Corny Invasion

Prunella opened her eyes widely and sat up in bed. She'd had a terrible dream where ears of corn appeared everywhere and attacked her beloved Lakewood Elementary. Normally her nightmares didn't really bother her; she knew there was a purpose behind them. But this nightmare was different. She'd had it every night for the last week, a coincidence she couldn't overlook.

At school the next day, she made it a point to sit with Arthur and his friends. They were rational youngsters. They could help her make sense of whatever the corn things meant, especially Buster, if he didn't get caught up on the ideas of aliens, extraterrestrial life, or food itself. So she sat with them, got their attention, and told them the whole dream from start to finish, staring at them while tapping her spork against the tray as she waited for them to respond.

"You know, I once had a similar recurring nightmare," Muffy began, thinking for a moment before continuing. "Oh yeah, I dreamed my credit cards disappeared, every last one of them. It was really strange, but I think I had them because my mom lost her wallet. That's why I'm very protective of mine now," she said, pulling a lanyard cord off her neck and revealing a small wallet with the letters "M" and "C" embroidered into the thick leather.

"Muffy's right that most dreams are inspired by something," Francine shrugged. "Catherine burnt something in the microwave while I was napping once and I dreamed the whole apartment was a wall of smoke and flames. I was terrified for weeks because she didn't mention what she'd done. Then I caught her laughing, and my dad caught her too, and then she got in trouble. So, maybe you've been eating too much corn lately or seeing it in the supermarket. I think it's in season right now. Is it, Buster?" she asked, knowing Buster would know the seasons of harvestables because of his job at the community garden.

But Buster was frozen in his seat. Prunella sighed; she knew he'd get caught up in aliens, extraterrestrial life, or food in general. She sighed again, turning to Arthur, who shrugged. He had nothing to say on the matter.

"It's fine, guys. Thanks for trying to help, but I think I'll just-"

She was about to say ask Rubella, but as her eyes noticed movement in the kitchen, her jaw hit the ground-figuratively. Crates and crates poured into the kitchen while Mrs. MacGrady cried out in horror. Something had happened to her order, something horrible. Prunella stood to see better, as many of the students between her and the kitchen had done. None of the crates had been opened yet, and the only markings were lot numbers painted on using a stencil of some sort.

"What in the world is going on?" Mr. Haney cried as he threw open the cafeteria doors. "Sarah, there's twenty trucks out there from the food company!"

"I don't know what it is, Mr. Haney. Hey you, what's in all these crates?" Mrs. MacGrady asked, tapping one of the sweaty movers on the shoulder.

"Corn, Ma'am, lots and lots of corn," he replied with a surprised tone of voice. "Ain't no one ordered this much corn before," he gasped, wiping sweat from his brow before rejoining his partner at the loading dock.

"Sarah-"

"Mr. Haney, I'll get on this. Don't worry, it'll get used if it was just an error. I'm sure they won't take it all back now," Mrs. MacGrady sighed, turning to head to her office. This caused her to face the room of children who were standing on their chairs to see the commotion better. "You all sit down and finish your lunch. It's just a bunch of corn. You'll get over the sight of it soon enough. I hope I will," she trembled, disappearing as the children sat down.

"Wow, your dream came true," Francine said in disbelief. "What do you think will happen to all that corn?"

"A-Ali-Aliens," Buster trembled. "Th-They'll burst out-out of the crates, and th-th-then-"

"Buster, it's just corn. Look, Mr. Haney just opened one of the crates," Francine pointed. Sure enough, the green corn husks flashed as some rolled from the overstuffed crates. "We'll just have a lot of corn on the menu, and we won't have any alien attacks."

"I find corn to be particularly appetizing," Muffy smiled.

"Same here," Arthur nodded in agreement.

"It'll be our worst nightmare if we keep having it every day," Prunella groaned. "I see why the dream was so bad now. This is a tragedy of unforeseen proportions. I need to go see the nurse. I think I'm going to be sick," Prunella groaned again, leaving the table.

Arthur and the others shrugged and kept eating, except for Buster, whose imagination couldn't help but see corn monsters bursting from the crates, just like in Prunella's dream.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Mr. Haney, but it seems I put an extra zero after my ten," Mrs. MacGrady sighed. "So instead of the ten crates of corn we use sparingly throughout the year, we now have a hundred to work with. I have plenty of recipes from the school system that we can use though, so don't you worry about a thing!" Mrs. MacGrady smiled, patting the flabbergasted principal on the shoulder.

"I just don't get it, but if you can make it work, I give you full permission to do whatever you have to do," Mr. Haney said, shaking his head and fleeing the cafeteria, vowing to never step foot in there again while the crates were stacked against the walls.

"Well, I think we need a new menu," Mrs. MacGrady nodded. Corn-based items took over everything else, and the magnitude of the bogus shipment soon hit the students as the updated menu was released. Seeing unfamiliar corn casseroles and corn puddings on the menu would be exciting for now, but the slightly ill Prunella knew her nightmare was a reality. Lakewood Elementary was now the home of the corn invasion.

She would miss school for a week to get a grip on things again, and she couldn't decide if she ever wanted to sleep ever again.

Theme 031: Spooky Spooky

To complete the themes yourself, I have the list posted on my profile. The list is for any type of fan fiction (one-shot, drabble, etc.) and any fandom. Challenge yourself in other ways to make it more fun, and enjoy!