Max's Story

“Hey!” I yelled, feigning innocence, “I’m hurt!”

“I know better than to take advice from you!” she said.

My sister was probably thinking about the time I told her to wash her favorite shirt, that she had carelessly stained, in hot water, then immediately dry it on high heat. After that, she was careful to run things by Mom before doing anything else, and that was 2 years ago.

I just rolled my eyes and said, “Alright little sis, suit yourself.”

She took her ruined book back, and stalked out of my room; probably to go ask mom if using gum to fix the binding of her most read book would actually work. I closed my door and turned on Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down. The Better Life album was one of my favorites, it put me in the zone when I wanted to play a video game, like Burnout 3; or when I wanted to block out any distractions to focus on the fantasy novel I was reading that week. This time, it was to play this new game my friend told me about, Minecraft. I had heard of it before, but hadn’t bothered looking into it, because none of my close friends had heard of it. Once Wes told me to play it “ASAP as possible,” I started downloading it as soon as I got home from school.

I looked at the clock: 7:19. I had an hour and a half before my mom would come down and tell me to go to bed. She probably wouldn’t have to tell me twice, I was pretty beat from soccer practice; playing midfielder is intense.

I sat in my black computer chair, its leather squeaking as I turned it toward the desk to launch the game and create an account. My setup wasn’t anything special, just an, off-the-shelf desktop computer from Costco. I got it for Christmas, so not having to pay for it was great. My parents said it was because I was going to be going to college in the next couple years, so I should be prepared.

I was about to start a new world and –

“Hey you should be in bed!”

“Mom…bedtime is 9, and it isn’t even 7:30,” I said, without even glancing her way.

“So I guess I will call Meghan’s mom and tell her you won’t be taking her daughter to the dance tomorrow?”

“…right.” I let out a sigh of frustration, remembering that I needed as much sleep as possible tonight because I wasn’t going to get much the next…and I didn’t want to get a migraine.

“Thanks mom, I’ll start getting ready for bed.”

I stood up and gave her a peck on the cheek before she left the room with my laundry basket. My mom was more than a soccer mom, she was Wonder Woman. Not literally, at least not to my knowledge, but she was amazing. She could help me with my geometry when I needed it, she coached me on my goal kick, she even gave me advice with girls; not that I needed advice, I had that department on lock down. I had a pretty good life, a little sister to tease, a girlfriend, a great mom, and a sweet gaming setup right in my own bedroom. For a teenager, this was the life.

                That all ended when I woke up in a strange place…I was laying on a bench and sat up. I was in a cathedral. The stone pillars that lined grand hall were the size of busses on their nose, hundreds of windows casting their light on each stone pillar. The long red rug ended at the front, in front of a wooden dais.

I heard someone walking around, so I went to investigate the sound and find out what I was doing here. As I stood up, I could tell that I had been asleep for a while – I was very hungry. I started for the noise, then I heard a moan. It wasn’t a good sound. It sounded like someone in pain, or someone that was very hungry…maybe someone like me, who was put there.

                I kept going toward the front of the cathedral, where I heard the noise. Coming around the pulpit, I regretted my decision to investigate the noise. There was a human-like figure in front of me. The clothes were rotting off of his green putrid flesh. The creature turned around, his blood covered lips slightly parted, and starting walking towards me. I wanted to scream for help, I opened my mouth, but there was no sound.

I started to run in the opposite direction. I had to find safety. I ran out of the enormous cathedral and spotted a house directly in front of the cathedral and sprinted for the door.

It was unlocked, I jumped in and slammed the door. The door didn’t actually have a lock on it so I ran up the wooden stairs to find it open up to a small simple room with a chair, a flower bed, and an ornate chest. The chest had a certain quality to it, it was simple, yet elegant. Dull, but vibrant. I was drawn towards the chest by some otherworldly force.

When I opened the chest, I was astounded by the vastness. It had so much room, there were pieces of armor, some were glowing with a purple hue, there were carrots and potatoes, and there were swords.

“This stuff looks way too small…” I muttered. “I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I?” So I put on the armor, “I guess I can rip it in places if I have to.”

When I got it on, I was surprised that it fit perfectly. It wasn’t too tight. I put the normal looking boots on, and the other armor I put on was glowing purple. I felt stronger with the armor on, I thought it might be because of the glowing armor.

I took out one of the swords, and before I left I took some potatoes and stuffed them in my pockets.

I opened the door tentatively. All was quiet, except for the blood pounding in my ears.  As I started to look around, I noticed, for the first time, I was in a vast city. There were structures everywhere; houses with wooden roofs and glass windows. Shops with wares on display. The grass was a bright green, and the trees were in full bloom. The air smelled of potatoes and other crops.

                I started walking toward the bigger house next door. As I pushed on the worn wooden door, it opened loudly. I waited a full minute after the door creaked open to see if anybody inside was reacting to the sound. There were no other sounds. I started across the floor, my leather boots muffling the sound of my footsteps. It is much like the other house, except for a bookshelf. One of the titles catches my attention, Max reaches out for the old leather book titled: 101 Ways to Keep Your Brains Safe.

                I open the book and read:

                                                                #93

All they want is to incapacitate you to eat your brains. They will do this any way they can. They will even fight each other in order to eliminate any competition for your brains. A good strategy to avoid getting your brains eaten is to get them to hit each other, they won’t be able to resist fighting each other after one has thrown a punch, or slung an arrow.