Josh watches the sun as it slowly descents under the corn wall. After a few moments, he pulls out his trusty map, absently staring at it.

*Where in the hell did you go little bro? I checked all corners of this fucking maze and yet nothing! There's only two things I can think of. Either you left the maze already, or you were already found and I have been wasting my time. I hope it's the latter.*

With this last thought in mind, Josh decides it's time to leave the maze and meet up with the rest of his family. After walking for only 2 minutes, he is already at the exit. When he walks out, he is overwhelmed by the amount of people. He looks around, many different T.V programs vans in the parking lot. Outside the vans are pleasantly dressed men and women talking into massive video cameras. Children and adults hugging each other tightly. There are police cars with their lights on, coloring the dark sky with red and blue. If one didn’t look at all the police, the ambulance, or the depressing atmosphere, you would think there was a party going on. Josh begins to walk through the crowd of people, trying to look for his family. As he walks through the dense crowd, he is able to over hear some conversations

“They say they were criminals that escaped the nearby prison.”

“Really? How did they escape? This really shows how well our tax money is being spent. What the hell!”

*They? Not him? There was more than one?*

As Josh was focusing in on the conversation, he hears a loud noise coming from the nearby barn

“Testing testing. Looks like everything is working.”

A mumbling voice echo's out

“Excuse me officer, The announcement system is reading for you”

The crowd slowly stops talking, paying close attention to what was being said. After about 30 seconds, a female voice rings out. A voice Josh heard recently

“Hello everyone. I know a lot of you are wondering what is going on and would like to know the state of things, so if you could all please quiet down and let me explain. I am officer Jessica. An officer from the state border control.”

*So that scary officer name is Jessica? Making a mental note, never piss her off.*

After a moment of silence, Officer Jessica talks again.

“Three criminals have escaped nearby while mid transport. Thankfully, God was watching over us today and I can happily say that all the criminals were successfully captured and retained.”

*What a fucking lie, captured my ass, unless by captured you mean capturing the fucking dead body, then sure.*

“With the help from everyone here, we were able to make a list of the missing people. I can excitedly say that EVERYONE has been found! There have been no serious injuries either! Thank you everyone again for all your assistance! Without all of you, things could have been much worse and taken a lot longer.”

Signs of relief wash over the crowd, with many people quality thanking the heavens for the good news

*Everyone been found?? That means Jared too! Thank goodness!*

Dream or not, this sweet news was enough for Josh to fully relax his small body. This was when he realized just how exhausted he really was.

“I know you all must have more questions. We will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning to provide as much detail as we are legally allowed to. I know I am asking for a lot, but I would kindly ask for you all to please leave the area in an ordinary fashion. We, of the police and state department, thank you all again for your support and understanding in this.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

With the long announcement over, a few cheers are heard. No matter how things go, if you're related or not, hearing good news is always something worth celebrating about. After the cheers quiet down, The crowd slowly starts to disperse. The once depressing atmosphere turned jolly. After watching the crowd slowly leave, Josh waits for around 5 minutes, hoping to catch his family. After not seeing them, he walks to the nearby police officer.

“Excuse me officer, I’m sorry for bothering you, but I am looking for my family. Could you please help me?”

The police officer turns around and looks down. A pleasant smile on his face

“Of course I can little man. With pleasure. Can you please tell me your name?”

“Josh, Josh Blackfire.”

When the officer heard his name, shock overtakes his smile

“You're Josh? The little hero I've been hearing about?”

*Little hero? What a dumbass name is that? How am I a fucking hero?*

The officer looks at him again with great interest

“You did a lot of good today, son. With your help, we have found a lot of people quickly. I know a lot of people who want to personally thank you. And a few who want to give you a slap on the wrist! I got to admit, telling the children they would get free prizes was both ingenious and also stupid. Your lucky that the owner here forgave your little white lie”

Josh couldn't help but get a little embarrassed. He looks over at the prize booth, almost nothing remaining on it.

*I really need to apologize to the owner. He seems like a great person though. He really did give the children the toys. I hope I didn't make him waste to much money*

“Your family has been worried sick! Your mother and sister especially had the anger of H. E. double hockey sticks in their eyes. Your sister kept mumbling about you lying to her. You need to be careful about all the lying young man. A woman's scorn is eternal! Trust me!”

The officer laughs out loud with a voice full of happiness.

“Let me call this in”

The officer pulls his walkie-talkie to his mouth

“This is officer Dan. Located at the exit of the corn maze. I currently have Josh, the little hero we have been hearing about here….Yes he is okay…..Yes mam……10 minutes?.....Understood. We will wait here.”

After the call, he drops the walkie-talkie, then drops down on the dirt, relaxing his body in the process. He glances towards Josh and pats his hand on the empty spot next to him

“Nothing like relaxing your body after standing for over an hour! Come, sit with me. Your family is coming over here now. My superior and the owner of this place would like to talk with you too.”

With no reason to refuse, Josh drops down next to him. Laying down on the surprising soft grass.

“As an adult, I want to say that what you did was stupid. You should have left the rescue to the adults. It is our job to protect you kids. However, your efforts could not be underestimated. Do you know how many people you found?”

After hearing silence from the question, he glances over at Josh

“15, 15 kids. They all said almost the same thing when they left the maze. A kid named Josh with short brown hair, around 10 years old, told them that if they left the maze and went to the nearby workers or police, a promised toy would be their reward. Some even mentioned about impressing the ladies”

Officer Dan chuckles

“You even attack the men's ego. Telling them to impress the ladies. You’re smart for your age buddy. Don’t know what's funnier, that you kids are trying to act like adults already, or with what you said actually worked!”

He laughs even harder. Remembering the complete befuddlement of the adults when they heard that.

“Another name that would fit you would be little cupid in my opinion. I bet a few couples will form because of what you said!”

He then looks into the distance, his voice dropping lower as he glances back at Josh

“I know I shouldn’t encourage it. But thank you. You made our job easier today. Our job was a lot easier today because of what you did. You saved lives today Josh. No matter what anyone says. You did good today…BUT”

Dan looks over at josh with extreme seriousness in his eyes

“Don’t ever do anything like that again till you're older. You got lucky today. You have a bright future ahead of you. Don’t go lose your head over this”

His voice softens

“And make sure you treat your family well. They really were worried sick over you. All four of your family had concern all over their faces. Family that care about you need to be protected and cherish”

Josh listens to every word. Even though officer Dan said a lot and could even be taken as talking down on him, he knew where he was speaking from.

*It’s almost funny. I said almost the exact same stuff to other kids too. The last time that happened was when that teenager took on the beatings instead of his mother….I hope the new life we gave them is working out*

After saying what he wanted to, Officer Dan joins Josh and lays down too, watching the color’s change from red to blue, blue to red.

“Thank you sir. I’m grateful for your reminder. I’ll take what you said to heart.”

After saying what he truly felt, Josh joined officer Dan and watched the light show, his eye-lids forcing themselves closed. As his eyes close, A sudden amount of force lands on his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. When his vision snaps open, all he sees is red with a sweet strawberry smell overwhelming his senses