"Gary!" yelled Gary's mom as they ran through bushel after bushel of corn, pushing the thick green stalks out of the way to clear a path, "Run just a little more, up to that clearing!"
Gary cleared the next stringy stalk from his view and noticed an open patch of green grass in the middle of the corn. It seemed an odd place for such a wide open space. Why didn't corn grow here? Once Gary and his mom reached the clearing they stopped for a moment to catch their breaths. Gary's mom knelt down to the ground and breathed heavily for a few moments, then looked up toward the sky.
"Gary, do you see it, right over there!" she said.
At first all Gary could see was endless blue sky, but then he heard the familiar puttering and sputtering of his favorite little plane, the Twin Otter. The Twin Otter wasn't like other planes. It didn't have long wings or a giant silver belly. Gary always knew when it was near because of its sound: putt-putta-putt-putt, putt-putta-putt-putt. It was a tough little plane, that Twin Otter, and it wasn't afraid to fly anywhere. It could fly up high in the sky or down below, skimming across the tops of trees or even much lower near the corn fields.
Crouching low to the ground next to his mom, Gary heard the putt-putta-putt-putt sound of the Twin Otter and looked over the rows of corn for it. Suddenly the sounds got louder -- PUTT-putta-PUTT-PUTT -- and Gary sensed it was near. Moments later there it was, a white-bodied Twin Otter with a long red stripe across the wings. It seemed to be circling around, looking for something or someone.
"Are they looking for us, Mom?" Gary asked, starting to worry if they were safe in the wide, open space in the corn fields.
"I don't think so, Gary, but, for now, stay down just in case," said Gary's mom. Now she was clutching his hand tightly. The red-striped Twin Otter continued to circle around the sky, little poofs of grey smoke appearing in its tracks, and one time it flew low enough that Gary thought he could see something through the plastic hatch on top of the body of the plane. It was the same red cape that he had seen from the rutabaga garden earlier in the day, only now it wasn't on the back of a hairy creature. No, instead it was flying out the back of the little cockpit of the plane, right where the captain would sit.
"Mom, what's that red thing up there? Did you see it?" Gary asked.
"Oh you better believe I saw it," she replied, "And I have no idea what in tarnation it could possibly be, nor do we even want to guess."
Before she could even guess, the putt-putta-putt-putt of the Twin Otter grew louder and louder, this time it sounded more like a lawn-mower engine roaring away in the summer grass: PUTT-PUTTA-VROOM-VROOM! PUTT-PUTTA-VROOM-VROOM! The plane flew lower and lower, towards the ground and the patch of open grass where Gary and his mom were squatting. This time the Twin Otter was not circling - it was going to land!
"Gary look out!" yelled his mom, grabbing his arm and pulling him back towards the thick and bushy stalks of corn. Gary leaped from the ground and jumped toward the corn just as a strong whip of wind came through the clearing and lifted up everything in its path -- grass, corn, twigs, sticks, and dust scattered through the air as the Twin Otter came thundering to the ground - BAM! The plane hit the ground and bounced twice before it came to rest in the corn.
A few minutes later, the dust began to clear, and Gary and his mom slowly opened their eyes.
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