Zander thinks it's pretty neat they have bales of hay for a bench to sit on - what a ride!
Start sundown... the time the wagon rolls.
Writer’s note
Hayrides are so much fun. They are like the little trains that go around the amusement park. With the hayride, though, you add in the night and the people that are sitting there like it's a moving get-together. If you're new in town, buy yourself a ticket. It's one place where you can tell somebody you're new around here - and how do you do?
The hayride boys plot to steal a kiss - it's all a matter of who and who. The hayride churns its 6 mph course, but things happen fast for Zander, 13. He tries hard to learn the rules of kissing but the boys keep throwing unexpected things at him: sudden desires and secret feelings and, yes, those wrench-in-the-work Halloween zombies.
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The beginning of the story…
ZANDER STEPPED up on the low farm wagon. There were bales of hay here and there. He took a seat.
"Do you like it?" York said.
York was this guy Zander had met five minutes before. Zander had come for the hayride because it was what you were supposed to do in this town.
"Sure," he said.
What else could he say?
He didn't like this new town his parents had dragged him to, plus he didn't know if he liked York or not.
At least he had one thing in common with him. The two of them were 13-year-old boys out for some Halloween fun.
Plus Zander kind of liked the fact they both had weird names. York couldn't make fun of him because look who's talking if he did.
"It goes around twice," York said.
Zander couldn't picture it. Around what? He didn't say anything.
"It starts after sundown but it gets dark the second time."
"Okay," Zander said.
"Things happen the second time around."
Zander wanted to know if that meant scary stuff. And how scary? Zombies coming at you from the fields? They could easily catch you because York had said that the hayride maxes out at 6 miles per hour.
Home was different than here. It was a lot better. But this was home now and there was no way Zander was going to like it. He just wanted to get this hayride over and done with.
"What happens?" he said.
"You'll see."
Somebody started playing a harmonica. It looked like a high school kid. And he was good, too.
It kind of made it easier to talk.
"Like what?" Zander said.
"I guess I can tell you."
But then York stopped and Zander was left waiting. The harmonica filled in the space. There may have been two dozen people on the ride and they were just talking and liking the music, too.
"When it's dark," York said, "most everybody tries to steal a kiss."
Zander looked around. Who was he supposed to steal a kiss with? He went ahead and acted like it was some kind of joke, sort of shrugging it off.
"It's not like I want to," York said. "Everybody just thinks it's funny."
The wagon started to move. The sun had faded out. Zander couldn't stop what was happening but maybe he could change the subject.
"Are there gonna be zombies?"
"No." York leaned back but poked his boots forward. "I'm gonna steal a kiss with you."