BLODGETT, Mo. -- Two Jolly Roger flags fly at the entrance to the corn maze at Beggs Pumpkin Patch. Inside the maze, one of the informational placards says pirates flew the skull and crossbones hoping to scare ships' crews into surrendering without a fight.

Two-hundred-fifty preschool children and kindergarteners from all over Southeast Missouri were inside the maze Tuesday. The 7-foot-tall corn looked like a forest to them, but they weren't scared away.

From the ground, the maze looks like a bunch of browning corn grown by a farmer who might have been drinking the day he planted. From the air, the big gaps between rows outline a pirate ship.

Only a short distance inside the 12-acre plot, a warning sign says, "You are entering a more challenging section of the maze. If you do not feel up to the challenge, do not enter."

No one has been permanently lost yet, owner Donnie Beggs assures, but a few people have spent four or five hours wandering the corridors of corn before emerging.

Families come out on weekends. Beggs says they learn teamwork, communication and problem solving. A spotter is stationed on a tall yellow tower in case more teamwork, communication and problem solving need to be learned.

A brave few dare go into the maze alone, but clues to your whereabouts hide in the corn.

The maze teaches that though the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, walking in circles sometimes can be much more interesting.

The attraction is at 2319 Route U, Sikeston, Mo. Phone (573) 471-3879 for information.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182