He peeped his little head around the perfectly rectangular shrubs. The maze had been created on the grounds of the family estate back in the early nineteenth century. Every child that visited the home spent hours lost in its amazement.
His grandfather hobbled towards him, leaning heavily on his four legged cane. “Come here, boy! Don’t you run from your old Pa,” he grinned at the child’s cuteness, revealing his lack of a front tooth that had been filled in by a piece of white chiclet gum. He couldn’t have imagined becoming a grandfather for the first time at the old age of seventy-nine but his daughter insisted.
“See if you can find me,” the youngster, giddy with excitement tripped over his own shoelaces before disappearing from the old man’s sight.
“Theodore,” he called for the child. “Theodore,” he stopped to cough. “Theodore.”
The bushes began to rattle, leaves fell to the ground and a low growl crept from inside the shrubbery.
The old man slowly pulled apart the tiny branches, and leaned in for a look. “Theodore,” he said once more.
“Pa!” Theo jumped from his hiding spot and onto his grandfather knocking him violently down. His head hit the ground, split open and an ocean of red travelled down the secluded path. Theodore clapped with excitement as he latched onto his grandfather’s neck and sucked the remaining life from his veins.
The old man drifted out of consciousness, his last thought, “Oh, to be young again.”
Leesa Writes 