A Rustling In The Cornfield

The darkness crept along the road. Sydney and Rodger sat in silence. Three miles ago the radio went out. Five miles ago the last building stood. Ten miles ago the last town bustled with energy.

“I hope you haven’t gotten us lost,” Syd murmured. Rodger gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“I haven’t, why don’t you trust me?” The brother asked through gritted teeth. She sighed and went back to staring at the window. Although it wasn’t much of a view, just rows upon rows of corn, it was better than staring at her feet.

Suddenly, the car jolted to a harsh stop. Rodger got out quickly and slammed his door shut, causing Syd to wince.

“Get out. We’re here.” He said, yanking open her door.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, Rod, what do you mean we’re here?”

“I said get out.” He grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground. Without so much as an inquiry if she was okay, he got back into his car and sped off.

“The little jerk set me up, Mom’s going to ground his sorry butt when we get back home. No video games or phone for a month! No, two months!” She said as she picked herself up. Checking her phone, she cursed under her breath. “Of course he drops me off somewhere with no service.”

With nothing else to do, Syd began to walk the direction that they had come from. She knew it was hopeless, she was miles from civilization, but she didn’t exactly have much of a choice.

After about a half hour of aimless walking and counting her own footsteps to stay sane, she froze, a thin rustling coming from the cornfield. It stopped moments after stopping. Sydney shrugged. She was, after all, in the middle of nowhere in a place where wildlife was common.

Continuing along, she began humming. Her legs were growing tired and her anger was fading into desperation. How dare Rodger do this to her? Sure, it wasn’t unprovoked. She did replace his shampoo with mayonnaise as a prank, but that didn’t compare to stranding someone in the middle of nowhere.

A scaly, monster-like hand on Sydney’s shoulder caused her to scream. No sooner than the sound escaped her lips did a second hand appear, clamping her mouth shut. Her heart began to pound harder and harder in her chest and adrenaline coursed through her veins.

Laughter rang out as the hands let go of Syd.

“You should’ve seen the look on your stupid face!” Mason was nearly doubled over with laughter. “Boy, when your brother said you were easy to scare, he sure meant it!”

“Mason, you insufferable little,” Syd lunged towards him. “You scared me half to death!”

“Yeah, and it was sooo worth it,” He flashed a toothy grin, taking off his rubber monster gloves. “Do you like the costume? I spent like, ten bucks on it.”

“I think you could’ve bought a few packs of pencils with that money, that way you weren’t wasting your money and you could stop annoying me in class to ask for a stupid pencil.”

Mason rolled his eyes. “Why would I buy a pencil when I can get one from a-” His words fell silent as a nearby rustling from the cornfield once again rang out.

“From a what?” Syd punched his arm. “Finish your statement.”

“Quiet,” Mason hissed.

“Why? It’s probably just Justin, you three always love pulling pranks together.”

“He couldn’t come, Sydney. He’s out of town, remember?”

“If it’s not him in the corn,” The girl turned towards the rustling sound. “Then what could it be?”

“I don’t know, but we’re not sticking around to find out.” Mason grabbed her hand and the two of them began to sprint down the road. To their horror, the rustling managed to keep up with them the entire time. In fact, it seemed to be growing louder and more intense the more they tried to escape.

Mason tripped, causing both of them to go spiraling onto the road. He cursed as he tried to stand back up.

“My ankle,” He choked out in a panic. “I twisted it, I can’t put weight on it.”

“This isn’t funny, Mason, the rustling’s getting louder! Come on, get up you lazy jerk!”

“I can’t,” He protested, tears in his eyes. “Go, run on without me.”

“I’m not leaving you here,” Syd choked on her own voice.

“You have no choice. Now go!”

The rustling was inches away. The girl nodded and began to sprint. She didn’t dare look back as Mason’s screams filled the air and a sickening snap rang out. She kept running and running. That was all she could do. She didn’t know what had become of Mason, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to safety.

As she continued to make her way down the road, an eerie silence filled the air. Syd slowed her sprint to a jog, then a walk, then a halt. There was nothing. No breeze, no rustling, nothing. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe.

Or so she thought.

Once more, a scaly hand on her shoulder startled her, but this time instead of screaming she merely laughed.

“Seriously, Mason? You didn’t even choose a new pair of gloves,” She turned around, expecting to see the face of her brother’s friend. Instead, she was staring into the dark, empty sockets of a tall creature.

On its hands was a pair of gloves. Mason’s gloves. With a swift movement, it shook the gloves off, revealing long white talons with dark bloodstains trailing up it.

Sydney stumbled backwards. She lost her balance and fell back into the gravel. The creature bent over, its face as expressionless as empty as the night sky during a new moon. Its long hands wrapped around the girl and picked her up. She tried to scream, but no sound came out.

The monster stood up straight and strolled back into the cornfield of which it called home.

---

Rodger laughed as he pulled his car up to the designated pick up spot. “Oh I wish I could’ve seen the look on Sydney’s face when Mason popped out.”

The teenager stepped out of the car and called out for his friend. He waited a moment with no response. He tried again. “Mason, where are you? Mason? C’mon, dude, we were supposed to meet here five minutes ago. I’m sorry I was late, I lost track of time.”

A sound grabbed Rodger’s attention, he turned his head towards the cornfield where a rustling sound had just rang out.