Maxx Begins Ch1

Chapter 1

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“Maaaaxx. Hey Maxx! Wake up man! You gotta get ready for school,” a persistent but friendly voice said, shaking the skinny red raccoon awake.

Maxx slowly opens his eyes, his pupils get hit by harsh rays of sunlight that push through his blinds. Slowly his vision begins to focus, making a blurry picture of a gray raccoon with bright yellow eyes. He recognizes the blurry figure at the side of his bed: his mum.

“What time is it?” Maxx asks, tired and confused.

“It’s 5:30! The same time I wake you up every day, sleepy head.” The gray raccoon said, while lightly brushing Maxx’s cheek. “Now. Ya gon’ stay in your bed all day, or are ya gon’ get up to get ya breakfast? If it gets you up any faster, I will be making your favorite!”

Maxx instantly knew what she was making: blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon. She would only make it on occasion for Maxx. Usually on days where she wants to treat him, or right before she's going to break some bad news to him. Maxx always hopes it’s the first of the two.

Maxx makes a half chuckle. “You must really want me to get out of bed today, huh? I mean, you're bribing me with the best food outhere.” He says in a still sleepy voice. He would often get bribed out of bed with food. Seems like it was the one thing that he would always listen to. It must have been a while for him though. He can't remember the last time he has been treated to some food like this by his mum. “You got me though. Can’t resist those pancakes you make. I swear you must be putting something in them. Other than blueberries.”

“I am, it's called love. It's the tastiest thing out there. Right next to sugar.” She reached out her hand to Maxx, offering him a quick pull out of bed.

“Well you must be putting a lot of love into those pancakes.” Seeing her hand, Maxx preps himself. He reaches his hand out to hers, grabbing her wrist so she can easily pull him up. While she tugged, Maxx says to her, “You know you don't have to wake me up every morning. My alarm clock can do that too.”

When his mother pulled him out of the bed, instead of standing in his bedroom — like he expected — he found himself in the kitchen, now sitting at the dining table, while his mother worked in the kitchen. Maxx looks around the room. How did I get here? He wonders. What is goi—

“Of course I do!” His mother interrupted, responding to his comment before the odd jump. “I can’t let the alarm clock beat me! I will be dead before I ever let that thing win.”

Maxx — getting easily distracted — chuckles at his mum’s comment. “Why do you hate the alarm so much?” Maxx makes a quick gasp, “Did it dramatically kill your parents and now you are out for revenge!?!”

His mother let out a quick chuckle, “Ya’re watching way too many superhero movies. They are filling ya head with nonsense! To answer your question, no. Do you want to know the real reason?” She stood up straight and proud as she continued to flip pancakes on the stove. “The real reason is… Because.”

“Noooooooo…” Maxx whines, “That's not a real answer and you know it! You can’t just say ‘because’ to everything now. I’m not five. Your tricks don't work on me mother! So tell me…” Maxx leans forward on the round wooden table, resting his head on his arms, eager for an answer. “Why do you really hate the alarm clock so much?”

His mother sighed, “Okay, okay you got me. My motherly tricks won’t help me now.” She continued to flip the blueberry pancakes, preparing to finally give her answer to Maxx. “It’s because I don't need them. I don't need a hunk of plastic and electronics to tell me when to wake up. I’m a responsible adult. I get to choose when I wake up. Also, sometimes having beef with inanimate objects is fun.”

Maxx chuckles, “Okay, okay I get the last part. Sometimes having enemies in the inanimate object world is fun. But I don't know why you wake me up?”

“Well it's to get you ready. I won't be here to help you forever, sweetheart. Eventually you'll no longer be a kid, and you’ll have to be responsible for yourself.”

“Like that's going to be anytime soon! I still got… Wait, two years? That doesn't seem right…” Maxx stops himself. Now even more confused and troubled. He had this pain in his gut that was screaming to him that something was wrong. He wanted to ignore it. After all, this was what he wanted: a nice moment with his mum, but he just can't ignore the feeling.

He’s about to mention it to his mum, but she interrupted him, “Alright honey, here you are. Mum’s famous blueberry pancakes and bacon.” She placed down the plate in front of Maxx, almost teleporting from the stovetop to the kitchen table.

“Th-thanks…” Maxx says, only out of kindness. He looks down at the plate of blueberry pancakes and bacon — still troubled from all that is happening.

A single fly lands on the pancakes, and he swats it off of the beautifully made stack. As it flies off, he follows it with his eyes. While watching the tiny insect flee, he finally notices the environment around him. Everything is wrong. Clocks with strange alien symbols instead of numbers. Windows that lead nowhere at all. Paintings that are all of the same bright yellow flower.

The environment that he once felt safe in has become an unfamiliar reflection of what he once knew. His head darts around as he takes in more and more defects of the room. He feels overwhelmed by this sudden realization.

In an attempt to regain his attention, his mother placed her hand on his shoulder. “Maxx, is everything okay?” The touch feels like TV static. Maxx instinctually, in an attempt to stop the touch, backs up out of the chair, knocking it to the ground with a hard THUD.

“Maxx, sweetheart, what's wrong?” His mother asks. She tries to get closer to Maxx, but her feet stick to the ground. It's like the ground and her have melded into one. She looks down at the ground, then back up at Maxx with this horrified face that has just realized what is happening. “I’m sorry Maxx…” she said as chunks of her body harden and fall like an old brittle statue.

“MOM!” Maxx rushes to his mother’s side, trying to catch the chunks before they hit the ground. “MOM!!! PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME!!” The chunks that he managed to catch turn to ash. “NO!!! PLEASE…” Maxx cries out, while the world around him slowly falls apart like his mother. “I’m sorry…” Maxx utters as tears fall into the inky black void of nothingness.