Day 23: An October Story for You

It was the longest night of the year and once again time for the annual meeting of the months. Everyone was there. The triplets April, May and June were giggling over a fashion magazine on the over-sized couch. July was off in the corner causing trouble and slipping firecrackers under the butler’s shoes. March was drinking with January out on the patio while September scolded them and tried to keep things in order. November was hungrily eyeing the goodies on the sideboard while February was stuffing sweets into her purse when she thought no one was looking. August was lazing near the fire listening to a boisterous December recount holidays past and October was in his easy chair watching it all through his mask.

The meeting of the months always took place in the Great Hall of the Time Mansion. The Great Hall was a place out of time and was thereby deemed neutral ground by all the months. No one could claim favoritism or privilege in the Hall and they all took turns chairing the meetings. Out of the Hall, each of the months had their own set of rooms in the mansion and their own personal staff, which at the beginning of time had presented a problem when unsuspecting visitors had dropped by. They had been met at the door by any variety of beings. There were elves, flying babies, leprechauns, water nymphs, talking jack o lanterns, flower people, stars, elementals, Ents, scarecrows, cats and more. How would you feel if the north wind came to the door when you knocked? So, at one of the annual meetings it was decided that a master butler needed to be hired, just for the odd unexpected visitor. After all, one didn't want to scare the people too badly, that was October's job.

The hiring process was mercifully short. Thousands answered the ad but only one stalwart gentleman actually stayed for the interview process. The rest fled at varying points, either at the front door or in the corridors on the way to the interview room; but not Manfred Lillywhite. Manfred was made of sterner stuff and supposed that if his new place of employment had a few oddities, who was he to complain. He had grown up in a rather uneventful life and felt that a few quirks here and there would be a welcome change. Happily there was no shortage of eventful occurrences for Manfred to handle.

There was the time that April decided her pet bunny needed to befriend one of October's bats and soon the mansion was overrun with flying rabbits. Then there was the great Christmas cookie debacle of 783 when one of the elves turned the entire mansion into a gingerbread house. Thanks to February's sweet tooth, whole sections of the mansion had to be redone or forever sport tooth marks. Yes, the atmosphere was never dull in the Time Mansion. Why, one could walk from room to room and experience vastly different weather patterns and seasons. You could go alpine skiing on the grand staircase or visit the spooky caverns that made up the basement. Some of the bathrooms resembled tropical gardens complete with bathing pools and waterfalls, and the kitchens, yes; kitchens plural stocked every sort of gastronomical confection imaginable. The cutlery drawers alone looked like a cross between an arsenal and a medieval torture chamber.

Which was what made it so much fun to be the host of the annual meeting. October loved to show off the fruits of his month’s bounty and the tables almost bent under their combined weight. There was pumpkin panettone for December who liked fruitcake, and pumpkin soups and breads for November. There were cupcakes, candies, cider, tortes, tarts and ales. Fruit pies, meat pies, sweet pies and sour pies. There was so much food in fact, that scarecrow waiters stood by the Hall doors next to wheelbarrows ready to wheel the months out after the meeting. Truth be told, some method of conveyance was always standing by to wheel the occupants out after a meeting. Overindulgence was the goal not the exception. When December was in charge it was a sled pulled by gingerbread men, when it was August's turn giant floating sunflowers harnessed to bees carried them all away.

Sensing that things needed to get going, October indicated to Manfred to sound the gong and slowly all the months made their way to the great table. Once seated and properly situated, October opened the big book and called the meeting to order. He banged his pumpkin gavel and asked the secretary (who happened to be September this time) to read the minutes of the last gathering. Once that was done they proceeded to new business. February raised her hand and asked that her official color be changed from pink and red to lavender because it was a much more soothing tone. May took issue with the change and her sisters rallied around her. Not surprisingly the vote ceased to gain ground, but in order to placate her, June did offer to give up her 31st day so that February could celebrate one more day of her month. Everyone agreed that this was an elegant and gracious solution and the motion carried. It would be noted however that in the human world such a change would only be reflected once every four years in order to not cause too much of a commotion.

The next order of business was brought up by September who asked that November make up his mind and finally set an official date as to when Thanksgiving should be held. Traditionally it would occur whenever November felt hungriest and sometimes that meant two or three times in a month. The other months had heard the human population grumbling and decided to make November finally choose.  Round and round they went. November lobbied for earlier in the month, but October wouldn’t' have it. People were still in a candy coma from Halloween and didn't need another party. December didn't care one way or another and November kept trying to haggle for two more holidays. In the end they decided to hold the official day halfway between the festivities and most everyone was happy.

The only other bit of business was to present Manfred with his annual bonus and then choose the next month to host the meeting. March was unanimously chosen mostly because he was passed out in his chair and couldn't pawn the job off on anyone else. October rapped his pumpkin gavel to close the meeting and everyone began to disperse. They climbed, fell, or were carried to their respective wheelbarrows and taken to their rooms. When the last of them had left, Manfred snapped his fingers and the room was once again put to rights. The giant sandy hourglass was turned on its axis to count down the days until the next meeting and the candles were blown out. The fire was banked, and with a contented sigh Manfred closed the giant oak doors to the Great Hall. Yes, working here was certainly never boring.

October Thoughts Day 27: Meeting of the Months

 It was the longest night of the year and once again time for the annual meeting of the months. Everyone was there. The triplets April, May and June were giggling over a fashion magazine on the oversized couch. July was off in the corner causing trouble and slipping firecrackers under the butlers shoes. March was drinking with January out on the patio while September scolded them and tried to keep things in order. November was hungrily eyeing the goodies on the sideboard while February was stuffing sweets in her purse when she thought no one was looking. August was lazing near the fire listening to a boisterous December recount holidays past and October was in his easy chair watching it all.

The meeting of the months always took place in the Great Hall of the Time Mansion. The Great Hall was a place out of time and was thereby deemed neutral ground by all the months. No one could claim favoritism or privilege in the Hall and they all took turns chairing the meeting. Out of the Hall, each of the months had their own set of rooms in the mansion and their own personal staff, which at the beginning of time had presented a problem when unsuspecting visitors had dropped by. They had been met at the door by any variety of beings. There were elves, flying babies, leprechauns, water nymphs, talking jack o lanterns, flower people, stars, elementals, ents, scarecrows, cats and more. How would you feel if the north wind came to the door when you knocked? So, at one of the annual meetings it was decided that a butler needed to be hired, just for the odd unexpected visitor. After all, one didn't want to scare the people too badly, that was October's job.

The hiring process was mercifully short. Thousands answered the add but only one stalwart gentleman actually stayed for the interview process. The rest fled at varying points either at the front door or in the corridors on the way to the interview room. But not Manfred Lilywhite. Manfred was made of sterner stuff and supposed that if his new place of employment had a few oddities, who was he to complain. He had grown up in a rather uneventful life and felt that a few quirks here and there would be a welcome change. Happily there was no shortage of eventful occurrences for Manfred to handle.
There was the time April decided that her pet bunny needed to befriend one of October's bats and soon the mansion was overrun with flying rabbits. Then there was the great Christmas cookie debacle of 783 when one of the elves has turned the entire mansion into a gingerbread house. Thanks to February's sweet tooth, whole sections of the mansion had to be redone or forever sport tooth marks. Yes, the atmosphere was never dull in the Time Mansion. Why, one could walk from room to room and experience vastly different weather patterns and seasons. You could go alpine skiing on the grand staircase or visit the spooky caverns that made up the basement. Some of the bathrooms resembled tropical gardens complete with bathing pools and waterfalls and the kitchens, yes, kitchens plural stocked every sort of gastronomical confection imaginable and the cutlery drawers looked like a cross between an arsenal and a medieval torture chamber.

Which was what made it so much fun to be the host of the annual meeting. October loved to show off the fruits of his months bounty and the tables almost bent under the combined weight. There was pumpkin panettone for December who liked fruitcake, and pumpkin soups and breads for November. There were cupcakes, candies, cider, tortes, tarts and ales. Fruit pies, meat pies, sweet pies and sour pies. There was so much food in fact that scarecrow waiters stood by the Hall doors next to wheelbarrows ready to wheel the months out after the meeting. Truth be told, some method of conveyance was always standing by to wheel the occupants out. Overindulgence was the goal not the exception. When December was in charge it was a sled pulled by gingerbread men, when it was August's turn giant floating sunflowers harnessed to bees carried them all away.

Sensing that things needed to get going, October indicated to Manfred to sound the gong and slowly all the months made their way to the great table. Once seated and properly situated, October opened the big book and called the meeting to order. He banged his pumpkin gavel and asked the secretary (who happened to be September this time) to read the minutes of the last gathering. Once that was done they proceeded to new business. February raised her hand and asked that her official color be changed from pink and red to lavender because it was a much more soothing tone. May took issue with the change and her sisters rallied around her. Not surprisingly the vote ceased to gain ground, but in order to placate her, June did offer to give up her 31st day so that February could celebrate one more day of her month. Everyone agreed that this was an elegant and gracious solution and the motion carried. It would be noted however that in the human world such a change would only be reflected once every four years in order to not cause too much of a commotion.

The next order of business was brought up by September who asked that November make up his mind and finally set an official date as to when Thanksgiving should be held. Traditionally it would occur whenever November felt hungriest and sometimes that meant two or three times in a month. The other months had heard the human population grumbling and decided to make November finally choose. Round and round they went. November lobbied for earlier in the month, but October wouldn't' have it. People were still in a candy coma from Halloween and didn't need another party. December didn't care one way or another and November kept trying to haggle for two more holidays. In the end they decided to hold the official day halfway between the festivities and most everyone was happy.

The only other bit of business was to present Manfred with his annual bonus and then choose the next month to host the meeting. March was unanimously chosen mostly because he was passed out in his chair and couldn't pawn the job off on anyone else. October rapped his pumpkin gavel to close the meeting and everyone began to disperse. They climbed or fell or were carried to their respective wheelbarrows and taken to their rooms. When the last of them had left, Manfred snapped his fingers and the room was once again put to rights. The giant sandy hourglass was turned on its access to count down the days until the next meeting and the candles were blown out. The fire was banked and with a contented sigh Manfred closed the giant oak doors to the Great Hall. Yes, working here was certainly never boring.

October Thoughts Day 7: The Story Continues

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.

October Thought Day 6: Something Different

Every year I mull the idea over of writing a story in my October Thoughts. I have amassed quite a few ideas and came close last year to writing one of them. But alas and alack it never happened. This year, I feel inspired and have started on one. It will be a short story told in serial form. I can't wait to see how it ends. So, here is my inaugural October Thought story. Installment #1. I hope you enjoy.

Leah was excited. It was finally the weekend. It had been a hard week and now it was over. It was time to kick back and do what she wanted to do, and what she wanted to do was go to a corn maze. For four weeks there had been a barrage of advertisements for the local maze. There were banners down main street, ads on TV, notices in the paper, flyers in the grocery store, billboards down the highway and blurbs on the radio. Everywhere she went she heard about the maze. At first she was excited along with everyone else. Who wouldn't be? There were things do to for all ages and not just the maze. There would be live music, food trucks, petting zoos, bounce houses, rides, and much, much more the ads promised. But after the 6th or 7th commercial or the umpteenth flyer, her excitement started to dwindle. By week three she had had enough and was prepared to boycott the maze altogether, but then came week four. Something changed. Whoever was running the advertisements added one sentence to the end of the promotions and it caught her attention. It said, "An experience unlike any other." Now she had heard those words before in other ads and thought nothing of it, but this time, this time something was different. It was the tone of the thing. It didn't feel tongue in cheek. It sounded like a promise. What exactly was so special about this maze? Did it have bridges or fountains in the middle? Maybe their were live animals in it or weird guides. Perhaps the maze was just one giant wall of corn? Leah honestly didn't know and that sentence wouldn't stop buzzing in her brain. She brought it up to her parents but they didn't see any special significance. Her mother just shrugged and said that it was a cheap marketing ploy and probably didn't mean anything extra special. Her father concurred but added that the maze designers had most likely added a few more extra twists and turns to make it super hard. Leah thought it was more than this but didn't argue. She tried talking to her best friend Georgie about it, but Georgie was more interested in what Mike Twilbie was wearing that day than the mysteries of the local corn maze.

So Leah stewed over the maze mystery all through her difficult week, which both helped and hindered. She was excited to think of the possibilities, but with tests and homework, practices and the other demands of life pushing in, she wanted the mystery of the maze to be solved so she could get on with things. Which was why this Saturday was so exciting. Today was the day that she would figure out the mystery of the maze. Leah woke up early, something unheard of in her house on a weekend, and rushed through breakfast. The maze opened up at ten on the weekends and she wanted to be first in line. She took out the garbage, fed Samson the families aging basset hound, checked Twitter and Facebook, took way to long deciding on an appropriate maze adventuring outfit, checked Twitter again, wrote a note to her parents reminding them of where she was going and when she'd be back and then dashed out the door.

It was only a 15 minute drive to the maze from her house and she though she wanted to speed down the sleepy country roads she kept her mounting excitement in check and kept it under the speed limit. In what felt like no time at all, Leah saw the first of the turn off signs leading to the maze. Simple hand drawn sandwich boards with pumpkin balloons floating on top. The speedometer edged up a little as she saw the next sign and by the time she came to the turn off a few miles later all pretenses of being a model driver were gone. As she turned off down the dirt road she kicked up a mighty cloud of dust which she was a bit embarrassed by once she reached the parking lot. Two workers chatting by the entrance to the attraction were enveloped by her dust cloud as she came to a stop. Leah sheepishly turned off the engine and sat for a few minutes before getting out of the truck. She stuffed her wallet in the back pocket of her jeans and put her keys in her front pocket next to her phone. She was ready to go.

Leah walked past the two attendants that she had dusted but they paid her no mind. If her eyes weren't deceiving her, she was the first one at the site. Excitement surged through her. Leah loved mazes and puzzles. To be the first one. To be the only one. To have the entire place to herself, Leah couldn't wait to get started. She walked a little faster to the ticket booth. When she got there she was greeted by an indifferent girl with pink hair who had her feet propped up on the counter and was busily texting. Leah stood for a few moments and waited. She read the price guide posted on the side of the ticket window and dug in her pocket for her wallet. The ticket girl continued to ignore her and after a while Leah made a few noises indicating that she was ready to be helped. Still nothing. Not wanting to be rude, but getting a little irritated, Leah cleared her throat and asked "so, tickets to the maze are $5 right?" The girl looked up, a little confused at being spoken too. "What," she asked. "I asked if the maze price was $5" Leah said, knowing full well that it was, since it was posted about a foot from her face. The pink haired girl, whose nametag read Valerie, blinked in confusion then shrugged and said "I guess." Leah handed her a five with forced cheerfulness. The girl took it and then went back to texting. Leah sighed and asked "don't I get a ticket or something." Valerie looked up and seemed confused that Leah was still standing there. "You get a stamp on the hand" she said. Leah waited. Valerie waited. "Could I maybe have the stamp now," Leah asked, getting a little bit more annoyed. Valerie sighed and shrugged at the same time then turned to dig under the counter. She rooted around and came back up with a carved wooden stamp that looked as if it belonged on a chess board. Leah held out her hand as Valerie inked the piece and then pushed it onto Leah's skin. Leah examined the design. It was a black swirl that looked like a maze with eight dots at various points along the lines. Cool. Leah looked up and asked "is this what the maze looks like or is it just a pattern? How many entries are there to the maze? How long does it usually take people to go through?" But Valerie was not interested in customer service and without breaking her texting rhythm, used her other hand to wave vaguely at the information stand two windows down from the booth. Clearly Leah was not going to be getting any more "help" from Valerie so she muttered a halfhearted thanks and went to look at the brochures. Washburn's Magnificent Corn Maze Extravaganza said a header on all the flyers. Leah picked one up and started unfolding. Inside there was a list of concessions, attractions and hours. Another panel showed an overhead view of the maze and gave gate options. There were in fact eight in all and they ranged in difficulty levels. The maze itself covered 33 acres which was impressive, but hardly what Leah would consider an experience unlike any other like the ads promised. The brochure said nothing else about the inner workings of the maze. Leah checked. When you unfolded the brochure totally it provided a map of the entire park and its attractions. She located the maze site, refolded the brochure and set off. Nothing  was going to mar her maze day, not even Valerie.

To be continued......