and the giant bubble letters were made up of mini mazes. Someone had too much time on their hands Leah thought. Despite the korny maze sign that said Corn Maize, Leah was starting to get excited again. She was finally here. She was going to conquer the maze and if the attendance level so far was any indication, she would have the whole thing to herself for a while which suited her just fine. She passed under the sign and entered a large empty area made entirely of corncobs. It was seriously cool. There were corncob benches, corncob arches, pictures made out of corncobs and corncob trash cans. Even the ground was made up of corncobs laid into a pattern. A large corncob arrow pointed to a path to the right which Leah followed. It wasn't a long walk and eventually the corncob floor gave way to dirt and rows of cornstalks with eight openings just like the stamp on her hand showed. Leah looked around to see if she could find a park employee to show her where to go next. For such a large operation things should have been run better and when no one appeared she once again pulled out the park brochure to see if it could give her any clue about the maze. As she fiddled with the paper she spied a small wooden sign off to the left that said ENTRANCE. The map had indicated that there were 8 openings, and Leah had guessed that you could pick whichever one you wanted to start with, but maybe you had to begin at a specific one and it lead you to the others. She really had no idea. One opening was as good as the next it looked like. Besides, part of the fun of a maze was to get lost. So, she refolded the brochure, stuffed it in her pocket and entered the pathway to the left.
Leah loved the beginnings of mazes. Those first few feet into the unknown. You knew for sure what the path behind you held, but you had no idea what was in store for you around the first bend. The corn was taller than her by a good 3 feet or more and the stalks bent inward a bit on the edges of the path giving the maze a tunnel like feel. As she walked the first long straightaway Leah held out her arms on either side and ran her fingers lightly against the stalks. She felt the hard, papery texture against the pads of her fingers and listened to the crack and rustle of the corn stalks as they collided with each other. A few feet further and she came to the first choice, left or right? Tradition said right, adventure beckoned to the left. But she had all day and wanted to get a feel for the maze first before she randomly started choosing contrary directions. Right it was. She followed the curving path around a few swirls and into even more T junctions. A false start at one sent her backtracking a few paces but nothing major. She heard noises in the corn from small animals scurrying and watched a few startled birds take flight when she rounded the corner. Ten minutes later and a lot more right turns, Leah found herself back at the brightly painted entrance. There still wasn't an attendant and she was about to pull out the map again, when she noticed a sign in front of one of the maze openings that said LEFT. She looked back to where she had entered the first maze and saw that its sign was no longer there. Puzzled, she looked around. There were no other signs but for the one that said left. Maybe this was all a part of the Magnificent Corn Maze Extravaganza. Maybe you weren't supposed to see the staff. That certainly made things a bit more spooky. Leah looked at the sign. She looked at the other openings. The corn waved in the slight breeze but otherwise gave no indication what lay beyond each path. Feeling a little apprehensive but mostly curious Leah announced to the empty air, "Ok, left it is then." Before she started onto the new path, she took out her phone and snapped a picture of the left sign and the other openings. Once that was done, she stowed her phone and plunged in.
Much like the first maze, the path followed a straight row before angling slightly to the side and then coming to a T junction. Again she was faced with the choice of left or right? The sign in front of the maze did say left, but Leah was feeling feisty and took the bend to the right instead. She followed it around a curve and came to another split. She took a left this time and was brought right back to the first left or right entry. She chose right again and this time when the split came she chose right again. But her right choice only led her to a dead end a ways down the row and she had to once again back track to the original left or right choice. Standing in front of the first T junction she moved on to the left and was rewarded with a long corridor. At the next T junction she chose left again and moved deeper into the maze. She chose a few rights after that just to see if the maze sign meant always turn left or only on the first choice turn left. It seemed that it meant always turn left and pretty soon Leah was jogging her way past junctions without even considering going right. She turned left so many times in fact that she was starting to get dizzy, and just when she was considering stopping or at least slowing down, out she popped into the original eight opening entrance. She turned around and stumbled straight into an older gentleman in overalls with a baseball cap sticking out of the back pocket. "Whoa there miss, steady on," he said. Leah blinked at him, caught her breath and began to apologize. "No, no young lady. No harm done," the man said. He chuckled and released her shoulders and took a step back. "Was something chasing you in there? You came out like a house a fire." "No sir," Leah said. I was just in this weird left only maze and I was going faster and faster and then it ended and I wasn't expecting it," she trailed off. "Oh I know that maze well" the man said. "It is one of my favorites. People hardly ever go left in a maze, they always go right. This makes for a refreshing change I think. How did you like it?" Leah thought about it then answered. "At first I didn't really believe the sign. I just thought it meant left as the first choice. But then I tried it out and if I went right I would just go around in circles that didn't go anywhere, or I would pop right back to where I started. Once I began going left it felt like I was actually going somewhere and I couldn't wait to see where." The man looked at her and smiled. "That is a good way to put it" he finally said." Leah shrugged and asked, "how many times have you done the left maze?" "Only once," the man replied. "It isn't the same if you do it again." Which was true Leah supposed. You could only have one first experience, anything after that would just be building on the initial outing.
"So, she asked, are you here to go through a different opening today or are you doing some of the other things in the park?" "A little of both actually," the man replied. "You see, I designed this maze, but I like to come over once it opens for the day and see how people enjoy it." Leah stared. "You mean you made this thing? How cool is that? I mean, how do you get your ideas? How do you cut the corn? How do you...." But by then the old man was chuckling and Leah stopped to ask what was so funny. "Young lady, you sure do have a lot of questions" he said with a smile. "I don't really know how I get my ideas," he explained. "I just go about my day and then a thought pops into my head, like wouldn't it be fun to always go left instead of right. Then I just sit down and doodle and out pops a maze eventually. I always did like to draw. Once I figure out the pattern I take it to the growers and they do the rest. It is always something to see what I put down on paper turn into a living breathing thing. I think it has a mind of its own sometimes. Perhaps it designed itself." Leah didn't know what to say to that and they both stood in a bit of an awkward silence until the man once again spoke. "But where are my manners," he said. Here I have been talking and never once introduced myself. The name's Jerome, and who might you be?" "I'm Leah," she said. "Well Miss Leah, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I always enjoy meeting other people who appreciate a good maze like I do." Leah smiled and replied, "yeah, mazes are fun. It's like taking a mini adventure but right in the middle of everyone. It's like a secret that only you know. As to your maze, I really like the part where you have the changing signs. That's my favorite so far." "Changing signs," he said with a question in his voice. "Yeah, when I came out of the first maze there was a sign that said left. It wasn't there when I first started. And when I began, there was an entrance sign, but it disappeared." Jerome looked thoughtful, "and where might this left sign be" he asked. Leah turned to the side to show him the sign but it wasn't there. She looked the other direction but the only sign she saw was a different wooden sign that said THIS WAY. "Huh" it was right there she told Jerome, pointing to the now empty location. "I took a picture of it with my phone. That sign over there wasn't here and the left one was." She flipped to her albums menu on her phone and showed him the clearly marked sign. He looked at the phone and then back to her. "My dear, I think you may need to take another look at this picture." Confused, Leah turned the screen around and looked, there, clearly marked was a sign that read THIS WAY.
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