by Mark Souza
Upcoming Titles
My novel Robyn’s Egg will be released in the spring of 2012
A collection of my short stories, Try 2 Stop Me, will be released in September of 2012
Other FREE short stories coming soon:
Cupid’s Maze (Already Available)
Murphy’s Law (Already Available)
The Diary of Horatio White
Second Honeymoon
The Comfort Shack
Connect With Me Online:
My Website: https://www.marksouza.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/souzawrites
An Excerpt From
Cupid’s Maze
Sean gazed out the windshield at a low ceiling of winter clouds sagging over an ocean of dead corn. The flaxen and gray landscape of straight lines and right angles repeated mile after relentless mile creating an uneasy feeling of déjà vu. The car hummed on cruise control over a strip of asphalt slicing a furrow across the bleak Kansas landscape. Ahead, the road seemed to narrow until it disappeared at the horizon. Sean remembered a term from perspective drawing for where all lines converged at infinity. They called it the vanishing point.
He looked over as Janet pushed her hair back, hooking it behind her ears to keep it out of her face while she read. Her blue eyes wove back and forth across the page, her expression changing as the words conjured images in her head. Sometimes she even laughed aloud. Her mind resided in a different place, a better place. Maybe the sun shone in her world. Maybe there were hills and trees. Meanwhile, Sean dealt with the numbing monotony of the Great Plains. It hardly seemed fair.
“What’s the State tree of Kansas?” Sean asked. Janet looked up, but before she could answer, he blurted, “A telephone pole.”
“Ha-ha,” she mocked. She dog-eared the page and set the book in her lap. “That stopped being funny a hundred miles ago. But go ahead. Get it out of your system now, because it sure won’t play with my folks.”
Corn stalks whizzed by in a blur giving an impression of speed which seemed at odds with a stationary horizon and repetitious landscape that hadn’t changed in hours. It felt as though they were trapped on a treadmill with the same scenery scrolling past without end like the backdrop in a stage play. “I didn't think I’d miss them,” he said.
“Miss who?”
“Telephone poles. I haven’t seen one for about an hour. And I haven’t seen another car for nearly as long.” He glanced at the gas gage. The needle teetered past the halfway mark on its inexorable fall toward ‘E’. “Are you sure we aren’t lost?”
Janet glanced at the dashboard. “Not according to the GPS.” She folded her hands over her book and gazed at the ring on her finger. A satisfied smile spread across her face.
“I haven’t seen a house in a while, either,” Sean said. “And what’s with all this corn? The ears are still on it. Why hasn’t it been cut down and harvested?”
“How should I know?” she said.
“It’s your state.”
“Uh, well, I don't want to bust your balloon, but we don’t all farm. There’s supposed to be a Federal research farm around here someplace. Maybe it’s a part of that.”
“Research? What about corn needs researching?” Sean asked. “Pick, boil and eat. It’s nature’s perfect food.”
“They’re doing genetic stuff to enhance resistance to drought and pests, and to increase yields. I think they’re also working on alternative fuels.”
“In other words it’s a boondoggle,” Sean said. “My tax dollars dumped into a Kansas corn field. Sure. Why not?” He scanned the scene outside and shook his head. “How do people live like this? I’d put a bullet in my brain.”
“It’s not so bad,” Janet said.
“No, it’s a real garden spot. Cut down all this corn and it’s view property in every direction. Look south and see Oklahoma. Look north and see Nebraska. I can’t understand why people aren’t flocking here in droves. And the roads. The military could use them to calibrate lasers. Look.” Sean lifted his hands and braced them against the headliner as the car raced ahead.
Janet shot a hand across the gap and grabbed the wheel. “Knock it off, Sean. Please keep it together. It’s just for a weekend.”
Sean took back control and nodded. “It’s going to be a long two days. Your father hates me.”
“No he doesn’t.”
Sean turned toward her, a skeptical look on his face.
“Okay,” she said, “but it’s not you. It’s your major.”
“What’s wrong with sociology?”
She smiled as if it should be obvious. “To Dad it’s not practical. He thinks it's wasted money and smells of bleeding-heart liberalism. He wonders how you’ll get work and pay off your loans.”
“Yeah, like I said, he hates me.”
“He’ll come around. What choice does he have? It’s my mother you need to worry about. She’s the real power behind the throne. Win her over, and you’re in.” Janet plucked a pink envelope off a heart-shaped box of candy sitting on the rear seat. “You still haven’t signed Mom’s card.”
“I will. I just haven’t thought of anything pithy to say.”
“Promise you’ll do it when we stop for gas, pith or no pith.”
Sean nodded.
“Pinky swear?”
“Pinky swear,” he assured.
Janet placed the envelope on the dash. Her left hand lingered in the weak light near the windshield while she admired the diamond trapped in the prongs of her ring. “How long do you think it will take her to notice?”
“If you keep sticking your hand out that way, I’d say about three seconds.”
“I haven’t been that obvious, have I?”
Sean tried to hold back a grin. “No, not you. Never!”
Janet pulled her hand back and stuffed it beneath her thigh. “My second husband is going to be nice to me,” she said.
Sean laughed. A pungent odor filtered through the vents. “That sure brings back memories,” he said. “Do you smell that?”
“Smell what?”
“Come on. It smells like a summer frat party.”
“I still don't...”
“Whoa, check it out.”
Janet followed Sean's gaze out the passenger window. A mile-long, black scar stretched back from the roadside. Corn stalks singed to nubs studded scorched earth.
“I guess in Kansas that qualifies as a forest fire,” he said.
“Some motorist probably tossed a lit cigarette. It happens all the time,” she said. “Speaking of cigarettes, please don't smoke this weekend. Not in front of my folks and not in their house.”
“You already told me twice,” Sean said. “Relax, I packed patches.”
A hundred miles from her parents’ place and Janet was already getting wound up. She'd fret all weekend, worried about what her parents thought of their soon-to-be son-in-law. Sean could hardly wait for Monday and a return to the university and normalcy. How quickly he tired of playing the perfect fiancé.
He spotted a sign nailed to a stake next to the road. “Hey, a free corn maze ahead. Let’s stop.”
Janet shot him a pained look. “But we’re making good time.”
“Exactly. I’ve been driving for hours and I need to stretch my legs. We’ve got plenty of time. Besides, I’ll finally get to sample some of those down-on-the-farm, Kansas-style, good times you brag about. It’ll be fun.”
Janet sighed and put her book in the glove compartment. “Sure, why not. I guess I could use a good stretch too. But we can’t stay long. My folks are expecting us for dinner.”
Sean turned off the highway onto a strip of rutted dirt carved through the corn. Weeds scraped along the undercarriage as the car bounced over the two-track. The lane opened into a circular parking area ringed with cars. “Wow, who knew it would be so popular?” he said.
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