The Fall of Candy Corn by Debbie Viguié Page A

audience. Take your place back at the front of the maze and get ready to go live.”
    Candace made her way fairly easily back to the beginning and waited there with psycho number one, whose name turned out to be Reggie. They had been in place for about three minutes when there was a sudden hissing and the hall started filling with fake fog.
    Candace coughed as she breathed in her first lungful.
    â€œIt takes some getting use to,” Reggie said.
    Candace coughed again. Her lungs were trying to convince her that they didn’t want to stick around long enough to get used to it. A minute after the fog started, the music kicked on. The beat was loud and pounding. Candace could swear that she could feel the walls vibrating. The song sounded familiar, but the pacing and the voice of the singer did not. Then in one horrific moment it hit her.
    â€œOh, please no,” she groaned.
    It was an acid rock version of “I Want Candy.” It was the song that had driven her crazy all summer, every time she heard it in the Kids Zone. It worked though. For just a moment she was standing back there, summer sun plastering her hair to her forehead, the name tag Candy — that she could never get changed to Candace — pinned in place, and people lining up wanting nothing but sticky cotton candy.
    Five minutes later Tish reappeared. She leaned in close and shouted to be heard over the music. “Okay, we’ve got our execs who are going to be the test audience outside and ready to go. We’ll be sending them through in a minute, so get ready.”
    Candace gave her a thumbs-up. Tish disappeared back toward the exit, and Candace stood, heart pounding, fists clenching. It was the moment of truth. From where she was standing, she could see the hallway, but people coming down it couldn’t see her.
    She could feel Reggie tensing behind her. Then she saw the executives enter the maze. She waited until they were a few feet from the corner before springing out from her hiding space and running across their path. She was screaming, and Reggie was on her heels.
    She almost missed the curtain they were supposed to duck behind, but Reggie grabbed her arm, which made Candace scream for real. The two ducked behind the curtain. Candace moved toward her next position while Reggie waited for the group to pass. He jumped out behind them and chased them down the hall.
    Candace’s next three dashes across the group’s path went well, which just left the finale. By the time she got there, she was panting from stress and excitement. Ray caught her right on cue and spun her around, arm wrapped around her.
    And that was when Candace got a good look at the test group. It was a mixed group of men and women, but it was the man in front who drew her eyes. It was none other than John Hanson, owner of the park.
    For a moment Candace forgot to struggle, but then Ray nudged her, and she started kicking and screaming again. In response, the group started applauding. When they finished, they exited the maze and Ray released her.
    â€œI think that went well,” he said.
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œThey almost never applaud.”
    Candace ran back toward the front of the maze, not sure if there was another group that was going to be coming through. Fortunately, they had set up the maze so the entrance and the exit were right next to each other.
    She made it back to her starting alcove. A minute later the music and the fog stopped. Tish walked through. “Great job, guys. See you on Friday,” she told Candace and Reggie.
    â€œSo, we can go?” Candace asked.
    â€œYup. Get out of here.”

6
    Candace walked slowly out of the maze. She was exhausted. This worried her since she’d only been at work for an hour instead of seven. All she really wanted was to call Tamara to pick her up so she could crash. She didn’t like the way Kurt had left things though.
    She headed for the History Zone, hoping to