The Greatest Challenge of Max Goof

The Future's Lookin' Brighter

It had been a very busy morning shift for Max today and he was quite tired but as usual felt proud of what he achieved to help his charity do its job. He always worked from nine o'clock to one o'clock when it was admin volunteering days. But he always had to get up at seven o'clock to wash up, have his breakfast and dress up to make sure he left his apartment at half eight to cycle to work to get to the office before nine. Neither Roxanne nor Jimmy was up, so he left them breakfast stuff and bowls, plates, knives, forks and spoons out for them whenever they were ready for breakfast before he left the apartment.

It was half one when Max got back to his apartment which was usually his time when he went home, unless he needed to pick up some groceries. He opened the door and started to wipe his shoes on his mat. Before he could even say to Roxanne and Jimmy that he was back, he was very surprised to see what he discovered. He discovered his apartment to be clean. Very clean. The kitchen looked to be very clean and tidy and so was the rest of the main room. His bookshelf and books and photos on it appeared to be dusted and were now shiny. His couch bed appeared to be remade with clean sheets and his other couch looked to be cleaned as well. After taking his shoes taking them off, he went to the other rooms to find Roxanne and Jimmy. He couldn't find them in either bedroom, but he did find the rooms themselves very tidy and the beds were remade with clean sheets like his couch bed. He couldn't find Roxanne or Jimmy in the bathroom, but he did find it shiny and sparkling. All of his apartment was as clean as a whistle. He just couldn't believe it.

"Hi, Max. How do you like it?"

Max went back into the main room and found Roxanne in the kitchen. He didn't see her in there before, so he thought she might have been cleaning under the sink. He ran to hug her and kiss her on the cheek. "This is amazing, Roxanne! Thank you so much. Did you do all of this on your own?"

"Well, no because Jimmy helped as well," she said.

He turned to see Jimmy carrying a small tray of cheese and onion sandwiches, a fruit salad and a glass of lemonade to the table. "Did you help Auntie Roxanne clean my apartment up so well, Jimmy?"

"Yeah, Max," Jimmy said. "And we made you lunch as well."

Max and his friends went to sit down at the table with their lunches, said grace and tucked in.

"This lunch is delicious," Max said. "And this apartment has never been this clean since I moved here. I can't thank you guys very much."

"Well, thank you for giving me and Jimmy a place to stay and looking after us when no one else would," Roxanne said. "And it's giving us something to do for today."

What she just said reminded Max to get some things out of his briefcase and give them to Roxanne. "I don't know if you've made your mind up or not about volunteering, Roxanne, but these are some application forms for volunteering positions I took from the office if you decide yes."

Roxanne took them and read them. She saw there were many volunteering opportunities the children charity Max volunteered for were offering, including admin volunteering, hospital volunteering, café volunteering, volunteering for the orphanage and even volunteering for the children psychologist. She thought, for a charity that wasn't very well known, they were very determined, very professional and very serious for the cause they believe in. After considering the fact her car won't be fixed for nearly three months and that she failed yet again to make contact with Jake or any of his family, friends or colleagues (including email, thanks to Max showing her and setting up her own account last night) and Max telling her that the train service, bus service and all transport services are all still on strike with still no one knowing or even having a clue when it was going to end and none of them had enough money to avoid a taxi, she decided to go ahead and volunteer. The only difficulty now was deciding which one she wanted to do.