Corn Stalked (Children Of The Corn)

Chapter #3: He's Dangerous

Grandma, Grandpa and I worked hard into the evening with chores. When dinnertime finally came around, I was starving. The three of us sat at the tiny wooden dinner table and ate some meatloaf and carrots, staying quiet for the most part. That is, until my Grandma spoke up.

    "So. How was your first full day here Sam?" She asked with a smile.

    "Busy. I don't think I've worked that hard in my life." I replied, laughing a bit.

    "It's hard work, but it'll get easier. And the work load will get less and less as the summer goes on, with Fall approaching." Grandpa stated

I nodded and bit into one of my carrots. My mind was still swimming with questions about earlier.

I must've had a pretty puzzled face on, because now my grandmother put her hand on my arm.

    "Is something wrong Sam? You seem.....troubled." she pondered.

    "Oh it's nothing....just thinking about something that happened earlier." I responded.

    "Well what happened?" Grandma pushed.

    "...I just, met someone today. In the cornfield." I shrugged.

My grandparents stopped eating simultaneously and looked each other in the eye with fearful stares.

    "You were in the cornfield?! Is that where you were when I was calling for you?!" Grandpa blurted in shock.

    "Uh...yeah?" I admitted, slightly confused at the building worry in my grandparent's eyes.

    "Who did you meet?!" Grandma questioned just as shrilly as my grandfather.

    "A boy. Malachai Boardman." I told.

Grandma Joan gasped and dropped her fork then. She tried to play it off as an accident, but the lie was obvious.

    "Oh, uh...silly me!" She chirped shakily, leaning down to get it. I glanced at my Grandpa while she did this, his face was distraught. When my Grandma came back up to the table, her face looked as if she'd just seen a ghost, and she and Grandpa shared a mortified look.

I was so confused.

    "....Well he's um...-" Grandpa Tom began to say.

    "A...nice b-boy." Grandma Joan finished for him.

    "Yeah....he seemed ok, kind of strange. But maybe him I will become friends." I swallowed, trying to cope with how tense the room suddenly felt.

At my words, my grandparents both gulped. And that's when my grandpa stood up.

    "Well I've got some reading to do." Grandpa Tom excused himself. As he got up from the table, Grandma Joan did too.

    "Oh, I'll help you." She suggested, following him out of the room.

I made a face at my Grandmother's excuse once they were gone. Really? She was going to help him read? I shook my head and finished my dinner before leaving the table myself, being nice enough to put all of our plates in the sink. As I made my way upstairs, I could hear frantic whispers coming from my grandparent's room. I camped outside the door and listened.

    "Why, out of all of those twisted kids did she have to meet him?" Grandma was sobbing.

    "It's alright Joanie, it's alright. She'll be ok. We'll all be ok. Samantha is a smart girl." Grandpa comforted.

    "How do you know that Thomas?! We haven't seen her in six years!!! How can you say that she's a smart girl when neither of us even know her?!" Grandma snarled.