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“You’re not even a bit scared?” Babe asks, scooting even closer to Eugene.
“It’s all make believe, Babe.” Eugene shrugs. They were waiting in line for a haunted hayride, and Babe was pretty nervous about it. Eugene thought it was cute but he didn’t like seeing Babe freaked out, even if it was all for fun.
“It’s almost our turn.” Babe sighs, putting his hands into his sweatshirt pockets. Eugene smiles at his boyfriend, fluffing his hair as he runs a hand through it.
“You’re cute when you’re scared.” Gene chuckles, moving forward with the line. Babe makes a face but secretly he likes it when Gene compliments him, even if he is also making fun of him a little bit.
The hayride wasn’t too busy, so they didn't have to sit super close to anyone else. Gene sat them right near the back of the hayride. Even though he had plenty of room, Babe basically sat down on top of him. Gene loved being able to comfort Babe, and he wrapped an arm around him, which Babe was very happy about. It made him feel safe, even though it was all for fun.
The hayride leeches forward with a jolt, the tractor taking off with a jump. The start of the hayride was pretty tame, they were moving through the apple fields and if it wasn’t for the occasional scarecrow, it would feel completely normal. Looking ahead, they could see light coming through the trees as the apple trees transitioned into thick forest. The tractor starts to pull them down a hill, making them grip onto the sides of the wagon so they didn’t slide around.
Along both sides of the trail we're houses, all empty with window shutters smacking the sides of the house in the window. Babe shudders, and even Gene has a shaky feeling, knowing that someone or something will soon try and scare them. Just as Gene thinks this, a woman jumps out from the building decorated as a bar. She lets out a combination of a scream and a laugh, yelling at the people on the hayride to come join her for a drink. Although her performance was good, it was in a comical fashion, which had Gene laughing, and even Babe cracked a smile.
The hayride turned out to be a lot less scary then Babe expected. It was actually more interesting, with a lot of strobe lights, fog, and even a man walking around on stilts.
They were watching trained dogs run around in a graveyard, barking, and growling at them when a girl runs out from behind a tree and gets up onto the hayride wagon, sitting down near Babe and Gene.
“I fell off the last ride!” She says, pulling some leaves out of her hair. The girl must have been around 13 to 14 years of age. She was short and skinny, with long strawberry blonde hair.
“Are you okay?” Gene asks, grabbing her arm to look at the bloody gash she must have received when she fell. It wasn’t too serious, but it was something to worry about. “How did you fall off?”
“I was with my friends, they were just messing around but one of them pushed me off the side. I don’t think they meant to, and they must have been too scared that they would get in trouble to tell the driver to stop.”
“What’s your name?” Babe asks.
“Lydia.”
“I’m Babe and this is Gene.”
“Babe?” She says in a squeaky voice, giggling at his name. They take off again from the graveyard, this time moving back towards the apple fields that they went through originally to get to the forest.
“It’s a nickname.” Babe explains.
“What’s your real name?” Lydia asks, pushing the hair out of her face.
“Edward.”
“I like that.” Lydia nods. She starts explaining more about how she fell off, and how the hayride took off almost immediately after she fell and how the driver must not have noticed. They were coming out of the apple fields now, when a scarecrow that was standing up above the corn on a platform swoops down above them, grabbing Lydia and pulling her up, arms squeezed around them. Lydia is screaming, reaching out for them as they continue to drive away.
“Oh my god!” Babe yells, standing up on the hayride, only for it to hit and bump and send him falling back down.
Gene gasps with a hand over his mouth, watching as Lydia continues screaming and fighting the scarecrow.
“It’s all part of the ride.” Gene says, grabbing and squeezing Babe’s hand. Babe nods, still shook up over Lydia getting pulled off the ride.
“We’re never doing this again.” Babe says, “I seriously think I had a heartattack.”
Gene nods in agreeance.