In the Cornfields-Chapter 1

Foreword:
This story was written by my son, a 9 year old boy with Asperger's. He has completed other chapters, but I can't afford to upgrade my membership yet.

Sam Kendru & his big sister, Meggy Kendru, are visiting their grandparents. It seems like forever to get there. Mom & dad are driving. Meggy says, “I wish you would stop your whistling.” Sam says, “Ok”. After some time of the siblings bickering back & forth, Sam asks his parents, “When are we going to be there?” Mom says, “Right about…now.” They stopped & got out giving their grandparents a hug. They then unload their luggage from the car, and carry it into the house.
A few hours later, after visiting with everyone, mom & dad leave & it’s time for bed for Sam & Meggy. Sam & Meggy tuck themselves into bed, and before long are fast asleep. Grandma turns to grandpa and says, “are you sure you locked the door?” Grandpa says, “Yes, I am sure.” Grandma then says, “Did you bolt the windows shut?” And grandpa shakes his head. After checking over the house, grandma & grandpa both go to bed. It doesn’t take long for them to fall asleep, either.
It’s about midnight on the farm. You can hear whistling from the wind blowing hard. Sam wakes up from the whistling noise, looks around his room, and sees shadows from the moon outside. Just then, he looks out his window & that’s when it appears. The face of a scarecrow is looking back at him. The scarecrow’s face is dirty, almost a tannish-brown. He has corn stalks sticking out around his neck, and pieces of corn lining up for his mouth. His hair looks like a mixture of straw & the furry stuff you find on a corn cob. His eyes are glowing a golden-orange, and he has a small pin for a nose. His hat is also made of straw. Sam screeches in fear, and wakes his sister. Meggy sees her brother on the floor breathing hard & staring out the window in fear. She asks, “Sam, what is wrong?” Sam responds in a shaking voice, “its impossible… how can… what was that?” Meggy tells her brother to calm down, but he can’t. Meggy then asks, “What happened?” After Sam tries to collect his breath, he turns to his sister & says, “I heard a noise that woke me up. I saw shadows moving on the wall, and happened to look out the window. That’s when I saw a scarecrow looking at me from outside.” Meggy shakes her head & says, “that’s impossible, Sam. You must have been dreaming. Get back in bed & go to sleep.” Sam can’t shake it off that easily, but slowly creeps back to his bed. He is still watching out the window waiting for the face to appear again, but all that is showing through is the light from the moon outside. After lying in bed for a half hour or so, Sam finally drifts back to sleep.

The next morning, Sam & Meggy join grandma & grandpa at the breakfast table. Grandma asks them, “are you two children hungry?” They both answer, “Yes! We’re very hungry.” So grandma turns towards the kitchen to prepare their breakfast. A few moments later, grandma brings two bowls and 2 spoons to the table & places them in front of Sam & Meggy. Meggy digs right in to her breakfast; Sam, on the other hand, freaks out. Why? There are cornflakes in the bowl. Meggy doesn’t think anything of it, and is inhaling her food. Sam is sweating & looking at his bowl like it’s about to jump at him. Grandma asks Sam why he’s not eating, and Sam says, “corn… scarecrow…. It was looking at me.” Grandma & grandpa look at each other in confusion. Grandpa then says, “Sam, what on earth are you babbling about?” Meggy then speaks up & tells her grandparents about the night before, and how Sam thought he saw a scarecrow looking in the window. Just as the grandparents were about to say something, Sam shouts out, “It was real! He looked at me! He was looking in the window & looking right at me!” Sam got up from the table, and took off running to his room. Grandma & grandpa decide to just let him calm down and be by himself. They all continue eating their breakfast, and grandpa reads his newspaper while drinking his morning coffee.

That afternoon, Sam & Meggy are in the yard running with the dog. Meggy happens to look around & sees a decent sized cornfield. She decides she wants to take the dog & go run through it. Meggy turns to her brother & says, “Come on; let’s take the dog through the cornfield!” Sam replies, “No way! I’m not going anywhere near that corn field.” Meggy then says, “Aw, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Its broad daylight, I’m there with you, and it’s just a cornfield. I know you’re not scared of corn, are you?” Sam hesitantly agrees to follow Meggy & the dog into the field. Meggy takes off running with the dog, and tries to get her brother to come find her. After a minute or two, Sam doesn’t see any harm in having some fun in the field, so he darts between the corn stalks to try to find his sister & the dog. After running for a few minutes, not sure where he’s going, he runs smack into a post. Sam looks up, and sees an actual scarecrow up on a wooden post. Sam begins to panic. He wants to run, but can’t seem to get his legs to move. He hears his sister calling for him in the distance, but he can’t even bring himself to respond. When Meggy realizes her brother isn’t following her, she turns around to go look for him.

While she zigzags through the stalks, she happens to trip over her brother who is still crouched down in the dirt. Meggy notices her brother’s face is white as a ghost, and he’s staring up at something. She turns her head & sees the straw-filled scarecrow up on a wooden peg. She rolls her eyes, turns to her brother and says, “Sam, not this again. This scarecrow has probably been up there for years. It isn’t coming alive anytime soon, and it isn’t there to scare you… it’s to keep the birds out of grandpa’s corn. Come on, you’re being silly again. Let’s go have some fun.” Just then, they hear grandpa calling them in for dinner. Meggy helps Sam up off the ground, they gather the dog, and head back to the house. Meggy & the dog are bouncing through the field back the house; Sam is sprinting out of the field towards the house.

At dinner, Sam & Meggy sit down after getting washed up to eat. Meggy helps grandma put the food on the table, and Sam sets the table. They then all sit down together and say grace. Sam looks around the table and can smell the delicious aromas from the food. After saying their prayers, grandpa picks up a bowl & begins to pass it around the table. When it gets to Sam, he realizes what’s in the bowl, and almost drops it on the floor. It was a bowl of corn. Again, grandma & grandpa are confused. Meggy begins to laugh and jokingly says to her brother, “Let me guess, the corn spoke to you.” Sam glares at her sister, and silently tries to clean up the mess he made. He justifies his reaction by saying, “the bowl slipped out of my hands. Sorry.” As they sit & enjoy their dinner, the wind begins to pick up again outside. While the family is enjoying their meal, they begin to listen to the sounds outside their windows. As the wind picks up, a whistling sound begins to echo. Thankfully, Sam is finished with his dinner & asks to be excused from the table. Even though grandma is concerned about the look on Sam’s face, she agrees. Sam picks up his dishes, and quickly & quietly walks into the kitchen. Grandma & grandpa both look at Meggy with a puzzling look. Meggy shrugs her shoulders with an “I don’t know” look on her face.

STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER 2...