“I’m not going in there,” she stated firmly. “When I was small, my brother went ahead of me and then jumped out and scared the shit out of me. I don’t do them and I don’t do haunted houses.”

“Isn’t the fun of Halloween being scared a little?”

“If you want to be scared, I’ll be happy to go to a movie with you. The others are off the table. Halloween is for cider and chocolate.”

“I’m going to go through,” he said, stubbornly.

“I’ll be in the cafe with my spiked cider and donut. Have fun!” She turned and headed towards the small cafe. He was standing there a little shocked that she really was refusing, but he couldn’t just give up so he started through the maze.

As he turned the first corner, a cold gust of wind hit him in the face. He pulled his collar up higher and kept going. It was eerily quiet in the maze. Everyone else was probably avoiding it with the cold weather.

He looked at the map and realized that he wasn’t sure where he was. He backtracked a bit but he still didn’t know if he was on the right path. As he came around a corner, a masked figure came through the corn stalks with a pumpkin. He let out an involuntary noise and jumped.

The man pulled up his mask. “Sorry to spook you. I got lazy and left my mask on with the wind. It was a little warmer anyway. I didn’t know there was still anyone in here after that last carload of kids left.”

He nervously laughed. “No worries. I don’t even know why I’m in here freezing my ass off when I could be inside with my girlfriend. Stubborn pride.”

Nodding sagely, he said, “I’ve been there. Want to know a shortcut?”

“Yes! I really just want to go back.” The man pointed the way and wandered back through the corn husks.

As he came back out to the parking lot, he breathed a silent sigh of relief. He went inside and found her sitting at a back table with a couple of donuts in front of her and two ciders. “You survived. How was it?”

“Cold,” he said as the waitress came by to check on them. “I was lucky and some guy showed me the way back.”

The waitress smiled. “Oh, you met Jake. He’s our resident spook. He died in a farming accident 28 years ago and he’s been hanging around ever since. But he always seems to show up when someone needs him.”

After the waitress left, he turned to her and said, “I think you are right. No more corn mazes. Ever.”