He placed an hour-glass clock adjacent to the maze. His idea of a joke. The hedge appeared not of threatening height from outside — no taller than the average man — so people were happy to take up the challenge.
The owner of the garden would set up his deckchair opposite the clock, pour himself a glass of champagne, and toast participants before they disappeared through an entrance that immediately closed behind them.
On the inside, the hedge reached to the sky and was full of thorns. Not an exit in sight.
Poor souls. Mere skeletons. The maze had a monstrous appetite.
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Friday Fictioneers: 100 word stories
Photo prompt: image (c) Sandra Crook
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Sarah Potter Writes 
I can only imagine what lives in there – shudder.
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Shudder, indeed. Not going near the place myself!
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Is it the maze itself that needs to devour? Maybe the hedge grows with the power of confusion. The more people wander lost, the higher it grows. Great story, a chilling glimpse.
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Ah, that would be telling. Best to steer clear of that hedge!
Glad you liked the story. Thanks 🙂
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Oh I do love the way your mind works Sarah, this is deliciously frightening 🙂 xxxx
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It’s a warning to keep your hedges trimmed, Sherri 😉 xxxx
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Haha! Duly noted Sarah! xxxx
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Nasty stuff – love it!
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Hee, hee. Glad you appreciated the nastiness!
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Dear Sarah,
Imaginative story with just a side of creepiness. Dare I say, “a-maze-ing.” Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
Thank you. I love your pun!
All best wishes
Sarah
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Dark Sarah but I enjoyed reading very much.
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Thank you, Kim. For some reason, a lot of my flash fiction ends up dark, although sometimes with a comic twist. Too much reading Roald Dahl!
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A little Harry Potteresque with even more evil undertones. You do this so well, Sarah!
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Thank you Dale. Glad you enjoyed this story 🙂
Mazes rather fascinate me, but they used to scare me a little as a child. Part of a scene in my next novel for publishing, features a chase through a maze.
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I see the dark green of fanged hedges devouring flesh… But it’s all in the dark.
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Oooo, maybe fangs would work better than thorns.
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Dark and frightening! Well done, indeed! No more corn mazes for me!
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I think there is something distinctly eeerie about mazes, and your maze sounds just aout as eerie as it gets.
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They’re a claustrophobic’s nightmare — that feeling of being trapped and what the hell is around the next corner, or what’s going to jump one from behind?
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I love this Sarah – a world within a world and would fulfil all my fears of getting stuck in a maze (though I’ve never actually been in one!)
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Eek! That’s one way of fertilizing a hedge. Quite the green thumb there. I love the creepiness.
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Thank you 🙂 Even a good-tempered maze is mildly creepy. As much as I like gardening, such a feature is definitely not on my list of wants.
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Wow, no wonder I feel very uncomfortable in a maze. Never again. Thank you kindly for the warning!
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I’m interested that so many people have commented how uncomfortable mazes make them feel. I thought it was just me!
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People feel uncomfortable, but go there anyway. It is thrilling 🙂 I have been in a mirror maze. Felt some panic in the beginning, before I noticed the fingerprints on the glass 🙂 Went straight through the clean corridors and quickly got out.
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Creepy. I like it.
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Thanks, Kathy 🙂
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What a frightening prospect for those poor people entering the maze. I hope he didn’t charge them for the pleasure, Sarah?
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Now that’s an idea, Hugh. It would help finance his love of champagne.
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very cool story, Sarah
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Thank you, Patricia 🙂
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Very creepy. I like how the owner of the garden takes up his position to relax and watch. His coolness makes it all the more creepy. Well told.
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Yes, that owner is a very nasty piece of work. Glad you noticed. I wouldn’t have trusted him an inch and it sounds as if you wouldn’t have either, Margaret!
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Ooooo! Wicked! Love this!
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Thank you, Lori. Am glad you appreciated the wickedness!
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My pleasure, Sarah 🙂 I love things wicked and twisted 😀
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