A Date To Remember

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Their bright yellows and oranges glinting in the sun as I crunched through them, completely oblivious to their light-hearted warnings of impending danger that would come to play out in the next six hours.

I stomped through the leaves, my scarf snuggly wrapped around my shoulders, flapping in the chill autumn wind. I smiled as I heard a familiar ring tone chime out of my pocket. Slipping it out, I smiled; this was the fourth time Remi had called me this morning to make sure we were still on for our date at our towns, ever famous, haunted straw maze. I slid my finger across the screen and lifted it to my ear, the left corner of my lips tugging up into a quirked grin, “something I can do for you?” I teased.

I could hear Remi's bell like laughter float through the speaker, “I know, I know. I’m sorry I keep calling, I'm just so excited!” She paused, her smiling voice diminishing into an anxious silence. “You’re still coming, right?”

I sucked my lips in, I wanted to say something comforting, knowing Remi was so nervous, “of course, I’m on my way right now. I should be at your door in just a few minutes. And  I certainly hope you’re ready for the best maze date you’ve ever been on.” 

Little did I know that it would be memorable, just not for the reasons I expected.

***

Remi grasped my hand, we were stranded somewhere in the middle of the giant straw maze that we’d been trying to find a way out of for about an hour and a half. With the initial excitement having worn off about thirty minutes ago, when the voices of other people in the maze had trailed off into the distance, we started to feel very trapped, our nerves dangling on edge.

I felt my stomach flip as the sound of a twig snapping cut through the still air. Remi grasped my arm, her nails finding my soft skin under my sweater. “Anyone out there?” I shouted, part of me hoping that someone would respond and help us find our way back to the entrance, the other part petrified of the unannounced noise. This maze's biggest draw was that it was supposed to be haunted. That alone drew large crowds of people from towns nearby each October, with the five acres it took up only being one of its perks.

No one answered my call except for the crisp leaves twirling and tumbling around our feet. “Let’s try this way.” Remi tugged me towards one of paths, “if we keep just turning right I think it’ll take us out of here.” I didn’t understand why, but without any better ideas I only nodded, plodding behind her.

The sun began to dip down, the air growing more sharp, when muffled through the straw I heard something. It began as a low rumble and crackling, making both Remi and I freeze in our tracks. The rumble grew louder, echoing from bale to bale, ringing in our ears before rapidly decrescendoing. Remi began to shake, “d-do you think it’s a ghost?” her voice was laden with terror. 

I gave a quick laugh, hoping she couldn’t hear my uncertainty, “oh come on, you and I both know that the maze isn’t really haunted, that's just marketing. But we really should hurry, it’s going to get dark soon.” I took her tiny hand in both of mine, raising it to my lips to warm it with my breath.  I lifted my left hand to her cheek, and kissed her forehead, “it’s going to be fine, we’ll laugh about this later.” 

Remi nodded, and we picked up our pace once again. After a few minutes of half walking, half jogging, we heard another rumble, but this time it finished off with a loud pop like a firework in July. Sure enough, a giant glittering light filled the sky, showing us how dark it had actually started to get. The star-like sparkles fizzled out, leaving us alone within the seven foot walls of the maze. 

Reassurance came when we could hear the snapping and bursting of smaller fireworks in the distance, I just knew we had to be close to the entrance. Another large firework shot into the air, exploding into an array of blue and gold. I gasped, it was beautiful. Remi and I watched it as it expanded over the maze, sprinkling down it’s burning glitter. But unlike the other firework, this one hadn’t shot up high enough, making it so the remaining sparks didn’t have enough time to burn out before dusting the maze. 

I felt my chest seize up, petrified in fear as what had previously been so lovely, began to set patches of the straw on fire. Remi screamed as I ran to stomp out the tiny fires close to us, successfully quashing them. The acrid scent of smoke began to fill my nostrils, and I could see the glow of burning straw over the top of the maze. “Come on!” I yelled, grasping Remi's hand. 

Running as fast as we could while still navigating the sharp corners, I glanced back over my shoulder. The fire was quickly spreading, growing from different areas all around us. All of a sudden screams filled the air- we weren’t the only ones left in the maze. I began to cough as the smoke thickened, I hurriedly ripped my sweater off, urging Remi to take it to cover her mouth and nose. 

The icy air was heating up, swiftly becoming uncomfortably warm. I strained my eyes, trying to figure out which way to go next when Remi tugged at my arm, pointing to her right- the entrance. With the exit in sight, we booked it as fast as our legs could carry us, longing for the safety that waited outside the labyrinth of fire.

A crowd waited outside the maze, some coughing and out of breath, clearly fresh out of the smoky straw trap. The blaring of sirens echoed in the air as the wind picked up. I whipped my head around as I heard a scream come from the maze, then another. The crowd grew frantic, waiting for the ticket master to say how many people were still left in there. 

The flames licked at the dry straw, devouring it, and lighting up the skyline. “There’s two people left in there!” The old ticket master bellowed in fear.

I looked at Remi, “Help isn’t going to get here in time for them, Stay here, okay?” Remi’s eyes filled with tears, her head shaking, pleading for me to just stay. I took both of her wet cheeks in my hands, pressing my lips against hers, hoping she could feel the love and passion in my kiss, before I pulled away. “I’ll be right back, I promise.” 

I turned and sprinted to the maze before anyone could stop me. Left turn. Right turn. Right turn. I could hear someone, but it sounded like it was only one of the two I had heard before, screaming over and over for help. Left turn. Left turn. I could see them, two women, but one was unconscious, the other was trying to pull her out of the smoke filled web of straw.

“Help me, please! I think she breathed in too much smoke, and I can’t carry her!” Her eyes were wide with panic, her face stained in smoke and tears. 

“Grab her feet, I’ll get her arms.” I stooped down to slide my arms under hers, grunting under her weight. The wall across from us started crackling as we maneuvered our way back to where I came in, and within seconds, it began burning through, the tall flames whipping in the wind, just as my scarf had earlier.  

I repeated the turns in my head, finding it much harder to remember what they were when I was going backward. Left turn, right turn, right turn, left turn, left turn. We got to the first fork, and I frantically tried to remember what the right direction was. Right. Right again, Right, wait no, this isn’t correct.  I paused,  how many turns were there? 

The woman behind me screamed, turning, I saw the fire had caught up with us, the heat was unbearable, and if we didn’t speed up we’d both pass out from smoke inhalation, or worse. I hurriedly led us left. Then left again. I could see the last turn, but as quickly as I saw it, I lost my footing, barreling forward, I dropped the unconscious woman, tripping the other. 

“We’re almost there, we can do it!” I shouted to her over the hissing and snapping inferno close behind. Stumbling a bit, we regained our footing, and again hoisted the woman up, making our way for the last turn before we reached safety.

We cleared the exit, and were welcomed by a loud cheer from the panic frenzied crowd, and the arrival of fire engines that were expeditiously parking and setting up to fight the blaze. An ambulance sped forward, the throng of both relieved, and terrified, people parting to let it through, and before I could catch my breath, they loaded the woman onto a gurney, hauling her into the back of the ambulance. 

Still in shock of what happened I just stood there, until a pair of arms tightly wrapped around my middle. “I told you I’d be right back.” I rasped through dry and painful lungs. I turned to face Remi, and pulled her closer to my chest. 

“I love you.” Remi whispered through silent sobs.

I laced my fingers through her hair, holding her tightly, “I love you more.” The words had never so easily fallen from my tongue. As we stood there watching the fire being put out, seeing all the families cling to each other, I couldn’t help but notice the golden leaves on the ground, glinting from blaze, and giving the appearance of being on fire. Never again would I look at them the same way I had that morning.