The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight

Deep within the cornrow stalks
There waits a man who never talks
Tethered to an ageing stand
His watchful eye upon the land
Who, once a year on the witching hour
When the autumn breeze begins to sour
And the moon above is burning red
Will slowly turn his weary head
And break the tethers on his stand
To take his place upon the land
And go in search of flesh to eat
(I hear human is his favourite meat)
He’ll walk the rows and lie in wait
For curious travellers to seal their fate
And meet The Scarecrow in his field of green
Never again to be seen

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Lucas turned toward the window and stared out at the endless cornfields passing by.  He’d only been here two hours and was already sick of the constant sight.  ”Guess that’s what I get for marrying a girl from Hicksville.”
The thought of Amber brought a smile to his face.  Who was he kidding?  Marrying her had been the best thing that ever happened to him.  Family visits to the middle of nowhere or not.  She was perfect.
A warm hand on his knee brought him out of his reverie.  “And just what are you smiling about?” she teased.  He grabbed her hand, lifted it and gently kissed the fingertips.
“Just thinkin’ bout all the crazy sex we’re gonna have in your parents’ hay loft.”  He smirked as she swatted him across the shoulder.
“There’s more to married life thank sex you know.” she scolded playfully.
“I know babe,” he replied, “but it sure as hell makes it more fun.”  He winked at her and they both burst out laughing.
Their happy moment was short lived as the car began to splutter and lurch.  Their speed began to decrease and the car bunny-hopped a few more times.  
“What the hell?” Amber frowned.  The car had slowed down considerably and a thin haze of smoke was seeping out from under the hood.  Amber pumped the gas pedal a couple of times (to no avail) and eased over to the shoulder of the road where the car finally stalled, then died completely.  Lucas got out, wrapping a dirty shirt around his hand, popped the hood and steam poured out.  “Shit!”
“What is it?” asked Amber anxiously.
“Looks like the radiator’s gone.”  He walked around to the drivers side.  Amber stood hugging herself, looking worried.
“Can you fix it?”
He shrugged.  “Not unless you’ve got a new radiator in one of the bags you packed.  Or are they all shoes?” he joked.
Amber  scowled at him.  “That’s not funny.  What are we supposed to do Luke?  We can’t just sit here all night.  And there’s no reception on the cellphones, so we can’t call for a tow truck.”
He glanced back the way they’d come.  No cars glinted on the horizon.  He turned in the opposite direction and saw nothing but cornfields.  He looked back at Amber and shrugged again.  “I guess we walk.”
Amber balked at him.  “Walk?!?  Are you serious?  Do you have any idea how far the next town is?  And even then, there’s no guarantee anyone will be able to help us, the place is so small.”
He grabbed her gently by the shoulders.  “We don’t have a choice babe.  You said it yourself, we can’t sit here all night.  It’ll be getting dark soon and the temperature’s gonna drop.  The only choice we have is to start walking.”  He felt her sigh beneath his hands.  “Besides, somebody has to take care of all this corn right?  Not to mention, eat it.  There’s bound to be a dozen farmhouses along the way.  In the least they might offer us a place to stay for the night.”  He smiled reassuringly at her and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.  Hugging her tightly, he said, “That’s my girl.” before letting go.  He walked to the back of the car, popped the trunk and took out their jackets, some protein bars, a few bottles of water and a change of clothes each, putting all but their jackets into a backpack.  He closed the trunk, locked the car and waited while Amber put on her jacket, then they set off in the direction they’d been headed.

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Three hours later, it was full dark and they were just about to give up and turn back, when they heard the low groan of a vehicle approaching from behind them.  They looked at each other excitedly and turned, sticking their thumbs out.
The pickup came around the bend and, as it bathed them in light, slowed down until it came to a stop in front of them.  The passenger door swung open and an elderly gentleman greeted them.  “You folks want a lift?”
“That’d be great.” Amber beamed.
“Well hop on in then.”
Amber climbed in first and Luke got in after her, closing the door.  The old man put the truck in gear and they lurched forward.  After a couple of miles silence, the old man spoke.  
“One hell of a night for you folks to be out for a stroll.” he commented and leaned forward to look up at the sky through the windscreen.  “Specially with the Hunters Moon out.”
“What do you mean ’Hunters Moon’?” queried Amber.  Then both she and Luke followed his gaze, noticing for the first time that the moon was a deep, blood red. “Oh.”
“So what are you folks doing out here in the pitch dark?” asked the old man.
“Our car broke down a ways back.  We were hoping to reach town and maybe get a tow truck.” Luke replied.
The old man chuckled and shook his head.  “Nearest town is atleast another two hours away.  And that’s by car.  Even then, there ain’t no towing company there.”  He eyeballed them from the drivers seat, making Luke feel a little uncomfortable.  Luke couldn’t make out what the old man said next, but he felt Amber tense next to him, and she grabbed his hand in a vice grip.
“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t quite catch that.”
“I said, you wouldn’t have made it that far anyways.  You would’ve wound up dead!”  He turned his gaze directly to Luke.  “The Scarecrow would’ve gotcha!”  He threw his head back and laughed.
Ambers’ grip loosened and she rolled her eyes at him.  “He’s just messin’ with us.”
The old man stopped laughing.  “Oh am I now, missy?  Tellin’ pork pies am I?” His eyes narrowed.  “You folks ain’t from around these parts, so I’ll let you have that one.  But you mark my words; Your folks faces would’ve been on every missing poster in the county in a weeks time.”
Luke began to lose his patience.  “Sir, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but you’re starting to creep us out, okay.  So if you just let us out here, that’d be fine.”
“NO!” spat the old man.  “You may think I’m an old fool, but it’d be irresponsible of me to let you folks out without hearing what I have to say.  You listen to me, and then, if you still want to get out, I’ll stop the truck.  But your lives won’t be on my head after that, nosiree.  I’ll be guilt free.  You understand.”
Amber turned to Luke.  “Look, this guy’s obviously a little bit cuckoo and I don’t want him to do anything to hurt us.  So let’s just hear him out okay.  In the least, we’ll get halfway to where we’re headed.”  Luke looked doubtfully at the old man.  Amber put her hand on his knee, bringing his gaze back.  “You don’t want me to go out into the cold again, do you?”
She gave him those deep blue puppy dog eyes and squeezed his knee gently, and he knew he was beat.
Luke sighed.  “Okay.  We’ll hear you out.  But if you try anything at all ….. “
“Oh, relax son.  I ain’t gonna try nothing funny.  Just need you folks to know what’s out there in the dark is all.”  He watched them out of the corner of his eye.  Finally Luke began to relax.
“Well, alright then.  Best we start at the beginning, don’t you think.”
Luke looked at Amber.  “Yeah.  Sure.  From the beginning.” he sighed.
“Alright then.  Here we go.”