How could this be happening to me? I wondered, confused. Going forward and following directions has only brought me to the front of the corn maze again.

I had followed to the letter the directions given by each one of the ra-corns I had managed to harvest with my diamond cat claw, and yet running forward through the corn maze had led me nowhere. Maybe, I had to do the opposite of what they told me. Maybe, if I walked backward through the corn and did not harvest any of the stalks, I would safely reach the other side and my adventure could continue. Maybe by following my heart instead of my mind, I would find my friends again. It was then that I started to wonder, why had I only seen ra-corn when the apricats had told us all about the other types of corn in the field. I wanted to meet a uni-corn as I hoped it would grant me a wish. I knew that I would use that wish to find my friend Sam and hopefully, the apricats and Billy too. I don't know what happened to Boo the ra-corn who was supposed to be guiding me. Maybe she was lost too, though this seemed unlikely. How could a ra-corn get lost in a maze of ra-corn. The height advantage for one thing would make getting lost impossible, and then there was the fact that growing up in a corn field would be like growing up in any neighborhood. You would know things, know people, I knew the hometown where me and my friend Sam lived like I knew the back of my hand. We both did. I worried then that I might not see my home again. Would I be stuck forever at the edge of this field of corn. I had to try, I had to test this idea of mine to see if it could get me through. I turned around to face the Stuff, but the branch where we had spotted her was empty.

"Leaving so soon?" asked the cobs of corn, still waiting to get harvested. "We hoped that you would be braver, that you would try harder to save us all."

I stepped backward, into the thickness of the tall stalks.

"Woah!" cried the ra-corns, a chorus of amazement.

Then, there was a silence, not a single stalk rustling.

I took another backward step.

"Am I doing this right?" I asked, trying to resist the urge to look over my shoulder to see what was behind.

"Yes…"

"No…"

"Left…"

"Stop…"

The ra-corn all hollered their advice, a pounding upon my ears that did not help me, not one bit.

"Yes?" I asked, taking another big, backward stride.

"Ow!" cried our Boo, that was a voice I recognized.

"Bethany Boo!" I cried. "Am I glad to hear you!"

"I'm not sure?" asked Boo the ra-corn. "Are you?"

"Am I what?" I asked, suddenly confused when I thought I'd be pleased.

"Are you glad to hear me?" asked Boo.

"Oh yes, I thought that I said that I was," I replied. "But I can assure you that hearing your voice has let me know that a friend is nearby."

"And which friend is that?" asked Bethany Boo. "Do they eat ra-corn?"

Before I could answer, Boo suddenly hopped away and vanished amongst the thick green stalks.

"Boo!! No… Boo!!" I called as loudly as I could. "Please come back!"

The ripe golden cob with the racoon face popped up in front of me, the stalk bent in a weird zig-zag shape.

"Here I am, at your back, but your back is looking a lot like your front does," Boo said.

"I am trying to navigate my way through this maze of corn, but when I go forward, I end up back," I explained.

"It is a maize maze…" mused the ra-corn.

"An amazing maze of maize," I agreed.

"To turn a corn-er amongst the corn you need a steed, the best indeed," Boo told me.

I agreed.

"Come, take my hand, and I'll lead you to a far-off land," the ra-corn promised.

"But Boo," I said, somewhat surprised. "You do not have any hands, and I am already in a far-off land."

"Suit yourself," said Boo, the funny little racoon face pouting, a golden corn kernel plopping from the ear to the ground where it suddenly grew into a fully formed and ripened corn stalk. "But if I were you, I'd be picking a better suit."

"And what suit would that be?" I asked.

"Well…" began Boo, pausing for a moment to consider the question. "The suit of spades is good for digging… The suit of diamonds is great at harvest time… The suit of hearts, that's the suit you are wearing now… Well… That suit is great when you want to make friends…"

Boo hopped forward, and I took another backward step.

"And what of the suit of clubs?" I asked. "When is that a good suit to wear?"

"I would wear such a suit when we get there," suggested Boo.

"But where is there?" I wondered.

"The dra-corn's lair," said Boo.

Another backward step, and suddenly my ra-corn friend was gone.

"Boo!" I called. "Boo! Where are you?!"

"WHO… ARE… YOU…?" roared a ferocious reptile.

I dared to look up and around and there, towering above me, floated a great green dragon, made up of twisted together corn stalks.

"Sam? Is that you?" I asked, hoping that it was my friend come to save me.

Deep down I knew it was not though, but hope can do strange things to a person's mind.

"I… SEE… NO… SAM… HERE…" boomed the great, green beast.

I felt frozen on the spot, knowing that I needed to run, but unable to make any of my limbs do as I asked.

"I… DO… SMELL… HAM… THOUGH…" the dragon rumbled, almost like it was laughing. "AND… I… DO… LOVE… HAM…"

"Please don't eat me!" I squeaked.

"EAT… YOU…?" replied the dragon. "WHY… I… HAVE… ONLY… JUST… GOT… TO… MEET… YOU…"

"So, you don't think of me as meat?" I asked, in awe of such a creature's size, and yet hopeful that this reptilian giant was going to be my newest companion.

"I… ALWAYS… LIKE… TO… MEET… MY… MEAT… BEFORE… I… TAKE… THE… TIME… TO… EAT…" replied the dragon.

Oh no, I thought, certain that this was going to be the end of my story.

Lost amongst the corn, and now blindly taken to a dra-corn's nest by a devious ra-corn who I thought was my friend.

"If we are destined to dine together, at least tell me a little about yourself," I asked. "It is only fair that I know a little about you and that you know a little about me too."

"WE… TWO… SHALL… DO… WHAT… IS… DONE… BY… FRIENDS… TRUE…" stated the dragon, solemnly.

And so, I began to chat with this great corn beast who had promised to make me dinner, and not in a nice wholesome way like a roast on a Sunday, unless I was to be the roast and the potatoes both. We told each other our names (her name was also Jess, short for Jescinta), how old we were (she was surprisingly younger than I was), and what our hopes and dreams were (mine; to escape the corn maze and find my friends, defeat the puppet master and return to my own world, and Jescinta's; to become a real dragon and fly away from the corn maze, to have a family, and to live out her days hoarding treasure and capturing princesses).

"RIGHT… I… GUESS… IT… IS… TIME… FOR… DINNER…" lamented the dra-corn. "I… REALLY… WISH… THAT… I… DID… NOT… HAVE… TO… EAT… YOU… UP… JESS…"

"I know, Jess, I wish you did not need to eat me up too," I agreed.

"WOULD… YOU… PREFER… ONE… BITE…?" the great green beast offered.

"Yes, please," I replied. "Best we get it over and done with."

There was a moment when my new friend paused, and I hoped that she might change her mind. But then her whole leafy body grumbled, begging for sustenance. It was me or nothing, or so it seemed.

Giant jaws opened and the dra-corn's head rushed toward me. I closed my eyes, not wanting to witness being eaten. And then… The sound of whinnying… A rush of leafy greens… And I was on the back of a uni-corn galloping through the corn stalks, the great SNAP of a dra-corn closing its jaws on nothing sounding close behind.

"I'm so sorry that I took so long," said Bethany Boo, the ra-corn on another uni-corn, galloping beside me. "I couldn't saddle the steeds."

"You couldn't saddle these two uni-corn?" I asked.

"Yeah…" said Boo. "No hands… Like you said before…"

"So how are you hanging on?" I asked.

We were travelling quite quickly.

"I've wrapped my stalk around the beast's belly," Bethany explained.

Taking a quick peek, out the corner of my eye, I noted that the ra-corn was much shorter than I'd thought she was. This was indeed because most of her green length was tangled about the body of the uni-corn she rode.

"Hold on tight," I urged.

"Why?" Bethany asked.

"Because if I am not mistaken," I said. "There is one very hungry dra-corn chasing after us."

Bethany Boo twisted like a serpent, looking straight behind us while the pair of uni-corn corn-steeds continued to race us away.

"Yep…" agreed the ra-corn. "She is a hungry one all right."

"So, what do we do?" I asked.

"I was hoping that you would know the answer to that," Boo replied.

"All I know is that I don't want to end up back at the start of the corn maze again," I said. "And I definitely don't want to end up as a…"

Puppet on a string

My puppet on a string

I will teach you to dance

I will teach you to sing

And then all the children

Who like to run

I shall catch with my strings

Make each one join the fun

Puppet on a string

My dear puppet on a string

Hearing those words suddenly made me realize that the puppeteer was here, in the corn maze with us. Was he turning those freed stalks of corn into more of his puppets? Or was the corn as confusing and challenging for him to navigate as it was for me? Did I dare to look behind me?

Puppet on a string

My puppet on a string

I will teach you to dance

I will teach you to sing

And then all the children

Who like to run

I shall catch with my strings

Make each one join the fun

Puppet on a string

My dear puppet on a string

This time when I heard that eerie song it was a little bit louder.

"Come on, Boo," I shouted. "We cannot let the puppet master catch us.

And then, to my left and to my right I could see Maddy and Tilly, Livvy and Gabby, and behind them, the great watermelon buffalo lumbering behind.

"My friends!" I called out.

They were too busy running to answer.

"Boo! We need to help my friends!" I begged.

"What do you propose we try?" asked the ra-corn.

I gave her a smile, a sign of thanks and appreciation for her trust.

"We need to go around and then pick them up," I said.

"Okay, we will do that…" said Boo. "My wish shall make it so…"

And then, as if by magic, suddenly the uni-corns veered off their chosen path and made a wide arc, a perfect maneuver. One by one we picked up the little apricats and the whopping watermelon and then we continued on our way.

Puppet on a string

My puppet on a string

I will teach you to dance

I will teach you to sing

And then all the children

Who like to run

I shall catch with my strings

Make each one join the fun

Puppet on a string

My dear puppet on a string

I glanced over my shoulder to witness the puppet master's strings wrapping around great dra-corn wings.

"Oh no… Poor Jess!" I shouted, sadly.

"Quickly… No time to lament…" said the ra-corn, the apricats and Billy all echoing the sentiment.

"What do I do?" I asked. "How can I save us?"

"Make your wish," urged Livvy.

"And make it a good one," added Tilly.

"Make it the greatest wish you have ever wished for," suggested Gabby.

"Wish for a fish!" Maddy said as her own stomach rumbled.

"I've got a better idea," I replied.

As the dragon flew closer and all seemed to be lost, I scrunched up my eyes and patted my uni-corn's flank.

"I wish…" I began. "I wish…"

I thought about those moments when everything seemed too hard, when I needed someone the most, when it was all or nothing… At those very moments, and every moment in between, there was only one person I could wish to have there by my side.

"I wish that Sam was here…" I whispered.

A sound like the sound I imagined that stars would make when they twinkle so brightly, rang in my ears. Following this I could here the CHUG… CHUG… CHUG… The kind of sound that a tractor would make if it was busy harvesting corn.

"What is that?" asked Billy.

Up ahead, we could all see a strange tank, putt putting along in our direction.

"It is Sam!" I cried, somewhat surprised and relieved.

"Oh no," said Tilly.

"What is it?" asked Gabby and Maddy together.

"It looks as though Sam has found Felix," Tilly replied.

All of the apricats, like a chorus of woe, groaned together.

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